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With the pressure of absorbing complex material, meeting tight deadlines, and competing for clerkships, law students often find themselves overwhelmed, leaving little room for other aspects of their lives. Here, Aaron Lee shares practical tips to achieve a healthy balance while excelling in their studies.
Speaking on a recent episode of The Protégé Podcast, Aaron Lee, a fourth-year commerce and law student at UNSW and a paralegal in personal injury law, emphasised the importance for law students to maintain a healthy balance in their lives to excel academically. He also offered practical strategies and simple habits that law students can implement to foster a more balanced approach.
In the same episode, he discussed the growing prevalence of burnout among law students and the urgent need for greater awareness as the pressures they face continue to intensify.
Lee articulated that having a balanced lifestyle as a law student doesn’t impede one’s academic success; rather, it enhances one’s ability to thrive, as it “directly impacts how effective one learns, retains information, and performs overall”.
“Law study requires deep focus, critical thinking and the ability to process large amounts of information on complex material. But your ability to do that consistently depends on more than just time spent studying. It depends on the condition of your mind and body,” he said.
By cultivating healthy habits focused on looking after your physical health, such as prioritising “regular exercise, proper sleep and hydration”, law students can “improve energy levels, focus and mental clarity”.
Lee stressed that even small daily habits aimed at promoting mental health could be increasingly beneficial for law students, stating that “mindfulness, scheduling breaks, or setting realistic goals can strengthen one’s concentration and help turn study routines into second nature”.
While some of these steps may be relatively straightforward and not overly challenging to implement, Lee recognised that “there are students that do this a lot better than others” in finding the time and capacity to embrace balanced lifestyle practices.
He acknowledged that incorporating such practices has been challenging for him, which has led him to be more deliberate in ensuring that he “schedule[s] time to go out for a walk, go for a run, or [take] a five-minute break between study sessions”.
Maintaining a balanced lifestyle presents a considerable challenge for law students, as Lee pointed out, largely due to the mentality ingrained in them that “you have to be constantly working, reading ahead, or preparing for assessments”.
Lee explained that this prevailing attitude has led law students to believe that “if they take time for themselves, they are somehow falling behind or not doing enough”.
Additionally, Lee noted that law students, in comparison to their peers in other courses, face unique challenges primarily due to the “competitive nature of law school itself” and the “volume and complexity of the material … which requires focus, interpretation and application”.
The key to overcoming this deeply rooted mindset and prioritising achieving a balanced lifestyle, as posited by Lee, lies in the approach of “starting small and building consistently”.
Three practical steps and actions that Lee has found effective in achieving this are through “breaking a day into three blocks”, “building small daily habits that support your body and your mind”, and “planning with intention, not just urgency”.
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