Say yes to less stress

Janine Pollack provides a candid insight into some of the time and stress management tips she uses on a day-to-day basis, and explains why even the slightest detail - such as taking the stairs or a low-fat diet - can all make a difference.

Given that I know the rigours of being a full-time lawyer (litigator), mum and wife, it begs the question why women lawyers are so stressed. With all of those prominent titles (and more), it even sounds like I have too much on my plate. Many of my friends (both working and non-working) frequently ask me how I keep all the proverbial balls in the air. I am sure that I did not realise how much I juggled on a daily basis until the first time that I stopped to think about the answer to this question, but I now see that I am engaged in a covert time and stress management operation. I am so strapped for time that I am ultra-efficient and make the most of every minute. In the end, more efficiency leads to less stress. Less stress then leads to more efficiency.
So how can you be more efficient? Let’s start with being aware that you need to be. Be organised. Plan ahead. Don’t leave things until the last minute. Practice this at home and work. The night before, plan out your next day. While it may sound a bit anal, map it out down to the minute. After all, lawyers bill in 15 minute increments, so come on ladies, you can do it too! That way, if something unexpected occurs, you can rearrange the day’s activities without missing anything and handle it with ease. More importantly, there will be no excuse for saying, ‘Oops, I did not have time to this or that’. Orderliness in your home and work lives will promote mental health and leave time for physical activity (yes, less stress).
Why is it so important for women lawyers to take care of themselves? It is a big circle. We have so much to do that we need to stay physically and mentally healthy to accomplish it all. When you are physically active, you are more productive, think more clearly, are less moody, and are better able to tackle problems at home and work. Not bad qualities for a woman lawyer to have, right? Let’s add in the bonus features of weight control, improved muscle tone and probably lower cholesterol and we are just short of becoming ‘Wonder Woman’. Of course, the hard part is finding the time to work on improving your physical and mental health. We need to achieve that delicate balance where we successfully manage our home and work lives to get the most out of both of them. So here are some tips to help make it happen.
First, exercise as much as you can. Try to do something physical each day. Make it a natural part of your life. If you cannot actually set aside a block of time on a given day to work up a sweat, be a sneaky exerciser. Sneak it in whenever or wherever you can. For example:

Take a break from the document on which you are working and walk around the block;
Run a few errands at lunch time;
Put on comfortable shoes and walk to a meeting or the train station;
Find stairs during the day and walk up them even if you don’t really need to go that route; or,
Park in the farthest possible parking spot.

