The 30 Minute Break I Recommend To All Solo Lawyers
Have A Coffee With Yourself Today
One of the simplest pieces of advice I give solo lawyers who feel fatigued, overwhelmed or directionless is to leave the office for 30 minutes, have a coffee and take a journal with them.
Go for a coffee at around 10.30am this morning.
This is the advice I give most solo lawyers who feel fatigued, a little overwhelmed or simply directionless in their practice.
Take a 30-minute coffee break outside the office every morning.
Go to a local café. Go on your own.
Take a hard-copy journal with you.
And write.
Write down what is happening in the practice.
What you want to happen.
Ideas that have been sitting in the back of your mind.
Problems that are emerging.
Things you need to do.
Things you need to progress.
Decisions you have been avoiding.
And things you simply want to get done when you return to the office.
I prefer wet ink on paper rather than another device in front of me, but that part is ultimately up to you.
What matters is the disengagement.
For 30 minutes, you are physically outside the office and mentally stepping away from the constant stream of emails, files, clients and deadlines.
You are giving yourself space to think.
I see this as an essential part of a solo lawyer’s day - a chance to set yourself, recalibrate and regain some direction before getting pulled back into the practice.
Solo practice can mean working on your own.
It should not mean spending the entire day shut away from the outside world.
My advice - around 10.30 or 11.00 each morning, leave the office.
Take your journal.
Have a coffee.
Sit on your own for 30 minutes.
Think. Write. Reset.
