Hi Fellow Lawyer, I don't think anything has been started as of yet.
Do you have any ideas on what forum we can use?
In the meantime, I've been reading Scattered Minds by Gabor Mate. It's very informative and helpful. Also gave me a perspective that I may only have a mild ADHD. Especially when compared with others. Probably why I could do without medication or professional help. However, somedays, the motivation just runs out. I'm finding it increasingly hard to battle procrastination, keep myself focused and abstain from over-indulgence (food/alcohol).
Even tried being sober. Successfully completed a month. It did not help with my low motivation problem though.
I am a lawyer with few years behind me practicing with a relatively relaxed team in M&A plus PE, etc. Off late, it is becoming impossible to keep up the time sheets, and/or mundane deliverables. Tools and tech has to an extent helped me, but deliverables that can be done by others in few hours usually are taking me into an all-nighter. I stay away from socials and media to conserve my time, but I am lost.
It is not that I am lazy or do nothing, as is usual with cases like ours, with increasing propensity my focus is driven towards other news items, advisory matters (I am golden when you need a opinion, connect the dots). I am however turning into an highly inconsistent and unreliable performer. My team is supportive, however it doesn't make sense to stick around for paycheck if I cannot deliver. I haven't yet found or sought professional help, because I could manage till now. My diagnosis was long ago, and I haven't had trouble even during my studies at law school.
I seek your counsel, because I feel from another thread that few of you seem to be struggling with the issue, plus advise on whether I should maybe pivot to another line of work before it becomes too late.
Since I quit working in a law firm and eating and sleeping well, I realised my adhd tendencies have really reduced.
It's a mixture of good sleep (which included learning sleep hygiene and actually prioritising and valuing sleep), good healthy food (I've stopped eating outside except really occasionally), exercising daily, and ensuring my B12, VitD3, Omega 3s are all in order.
As a starting point, get a blood test done and see if you need to focus on any specific thing first (Vit D, B12, etc). If you feel this is a recent thing then it could be your body telling you something is amiss.
I am working in the M&A team of a tier I law firm in Mumbai and I have been recently diagnosed with ADHD (had a proper clinical evaluation from a psychiatrist). For a long time my understanding has been that maybe I am in a bad team and the people don't really understand how hard I work and they just criticize me for small things and so I changed teams and law firms a couple of times and realized that some issues were just constant for me and that made me realize that it can't always be the team, it's probably just me.
Things like time management and meeting deadlines are so difficult and then reading so many documents become so exhausting. Taking/following instructions like the way partners and seniors give instructions in law firms is difficult for me to catch and follow and as a result I often end up doing things incorrectly. The motivation to start working is never there and even when I know it's a simple thing which I can finish on time, I leave it for later because I don't have the energy/motivation to start it.
It's not like I am not trying, I know I work very hard and I try to do things correctly to the best of my ability. I know I take longer to get work done so I put in extra late nights so that I am on time with my work. But no matter what I do, I am unable to do things correctly and seniors are always telling me how my work is not perfect and how that's not acceptable. And I like the work so it can't be because I have no interest in the work I do. Unfortunately, because of another underlying medical issue, I can't take certain medication including some usually used for ADHD.
These things in school and college had no major consequences but in law firms these issues have consequences and before I know it, I will become that associate who is bad with work and have a reputation. I am always anxious and stressed and that has it's own impact on health.
I found this thread recently and I understand there are corporate lawyers here who have lived through this and I want to seek some guidance with regards to what I should do and what alternatives I may have here? Would really appreciate some help as I am really struggling.
Do you have any ideas on what forum we can use?
In the meantime, I've been reading Scattered Minds by Gabor Mate. It's very informative and helpful. Also gave me a perspective that I may only have a mild ADHD. Especially when compared with others. Probably why I could do without medication or professional help. However, somedays, the motivation just runs out. I'm finding it increasingly hard to battle procrastination, keep myself focused and abstain from over-indulgence (food/alcohol).
Even tried being sober. Successfully completed a month. It did not help with my low motivation problem though.
I am a lawyer with few years behind me practicing with a relatively relaxed team in M&A plus PE, etc. Off late, it is becoming impossible to keep up the time sheets, and/or mundane deliverables. Tools and tech has to an extent helped me, but deliverables that can be done by others in few hours usually are taking me into an all-nighter. I stay away from socials and media to conserve my time, but I am lost.
It is not that I am lazy or do nothing, as is usual with cases like ours, with increasing propensity my focus is driven towards other news items, advisory matters (I am golden when you need a opinion, connect the dots). I am however turning into an highly inconsistent and unreliable performer. My team is supportive, however it doesn't make sense to stick around for paycheck if I cannot deliver. I haven't yet found or sought professional help, because I could manage till now. My diagnosis was long ago, and I haven't had trouble even during my studies at law school.
I seek your counsel, because I feel from another thread that few of you seem to be struggling with the issue, plus advise on whether I should maybe pivot to another line of work before it becomes too late.
[Prior longer ADHD Thread here, for reference: https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/186810-Lawyers-with-ADHD- ]
It's a mixture of good sleep (which included learning sleep hygiene and actually prioritising and valuing sleep), good healthy food (I've stopped eating outside except really occasionally), exercising daily, and ensuring my B12, VitD3, Omega 3s are all in order.
As a starting point, get a blood test done and see if you need to focus on any specific thing first (Vit D, B12, etc). If you feel this is a recent thing then it could be your body telling you something is amiss.
Cheers
Things like time management and meeting deadlines are so difficult and then reading so many documents become so exhausting. Taking/following instructions like the way partners and seniors give instructions in law firms is difficult for me to catch and follow and as a result I often end up doing things incorrectly. The motivation to start working is never there and even when I know it's a simple thing which I can finish on time, I leave it for later because I don't have the energy/motivation to start it.
It's not like I am not trying, I know I work very hard and I try to do things correctly to the best of my ability. I know I take longer to get work done so I put in extra late nights so that I am on time with my work. But no matter what I do, I am unable to do things correctly and seniors are always telling me how my work is not perfect and how that's not acceptable. And I like the work so it can't be because I have no interest in the work I do. Unfortunately, because of another underlying medical issue, I can't take certain medication including some usually used for ADHD.
These things in school and college had no major consequences but in law firms these issues have consequences and before I know it, I will become that associate who is bad with work and have a reputation. I am always anxious and stressed and that has it's own impact on health.
I found this thread recently and I understand there are corporate lawyers here who have lived through this and I want to seek some guidance with regards to what I should do and what alternatives I may have here? Would really appreciate some help as I am really struggling.