I envisioned opening this post with a play on the title. Something clever that intimated my "perfection" as a litigator. Ultimately, I decided to play it straight lest you, my Constant Readers, fail to grasp the sarcasm.
Perfection Paralysis is a term I first heard from a client a few months ago. She won't mind me telling you she gets flustered when too many items get heaped on her plate. The idea is you can juggle a few discrete tasks, but when your To Do list piles up beyond what you can comfortably manage it becomes impossible to focus. You can't handle everything, so you handle nothing.
Unfortunately, divorce cases come in waves. Pleadings beget discovery. Discovery begets depositions. Depositions beget hearings. Hearings beget hurt feelings and handsome attorney bills (hopefully I'm inflicting the former and collecting the latter). If you're uncomfortable keeping multiple balls in the air, this is a taxing process.
The best advice I can offer is to think of your divorce like a part-time job. Give yourself permission to punch the time clock, both on and off. I'll find plenty of work for you when it's time to work. You be sure to find something to fill the rest.
In the interest of full disclosure, I'm something of a paralytic, too. My business has been picking up for a while, but in the last three months the levies have burst. It's exhilarating mostly, but occasionally I find myself staring at the files on my desk and realize I haven't picked one up at least 15 minutes. I'm sure my mind has been engaged the whole time, but I just don't have anything to show for it. Not to worry, I don't bill you for that time!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
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