Hi, and welcome to The Former Lawyer Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Cottrell. I practiced law for 10 years and now I help unhappy lawyers ditch their soul-sucking jobs. On this show, I share advice and strategies for aspiring former lawyers, and interviews with former lawyers who have left the law behind to find careers and lives that they love.

Hello, my friends. You already have heard a variation of this if you are on my email list, but I wanted to put this here on the podcast as well here in 2025 because if you're struggling to get things done, given all the everything that is currently happening in the world—in the U.S. specifically, if you're based in the U.S. like I am—I just want to say that I am right there with you.

My socials for Former Lawyer have been quiet because right now, so I would have previously said because right now I'm doing the bare minimum. But actually, a couple of years ago, I did a meditation workshop with Cath Zack, who's been on the podcast—former lawyer, now yoga and meditation teacher—who was wonderful, and I highly recommend.

But anyway, I was doing this workshop, and Cath was talking about the idea of the bare minimum. She offered a reframe, which I have actually found very helpful, which is instead of saying, "I'm doing the bare minimum," to say, "I'm taking care of what is essential."

And so now, when I have an impulse to say, "I'm doing the bare minimum," I try to instead say, "I'm taking care of what is essential." And in any event, that is where I am right now. I think that's true for a lot of people.

My point in bringing this up is there are two reasons I want to bring this up. One is just, you are not alone. If this is how you feel, then you are not alone. We are all doing the best that we can.

But also, I have found in working with lawyers that it's very common for someone who's a lawyer, when they are overwhelmed or have too much on their plate or are struggling in some way, for their default to be, "Oh, I must not be motivated enough."

"I'm not doing all of the things that I would like to be doing, ideally, because I'm not motivated enough." Essentially, "Because there's something wrong with me, because I'm a bad person," is often the core underlying idea like, "If I just tried harder, I would be doing more. If I just tried harder, I would not be struggling so much to take care of what is essential."

And specifically, with my clients, often what we're talking about is the work they are doing to figure out what it is that they want to do that isn't practicing law. So that can be, for people who are in the Collab, working through the modules, taking the assessments, taking the time to do the reflection related to that, putting together other plans in terms of figuring out, "Okay, but what does all this mean?"

And the same thing with people I'm working with one-on-one. There are always things to be done. And I think often, lawyers who are in that position of, "I really want to get out of the law, but also everything is a lot right now," can feel like, "Oh, well, I must not really want to leave. I must not really want to leave because I'm not doing everything I possibly could do related to figuring things out. And that must be a motivation problem. I must not be motivated enough. I must be doing something wrong."

And I'm here to tell you, 99% of the time, when I'm talking to a lawyer who is saying, "I just need to be more motivated," when we actually talk about their circumstances, it's not actually a question of motivation.

It's literally, there are only so many hours in the day, there are only so many things one person can do, and there's a level of triage and prioritizing that happens. That means maybe you aren't going to spend a bunch of time this particular week doing things that will more directly help you figure out what it is that you want to do that isn't practicing law.

And that's not a personal failure or like, "Oh, you could have, but you didn't." It's like, you are a human being, and you have limits, and that is okay. That is normal. In the same way, for just things in general right now, if you are struggling and feel like you're doing the bare minimum or even less than the bare minimum, just trying to keep up with your job and everything else, that's not because you're doing anything wrong. It's because it's a lot.

I think that often, for lawyers, just seeing that, "Oh, this isn't a motivation problem. This isn't an 'I'm just not trying hard enough' problem. This is a 'this is a lot/there are only so many hours a day, the reality of my life is such that I can only do so much at any given time,’" can actually be really helpful.

Because instead of having this internal monologue of, "I'm not trying hard enough, I'm not motivated," and attributing all of these negative qualities to yourself, just being able to say, "Yeah, this is where things are right now, and that is okay," can be super helpful in terms of not causing yourself unnecessary distress, but also ultimately, both helps you get through the period that you're in, but also, it means that when things shift and you do have more time and ability to devote to things directly related to figuring out what you want to do that isn't practicing law, you can do it.

And you don't have to feel like, "Oh, I've been failing by not doing it, and now I need to make things up," and blah, blah, blah. What I'm really saying is being kind to yourself actually matters. Struggling, especially in our current environment, of course, that makes sense. That makes sense.

Listen, it wouldn't be The Former Lawyer Podcast if I didn't also say that I really strongly recommend that you see a therapist if you do not yet. Because one of the things a therapist can do is help you untangle: "Is this just all of the things, or is there something more at play here? Am I dealing with clinical depression or anxiety or something else? Or is it just being a human in the world in the state that it is currently in?"

So that's what I have to share with you this week. If you're struggling to get things done, you're not alone. It's very human. And being human is good. And you are a human. And that is okay. I'm telling you these things because these are the things that I need to hear as well. I'm really glad that you're here and listening to this podcast, and I'll talk to you next week.

Thanks so much for listening. I absolutely love getting to share this podcast with you. If you haven't yet, I invite you to download my free guide: First Steps to Leaving the Law at formerlawyer.com/first. Until next time, have a great week.