Lilli Balik, Kelley Kronenberg attorney.Fort Lauderdale

"Take care of yourself." As a young lawyer, these words reverberate in my head through the stress of staring at my seemingly never-ending to-do list. Though it seems second-nature, this notion often becomes the first thing to fall off my daily priorities. Between forging a legal career, maintaining billable hour requirements, and endeavoring to network, finding the time to recuperate can feel impossible.

Regardless of where one may be in their career, the legal profession will never cease to be stressful.

We have created a stigma not only in the legal community, but in society, where talking about mental health is seen as taboo. I, myself, have experienced this stigma both in my legal career and my personal life. In high school, I was diagnosed with both bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa. I allowed others to dictate my self-worth and self-esteem, which nearly landed me in inpatient treatment. And later, in law school, I was in a traumatic car accident that left me with severe back pain and a massive concussion. No matter what I did, I could not seem to keep my head above water with regard to my studies. I knew that something had to change or I would not make it through the end of the year. I put my timely graduation at risk when I dropped a class, but I had to make the important decision that my life and well-being far outweighed a few credits.

In practicing self-care, we become better lawyers and most importantly, better advocates for our clients. We simply must make the time to turn inward and give ourselves whatever it is that we each need.

In order to do this, it is crucial to find a law firm that both trusts its employees to do good work—in whatever way makes sense for them—and fosters a positive environment and company culture of support and camaraderie.

I am very grateful that my current firm, Kelley Kronenberg, has made changes to adapt to the challenging world of being an attorney. The values they have set forth to create an environment that supports a healthy work-life balance made the transition from student to attorney much smoother. From flexible hours to weekly book club meetings to an open office that invites us to congregate and communicate throughout the day, the firm makes self-care an accessible goal rather than a seemingly impossible, forever distant concept.

Lawyers must support each other and encourage an open dialogue about reprioritizing self-care within our profession. To do so, we should seek an environment wherein we empower ourselves and others to do what we need to do to take care. This could mean leaving the office earlier than we want to pick up our daughter from ballet practice or setting a boundary with a client.

In order to truly support yourself, you must set yourself up for success. For lawyers, your workplace and your colleagues will be the most important factor in the feasibility of maintaining a self-care routine that keeps you in top form.

Finding a firm that allows you to find the time for yourself will be their best investment yet.

Lilli Balik is an associate at Kelley Kronenberg focusing her practice on first party property insurance defense litigation. In her free time, she enjoys baking, working out and catching up on "The Great British Baking Show."