PRACTICAL QUICK HACKS to Prevent Burnout and Master the Path to Peak Performance

Lawyer peak performance and lawyer burnout prevention follow a similar path, use similar tools, and require similar steps to be successful and achieve their related goals. Here are a few quick, easy, and powerful tools to use at any moment to move you toward mastery.

ASSESS YOUR STRESS LEVEL.

The first step is to accurately assess your level of stress at any moment.  This can be done objectively by checking your heart rate, blood pressure, or whether you are clenching your jaw or tensing your muscles.  Or you can do it subjectively, noticing how anxious you are, or noticing how fast you are speaking, or how irritable you are at any moment.

You can also ask yourself, “How stressed do I feel at this moment—from 1 to 10?” and write it down, and if it is greater than a 4, consider doing something about it.

DO SOMETHING!

The next step is DO NOT WASTE TIME and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!  Hopefully, this printed “shouting” did not cause you more stress!  There are so many research-based techniques to effectively manage stress that literally take a minute, so there is no excuse to not take action.  Here are a few:

BREATHWORK.

These include breathing techniques like:

1. The “Physiological Sigh” or “Soulful Sigh,” as I call it, where you simply:

• Take a full inhale through your nose for a full breath.
• Take a quick extra short inhale through your nose on top of that.
• Breathe out long and deep through your mouth.
• Then, take a few normal breaths.

If you do this once, it has an immediate measurable effect on your nervous system switching it toward relaxation from stress.  If you do this repetitively for 5 minutes, it will have a measurable effect for 24+ hours.

Another breathing technique option is:

1. Balance Breathing Exercise or “Box Breathing” Exercises which balance your nervous system whether you are anxious or sleepy:

• Exhale fully but comfortably.
• Breathe in through your nose for 4 counts at your own comfortable pace.
• Hold your breath for 4 counts comfortably.
• Exhale through your nose for 4 counts at your own comfortable pace.
• Hold your breath after the exhale for 4 counts comfortably.
• Then breathe normally.

Do this for 2 to 5 minutes.  Your breaths and holding should be comfortable so do not worry how big or small your breaths are, just breaths and holding that feel easy are enough. 

MEDITATION.

Another powerful research-based intervention which you have likely heard about is “meditation.”  Meditation is not necessarily what you think.  Meditation does not need to be associated with any religion or religious practice to be effective, and you don’t have to have a completely still mind for it to be effective.

A quick effective meditation can be as short as 1 minute and can be is as simple as:

1. Get comfortable.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Breathe in and then out through your nose.
4. Again, breathe in through your nostrils.
5. And breathe out through your nostrils.
6. Now, keep going, and while you keep going, see if you can slow down the pace a little bit.
7. Feel if you can deepen your inhale.
8. And feel if you can deepen your exhale as well.
9. And feel the pace of breathing slow down.
10. While you keep breathing in and out through your nose.
11. While you notice how do you feel in your body.
12. Now rest, and notice the quality of your mind, your focus, and move forward. 
13. Then breathe normally and go on with your day with empowerment.

This can be accomplished standing—although sitting is overall easier.

STOPPING NEGATIVITY.

Another quick way to calm down and master stressful moments is to use the S.T.O.P. technique—a 4-step mental checklist to get you out of your head and into the moment.

  When you notice a negative thought, Think S.T.O.P. technique!

1. STOP in that moment (You can even say “STOP” aloud if possible).
2. Take a deep breath and center yourself.
3. Observe—notice and acknowledge thoughts and feelings without judgment.
4. Proceed with focused intention and move forward.

HUMOR.

Lastly, as we all know, laughter is the best medicine.  If the above tools seem too much of a chore, just pick up a comic strip, tell a joke, or watch a funny video on your phone.

CONCLUSION.

Noticing and knowing when you are “off” or stressed is the first step to doing something about it.  I hope you benefit from these simple, quick techniques.  These hacks really work!

For more valuable ways to assert your personal power and access your tools for peak performance while avoiding lawyer burnout, visit NBI’s Website for wellness continuing legal education content, and also check out Minute2Mastery.com.

Good luck on your journey to stress reduction, peak performance, and personal mastery!

Jeff “KD” Meyers, M.D., L.Ac., is a physician, acupuncturist, and educator with an extensive background in rehabilitation medicine and holistic approaches to peak performance, medicine, the arts, and spirituality.

He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and completed his post-doctoral training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Pennsylvania. He has practiced Western and integrative medicine for over 25 years.

He teaches internationally on topics related to happiness, rehabilitation medicine, stress management/resilience, yoga/Ayurveda, acupuncture, somato-typology/constitutional diagnosis/body reading, meditation, and somatic practices (including somatic breathwork).

For over 25 years he has led seminars and classes that explore the interrelationship of biology and consciousness to the arts, sciences, spirituality and stress reduction.