I was hospitalised with burnout. Now my mission is to stop junior solicitors suffering the same fate

In 2017, I suffered a major burnout. It put me in hospital for three days as I lost the ability to walk. It took me three months to recover.

Before this, I’d been a solicitor for several years before making a move into HR with a focus on learning and development. I had even been about to embark on my own business.

Then it hit me. My burnout had started in my legal career, and I’d been keeping it at bay by moving jobs and waiting for holidays. But it had finally all come crashing down.

Up until that point, whenever anyone had spoken to me about burnout, I thought “they just need a holiday”, or “they’re just tired and need a day off”. I had no appreciation of its seriousness.

Burnout starts in our mind with stress, overwhelm and exhaustion, the sense of being unable to keep up with constant demands.

Left unchecked, it manifests itself physically. Our bodies find a way to make us stop.

And that’s what my body did. It literally took my legs from under me because I hadn’t put things in place to help me.

It was only during those three months recovering that I decided to take burnout seriously and prevent it from happening again.

I had already decided I wanted to set up my coaching business, but I knew supporting lawyers to prevent or get through burnout had to be my focus.

From all the tools and techniques I learnt, and all the reading I did during that time, I discovered that one of the key elements – and the starting point of burnout – is your beliefs about yourself and your role.

History repeating itself

Junior solicitors are still struggling today with the same things I struggled with as a junior solicitor.

If you decide to pursue a legal career, you are not afraid of hard work and quite often thrive under pressure. You’re likely to have very high self-expectations and revel in a challenge.

When you couple that with a belief that you should be able to do anything – and do it perfectly – mixed in with the expectations of the firm and clients, it becomes a melting pot that makes it impossible to switch off. It’s not physically or mentally sustainable.

As a junior solicitor, I used to believe that I was only as good as my last achievement.

That was my identity. My list of achievements was who I was.

I said yes to everything that was asked of me, thinking that the more I achieved, the better I would feel about myself.

But because I was saying yes to everything, I wasn't paying attention to what I needed for my wellbeing and development.

I ended up in a situation where it was ‘all work and no play’ because I had no boundaries in place around what is important to me.

Burn bright

Burning bright – rather than burning out – starts with a positive belief in yourself, your skills and abilities.

Once that’s in place, you can establish boundaries around what is important to you.

You respect these boundaries because they uphold your belief, which means other people also respect them.

You can then create the balance you need (whatever balance means to you) to move forward.

If you want to be successful in law, there need to be some boundaries.

Taking accountability for your own beliefs and actions will get you your power back. It starts with small steps to create healthy habits.

Making these adjustments will help you find your pathway to burning bright:

• set clear boundaries through open conversation with leadership: the senior partners I speak to take wellbeing seriously and would much prefer an open dialogue on work-life balance. For example, you might be willing to pitch in on late evenings when it matters, but you also need to go to tennis twice a week for mental and physical health. They will often support you more than you expect
• prioritise small changes: small changes can make a big difference in your day. When I was training, leaving the office for lunch most days was a thing. Now it’s not so common. Even if it’s just on a Friday, it’s something to look forward to
• practise setting boundaries in your personal life: if setting boundaries feels a bit scary, try setting some with family first. Give yourself permission to decline a family event if you need a quiet day – they will understand and the world won’t come to an end
• build a supportive (real life) social network: create connections with other junior solicitors who understand your challenges, in a safe space where you can let off steam. Sharing experiences can lighten the load and foster camaraderie
• don’t just socialise at work events: a lot of junior lawyers I talk to find there is always a work angle to socialising, whether that be business development, networking or upskilling. Have a think about what else makes you tick, outside of work, to start building in activities where you’re not trying to sell the firm!

Resilience doesn’t mean pushing through – there is greater strength in putting your hand up and asking for help.

Think of maintaining your energy, confidence, and focus like a bank account. You can’t keep making withdrawals without topping up the funds.