Managing the White Noise of Life and Law
I like breakfast meetings. Breakfast is my favorite meal, I have my whole day after the meeting and I am free for my lunch workout. In one such meeting last week, a lawyer friend and I discussed how much white noise there is in the practice of law. White noise is the constant hum of ongoing cases in the background while you are focusing on the primary task at hand. White noise includes emails, phone calls, regular mail, staff questions, deadlines, paying bills, evaluating potential new cases, managing technology and generally running a law office. Combine this with the white noise of life (family needs, losing those 10 pounds, meeting your personal goals) and it can be a lot to manage. Sometimes even simple tasks can seem overwhelming. One of my joys is to help others when they are struggling with their white noise.
White noise is the loudest when preparing and going to trial. Just yesterday we settled a large case that was set for trial on Monday. We had 11 witnesses scheduled, over 100 exhibits marked and we were ready. To get through this tough patch, I was able to manage the white noise by leaning heavily on staff, family and friends. And each one of them came through.