The aim of Well-Being Week in Law (WWIL), presented by the Institute for Well-Being in Law, is to raise awareness about mental health and encourage action and innovation across the profession all year-round to improve well-being. This year's overall theme is Well-Being Reboot: A Fresh Start for Positive Change. It embodies two key ideas: (1) a clean slate to start/restart our well-being action plans and (2) behavior change toward greater well-being.
1. Fresh Starts
The "fresh start" theme stems from research by Dr. Katy Milkman and other behavioral change scholars. It shows that the psychological experience of a new beginning (e.g., New Year's, first of the month, Mondays, birthdays) gives us extra motivation to make progress on our goals.
Fresh starts make us feel like we can turn the page on our past failures. They also give us a chance to diagnose the reasons why our new habits aren't sticking.
This research inspired the WWIL theme. Many of us make well-being resolutions in January. By May, if our busy lives have gotten in the way of our big intentions, we may benefit from a reboot. We can put our failures behind us and celebrate a fresh start for building the healthy lives we really want.
2. Positive Change
The second part of the theme is positive change. Mental health education is helpful. Alone, though, it rarely causes people to make the real-life changes needed to improve their well-being.
So, although the Institute for Well-Being in Law will still provide education, they are encouraging a focus on personal experiments and behavioral psychology tools to support change toward greater well-being.
Jump To:
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Striving for regular activity, good diet and nutrition, enough sleep, and recovery.
Limiting addictive substances and seeking help for physical health when needed. |
Stack Up Your Steps
Get physically active for 25 minutes today through small bouts of activity all day.
Keep it going for the rest of the week ... and beyond.
Our goal is to do at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week -
ideally, aim for 300 minutes. This translates to 22 to 42 minutes per day. You can
count bouts of physical activity of any length (e.g., walking briskly from the parking
lot). Also try to work in two days of muscle-strengthening activity. (See U.S. DHHS’s
2018 Physical Activity Guidelines).
Be creative and stay positive about moving ("Yay - more chances for steps!"):
- Walk (briskly) whenever possible - e.g., to work, for coffee, to lunch, to talk to
colleagues, etc.
- When you drive, park far away.
- Replace sit-down meetings with walking meetings.
- While watching TV, walk on a treadmill, ride a stationary bike, or do strength
exercises.
- Don't carry everything at once - e.g., take multiple trips to bring in grocery bags.
- Walk your dog one more time.
- Use a timer to remind yourself to get up and move at least 3-4 minutes every hour.
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Try Something New - or Renewed
Engage in physical activity for at least 30 minutes that's new to you or that you've dropped
but want to start again. Ideally, pick something you enjoy, that's challenging and helps you
grow, and builds connections with others. Research says these elements will give you the
biggest bang for your buck for the physical-mental well-being connection.
Ideas: Pilates, yoga, pickleball, all forms of dancing, outdoor biking, indoor cycling class,
Tai Chi, basketball, Zumba, hiking, daily walk, boxing training, strength training, tennis,
jogging club, aerial silks, Barre class.
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Sleep Tight
Use the DREAM acronym to improve your sleep quantity and quality. Sleep really is
a well-being superpower.
D is for Darkness. Darkness is essential, as light disrupts melatonin production, the
hormone that signals sleepiness. Blackout curtains or a sleep mask can significantly
improve sleep.
R is for Routine and E is for Establishing a Schedule. Consistency is also key. Go
to bed and wake up at the same time each day, even on weekends, to regulate your
body's natural sleep-wake cycle. Also think about incorporating a pre-sleep routine
into your day.
A is for Avoiding Screens. Electronic devices emit blue light, which suppresses
melatonin. Power down phones, laptops, and TVs at least an hour before bed.
M is for Moving & Eating to Maximize Sleep. Regular physical activity promotes
better sleep, but avoid strenuous workouts close to bedtime as they can be stimulating.
Avoid heavy meals, caffeine, and alcohol before bed, as they can disrupt sleep patterns.
By incorporating these evidence-based practices, you can create a sleep routine that
promotes restful nights and re-energized days.
