Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., Editor
Ellen is the founder of LawyersLifeCoach.com (TM)
Providing Personal and Career Coaching for
Women Lawyers
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Our Perspective
Women lawyers live impossibly busy lives. Finding
a balance between work and life, deciding on the
best practice area or work setting, and making
career transitions can be a daunting task, even for
the most gifted and accomplished attorney.
This newsletter is intended to help you create a
satisfying life within, or outside of, legal practice.
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In this BONUS Issue:
1. "Balancing Work & Family" by Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D.
Just published in the Florida Association of
Women Lawyers Newsletter.
2. The LawyersLifeCoach ™ Satisafaction with Life/Work
Inventory - new at http://LawyersLifeCoach.com
3. News Brief: "The Truth about Money and Happiness"
4. Books in Brief: "Stress Management for Lawyers"
5. "Awakened Lawyering" - an in-person workshop for
lawyers in the D.C. metropolitan area
6. "LawyersLifeCoach ™ Insights" - Share Your Wisdom
With Other Women Lawyers
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1. "Balancing Work & Family - Revisited"
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The following is an excerpt from an article written
by Ellen for the Spring, 2000 issue of the Florida
Association of Women Lawyers Newsletter:
"I recently consulted with an attorney in the second
trimester of her pregnancy. She was facing a dilemma
no expectant mother should ever have to face - and
one very familiar to most women attorneys who have
had, or considered having, children.
With maternity leave looming, this associate needed
to ready her projects to hand over to a colleague.
But as she tried to clear her desk, her partner
kept adding to her caseload. Her obstetrician
had advised her to minimize stress and she wanted
to - this pregnancy was particularly important
to her since her biological clock was ticking down.
As you can well understand, the prospect of telling
the partner she needed to limit her hours as her
pregnancy progressed caused her greater stress
than actually putting in those hours. Even though
she knew that she needed to rest more - for both
her baby and herself - she could not bring herself
to tell this to the partner. She was too afraid
of the repercussions on her career..."
To read more, go to:
http://LawyersLifeCoach.com/articles/story_1.html
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2. "The LawyersLifeCoach ™ Satisfaction with Life/Work
Inventory"
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I have enough time to spend with my family. T F
My work is recognized and valued. T F
I am optimistic about finding someone with
whom to share my life. T F
My work environment is free of politics
and backbiting. T F
I am familiar with the full range of
employment opportunities for lawyers. T F
I am angry or irritable fewer than twice
a month. T F
So far I have gotten the important things
I want in life. T F
These are just a few of the items you'll find
on the LawyersLifeCoach ™ Satisfaction with
Work/Life Inventory at:
http://LawyersLifeCoach.com/questionaire.html
The answers to these questions may allow you
to assess:
*** your degree of current satisfaction with
your career
*** the extent to which you currently feel
you've achieved work/life balance
*** specific areas of satisfaction and
dissatisfaction
Why not see how you score on the LawyersLifeCoach ™
Satisfaction with Work/Life Inventory?
at http://LawyersLifeCoach.com/questionaire.html
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3. News Brief: "The Truth about Money and Happiness"
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Many lawyers in the D.C. area just received significant
salary increases (along with increases in their expected
billable hours.) Shouldn't big salary increases
be a cause for joy and celebration?
The financial success you've achieved reflects many
years of hard work, both in law school and in practice,
and this deserves to be a source of great pride.
But it may not be a source of joy in the long run.
Recent psychological research (1) indicates that
although most people expect more money to improve their
life satisfaction, the fact is that money buys little
happiness.
In affluent countries where most people can afford
life's necessities, the relationship between affluence
and happiness is surprisingly weak. Although poor
people tend to be unhappy, once comfortable,
money provides diminishing returns on happiness.
The euphoria of winning the lottery wears off quickly.
Research indicates that people whose incomes have
increased over the previous decade are not happier
than those whose incomes have not.
Because of our human capacity for adaptation, good
and bad events influence our moods temporarily.
In less time than you'd imagine, the emotional
impact of a salary increase dissipates. "Thanks
to our capacity to adapt to ever greater fame
and fortune, yesterday's luxuries can soon become
today's necessities and tomorrow's relics." (2)
In fact, "the more people strive for extrinsic
goals such as money, the more numerous their
problems and the less robust their well-being." (3)
I hope you will keep reading "Beyond the
Billable Hour" ™ for information about how
you can increase life satisfaction and well-being.
Research and my own coaching experience suggest
several specific strategies are effective. We'll
explore each in turn in future issues.
Notes:
1. "American Psychologist," (2000), 55 (1).
