With long work hours, stressful matters, and a lot of pressure to succeed, it is normal for many lawyers to believe that their work is complicated. Without going any further, a study published in 2016 by the American Bar Association (the American Bar Association or ABA) , which questioned almost 13,000 practicing lawyers, showed that lawyers are the unhappiest professionals in the world Law tuition.

Nearly a quarter of participants reported experiencing chronic levels of stress on a regular basis, while 28% have endured mild levels of depression. So, is it possible to be a lawyer and be happy?

How can lawyers be happier and what are the ways to build a better work-life balance?

Here I explain how to love the legal profession in 10 easy steps.

1 Start by asking yourself what makes you happy

It may sound simple, but the initial route to happiness is to define your own understanding of the term. Start by writing a list of what makes you happy . This way, you can begin to understand what is really missing from that list .

The things that make us happy are not universal, so understanding your own needs and desires will allow you to start working on changing your mood.

2 Make personal time part of your daily to-do list

Lawyers don’t have it easy. In fact, it is estimated that a professional in the legal sector works on average more than 50 hours a week! Therefore, it is understandable that time dedicated to personal and social life is often relegated to the background.

But how can lawyers be happier if they don’t take time for themselves?

In order to dedicate time to your family and yourself, you have to consider personal time as an essential daily task. This way, every day you can schedule moments free from work to help relieve stress. Try booking a daily morning yoga class or enjoying your meal away from your desk, even if it’s just 15 minutes.

3 Be a master of your craft

In 2010, Princeton University published a study indicating that emotional well-being increased with income. However, beyond an annual salary of $75,000, happiness no longer increased. So instead of looking for more money, maybe you should look for more training ?

With a career in the field of law comes continuous learning. Accept the challenges of this continuous training and take advantage of it to become a master of your craft!

For example, why don’t you learn more about legal technology ? Check out this guide on the best courses and training in legaltech prepared by Artifical Lawyer.

Training is the path to mastery, and the better you are at your job, the more satisfaction you will get from it. Being the best version of yourself will take you to great heights, both financially and emotionally. Ask for training in those fields in which you need help, seek feedback on tasks or issues and play the card of your personal strengths.

Also, keep your career and professional life alive by trying new things , experimenting with new paths towards a solution or being creative with your workload . If you think your work is stagnating, consider a transition into legal hightech fields (such as legal engineering), in order to increase the challenge and interest. With new skills come new opportunities!

4 Work with people who support your autonomy

In 2015, the Florida State University College of Law published a paper showing that the fact Promoting the autonomy of lawyers in junior positions improved their ability to perform and increased their emotional well-being.

Meanwhile, an article in the Journal of Applied Psychology showed that companies that encourage autonomous environments tend to grow four times faster than companies that control more.

Working with people who don’t support your methods or who don’t want you to have full power over your own decisions can lead to conflict in the workplace. Stress in the office is one of the biggest causes of unhappiness at work.

Being constantly undermined or ignored by peers can be extremely demotivating and demoralizing. If you are in charge of a team, try to show your support for their views and approaches on various issues and tasks to foster a positive office environment!

5 Use technology to make administrative tasks easier

Lawyers often spend most of their time completing basic administrative tasks. From billing to the paperwork of a matter, this monotonous side of legal work can feel like a never-ending task.

So why waste time unnecessarily when you can use technology to simplify this job?

There are some truly inspiring apps and software tools that lawyers can use to ease their workload, freeing themselves from routine and spending more time on the aspects of their work that really motivates them.