Feeling Burnt Out
The past year and a half have been stressful, from the uncertainty of the pandemic and associated scramble ensure I kept my billing up, to the sudden shift into full gear as the courts reopened and the scramble to keep up. On top of this I’ve been transitioning from defense work to plaintiffs work within my firm and am currently doing both, which is stressful in part due to the plaintiffs work not yielding monthly or quarterly payments for my work, no money until the case resolved. I’ve also had massive anxiety this year associated with one catastrophic loss plaintiffs case as well as a catastrophic loss defense case, and I’ve felt a lack of support from management due to their absence from the office and resulting difficulty getting my direct supervisors time, let alone face time. Despite this I managed to score a fast near seven figure settlement on a plaintiffs case. The result is that my bottom line is going to exceed any past year and my current expected production by more than six figures. But I feel constantly plagued by anxiety to a degree more than I’ve ever felt before. My question is, can I ask for an extended vacation to cope, or do I need to just tough it out to the end of the year to make sure I don’t sabotage my salary and bonus negotiations coming off my best year ever (everything is entirely discretionary for salary and bonus).