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Cultivating a sense of meaning and purpose in work and life. Aligning our work
and lives with our values, goals and interests |
Bursts of Benevolence
Do five new things that positively impact or improve the welfare of work colleagues
or clients. Choose things outside your normal work routine, and do them all in one day.
Research says you'll get a boost in your work's meaningfulness.
Try it out today (or sometime this month) and consider adding it to your monthly calendar.
Writing down your helpful activities and reflecting on them can help too.
For some ideas, check out the Acts of Kindness Activity Guide.
This activity is based on Prof. Blake Allan's research, Helping others increase meaningful
work. Helping others increases meaningful work.
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Find the Spark: Create Meaning in Everyday Work
Cheers to all you lawyers and legal professionals who wake up each day feeling
inspired by your purpose-driven work. For the many who don't quite feel that way,
there's much you can do to create more daily meaningfulness.
Meaningfulness often emerges from personal growth; feeling that our contributions
matter; service to others; and feeling like a valued part of something bigger than
ourselves.
So, to create more meaningfulness, you can, for example, connect with clients to hear
how your work supports them professionally and personally. Help your colleagues.
Think about how your smaller piece of work fits into the larger whole. Find ways to
express your skills, strengths, and values more fully through your work.
To spur your thinking about creating more meaningfulness, ask yourself these three
questions and then take action:
- How does this work impact another human being?
- What is made possible by my work?
- How can I use one of my strengths to do this task?
It takes some attention and effort but all the little bits add up to a more meaningful
work experience - which, in turn, can boost your well-being and engagement.
For more information and ideas, see Dr. Anne Brafford's article, Judge’s Well-Being
and the Importance of Meaningful Work (which applies to everyone, not only judges).
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Tap Into The Power of Awe
Do something today to inspire awe. Awe can enhance our experience of meaning in
life and well-being by reminding us of our interconnectedness, the external splendor
in our world, and larger purposes. Here's a short article on awe titled Why You Need
to Protect Your Sense of Wonder.
Idea #1: Take a photo of something awe-inspiring and post it on LinkedIn, using
#WWIL2024. Check out this short article for advice. Post your photos on the
Community Photo Wall on the Well-Being Week In Law website.
Idea #2: Build a music playlist that inspires a sense of awe. For inspiration, here's
a link to a podcast called How Music Evokes Awe.
Idea #3: Go stargazing tonight. You don't need fancy equipment to embrace the
wonder of the night sky. If you'd like advice to get started, check out this beginner’s
guide and head outside.
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Seeking personal satisfaction, continuous learning and growth in our professional
and personal lives, and financial stability. Engaging in creative or intellectually
challenging activities that foster ongoing development and monitoring cognitive
wellness. |
Stretch Yourself
Positive challenge and continual growth are strong sources of mental well-being,
while stagnation and underutilization of skills and strengths are related to depressive
symptoms. To experiment with this source of well-being, pick an area for personal
growth (at work or home) and make a specific action plan for the next 3 months.
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Build Breaks Into Your Work Day
Take several breaks throughout your work day to help you maintain focus, brain
health, and mental well-being. Our brain starts to repair themselves during breaks
as short as 10 minutes.
There aren't one-size-fits all rules about breaks, so find what works for you. Use
an hourly timer as a reminder to check in with your mind and body about whether
it's time for a break. Or add daily breaks as calendar entries. Encourage and support
colleagues in doing the same and avoid break-shaming.
Here's a short article about Breaks for Breakthroughs for further guidance.
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Turn Off The TV; Turn Up Your Personal Growth
For just today, curb or eliminate TV-watching - the leisure activity that occupies
the most time for the average American (about 3 hours per day). In that time slot,
do something you enjoy (alone or with others) that helps you grow intellectually,
interpersonally, or creatively. Such mini experiments might give us the insight and
inspiration needed to begin to make new, healthier choices about how to invest our
nonwork time.
Ideas: Read a (nonwork) book or magazine. Read to your kids. Paint, draw, sculpt,
cook, or bake. Film a fun family video. Go for a photography awe walk. Plant
something. Play a musical instrument. Go to a local lecture. Research a new culture.
