The more you bill, the better - but what about your wellbeing?

For the vast majority of lawyers, performance is still measured primarily by productivity. The more you bill, the better. But countless studies are now beginning to show the true impact of high productivity, and it’s not positive on wellbeing.

Here are some things to bear in mind the next time you’re racing towards your next billable target, or picking up yet more work to increase that utilisation:

• Your career is a marathon, not a sprint: start off too quickly and you won’t finish the race. It’s less about slow and steady, and more about running at a pace you can maintain for a very long time.
• Efficiency isn’t always a good thing: for as long as the billable hour exists, there is little benefit to working faster than necessary. Whilst you don’t want to artificially slow down, taking the time to prioritise quality over quantity will benefit your metrics, your nervous system, and your final work product!
• ‘The more you do, the more you do’: whilst this principle was originally intended to have a positive meaning, like a river running towards a waterfall, once it cascades over the edge it’s too late to turn back. This is what burnout feels like.
• You will never wish you had spent more time at work: whilst a morbid exercise, it can be helpful to think ahead to how you may reflect on your life before you die. It tends to reveal important realisations about what is truly important (and it’s not normally work).
• Don’t always seek the small wins: it can be really tempting, and sometimes a good idea, to begin with ticking off the small items on your to-do list, but it’s not always the best idea. For example, responding to emails only invites more emails to respond to, resulting in a never-ending email loop. Clearly delineating between time for the smaller tasks and time for the larger tasks means you’re more likely to keep on top of your to-do list sustainably.
• Remember the Pareto principle: when you add the typical perfectionistic trait of a lawyer to productivity, you can end up with a pretty lethal cocktail for wellbeing. The Pareto principle states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. This means that for 20% of your effort, you can end up with a result equating to 80% of perfect. It will take the remaining 80% of your effort to achieve the outstanding 20% required for perfect, which simply isn’t worth the cost to your wellbeing. Learn to be satisfied with 80%, and give the rest of your time back to yourself.

Caitlin McFee is a former magic circle lawyer turned mindset and communication coach. Caitlin provides 1:1 sessions as well as corporate coaching to help lawyers prioritise their mental health and wellbeing to achieve long-term, sustainable success in the legal industry.