If you can manage to block out time to go to the gym, introduce variation so you don’t get bored. Start by breaking a sweat with a mixture of different cardiovascular exercises: run, do the elliptical machine, ride the stationary bicycle, use the rowing machine, walk on an incline, jump rope. Next, work on your muscles: leg lunges, sit ups, squats, weight machines, and my personal favorite, push ups. It will not take you very long before you start to see results that you are really going to like. Slowly work your way up to sets of 25 at a time. I know that this sounds near to impossible (and even painful), but over time you will build up the stamina to tackle each set with ease. The effort is well worth it.
Nonetheless, avoiding boredom during your exercise period is always a challenge. The key here is inspiration. Engage in activities while exercising that will inspire you to exercise longer and harder. I listen to my favorite songs while jogging, or read a fitness magazine while riding the stationary bicycle and occasionally watch television while on the elliptical machine. Exercising in the morning can also have its benefits, as it ensures you will not find yourself unable to commit through lack of time and so on. Plus, it energizes you for the whole day and you are ready with a clear and fresh mind to focus on the legal issues awaiting you at your desk.
Second, eat healthy foods. Again, if it becomes part of your routine, you won’t miss a thing. Start out by eating a good breakfast. I have found that eating something carbohydrate-heavy such as a bagel only made me hungrier. I switched to oatmeal, fruit and low sugar/high fibre cereal. It is very satisfying and gives me the energy I need for tackling the day’s activities. Next, eat a nutritious lunch: spinach salad (try balsamic vinegar on your salad instead of dressing) with chicken, vegetable soup, a low carbohydrate whole wheat tortilla wrap with plain tuna fish (hold the mayonnaise), sashimi, or sushi with brown rice. Don’t starve yourself – it doesn’t work and you will run out of energy by your three pm meeting. In fact, have an afternoon snack: fruit, low fat peanut butter, soy nuts, low sugar yogurt (like non-fat Greek yogurt), carrot or celery sticks. Bring one of these snacks to work with you each day. You will avoid heading for the vending machine for sweets or chocolate.
For me, I find that breakfast and lunch are easy because I am so busy that I don’t have time to linger over a meal. Dinner is another story, though. There’s more time for food catastrophes. Whatever you do, do not make a habit of ordering take-away or delivery dinners. You don’t know what ingredients are being used and I will bet good money that your prepared food includes a huge amount of oils and other fattening ingredients. Indeed, reading food labels is an essential part of healthy eating. Look for low fat, high protein, low sugar. Take the time to prepare your own dinners, even if it means cooking on the weekends and re-heating after work. I recently invested in a crock pot. I put the food in the crock pot in the morning and, by the time I get home from work, it is a delicious healthy meal. What could be easier? Simple preparation means fast preparation. Avoid heavy sauces; use spices instead. Chicken, fish, shell fish, lean meat, veal, vegetable burgers – all have strong nutritional balance sheets. Another good tip: I find that chewing a piece of peppermint sugar-free gum after dinner helps me to acknowledge the fact that I am finished eating.
Now that you are exercising and eating right, don’t forget to drink lots of water all day. I stay away from fizzy drinks (even diet versions) as much as possible. My dentist once told me that such drinks wear away the enamel on your teeth and are in fact less hydrating than water. Nevertheless, if you are exercising, you should naturally drink more water anyway – yet another benefit of keeping fit.
Third, get more sleep. Its easy to fail at this one, but it is still very much worth a try. Too often I am left wondering why there seems to be so much to accomplish after nine pm when my two young boys finally go to bed. In any event, given that my days are full and challenging, I sleep well, even if not enough. I guess that counts for something. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that I always try to take a few moments to myself before I go to bed. I usually have many appointments/commitments at work as well as with my children, and I like to make sure to have it all straight in my mind so I feel organised and prepared when I wake up. In some ways, I think it actually helps me get a better night’s sleep when I go to bed with a plan for tomorrow.
Speaking of sleep, there was a time when my children were young when I would volunteer for business trips just to get a full night’s sleep. Thankfully, I no longer need to go to such extremes. Nonetheless, I do travel for business every so often and the big challenges on these trips are eating sensibly and still getting a chance to engage in some physical activity. In terms of food, I stick to the aforementioned breakfasts and lunches as much as possible. For dinner, I try to order plain dishes (shrimp cocktail, grilled fish, grilled chicken), steamed vegetables without butter/oil, broth-based soups, salad with dressing (or vinegar) on the side, and berries for dessert. Avoid the bread basket at all costs.
In terms of exercise on business trips, it is much easier than it used to be to find a hotel with a gym and a pool, so always pack your gym kit. Even a half-hour walk on the treadmill will help you feel refreshed and energized. In fact, given that you don’t have to deal with the responsibilities back home, you might even have more time than usual to get to the gym. When I travel for business, I usually go to sleep earlier than when I am at home, so I am able to get up earlier and exercise. See this as an opportunity and take full advantage.
When I am not traveling, I need to find a way to devote quality time to my children both before and after work. This is perhaps the most important part of my time management. Here are a few of my self-imposed ground rules:

Get up early enough to serve the kids a healthy breakfast. Serve yourself something healthy at the same time for extra bonus points. When kids see mum and dad eating nutritious food, they develop good habits;
After work, I am electronics-free until the kids go to sleep. Back at the office, they know there is radio silence from 7:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. While I am busy on multi-million dollar cases during the day, I am sitting on the floor and playing board games at night. The children relish this time, as do I;
We also try to plan a mixture of activities for the weekends, in order to both complete errands and engage in fun outings for the kids. While this takes advance planning, it allows us to spend time with them in useful and enjoyable ways.

Finally, take time out to engage in activities that bring you pleasure and personal satisfaction. Laugh as much as possible. I heard it burns calories, but that would be an additional benefit. For, a good giggle is above all a fantastic release from the stresses of the day. Have lunch with co-workers, or outside by yourself with a good book. Make time to cultivate the hobbies you enjoy, even if it is just once a week. Do small things to get motivated and inspired. It will help you to find your balance. As women in the legal profession, we put so much pressure on ourselves to be successful and don’t even notice that we are already. You can be a success at work (as a co-worker, manager and role model) and at home (as a wife, mum, friend and companion). Years ago, women had to choose between a career and a family. We no longer need to make such choices. And as we are well-equipped to manage our professional and personal lives, with the proper balance we really can have it all. It may require active management but it is eminently manageable. In short, make every moment count. And never stop climbing to reach the top of the hill.

Janine Pollack is a partner in the New York office of US law firm Milberg LLP. She can be contacted at jpollack@milberg.com