Wellness Check: Are You
Really on Vacation?
Suggestions for establishing a balanced line between work and relaxation
I
’d really like to know if the
inventor of e-mail took
vacations. Was it really so
long ago that a modern law practice featured
simply voicemail for telephone calls after
hours? For those in practice just a few years,
that word “fax” represents the intermediate
generation of written correspondence, faster
than U.S. Mail or overnight delivery, but still
only sent to your office, not popping up on an
electronic device that is constantly with you,
30
June/July 2019
STEVE KIRSON
Kessler & Solomiany, LLC
Wellness Committee Member
with the expectation of an instant response.
When I was asked for suggestions on how
to unplug during vacation, several thoughts
immediately came to mind. Ironically, I was
on a cruise ship docked at Civitavecchia,
Italy, near Rome, so yes I needed to research
and write an article on how to “unplug.”
At least now I know that I’m not alone.
Too many, if not all of us, have had email,
text, and cell phone communication with
partners, support staff, opposing counsel
and courts while on vacation. We used to
dread the enormous stacks of messages and
mail waiting for us upon our return, but,
at least before we were plugged in 24/7,
we returned refreshed and rested. Today’s
challenge is how to navigate the modern
technology and expectations but still
allow ourselves to have down time, family
time, and maintain personal connections
that make us the successful professionals
our clients choose to hire and trust.
A
s a family law practitioner, my clients are
always going through the toughest time
in their lives, and everything is urgent. Labor
and employment lawyers have clients whose
companies may operate 24/7, and issues can
arise at any time. Attorneys keeping track of
billable hours stress that an hour of vacation
is a missed opportunity to work toward
personal or firm goals. In a competitive
legal
marketplace,
an
unanswered
message could mean the loss of a client.
In my own experience, observations
of successful colleagues I admire, and
through just a bit of research I have found