Delegation has developed some unfortunate connotations in corporate and other white-collar circles. To some, it brings to mind the irritating, coffee-slurping boss of Office Space. To others, it brings to mind fears of letting go of control, guilt over “not doing enough”, or even subconscious worries that, if you’re not handling everything, you’re simply not a good lawyer.
None of that is true. Being maximally busy doesn’t make you smarter, more efficient, or more valuable. Not as an attorney, and not as a human being. So what is delegation, really? Can it lead to mental health benefits? And how can you get started delegating effectively when you’re used to handling everything on your own? Let’s break it down.
Delegation happens when you hand over responsibility for tasks to someone under you. Someone who knows how to handle the task and can hand it back to you for review once they’re finished. It frees you from the central work of completing the task, while still giving you authority over the outcome.
The result? You save time, the person you’ve delegated to increase their skill and confidence, and you’ve given yourself permission to focus on higher-end tasks, such as legal strategy, courtroom arguments, and client representation.
Here’s what delegation is not. It’s not laziness. You’re still working hard, but you’re working hard at tasks only you, as an attorney, can handle. You’re freeing up mental energy to hone in on the kind of nuanced, skilled negotiations and planning you went to law school for.
Delegation isn’t losing control. When you hand over tasks to someone well-trained, focused, and skilled, you’re maintaining control, but in a way that saves time and still allows you to review the end result for accuracy and relevance.
Finally, delegation isn’t a failure on your part. Delegation simply frees you from the stress and time-consuming trap of working until 9 pm most nights, taking work home, or struggling with stress and anxiety as the work piles up. It is ok to allow someone to help you. And in many cases, allowing someone to help could just save your mental health, your career, and your love of practicing law.
The short, simple answer? Absolutely. Less negative stress means less anxiety. Lowered anxiety levels allow your mind to calm down. You’re no longer struggling through your week in a terrified, frantic haze. You now have several tasks in front of you that feel manageable.
Your mind clears. Your capacity to strategize and think ahead returns. You’re not afraid of looming deadlines or that one medical report you didn’t review yet. All that stuff is done. It’s taken care of.
Lawyers, as I’m sure you know, have some of the toughest, most stressful jobs around. People’s lives, futures, and access to justice hang in the balance. The intensity of your job and the weight of too many things to do can cripple mental health. And study after study verifies this with facts.
One alarming statistic? Lawyers are twice as likely to have thoughts of suicide than other types of professionals. Not simply experience anxiety or consider leaving the profession, but entertain thoughts of leaving life entirely rather than continue with their current workload. That is unacceptable.
How does delegation help? It offloads the more peripheral (but still important) tasks to someone you trust. Someone skilled, focused, and reliable. They handle billing, e-filing, drafting, and discovery review while you sit down, breathe, and strategize. You save 10 to 40 hours per week. And every hour you’re not drowning in busywork is an hour you can relax, reduce anxiety, and even spend with the people and things that make life meaningful.
Your mental health improves. Your nervous system calms down. Life becomes manageable, work becomes manageable, and you have the free time to rediscover hobbies, enjoy downtime with family, and find time to take care of yourself, too.
Delegation is one of the most overlooked avenues for improved mental health available. It eases the burden on you, allows you to do your best work, and helps you regain the balance you need to function, enjoy life, and manage stress far better. Not with a bottle. Not with a joint. With rest, downtime, and the space your mind and body need to calibrate and work well.
Quite a bit of research suggests that your mental health directly impacts physical health. But to an extent, you’ve probably already noticed this.
When you’re overworked, every cell in your body works harder than it needs to, as well. And when your mind can’t shut down, your organ systems begin to feel the impact. Cardiac issues, mysterious muscle pain, blurry vision.
Delegating brings more than mental clarity. And it doesn’t just free up your afternoons and weekends. It clears your schedule to hone in on what is truly important. Your mind, body, and family life begin to see an improvement. Sleep comes more easily at night. Your neck stops hurting. Your eye stops twitching.
Your body gets the rest, respect, and downtime it needs. Your brain isn’t running at 100% CPU 24/7. You deserve that. Your clients deserve that. And the people who want you with them for years to come deserve that, too. Delegation can make that happen.
I’d like to take a moment to insert one thought here. It’s something many professionals, of all stripes, struggle with. The sense that handing work over is something to be ashamed of.
I struggled with that for years, even while working retail. Yes, my hands were suffering nerve damage from standing in a freezer for half my shift, and I could no longer enjoy anything, but I was handling it myself. In my mind, that made me awesome.
I felt guilty asking anyone to do anything. Why burden them? I’m the department head, why ask them to handle my work? This can be especially true of professionals who feel they have something to prove, and can also manifest as a kind of frantic need to “show” you’re capable. “My Dad said I’d never make it through law school, I’ll show him!” “My brother’s always putting me down in front of our parents, so I’ll just work 80-hour weeks to rub his jeering in his face”.
Here’s the thing. Your dad, your brother, your ex-wife? None of them are suffering right now because you’re exhausted. You’re not making their lives worse; you’re punishing yourself. Over tasks that could easily be handled by someone skilled and more than happy to take on the tasks.
Don’t kill yourself over a misguided sense of guilt or a desire to prove anything. You’re already proving, to the world, that you’re good at this. You can let delegation make you even better.
Delegation isn’t laziness, it’s not a cop-out, and it’s not shameful. Remember, you don’t have to work 80 hours or more per week to be an excellent lawyer. What makes you an excellent lawyer is your skill, your empathy, your knowledge of the law, and your ability to strategize. And you get the most out of those qualities when you’re not overworked, stressed, or exhausted.
That’s why next month, we’ll be rolling out resources and guides to help improve mental health, focus, and organization, too. Because doing your best work and clearing your plate starts with having the courage to put the right support in place.
Need help to let go and learn to delegate? Book a call with us today. There’s no pressure, just answers, facts, and options. We’ll help you determine if partnering with attorney-level support is the boost you need to delegate without fear, decrease stress, and help you work (and live) at your best.
Grace Singh is a writer and editor for DocketWorks. She enjoys bridging services and client needs in ways that are meaningful, memorable, and human-focused, even as technology continues to change. When she’s not at her home office, she enjoys nature walks, reading, and brewing coffee.