What does wellness mean to you?
Having the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual energy to do all the things I want to do in life, without feeling exhausted.
What kinds of wellness practices do you do?
Meditation and yoga are key practices for me to keep my anxiety in check. Exercise is also important to help me focus and have clarity. Eating well. Getting sufficient sleep. Having downtime. Writing in my gratitude journal. Keeping things in perspective. Singing. And spending time with people I love. It’s really a lifestyle.
What led you to these wellness practices?
Anxiety, specifically the anxiety associated with practicing in Big Law. I was constantly being asked to sacrifice everything other than practicing law, and I had to learn to take time to be healthy and well so I could be happy and productive.
Do you have a favorite wellness resource(s) you can recommend?
I like Headspace for making meditation convenient. I like YogaTX on Youtube for at-home yoga. I also recommend my book for creating a life built around clarity of values and wellness.
How do you incorporate wellness practices into your lifestyle?
I plan them. I find that if I don’t plan time for the things that are important to me, my law practice pulls me in and all I do is work. Often, and especially right now, I could work twelve hours every day, and some on the weekends, and still not be caught up. It’s a bit crazy! So I have to schedule time for wellness ahead of time and not break my commitments to myself, just like I wouldn’t break my commitments to my family or my clients.
How do you make time for wellness throughout the day?
Scheduling and breaks. I have a weekly tennis clinic and a weekly singing lesson, because both of these activities bring me joy. Tennis is good for my mind and my body; singing is good for my soul. Absent a true emergency (and very few things qualify as a true emergency!), I do not miss them. I schedule around them. During my day, I meditate in the morning, and take my dogs for a walk, even if it’s short because I need to get to work. I also drink lots of water and get up from my desk at least every hour, even if all I do is refill my water bottle. I do what I call “mini-tasking,” where I super-focus for about 45 minutes, even shutting off my phone and email app (yes, you can do that without the world imploding), then take a break, check email and phone, and then go back to another mini-task.
How do you prioritize YOU? How does that make you better at your job?
I am clear on my values, and plan according to my values. There are always competing obligations, but there are only so many hours in a day, and only one of me. When I am well and rested, I can be my best self: great at problem-solving, listening intently, advocating effectively, parenting patiently, and creating effective solutions. None of that is possible if I don’t first take time to take care of me.
How do these wellness practices impact your life and your career?
They make me better at everything. When I can remain calm and keep things in perspective, there is nothing I can’t handle. When things are out of balance, that’s when the trouble begins: work is overwhelming, people are annoying, problems are enormous, and solutions are hard to find. I don’t like feeling those things, and my wellness practices help me keep them at bay so I can live a more enjoyable life, including enjoying my career more.
How important is it to bring wellness into the legal industry?
So important. Our industry has a bit of a martyr complex, where we feel we will be rewarded for sacrificing everything else for the practice of law. But it doesn’t need to be that way. Balanced people are better people, so balanced lawyers will be better lawyers. Better lawyer means better legal services, and hopefully happier clients as well.
At what point in your career did you find ‘wellness’? How would your current practices have helped you earlier in your career?
I was a mid-level associate before I really started any wellness practices. I had always exercised, but that was for the physical benefits more than for wellness. Once I had a baby (in 2010), I realized that I couldn’t model how to take care of one’s self if I wasn’t taking care of myself. I also had a living, breathing reason to want to be healthy and live a long life full of energy and vitality. If I had started my wellness practices earlier, at least in law school (if not in college), I could have crafted a more thoughtful life and career for myself from the beginning of my law journey. It all worked out in the end, but it could have been so much easier if I had started earlier.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Laugh. Be in the moment. Treat yourself with compassion.
Jamie Jackson Spannhake is a lawyer, writer, mediator, speaker, and work-life integration coach. She helps busy professionals achieve more while doing less so they can create the lives they truly want, lives that have time and space to do all the things she was told she couldn’t do as a successful lawyer. Her work with clients is based upon the principles in her book, The Lawyer, the Lion, & the Laundry: Three Hours to Finding Your Calm in the Chaos, available at http://www.JamieSpannhake.com. Her work has appeared in print and online, including in Law Practice magazine, AttorneyatWork.com, eHow.com, Law Practice Today, The Complete Lawyer, and Electronically In Touch. She regularly writes and speaks on issues important to women and lawyers, including time and stress management, health and wellness, and work-life integration. She also mothers a wonderful and happy ten-year-old daughter, successfully co-parents with her ex-husband, loves two dogs and two cats, and exercises regularly. She practices law as a partner at Berlandi Nussbaum & Reitzas LLP, serving clients in Connecticut and New York.