Mindful Moment

In law, it can be tempting to say yes to every client request, colleague expectation, or organizational demand. Without limits, however, burnout is the likely price to be paid for overextending mentally, emotionally, or physically. Limits are a way of setting a boundary to protect energy, cultivate stamina, and preserve professional longevity. Working within your limits allows your mind and body to recover and remain functional amidst ongoing demands.

How do you know that you are close to reaching your limit before you actually reach it? Setting the intention to pause and notice your body’s signals is a reliable place to start. A racing heart, tense neck, shallow breathing, or furrowed eyebrows can indicate when limits are about to be stretched too far. Paying attention to these somatic cues as they arise allows you to recognize early warning signs of overload.

Mindfulness provides a helpful lens for noticing and defining your limits. Pausing throughout the work day to pay attention to what is happening in the present moment without judging yourself will better equip you to work within your limits. Every hour you work, try this:

1. Pause
2. Notice without judgement what is happening for you
3. Check for tension
4. Notice breathing patterns
5. Identify your emotional state
6. Ask yourself what you need
7. Listen for answer
8. Take a small action

For example:

[Pause].
I’m aware that I’m making errors.
It makes sense to me that I am making errors because I am tired.
I’m aware that I am tense, holding my breath, and irritable.
What do I need right now?

[Pause and listen to the answer].
“I need 10 minutes to finish what I am working on. Then I need a 20 minute break so I can come back refreshed and focused.”

The next time you feel your mind or body is overextending, pay attention. Think of setting limits not as restrictions, but as short term strategies for long term success. Every small limit you set becomes an investment in your resilience and the longevity of your legal career.

Laura Mahr is a North Carolina and Oregon lawyer and the founder of Conscious Legal Minds LLC, providing well-being consulting, training, and resilience coaching for attorneys and law offices nationwide. Through the lens of neurobiology, Laura helps build strong leaders, happy lawyers, and effective teams. After bringing herself back from the brink of burnout with the tools she now teaches, Laura brings lived experience and compassion to thousands of lawyers, judges, and support staff each year in her writing, coaching, and CLE trainings. Her work is informed by 13 years of practice as a civil sexual assault attorney, 30 years as a teacher and student of mindfulness and yoga, and ten years studying neurobiology and neuropsychology with clinical pioneers. If you would like help setting healthy limits for yourself or your legal team contact Laura at consciouslegalminds.com.