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Bar News - December 19, 2003 'Tis the Season to Be Too Busy By: Lisa Ura Bollinger Advice from the New Lawyers’ Committee Balancing Life, Managing Stress and Staying Merry Through the Holidays and Beyond BALANCE SEEMS TO be the key to managing stress in daily life. Without balance, a portion of your life may take over and create chaos in the other parts of your life. Learning to balance work, family, friends and health will improve your ability to handle the stress that regularly rears its ugly head – particularly during the holidays. Create a To-Do List and Prioritize the Items on the List Take the time to create a to-do list on a daily basis. In doing so, be sure to prioritize items by placing those that have the tightest deadlines and those that you dread doing at the top of the list. If you prepare your list right before leaving the office in the evening, it will be ready for you to conquer bright and early the next morning. But remember, your to-do list is a work in progress. It is unlikely that you will ever accomplish in one day everything on your list, but by prioritizing, you will feel a daily sense of accomplishment upon being able to cross some of those tasks off your list. Be Sure to Make Family and Friends a Priority Work is a necessary element of everyday life, but it should not be all-consuming. Be sure to make time for a life outside of the office. Place important family events on your business calendar so that scheduling conflicts don’t prevent you from seeing your child score the game-winning point or star in the school play. Make regular dinner dates with friends; if possible, select a regular time and place to meet each month – this will keep you from losing touch with someone important in your life because you’ve become "too busy." Whether you get together for just a cup of coffee, a meal or a weekend away, spending time with friends is a great stress-reliever. It also helps to put the hustle and bustle of everyday life into perspective. Use Technology to your Benefit Technology today is so advanced that you need not be chained to your desk every second of the day to be productive. When deadlines are looming, use technology to your benefit. This can be as simple as e-mailing to your home computer the important documents that you need to work on tonight, or downloading the documents you are working on to your laptop. Later on that evening, after dinner or once the children are in bed, you have all the necessary documents at your fingertips to continue working. Prevent Technology from Taking Over On the flip side, because technology makes it possible to work virtually anywhere, anytime, it is easy to allow technology to take over. Cell phones and e-mail allow us to be reached practically anywhere, but that does not mean that we should be reached everywhere. Remember that cell phones have off buttons and that it’s okay to let calls go to voice mail. E-mails may be transmitted instantaneously, but not all e-mails need to be responded to in the same manner. Make it clear to your colleagues, staff and clients that you check your messages and e-mails regularly and will get back to them as soon as possible. Also, be sure to clearly define for colleagues, staff and clients what constitutes a true "emergency" in order to ensure that you will not be contacted unnecessarily, especially after hours. Count your Blessings and Give Thanks It’s easy to get caught up in the chaos and hubbub of the holidays, but don’t forget to count your blessings. Take the time to appreciate and enjoy the things that you are most thankful for at this time in your life – a happy, healthy family; warm, generous friends; or rewarding work, for example. And what better way to show your thanks for the blessings bestowed upon you than by giving back to your community? Take the opportunity to give the less fortunate something to be thankful for during this holiday season, and throughout the year. Happy Holidays! Lisa Ura Bollinger of the Law Office of Lisa Ura Bollinger, P.L.L.C., practices in Nashua and is a member of the NHBA New Lawyers Committee.
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