2. Myers, D.G. (2000). The funds, friends, and
faith of happy people. "American Psychologist,"
55, p.60.
3. Kasser,T. & Ryan, R. (1996). Further examining
the American dream: Differential correlates of
intrinsic and extrinsic goals. "Personality
and Social Psychology Bulletin," 22, 280-287,
cited in Myers, D.G. (2000). "American Psychologist,"
55, p.61.
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4. Books in Brief: "Stress Management for Lawyers"
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"Stress Management for Lawyers: How to Increase Personal
and Professional Satisfaction in the Law" by Amiram
Elwork, Ph.D. The Vorkell Group, 1997.
Elwork provides a practical guide for reducing the
stress of legal practice. He reviews reasons law
is so stressful and provides a range of strategies
for reducing stress, including relaxation techniques,
time-management, emotional awareness and changing
dysfunctional thinking.
I like many of his strategies and will share the best
with you in future issues. In the interim, I highly
recommend you take a look at this valuable book.
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5. "Awakened Lawyering"
Saturday, April 29, 2000
9:30-3:30 pm Eastern time
Silver Spring, MD
$45 (lunch included)
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Lawyers in the D.C. metropolitan area have an opportunity
to learn how mindfulness can enhance their ability and
experience as lawyers. Mindfulness is simply learning
to pay more attention to what is happening in the
present, without being caught up in anxiety about the
past or future. It trains us to be able to see all
the possibilities in a situation.
This program includes group discussions, lectures,
mindfulness exercises and meditation practice and
will be taught by lawyers who are long-time students
of this meditation technique.
For further information, contact Pat Ullman at
(301) 535-0216 or pjullman@worldnet.att.net
Did you know that a personal and professional coach
can teach you mindfulness and other stress management
and work focus practices?
If you're not in the D.C. area or would like to
follow up a mindfulness workshop with ongoing
virtual coaching support, contact Ellen at
(301) 578-8686 or Ellen@LawyersLifeCoach.com
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6. LawyersLifeCoach ™ Insights - Share Your Wisdom With
Other Women Lawyers!
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Have you discovered tips that help you keep your work
and life in balance? Do you have insights into the
pressures women lawyers experience and how to deal
with them? Have you made a transition to another
area of the law or to an entirely new career?
Please share what you've learned with me.
LawyersLifeCoach.com is dedicated to helping
women lawyers thrive and will share every
valuable idea you give us. And I'll keep
your name and firm totally confidential unless
you tell me otherwise.
Please send your insights to me at:
Ellen@LawyersLifeCoach.com
and in the subject line in all caps put
"LAWYERSLIFECOACH INSIGHTS."
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BEYOND THE BILLABLE HOUR ™ is published monthly by
Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., founder of LawyersLifeCoach.com.
She brings 20 years of experience assisting women
attorneys to her work in Lawyers Life Coach ™.
LawyersLifeCoach.com is a professional and personal
coaching firm specializing in working virtually (by
phone with email and fax backup) with women attorneys
interested in developing strategies to find greater
satisfaction in their careers within the law or
in exploring career alternatives for lawyers.
Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D. established Lawyerslifecoach.com
to coach busy lawyers who might benefit from the
insights gained from 20 years as a psychologist
combined with her experience and familiarity with
the legal profession.
Ellen holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology
from the University of Rochester and is a managing
member of Metropolitan Behavioral Health Care, LLC.,
a multispecialty, multidisciplinary psychotherapy
practice in Washington, D.C. and suburban Maryland.
She is a member of the International Coach Federation
and a graduate of the Mentor Coach Program ™.
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NOTE: BEYOND THE BILLABLE HOUR ™ is intended
for informational and educational purposes only.
It is not a substitute for a personal consultation
with a mental health professional and should not
be construed as a form of, or substitute for,
counseling, psychotherapy, or other psychological
service.
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For a FREE subscription to BEYOND THE BILLABLE HOUR ™
sign up at:
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with the word subscribe in the body of the letter.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D.
LawyersLifeCoach.com
Phone: (301) 578-8686
email: Ellen@LawyersLifeCoach.com
Web: http://LawyersLifeCoach.com
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(c)Copyright 2000 Ellen Ostrow. All rights reserved.
Distribution Rights: The above material is copyrighted
but you may retransmit or distribute it to whomever you
wish as long as not a single word is changed, added
or deleted, including the contact information.
However, you may not copy it to a web site.
Reprint permission will be freely granted upon request.
Advance written permission must be obtained for any
reprinting of this material in modified or altered form.
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