“The number one mental health challenge that property lawyers face is stress”

What’s unique about property law is that it’s high-volume, fast-moving work, and you often have a significant number of matters all going on at the same time. Most people want to complete on a Friday, all with the same deadline.

Because of this, I would say the number one mental health challenge that property lawyers face is stress. When I speak with conveyancers, they often share that they find their work stressful and that the 24/7 nature of the work makes it hard to switch off.

Beyond that, colleagues and clients don't always understand the huge weight that's sitting on a property solicitor's shoulders.

Particularly with conveyancers, they’re facing a juggling act of trying to keep all these balls in the air and meet the differing expectations of clients, lenders and agents.

If you’re feeling under a lot of stress right now, there are practical steps you can take to ease things, and support is available to help you through this difficult period.

My top tips for managing stress

Maintain good communication

Even if you haven’t got good news to share, it’s better to tell people and manage their expectations than have them find out the bad news later for themselves.

Avoid avoidance

If it feels like a more demanding client is hounding you all the time you might take avoidant action, but in the end, this only compounds the problem.

Where possible, address the challenge in short bursts, rather than letting messages pile up.

Switch off

Make sure you have proper holidays from work where you’re not checking emails or taking calls. Holidays are about mental distance from work, as much as physical.

Take breaks and get outside

During your working day, schedule time to get outside, get out for a walk, go and speak to somebody else.

Speak to your manager

If you’re feeling pressure at work and you’re overwhelmed, not managing, or things are beginning to slide, it’s important to speak to your manager.

They can spread your workload and support you to prioritise, before any essentials are missed.

Normalise mistakes and complaints

Everybody makes mistakes. There isn’t a legal professional out there who hasn’t made a mistake or had something go wrong in their legal career. Addressing mistakes openly and quickly is what counts.

Use quiet periods wisely

Property law can involve high peaks and potentially some troughs and quiet periods.

During the less busy times, there’s a real opportunity to think about putting in better working practices that can carry you through when things pick up.