Paralegal Burn Out Essay

The practice of law, or any career related to it, can be very stressful. Paralegals have to face some kind of stress almost every day. Paralegals who manage their careers and lives well can resolve some of the stress, but failure to do so can lead to burnout. This paper explores some of the common causes of paralegal burnout, the effect of burnout itself, and how to resolve it. Too much overtime, busy schedules with tight deadlines, and a lack of organization can lead to burnout in the paralegal profession.Paralegals choose to work overtime for a few reasons. Some simply fall into the habit of working overtime (Diaz and Voisin, 173). Some paralegals feel that they need to work harder than most, even when nobody realizes it. On occasion, a

Looming deadlines are stressful by themselves, and it doesn’t help when most paralegals have a very full schedule. A paralegal may receive requests from coworkers to take on another task. Or, the attorney may suddenly take on a new case, which brings more work that must somehow be completed before the deadline. Tight deadlines create a stressful environment. The ability to be cool under pressure, and knowing how to de-stress after a long day, are vital in the paralegal profession. Paralegals who fail to manage their schedules face the possibility of

Setting a timer for twenty or thirty minutes and then getting up to stretch can truly be helpful in keeping an individual on task. Also, if a paralegal is working overtime because someone in the law firm puts off the work until the very last minute, a paralegal can choose to get the small things out of the way so that there are fewer things to worry about once the deadline hits. Diaz and Voisin suggest another strategy for this situation: Paralegals who refuse to constantly work overtime may find that the procrastination on the part of the colleague may stop. Busy schedules are an inevitable part of the paralegal profession, but there are some strategies to fix this problem as well. If a colleague comes and asks the paralegal to perform a task for him or her when the paralegal has deadlines looming, the paralegal may accept the work while making sure somebody else finishes or helps to finish a project that is almost due (Diaz and Voisin, 170). Making a deal with a colleague or trading work, may help alleviate concerns associated with a busy