The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Day 59/90 – Quasi-Mental Health Day

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 59 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I took a quasi-mental health day.

    This is how I looked after running 4 miles. I was covered with a film of sweat.
    This is how I looked after running 4 miles. I was covered with a film of sweat.

    I won’t deny that I’ve needed a break. I’ve been cranking hard on client work this summer. When I was a solo lawyer, my days were my own. I only went to my office when I had clients and otherwise I worked from home and my schedule was entirely my own. I had a day like that today.

    I got up at my usual hour but instead of heading to the office, I headed out for a run. It felt so good to pound pavement in the middle of the week. After I finished breakfast and cleared email, I ran errands in the middle of the morning. The file server at work was fixed so I worked from the home office for most of the afternoon. It felt so good to break up the monotony of my every day routine. I need to remember to do that more often.

    Having structure in my day creates security but it can also create a rut. I need to keep my energy moving by mixing things up periodically.

    In case you missed it: Day 58 of the 90 Days of Awesome – My work played hooky on me.

  • Day 58/90 – Playing Hooky

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 58 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I got to play hooky from work . . . sort of.

    IP16 cropped
    This is how playing hooky feels! Photo by Patrick McLeod from Ignite Phoenix 16 (Creative Commons License)

    It’s probably more accurate to say work played hooky from me.

    Today had a good start. I got to the office early and cranked on some client work, had a few networking meetings, . . . and then our file server went down.

    No worries. As long as I have the internet I can get work done.

    And then the internet went down.

    I looked over at Rosie the basset hound and said, “Well, we’re out of here.” I loaded her up and headed for home. The internet was still working at home so I could still get some work done. It reminded me of how I worked when I was running my solo shop – I only went to my office a few days a week and I often got to leave by early afternoon when my work was done.

    My therapist suggested that I need a vacation. I snickered sarcastically at that. He’s probably right. Rosie and I got out of dodge for a night last summer and it was immensely helpful for recharging my batteries. I think I might work from home tomorrow, have a more unstructured day, especially if the file server at work is still down. I can go for a run, do some errands, and work in pajamas if I feel like it. I think breaking up the monotony would be good for me.

    I’ve actually been thinking about the concepts of time and how we as a society divide our time. How did we decide that we would have a 7-day week where we have a 5-day work week and a 2-day weekend? Why do we work 9am-5pm? I’m not sure this norm is necessarily the best thing for me. Don’t get me wrong – I need some structure to keep me on task, but it might be time to re-think my schedule a bit.

    In case you missed it: Day 57 of the 90 Days of Awesome – I love when my work brings me joy.

  • Day 57/90 – Laughter at Work

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 57 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I got to laugh at work.

    When most people think about the practice of law, they probably don’t picture people laughing at their desks (except maybe the evil laugh). I’m lucky that I get a lot of joy from my work and sometimes my work is so much fun it makes me laugh. And part of my job is keeping up with contacts on social media, which tends to make me burst out laughing throughout the day. Here are two of today’s highlights:

    1.  My friend, The Namby Pamby, tweeted:

    I responded that he and I would be Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets if that were allowed.

    2.  I’m working on a contract right now that might be the best contract I’ve ever written. (It could top the one where one party had to attest to the other that he is “a sexy bitch.”) I love it when my clients are thoughtful and creative with their contracts. This one is a licensing agreement for a unique project and my client is a down-to-earth, somewhat blunt entrepreneur and I’m trying to write in his voice rather than legalese. I asked him if he wanted any “Easter eggs” in his contract and he gave me some suggestions. I wish more clients asked me to write crazy awesome clauses in their contracts.

    I love my work.

    In case you missed it: Day 56 of the 90 Days of Awesome – I did my first underwater photo shoot!