How to care less about work? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm a 3rd year in a transactional group and has been pulling off 300+ hours for three months straight. Needless to say I'm completely burned out. I hate this job but want to stick it out until the 7th year for the money. As little meaning as I find in the work, I try to do a good job, being responsive, paying attention to details, etc. However, my people-pleaser instincts are taking a toll on my mental (and physical) health. In addition to the long hours, I find myself under a lot of stress, constantly feeling anxious about the to-dos and deadlines. There are people at my firm who apparently don't put in a good-faith effort and just plainly don't care about how they are perceived by partners/clients. Many of them stick around for quite some time. I'm envious of their position and want to follow suit, but find it hard to care less about work and get the stress out of my mind. Any helpful tips/resources?

[jotarokujo]

you're 95% the way there with "finding little meaning in the work". that alone separates you from the gunners. the last thing you need to do is to not be so attached to staying 7 years. think "it would be cool if I did, but i dont have to stay that long"

[attorney589753]

There is no good solution because you care about your work, take pride, and want to do a good job. By the way that is a good thing; the problem is that in a law firm environment it is especially easy for people to take advantage of that. And if you are the type of person who gives a fuck, I don't think switching from 10 to 0 is ever going to work.

While I don't think there is any complete fix to this problem, a few tips: You could consider lateral to a less busy firm or at least one where 300+ isn't the norm. You could try to take on fewer deals; one thing I told myself was that "if you say yes to this, you are implicitly saying no to something else" (whether that something else is the next deal that you might have liked better, or just doing high quality on all your current deals, or spending time to yourself over the weekend). I think maybe also just laying down a realistic expectation with yourself (and perhaps a trusted mentor, depending on the place) that if you want to make it 7 years in, you will need to dial it down a bit, marathon not a sprint mentality. Good luck.

[jotarokujo]

another piece not really about caring less but just general: when you respond to an email giving you something to do, respond quickly but don't actually say when you'll have it done by. do not give yourself deadlines - if it's urgent, they will give you a deadline

and that's if you say yes. you can also say no if you have too much