Legal Commentary

sound mind and body? TCL is too much

By David A. Giacalone

Don Hutcheson, the Editor/Publisher of the online magazine The Complete Lawyer, is a valued friend of mine. Nonetheless, I have to say this:

TCL is too big — too complete. Every edition has far too many interesting, useful, often challenging, articles and features for me to read and digest. It simply doesn’t leave me with enough time to get my weblog written, friends and family attended to, haiku crafted, and naps taken, so that I’ll feel like a well-rounded (retired) member of the legal profession. And, the topics covered by TCL are almost always too important to ignore.

Case in point: The newly-posted current edition of The Complete Lawyer (Vol. 4 No. 3, May-June 2008), which focuses on A Sound Mind in a Sound Body.  It reminds us that “Nearly 75% of TCL readers are at risk for burnout and 45% suffer from high levels of acute stress.”

The burnout is “the result of high levels of stress over time, [and] is associated with fatigue, overwork, and not enough time to get things done.” And, as you lawyer already know, the “Acute stress shows up in anxiety, difficulty concentrating, poor memory, and indecisiveness.”

To help lawyers avoid burnout and anxiety, and achieve a “sound mind in a sound body,” the new issue “focuses on proven antidotes to stress: some are traditional, such as regular exercise and improved sleep; others, like meditation, yoga, and taking cognitive rest breaks during the day, are less mainstream but have proven to be equally effective.” Among the 40+ articles and columns in the current issue, you will find:

• Are You As Stressed As Other Attorneys? by Ellen Moran, et al.

• When You Lose Sleep, Your Work And Health Suffer Dramatically by Thomas M. Heffron (who tells about judges falling asleep on bench, and lots more)
• How To Master Stress by psychologist and career coach Maynard Brusman; and
• Vacations Aren?t Luxuries by Robert Hockett

. . . . and much, much more (including mind-hygiene exercise tips from Idealawg’s Stephanie West Allen). That’s the problem. Frankly, I got tired (and synapses started misfiring) just selecting and listing 10% of the TCL pieces for you. I challenge you to read the entire new edition of TCL and still have energy left to hide your unfinished weekend to-do list, much less to achieve a sound mind and body.

What are we supposed to do tonight? Finish reading the newest TCL, or start preparing our Menudo Soup for Cinco de Mayo?

After glancing at the table of contents for the May-June 2008 issue of The Complete Lawyer, our cranky Prof. Yabut was heard mumbling: “What ever happened to the good old days, when a guy could peruse all the good stuff at an online website for lawyers while his first cup of coffee was brewing?”

new issue
of TCL
the sun sets without me

… by dagosan

Full post as published by f/k/a . . . on May 04, 2008 (boomark / email).