November CBA Report

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days a week. I have an appointment with
myself to take care of myself. An account-
ability partner like a friend or trainer can
help keep you on track.
Eat well.
When I am under stress, I want choc-
olate. I have always been a stress eater
and my go to foods are not good for me. I
stopped purchasing things that I shouldn’t
eat and closely watch my consumption
of chocolate and other junk foods. It’s a
hard habit to break. Busy people can have
a hard time making wise food choices
because fast food is convenient. And skip-
ping meals makes sense when you have a
trial the next day or when you have a client
emergency. A good diet can help you func-
tion better during a stressful period. The
Health & Well-Being Committee focused
two Balanced Living lectures and several
articles on the importance of a good
diet. Links to those can be found on our
committee webpage.
Develop good sleep hygiene.
Sleep can elude all of us from time to
time, but if you find yourself failing to fall
asleep, waking up after only a few hours
of sleep, or sleeping on an irregular sleep
cycle, you may want to consider changing
some of your sleep habits. Some hygiene
changes may include limiting your intake
of caffeine, establishing a bed time ritual,
limiting use of electronic devises, using
white noise, music or binaural beat record-
ings to aid in sleep.
Set a schedule for your
downtime.
Make downtime a priority. Set aside
time not to work. One way of doing this
is to participate in some type of contem-
plative activity. A contemplative activity
is not just meditation. A walk in nature,
gardening, tai chi and other activities can
work just as well. More information about
these types of activities can be found at
Maintain a work/life balance.
When you are not working, limit your-
self from accessing work-related emails
and try not to take calls from clients. If
you must maintain contact, make sure you
set limits on when and how often people
can contact you. I have restrictions on
who can call my cell phone and I set limits
on how quickly emails will be returned.
Sometimes immediate and frequent access
is not a good thing. Technology can have
a huge downside if you don’t maintain
limits on yourself and others.
Each person is different. My self-care
plan works well for me but it may not work
for someone else. Finding a self-care plan
is a process of trial and error. It’s never
too late to start, however, and the Health
&Well-Being Committee has many infor-
mative articles and videos which can be
easily accessed through our committee’s
webpage.
Hochscheid is an attorney with Hochscheid &
Associates LLC, chair of the CBA’s Health &Well-
Being Committee and a member of the CBA’s Board of
Trustees.
14 l November 2017 CBA REPORT
Balanced Living