Doing it all, all of the time!

An ongoing discussion on the SoloMarketing List Serve regarding marketing tips reveals that some attorneys don't find that their bar association activities and leadership positions lead to much direct business.  An earlier discussion on the SoloSez List Serve revealed that some attorneys have decided they don't get much out of their bar association memberships and thus have dropped their memberships in the various voluntary bar associations and voluntary bar sections of mandatory bar associations.  While I understand how these attorneys can believe that not much comes from their bar association activities, my response is that "you get what you put into it!"

My friends and professional colleagues may consider me to be a Bar Junky, an affectionate term for those of us attorneys who actively and regularly participate in bar associations.  A list of my activities would be too long for this post (but you can find them here), so I will just say that I've been a local and state bar leader and now am making my way into the national scene.  My participation in bar associations is deliberate on my part.  Of course, it means that I give up other activities and some rest to do it all, all of the time!  I not only have a solo practice with a full-time paralegal and a full-time paralegal assistant, but also take on pro bono cases, participate in and lead various bar associations, sit on a city board, write articles and give presentations to attorneys and "civilians" alike, mentor young attorneys and students, and still give some time to my wife.

How do I get it all done?  First, a huge disclaimer:  I don't have children!  That in and of itself frees up so much more time that many attorneys don't have.  Given that extra time, I had to decide what to do with it.  I am not one to simply lie around and rest all of the time.  Don't get me wrong, I do have my occasional lazy and restful days (July 4th this year was one), but I also don't watch much television and I don't go home at normal hours.  Sad to say that my wife has become accustomed to going asleep alone while I slip into bed some time late at night or even early in the morning!  I'm sure that's not the healthiest way to sustain a marriage, but my wife understands that I am passionate about being a lawyer and a workaholic.  Passion and the stubbornness to keep working (sometimes I miss lunch and dinner...again, not healthy) are a potent mixture.

There are other attorneys and non-attorneys alike that suffer the same affliction:  they love what they do and they can't seem to stop what they do!  As the title of this post says, we're "doing it all, all of the time!"  It's simply a matter of priorities mixed in with a little bit of craziness!  As I write this, I'm in my downtown office at 1:15 in the morning, listening to gospel music, starting a fresh pot of coffee, and settling in for a few more hours!  (Caveat:  I'm traveling to a wedding out of town tomorrow/today, so I have to be home by 10:00 a.m. to get ready to go.  That's my excuse tonight.  There always an excuse that allows me to convince myself that this behavior is good/desirable/necessary!)

Comments

[Steve Verbit]

I ask this solely out of concern for your health and well-being:

So you're in your office at 1:15 a.m. pumping yourself full of coffee, coca-cola, and chocolate (caffiene and processed sugar)settling in for a few more hours of work until you have to head home so you can arrive at 10 a.m. to begin traveling somewhere? When do you sleep???
Did you drive yourself like this before you got cancer or is this something you started doing after you were so rudely confronted with your own mortality?

[Benjamin]

Certainly I don't think I'm one to emulate regarding my health. I sleep here and there, but not as often and regular as I should. I have to admit that, while I've always been motivated and driven to work hard, my intensity greatly increased after learning of my cancer and being told I had 10 years to live. I think not acting like a typical patient, however, helped me through the cancer as I continued to work and volunteer and act as though I did not have cancer.

[SRA]

dude, when you gonna write more?