Montana Lawyer October/November 2024

PRACTICING WELL Finding the “Should I” or “Shouldn’t I” Sweet Spot! MERI ALTHAUSER

doesn’t necessarily align with your personal goals or values but you need to take it on nonetheless in the spirit of teamwork or to build your skills for other reasons. In those times, be sure to add on time for self-care or to take on other tasks that really resonate. 3. What is the primary reason behind my initial reaction? Are you feeling obligated to say “yes” out of guilt, obligation, to keep up appearances, or FO-MO? (that’s “Fear of Missing Out” and I’m not sure if the kids these days still say that…but I do.) Do you meet with clients any time because you’re afraid of losing them when sticking to business hours would work just fine for most cases? Are you leaning toward “no” because you don’t like working with someone on the team, you don’t want to be roped into doing 80% of the work again, or because of fear of something new? Don’t let a gut reaction hijack what could be a good opportunity, but don’t ignore your gut’s good advice either! In other words: think it through thoroughly. 4. What are potential consequences of saying “no”? If you say “no”, will someone else just have to do it instead and they don’t have time either? Will a major deadline or opportunity be missed? Whose reputation or relationships could be harmed? Or helped? Maybe a more discerning approach would be helpful to the situation.

Have you ever been in the middle of a project and it dawns on you: “WHY AM I DOING THIS??” Maybe you rearranged your whole day to give someone a ride and look nice, maybe you pushed off a project you needed to complete in order to complete an easier one that didn’t mat ter, or maybe you forced yourself to do some thing you hated just because you thought it might look good to others. We’ve all been there! On the other hand, maybe you’ve said “no” and regretted it later, or others have said “no” to you when you thought they should have put in the effort to help with a project. Developing a good sense of when to say “yes” and when to say “no” is criti cal in the legal profession. And, when managing others, it’s vital to know when your expectations are reasonable and you need to coach others to match your level of work ethic, versus when your expectations are unrea sonable and it’s fair for your co-workers to opt out. With that conundrum in mind, here are six questions you can ask yourself when deciding whether to take on a new task: 1. Do I have the time and resources? Sometimes this is an easy answer and sometimes it’s sneaky! Projects that can look small and do able can easily get out of hand. One concrete way to truly assess whether you have the time to add on more work is to block out the time needed on your calendar and look for bottlenecks. Are there any competing deadlines that could become un manageable? Is the due date right around some thing I can’t miss like a family matter or holiday? Be careful with your time! On the other hand, don’t shy away from a challenge that sounds like a lot of work but that you haven’t thoroughly as sessed. Maybe something that sounds daunting is actually totally within your bandwidth. 2. Does this task align with my values and goals? “No” might be the clear answer if the project doesn’t resonate with your values at all, even if it’s only a little bit of your time, while you might be eager to devote time you may not have to a project that really speaks to you. Somewhere in the middle--if a project might present something new and interesting, it might be worth a shot! But finally, there might be many times a project

After over a decade of practicing family law and mediation in Missoula, Meri Althauser stepped into the role of Admissions Director with the Alexander Blewett III School of Law in June 2023. Her approach to law focuses on collaboration and solution-finding for her clients and their families, and now for mentoring students. She also offers consulting services in workplace well ness, with a certification as a Workplace Wellness Specialist through the National Wellness Institute and as a Resilience and Thriving Facilitator through Organizational Wellness and Learning Systems.

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