Any mention of legal professionals and healthcare evokes images of lawyers and paralegals assisting patients and healthcare providers as they try to navigate the circuitous landscape of health regulations. But what about the legal community itself? Practising law is incredibly demanding, and without a conscious effort to care for yourself, it eventually takes its toll. Burnout is all too common, with the rate of depression and anxiety being three times higher among lawyers. This also threatens your physical wellbeing, as chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes are strongly linked with stress.

As a lawyer, you’ve got to be sharp and focused because that’s what’s required of you, whether strategising at the office or making arguments in court. There’s no way that you can keep this up if you’re battling chronic stress, sleep deprivation, anxiety, and other health conditions. The surest way to beat the odds and continue to do the best possible job for your clients is by adopting a few essential self-care habits.

Self-Care Essentials for Legal Professionals

1. Watch What You Eat

It’s not uncommon for us to get so caught up in work that we simply skip meals or eat unhealthy fast food on the go while working. Considering that unhealthy diets are regarded as the primary cause of all chronic diseases, fixing your diet should be a top priority, and this can be done with a few simple changes.

Adopt a weekly meal planning schedule down to the snacks so that you are less likely to make unhealthy choices at the last minute. If you make meals yourself, start meal prepping over the weekend so that throwing together a healthy meal on a busy weekday doesn’t take much effort. Start taking expert-recommended multivitamins to address common nutritional deficiencies such as vitamin D, iron, B12, and zinc, which affect millions in the UK.

2. Cultivate Positive Relationships

Relationships usually take a backseat because of the demands of the legal profession, but as social animals, socializing is vital for our well-being. You can take steps to nurture relationships without compromising your career goals, but it requires open communication and setting boundaries.

In any relationship, quality time is more important than quantity, so it’s important that you switch off from work when you’re spending time with loved ones. Being present in the moment and connecting emotionally is the key to strengthening deep relationships, rather than spending more time while distracted by work.

3. Always Make Time for Sleep & Rest

Lawyers are notorious for working long hours, and sleep is often sacrificed as most of us tend to dismiss time spent sleeping as wasted or lost time. This couldn’t be further from the truth because inadequate and poor-quality sleep has been linked to attention deficits, difficulty focusing, impaired problem-solving, and poor decision-making skills that are absolutely essential for good lawyering.

To get started, set a regular sleep-wake schedule and follow it religiously, even over weekends. This helps strengthen your circadian rhythm so that you can fall asleep more easily and get quality sleep through the night. Make it a point to maintain good sleep hygiene practices, lower stress levels before bedtime, and reduce exposure to stimulants that can interfere with sleep, whether it’s exposure to digital screens or caffeine consumption.

4. Find Ways to Stay Active

The rise of remote working opportunities has resulted in further blurring of boundaries, making it harder for us to disconnect from work even when we should be enjoying downtime. This requires a deliberate effort to prioritise physical activity, blocking off time in your calendar for regular workouts.

If you can’t start gyming right away, make it a point to walk more, especially to get to places that you’d normally drive to that are within a 5 to 10 minute walking distance. Try to avoid sitting for prolonged periods, instead taking periodic breaks to get up, stretch, and move about.

5. Learn Stress Management Techniques

With long hours and high pressure, it’s no surprise that lawyers are among the most stressed professionals, with higher vulnerability to burnout, depression, alcohol dependence, anxiety disorders, and stress-related diseases. Although stress may be inescapable, there’s a lot that you can do to preserve your mental health and even thrive.

The first step is to prioritise and practice stress management techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga, or tai chi regularly. It would also be a good idea to talk to a therapist from time to time, as therapists can help with behavioural changes, making it easier for you to manage stress and follow a self-care routine.