For years, my clients told me they wanted the ability to work from home. For the flexibility and supposed work-life balance.

[Sidenote: law firms have historically been pretty stingy on allowing virtual or hybrid work arrangements].

And then the pandemic happened.

Most of my clients work from home at least several times per week, and virtual arrangements have become common in the legal world.

Despite that, attorneys are reporting higher levels of stress and anxiety than ever before. And I'm pretty certain this isn't limited to just lawyers.

Why is that, Friend?

First off, flexibility in where you work doesn’t necessarily reduce how often you work. It can even increase how much you work.

But there’s more to it than that because…

When you work from home (and others do the same), you’re not as likely to connect with others at work.

Connection is important for us humans. We’re hard-wired for it.

That doesn’t mean you can’t work virtually successfully.

But not everyone works well that way. And even for those of us who do, it’s important to proactively connect with others.

When you don't connect with other people outside of your small bubble, your mental health will suffer.

And lack of connection within your workplace will hinder your professional development.

Which means the benefits of working from home will be diminished - maybe even wiped out.

This is an important topic that has lots of nuance to it. Nuance few people like to talk about (I mostly hear about all the benefits of remote and hybrid work arrangements).

Which is why I’m tackling The Challenges Of Remote Work >>>here as my debut episode of Season 3 of the Life & Law Podcast. Listen now to learn more about these challenges and how to overcome them.

XO,

Heather