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Why firm owners need a holistic approach to work/life balance
In the fast-paced and often stressful world of law, an award-winning sole practitioner stressed the importance of firm owners employing a holistic approach to their work life.
Grace Robbie
In a recent episode of The Boutique Lawyer Show, Claire Styles, the founder and principal of C Legal and the winner of the Sole Practitioner category at the 2023 Women in Law Awards, underscored the significance of SME firm owners to create a lifestyle that mirrors and aligns with their professional objectives and personal wellbeing, to live a life filled with fulfilment.
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In the same episode, she advised SME law firm owners to use this new financial year to reflect on the past year’s accomplishments and setbacks and establish clear, intentional goals for the year ahead.
Styles began by drawing a distinction between the career paths of previous generations and those of today, emphasising how earlier generations tended to focus mainly on their career trajectory and longevity.
“Gone are the days when I think back to my parents, where you are in a job and you are in that job for your entire life, and there’s loyalty. They’re working towards retirement, and retirement’s the big goal,” she said.
She explained how the traditional perspective of life within the legal profession has evolved with younger generations entering the workforce who prioritise leading a well-rounded life that encompasses personal fulfilment alongside professional success.
“My generation and the one younger than me who’s currently coming through the legal profession, really value the idea that we can create a life that ticks all boxes.
“One where we can do everything. We may not be able to do everything all at the same time, but we’re able to do everything that we want to do in our lives if we’re lucky,” she said.
Given the substantial amount of time that individuals dedicate to their professional responsibilities, Styles expressed the importance of carrying out daily moments for self-care to maintain your overall wellbeing and live a successful life.
“We work 80 per cent of our lives if you like. Our five days a week and two days off are an 80/20 split.
“If you’re not able to achieve some sort of space in your day, every day, that ticks off that personal self-care bucket if you’re not able to tick off at least 10 minutes a day in that space, to me, you’re not going to have a successful day or a week because you’re going to come to the weekend and you’re going to be pretty burnt out,” she said.
One key strategy that Styles has implemented to allocate personal time effectively within her demanding routine as an SME firm owner is to use the time before her workday to complete personal activities that she finds enjoyable.
“I’ve really prioritised my 5:00 to 09:00am before my nine-to-five. This is sacred to me. I am up at five. I’m at the gym at 5:30. I might go for my sole dip in the morning in the ocean. I have my coffee either with friends or on my own, and I’m hitting work by 09:00am. I’m still able to manage all those things,” she said.
Styles also insisted that even the busiest individuals need to find time in their schedules to pursue activities that provide the utmost fulfilment.
“I am a big person who’s a big scheduler. My schedule’s super busy, but you need to schedule that ‘me time’.
“For somebody that might be reading a book in nature, for somebody else, it might be going for a swim in the ocean. Something that grounds you, that brings down that nervous system, that allows you to have more capacity for running a firm,” she said.
“At the end of the day, number one, being a lawyer is tough; it’s a tough career. Number two, being a law firm owner is even more tough because you’ve got that extra layer of running a business and also working in the business.”
