Podcast Ep. 11: Why Smart Women Lawyers Still Feel Overwhelmed

In this episode, I want to share something that genuinely surprised me.

A couple of weeks ago, I ran a session for a group of women lawyers in Paris. I had planned to test ideas from my work on time management, particularly around goal setting and planning. I expected us to talk about long term vision, structured planning, and productivity systems.

But very quickly, I realised I had completely missed the point.

The real challenge these women were facing was not planning. It was interruptions.

These were brilliant lawyers. They knew exactly what they needed to do. They walked into the office every morning with clear to do lists and strong intentions. But their days were not their own. They were constantly interrupted by partners, colleagues, clients, and opposing counsel. As a result, many of them could only begin their real work late in the afternoon, once everything had finally quietened down.

And often, that meant working late into the evening just to concentrate.

At the start of the session, I spoke about long term and short term goals. But I could see the discomfort in the room growing. So I paused and asked them how they approached their own goals.

What emerged was fascinating.

One woman told us she did not have long term goals at all. She was a partner in a small tax practice, a mother of twins, and genuinely happy with her life as it was. Another explained that long term planning simply did not work for her because her priorities kept changing. Instead, she focused on one objective at a time, achieved it, and then moved on to the next.

A law student preparing for her bar exams shared a similar approach. She had a clear goal and worked backwards from it. When she realised she needed more confidence for her oral exams, she enrolled in theatre classes to develop that skill.

What struck me was this: none of these women lacked ambition. They simply defined their goals in very different ways.

Then we moved into how they organised their days, and that is where the real challenges came to the surface.

The first issue was constant interruption. The second was the pressure created by multiple communication channels. Emails followed by instant messages followed by texts, all within minutes, all demanding immediate attention. It created a sense of urgency that was often unnecessary but very difficult to ignore.

The third issue was phones themselves. Not just because they ring, but because they are addictive. One woman noticed she reached for her phone whenever she needed to think deeply or do something uncomfortable. Another compared phone use to smoking. She had successfully quit cigarettes, but found it far harder to control her phone.

And finally, there was the overwhelming nature of their to do lists. One woman described the feeling of looking at her list and wondering how she could possibly get it all done.

As I listened, a clear pattern emerged.

For most of these women, their time was being dictated by other people.

They were available all day, every day. And that constant availability was preventing them from doing the very work they were paid to do, which is to think, analyse, and solve complex problems.

So I started asking a different question.

What would happen if you gave yourself permission not to be available all the time?

What would it look like if you protected even one hour a day for deep, focused work?

For some, this might mean setting clear expectations with clients or colleagues. For example, letting them know you will respond at a specific time rather than immediately. For others, it might mean closing your door, turning off your phone, or limiting how often you check your emails.

Of course, I am very aware that not every area of law allows for complete control over your schedule. If you are in the middle of a deal or a hearing, flexibility is limited. And junior lawyers often have less autonomy. But even within those constraints, there may be more room than you think.

The deeper question is this: how much of your day is truly unavoidable, and how much is simply habit or expectation?

We also touched on the idea of doing enough, rather than trying to do everything. One of the women realised, as she spoke, that she could not possibly give one hundred percent to every aspect of her work and life. Instead, she could aim to do enough in each area and accept that some things would not get done.

That shift alone can be incredibly freeing.

So if I had to summarise the key insight from that evening, it would be this: time management is not really about systems or perfect planning. It is about permission.

Permission to focus.
Permission to set boundaries.
Permission to do enough.
And permission to not be available to everyone all the time.

Before you go, I would invite you to try a simple exercise.

Take a piece of paper and ask yourself three questions. What is one task this week that truly requires your full concentration? When do you do your best thinking? And how could you protect that time, even for a short period, to focus on that task?

Think of it as an experiment. Start small. And if it works, build from there.

Because ultimately, succeeding as a lawyer is not just about how much you do. It is about creating the conditions that allow you to do your best work.

And that starts with taking back control of your time.