Plan a road trip or vacation. Make a list of 100 (nonwork) things that make you happy.
Write a handwritten card or letter to someone.
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Building connection, belonging, and a reliable support network. Contributing to
our groups and communities |
Don't Be a Jerk at Work
Even when you're busy and stressed, do your best to avoid being sarcastic, disrespectful,
curt, snide, rude, or unfair to your colleagues. Don't yell or unfairly blame or criticize
them. Pay special attention to your emails and texts
TIPS: For today, try:
- No sarcasm, condescension or curtness. Try curiosity, kindness, and patience.
- Replace "why" questions with "what" questions, which sound less personally
challenging.
- Pay special attention to emails, where incivility is rampant. Ask yourself: Did I
include an opening greeting? Is it too brief? What tone am I projecting? Would
talking be a better option? (See Slow Down and Write Better Emails.)
Our accidental lapses of civility - even instances that we may perceive as minor - can
accumulate and cause big injuries to our colleagues' sense of belonging that trigger
depressive symptoms and burnout. In fact, research shows that incivility and
interpersonal conflict have a bigger negative effect on others' sense of belonging than
social support's positive effect. So, even if you can't be cheerful, try not to be mean.
For advice on curbing incivility, see The price of incivility by Christine Porath and
Christine Pearson.
For advice on engaging in high-quality, micro-bits of connection, see Four ways to
create high-quality connections at work by Jane Dutton and Monica Worline.
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Boost Belonging at Work
Today, pick a way to make a meaningful contribution to benefit your work group or
organization - or support a colleague in doing so. An often-neglected ingredient of
workplace belonging is positive contribution. Belonging emerges, not only from caring
relationships, but also from experiences of giving or contributing to others. When we
can contribute our unique strengths, skills, ideas, and perspectives to benefit our groups
in meaningful ways, we feel more like integrated, valued group members. The result is
greater belonging, inclusion, engagement, and well-being.
If you'd like to read more about how contribution ties to inclusion, see Prof. Quinetta
Roberson's recent article on the concept of "contributive justice."
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Send a Quick Gratitude Note
Use the Institute for Well-Being in Law's free e-message tool to send a note of
appreciation to a colleague, client, friend, or family member. Feeling and expressing
gratitude is an easy, science-based way to help protect and promote our physical and
psychological health (e.g., higher mental well-being and self-esteem and fewer
depressive symptoms) and strengthen our relationships at work and at home.
For more information and ideas about gratitude, see this brief article How Gratitude
Makes You Happier.
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Valuing emotions. Developing an ability to identify and manage emotions for health,
to achieve goals, and to inform decisions. Seeking help for mental health when needed. |
Focus on What You're Doing
One of the simplest prescriptions for greater happiness is this: Think about what
you're doing. We're happiest (and less depressed) when we're mentally present
while engaging in the world. The particular way we spend our day (e.g., partying
vs. a quiet night at home) matters much less than whether our thoughts match our
actions.
The simplicity of this advice doesn't make it easy. The human mind likes to wander:
Almost half of our thoughts each day aren't related to what we're doing. And "a
wandering mind is an unhappy mind" (Castro, Scientific America, 2010).
Working to improve control of our attention (especially when we're stressed, when
our wandering thoughts tend to turn negative) can aid our mental health.
Aim for more daily experiences of feeling fully absorbed in what you're doing. We
have only a limited amount of attention and can invest it in ways that either enrich
our lives or make us unwell.
For more information, see this Scientific America article summarizing the mind
wandering research and an academic journal article about its association with
depression.
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Mental Health Self Check-In
Do a mental health check-in with yourself. Start by taking a brief mental health
self-assessment. Use a mental health checklist to evaluate any areas of risk for
you and make a plan to take action. A few resources are provided below:
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Change Your Scenery
Explore new things and add variety to your daily routine, which can positively
impact mood, well-being, and creative thinking. For example, try small changes
of scenery, like a new coffee shop or lunch-time restaurant, taking your laptop
outside for an hour, or working in a fresh location for a day.
Here's a short article titled A Change of Scenery Can Boost Your Well-being
and Mood.
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