Ways To Stay Motivated In Your Career During The Holidays

A stop-gap solution — at best — to staying motivated during the holidays.

It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend, and your inbox has been nonstop all day. I know the feeling all too well — as both a practicing lawyer and entrepreneur — it never ends. Many of us (myself included) wish that responding to emails burned calories, especially to make up for that extra piece of apple or pumpkin pie we added to our Thanksgiving plate.

As Thanksgiving approaches, we have this sudden awakening that the end of the year is upon us. Like you, I have lists of things I intended to do (such as organizing the walk-in closet in my bedroom), but never got around to for various reasons. Suddenly, our to-do lists have their own to-do lists, and the distractions of planning a glorious holiday meal, shopping online, or scheduling a last-minute vacation might also derail our thoughts.

Sponsored How You Can Ensure Open Source License Compliance Won't Tank A Transaction Steps for lawyers and legal teams to achieve continuous compliance with OSS license requirements and anticipate market trends From Above The Law and Fossa

If a career move is on the horizon for you at the end of 2021 or the first quarter of 2022, staying motivated can be daunting, especially during the holiday season. Whether you’re looking to leave Biglaw, go in-house, or start your own law firm, there are things you can be doing right now to keep that fire burning inside of you — both personally and professionally.

At this time of the year, probably like you, I crave more mind-body balance — much of this is due to feeling the weight (no pun intended) of the past 11 months on me. I am tired, burned out, and in desperate need of extra physical and mental care. With the cooler weather finally landing in South Florida, the mornings are perfect for a 30- to 45-minute walk to keep my mind and body moving. For me, a morning walk can consist of listening to an episode of a motivational podcast, often making it the catalyst for a great start to my day before I respond to emails that came in overnight or my first set of morning calls. It will keep your stress levels in check during the holiday season.

googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display("div-id-for-storycontent-440x100"); }); googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display("div-id-for-in-story-youtube-1x1"); });

Prioritizing your work and giving yourself the space to enjoy family time is also key during the holiday season. The last four weeks of the calendar year tend to move at a more rapid pace, often taking us for a wild ride. Focus on the daily goals – but also allow yourself to focus on the bigger goals such as updating your resume and your LinkedIn profile because an opportunity might just come knocking when you least expect it. Look through past performance evaluations to see where you can fill in gaps of results or representative engagements in your resume. Reach out to a former managing attorney or mentor for that much-needed reference check.

Give yourself 20 minutes a day twice a week to reach out to old connections on LinkedIn or build new ones — now is the ideal time to focus on that network with a warm outreach for a holiday greeting. If you’re in full-on job search mode, be sure to turn on alerts for sites such as goinhouse.com or even LinkedIn’s job search portal. Make sure you’re following companies of interest on LinkedIn and create a targeted list of company executives you plan to follow-up with during the holiday season. Don’t overlook legal recruiters you may have heard from in months or years past — follow up with them during the holiday season. Inquire about the ratio of remote work versus hybrid and on-site job opportunities — this can also tell you how the legal market is changing and evolving in the post-Covid world. Ramp up some of those CLEs you’ve been itching to take in new and emerging areas of the law — this can be a great resume booster and terrific conversation ice breaker.

Sponsored 2021 State of U.S. Small Law Firms Explore the challenges solo and small lawyers are facing and the solutions they are pursing to best prepare their practices for the future. From Thomson Reuters

While we are still navigating virtual holiday parties and virtual networking sessions, consider partaking in these to ramp up some new contacts and connect with ones you haven’t spoken to in some time. As you can see, the holiday season is ripe with opportunities to network and mingle.

Wendi Weiner is an attorney, career expert, and founder of The Writing Guru, an award-winning executive resume writing services company. Wendi creates powerful career and personal brands for attorneys, executives, and C-suite/Board leaders for their job search and digital footprint. She also writes for major publications about alternative careers for lawyers, personal branding, LinkedIn storytelling, career strategy, and the job search process. You can reach her by email at [email protected], connect with her on LinkedIn, and follow her on Twitter @thewritingguru.

Topics

Health and Wellness, Motivation, Wendi Weiner


Introducing Jobbguru: Your Gateway to Career Success

The ultimate job platform is designed to connect job seekers with their dream career opportunities. Whether you're a recent graduate, a seasoned professional, or someone seeking a career change, Jobbguru provides you with the tools and resources to navigate the job market with ease. 

Take the next step in your career with Jobbguru:

Don't let the perfect job opportunity pass you by. Join Jobbguru today and unlock a world of career possibilities. Start your journey towards professional success and discover your dream job with Jobbguru.

Originally posted on: https://abovethelaw.com/2021/11/ways-to-stay-motivated-in-your-career-during-the-holidays/