This article is a bit different from my usual fare and is presented in follow up to Bob Minto’s excellent series on Stress, Life, and the Practice of Law. This piece isn’t full of the typical risk management practice advice, nor is it an in-depth discussion of a malpractice concern. Instead, this article repeats some good old fashioned, plain Jane, down home advice that is simply this: take care of yourself.

It sounds simple, and we all have heard it from parents, friends, colleagues, kids and perhaps most often from a significant other. My travel experience these past seven years truly has begun to underscore the importance of this advice, and I am learning to heed it more with every business trip I take.

When I start feeling that my professional life has begun to seriously overwhelm my personal life, which I’ll admit happens every now and again, I remember that someone once told me they “work to live, not live to work.” I have valued that comment ever since, because it helps me get over the hump. I am able to get things back into perspective by remembering that bit of advice.

I am not trying to say that a professional life is less meaningful than a personal life. Frankly, I love what I do professionally. My work brings great personal satisfaction. I am simply sharing that there is value in keeping both in balance.

I really do believe that taking this advice to heart can serve as a valuable risk management practice. During risk visits with various firms, I have had employees ask me to talk with an attorney about learning to say “no,” in order to reduce her workload. The firm’s employees were concerned about the attorney’s overall well-being. I have had attorneys’ wives ask me to let their husbands know that from my perspective (as a malpractice carrier’s representative), taking an occasional vacation is a good thing, as is staying home after supper on most evenings!

On a more serious note, we all are aware that stress-related physical health issues, addictions and mental illness (particularly depression) are significant problems within our profession. I believe that many of the health issues arise in part due to an imbalance between personal and professional lives. Truly, this imbalance is a legitimate malpractice concern.

I have spent time on the phone with an attorney who was unable to make a decision and unable to complete work, with a deadline only hours away. His personal stress level had caused indecisiveness and immobility. He could go no further. Unfortunately, his response of immobility is not that uncommon. We currently have open claims that reflect such high stress and indecisiveness, and it’s likely that those claims will result in loss payouts. Without balance between personal and professional lives, there is a risk of overload, burnout, indecisiveness, forgetfulness, and a loss of the various types of personal and emotional support on which we rely to function effectively. Any one or combination of these risks can create a situation that is ripe for attorney negligence or malpractice.

So then, what does “taking care of self” mean? For me, it means eating right and trying to find time to exercise three or four times a week at a minimum. It means doing what I can to leave work issues at the office, so that when I have time with my family, I can fully invest in them. I don’t want to jeopardize my relationships with my most valued support people, and it is so easy for work to override personal needs that I must remain vigilant about the balance.

Taking care of self also means taking a vacation now and again, at least once a year. It means finding some quiet time for reflection and rest, as well as time to pursue personal interests. These are things that I need to do in order to stay sharp, to stay balanced. Your list may look somewhat similar or be quite different.

I cannot tell you how to find balance in your life, because everyone’s life is different. But I can tell you that the gain is worth the effort involved. Not only will the effort likely reduce your exposure to a malpractice claim, but I also believe that it keeps both your personal and professional life meaningful and fulfilling. Neither aspect of your life will weigh heavily on the other because both aspects are in balance.