The Lawyer’s Well-Being Brief. . .Finding Ways to Get Small Wins out of Bad Days
“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”-Albert Einstein
Welcome (back) to the Lawyer’s Well-Being Brief! Each week, I share insights and practical strategies to help us cultivate well-being and flourish — both personally and professionally. Live well! Lawyer well!
Bad days are inevitable. For lawyers, things can pile up quickly: a motion that fails, a client email that disrupts your day, and a calendar that turns chaotic by noon. The instinct is to write the whole day off. That’s the mistake.
A bad day doesn’t have to be a lost day. If you know how to look for them, bad days are full of small wins — and those wins are what keep momentum alive.
Redefine the Win
On a good day, a win might be finishing a brief, landing a new matter, or clearing your inbox. On a bad day, that standard is unrealistic — and holding onto it guarantees frustration.
Instead, shrink the definition.
A win becomes:
Sending the one email you’ve been avoiding
Clarifying the next step in a messy case
Taking a 10-minute walk instead of spiraling at your desk
This isn’t lowering the bar permanently; it’s adjusting it to match reality so you can still clear it.
Shift from Outcome to Control
Bad days feel bad because outcomes are slipping. Deadlines move. People don’t respond. Things fall apart that you thought were handled.
Small wins live on the other side of that: control.
You can’t always control results, but you can control actions.
You can organize the file, even if the case is chaotic
You can outline the argument, even if you’re not ready to write it
You can prepare tomorrow’s top three priorities
Each controlled action is a stabilizer. It gives the day structure when everything else feels loose.
Use the “Next Rep” Mindset
Think like an athlete in a rough game. When things go sideways, they don’t try to win the whole game in one play — they focus on the next rep.
The same applies here.
Ask: What is the next smallest useful action?
Not the perfect action. Not the complete fix. Just the next rep.
One paragraph
One call
One decision
Stack enough of those, and you’ve quietly turned a bad day into a productive one.
Capture the Wins Before You Forget Them
Bad days distort memory. By the end of the day, it can feel like nothing went right — even if that’s not true.
Take two minutes and write down three things you did that moved something forward. Keep it simple and factual.
This does two things:
It counters the “wasted day” narrative
It builds evidence that you can still execute under pressure
Over time, this becomes a mental asset. You stop fearing bad days because you know you can still extract value from them.
Protect One Non-Negotiable
If the day is truly off the rails, pick one thing that must happen no matter what: one anchor.
It might be:
Finishing a specific task
Getting to a workout
Leaving the office on time
That single commitment creates a psychological win you can bank. Everything else becomes optional.
The Compounding Effect
Small wins don’t feel impressive in the moment. That’s the point. They’re not designed to impress — they’re designed to compound.
A single email sent on a bad day keeps a matter moving. A short outline prevents tomorrow from starting cold. A quick reset walk keeps stress from bleeding into the evening.
Individually, they’re minor. Together, they prevent bad days from becoming bad weeks. And in a profession where pressure is constant, that difference matters.
Closing Thoughts
Bad days aren’t the problem. Letting them erase your momentum is.
Find the small wins, and you stay in the game.
Forward, always!
