Small Law Firms

How I’m Doing Less So I Can Enjoy More

Let quiet days be quiet. Let busy days be busy. 

By Laura Chipman  
on

Manager overworked. Office overwork, unorganized paperwork and business work document sheets piles cartoon illustration

Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts on motherhood in the legal profession, in partnership with our friends at MothersEsquire. Welcome Laura Chipman back to our pages. Click here if you’d like to donate to MothersEsquire.

I think we’re trying to do too much.

As high achievers, we’re constantly striving to do more. We work hard at working hard. We look for productivity tips, life hacks, multitasking tools, ways to be more efficient so we can get more done.

But all of this doing crowds our brains, homes, calendars. It’s too much.

How do we let go so we can actually enjoy what we have?

I’ve been challenging myself to create space in my calendar, my physical space, and in my mind so I can better enjoy my life. For me, it’s about visualizing that freedom, being selective in where I put my energy, and letting go of as much as possible that’s crowding at the margins.

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In practice, here’s how it looks.

Picture Doing Less

I started by asking myself how it would feel to do less. What does open and unscheduled time feel like? What does a relaxed and uncluttered space feel like? What does a calm mind feel like? The feelings can be surprising. It might feel like a relief, refreshing, or even uncomfortable. We’re so used to being slammed busy that it can be hard to imagine an alternative.

It’s a huge shift from the goal of productivity and doing more to doing less and enjoying more. It helps to have that visual in mind. This is true not just for decluttering our physical space, but for our mental and energetic states too. We’re visualizing where we want to go.

This is the first step for organizing our lives and creating change.

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Next, I looked at my calendar.

Decide For Now

Most of us want to invest time in what matters. But frankly, a lot of stuff matters. Clearly, we can’t prioritize everything all at once. So how do we choose?

My strategy is to work with the season of life that I’m in, which can mean the rhythms of a work cycle, school calendar, my body, or the natural seasons. In other words, I don’t expect every day to be the same. I’ve let go of expecting an unrealistic pattern of productivity repeated on a 24-hour cycle. We don’t have to replicate the same performance, over and over again. I let quiet days be quiet. I let busy days be busy. When the space appears, I don’t immediately fill it up.

Another strategy for intentionally creating space in your calendar is to decide in advance. I gave myself permission to choose some things I’m not going to do — for now. Not necessarily forever. Just in this season. They’re not working for me, and so I am deciding in advance not to do them anymore.

This exercise of saying “no for now” is important for two reasons. First, so I can eliminate some of the things that don’t align for me right now — that don’t make sense in this season — and create open space that allows either the recovery or the focus on what matters that I’ve been missing. It’s also important because making decisions causes stress. We are constantly making decisions, especially as we readjust and recalibrate to the circumstances in the pandemic. It takes a huge toll making those daily decisions. We can simplify and save a ton of time and stress by deciding things in advance. Big or small. For now.

By deciding a few things for now, I’m setting myself up for success. The next time the opportunity comes up, I already know the answer. (No.)

Eliminate Visual Clutter 

Because many of us are still working in a multipurpose space or occupying the home with the rest of our family around all the time, this one is especially critical.  The way we organize and arrange our surroundings can make our days much easier or much harder. The goal is to arrange your physical space so it requires less to keep it up.

I started my organizational efforts with stacks and clutter on surfaces, which are often the culprits for creating visual stress, even if they seem innocent enough. The example I often share is the stack of books that lived by my bedside. It was like falling asleep looking at a to-do list. I resolved to remove stacks and clutter from restful and creative spaces, getting them out of sight so I can focus on how I really want to use that space.

In general, having less stuff is less work. Our possessions are more distracting than we realize. And they cost us money, energy, and more decisions to keep them maintained. To help alleviate the long-term burdens of more stuff, I remind myself of minimalist lessons to keep only what I love and use.

To make it easier to stick to these methods of decluttering, I created rules to help me out. These intentional constraints make decisions easier for the ongoing flow of physical items in and out of my house. You might try limiting yourself to certain stores, brands, or colors, or designating certain days or times for shopping or ordering, just to make things simpler. I recommend giving each item in your space a dedicated home. By developing and honoring rules for the items we buy and where we keep them, we won’t have to spend as much energy each time we make a purchase or tidy up.

Notice And Be Present 

Having done the work to simplify my calendar and my space, now it was time to allow myself to be still and be present. It takes practice.

For some of the lawyers I work with, this kind of presence is made possible by exercising choice and commitment. Avoiding multitasking, sure, but also just choosing each activity with intention. Decide you’re going to work. Decide you’re going to rest. Instead of living in limbo, commit to what you’re doing in the moment.

We are each responsible for our own pace of working and living. It’s not just because of our jobs or the notifications on our phones. Our thoughts create the feelings we have about our level of busy. We have the ability to change them.

Because even when we’re not able to choose my activities, we do have a choice in how we approach them. Practicing mindfulness can be as simple as noticing.  Notice what you’re doing, notice the sensations, notice the space around you, notice the thoughts that come up, notice any feelings. Notice your breath. Even for a short time, noticing is its own meditation. Tuning in to the physical can help us stay present instead of getting overwhelmed by our thoughts.

Give yourself a break and just be in the moment without trying to change it.  Choose to be there.

This season, you’ll find me doing a little less. I hope you’ll join me.

Laura Chipman is a marketing & privacy attorney and life coach for lawyers.  As a coach, she helps women lawyers live and practice intentionally.  As a lawyer, she takes pride in empowering her clients with practical and creative solutions to legal challenges.  Laura is also a mom to two boys and lives with her family in a 200-year-old farmhouse in rural North Carolina.  You can find more about her story at her website www.essentiallychip.com and chat with her on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraschipman.  

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