Maintaining My Cadences While Work is Lit

I've been quiet here because I was busy pivoting my entire legal business. If you don't know, I used to be The Everyday Lawyer and now I'm The Lawless Lawyer.

It hasn't just been a change in name. It's been a change in services and a change in vibes as well as a huge personal transformation for myself.

I firmly believe that entrepreneurship is a huge opportunity for personal growth and I'd be lying if I said that shifting my business in this way didn't completely transform me as a person.

The Everyday Lawyer was a polished and proper version of myself. She was giving out warms hugs and lollipops to everyone who dared to engage with the legal issues of their business. And she was way too nice.

The Lawless Lawyer is truer to who I am as a person, which is someone who cares a fuck ton, but isn't particularly nice. The Lawless Lawyer is less refined, more in your face and to the point, and she doesn't carry any candy in her pockets.

Now that I'm two feet into being The Lawless Lawyer, I'm realizing how life giving the shift has been. I have more creative freedom. I can be a lot more unhinged, direct, and even mean when I need to be. Things feel less rigid and more loose and I have a clear vision of what I'm doing and what I'm building towards.

To put it simply: my work is really fun right now. I'm kind of obsessed with it and I think about work all the time.

And while that's not really a problem, I have found it more challenging than not these days to step away and really give me space to relax.

So over the next 3 months, this is the question I'm pondering and staying curious about: what do my cadences look like when my work is lit? What does it look like and feel like to prioritize rest and hobbies in a time when my work is fun, lighting me up, and simply requires more of my time and attention?

Because if I'm honest with myself, then I have to admit that I've been having trouble stepping back and turning my brain off lately because I'm desperate for my business to succeed. Part of me says it's not necessary, but another part of me that knows how quickly the ADHD hyper-fixation can become obsession that leads to burnout is sounding off the alarm bells to course correct before things get out of hand.

So today, I'm going to talk about how I plan to listen to those alarm bells and course correct my cadences over the next few months.

Managing my Cadences Pre-, During, and Post-Launch

I knew I needed to rebrand and pivot my company last April or May (of 2024). I got the first clue about the direction it needed to go in October 2024. At the time, I had a good flow of new clients and was meeting my monthly income goals, but the work I was doing felt incredibly tired and boring. Getting myself to do it took a ton of energy and I just generally wasn't enjoying myself. But in October, I had a breakthrough while I was doing a branding exercise in an entrepreneur group I'm in and things immediately shifted.

My Pre-Launch Cadences and Preparation

Once I felt the shift, I knew I couldn't go back. But if you're like me, then perhaps you've run into the neurodivergent conundrum: you know things need to change, but you're not sure how and since you aren't sure how, you just have to sit around and wait for your brain to wander through the overlapping mazes to find your next step.

This was where I found myself in November. I had my last big client sign in November and I looked at my finances knowing I would need to stretch my savings to at least February. December came and went and I still didn't know which direction I was going.

By January I was frustrated and anxious, so I channeled my energy into this blog. I figured if I reconnected to my cadences and my natural rhythm, it would help me to reconnect to my creativity and help me think more clearly. I spent most of January and part of February rigidly adhering to my cadences: magic Mondays, deep work Tuesdays, communication Wednesdays, learning Thursdays, finance Fridays, disciplined Saturdays, and creative and carefree Sundays.

During that time, I got better rest, got a lot of creative inspiration from black film, and did a ton of doodling with my markers on construction paper. Whenever I'm stuck in a stalemate, I also turn to my markers and just start writing, mapping, and diagramming until something happens.

Then in the middle of February, something did happen: I got the name Lawless Lawyer.

It immediately felt energizing and exciting. Just the name propelled me forward and I starting working on putting together a brand bible based on the name and some of the aesthetics I had brainstormed way back in October that I didn't have any idea what to do with until I got the name.

So a lot of my pre-launch time was spent resting, engaging with new art for inspiration, and channeling my existing creativity into a passion project that both regulated me and rooted me into my natural rhythm. And I'm super grateful for that because the second I completed the brand bible for The Lawless Lawyer, I jumped straight into a launch.

Maintaining Cadences During a Launch

Here's the thing about ADHD: it makes you so goddamn impulsive. Once you figure something it, you have to shout it from the rooftops and do the the thing immediately. This is worsened for me due to my very loud Aries stellium. Once I have the thing, I want to do the thing.

I have no chill and my brain hits the absurd setting where it basically just chants "NOW NOW NOW NOW" over and over again until the thing is done.

So once I got the name The Lawless Lawyer, all bets were off and my cadences were in great danger.

Somehow, against all the odds, I managed to protect my Magic Mondays. Thank the gods. But because pivoting a business requires both a ton of creativity and a ton of executive functioning (the logistics of changing over account after account is terrible), I ended up having to time block my days to ensure I was completing enough work tasks each day to move my projects along.

So instead of working 3 hours a day, I was averaging more like 4 and sometimes even 5, which really is a lot for me. On top of that, I also had to do some pretty deep emotional tending as each day seemed like it required me to be a truer version of myself. That felt extremely vulnerable and confronting so I spent many mornings and/or afternoons journaling and tapping (EFT) while also trying to work.

Here was how I structured my days to get it all done:

Monday:

• Big feelings check in with an hourlong tapping session and some journaling
• Meal prep to ensure there's food to eat
• Move body to expend anxiety
• Time block calendar for the week with need-to-complete tasks

Tuesday - Thursday:

• Morning task starting at 10 or 10:30 that is content-related. That included things like social media, blogs, website copy, sales pages
• Midday break for lunch and rest
• Afternoon logistical tasks such as switching over accounts for tech tools, building a new part of the website, setting up logistics for new offers

Friday:

• Morning task designed to get a final win for the week. I would usually choose something that would complete a project for me.
• Midday finances: I reviewed my business and personal finances to see where I could stretch my money or how I could potentially make a quick sell to stretch finances until I had my offer ready

Saturday:

• Sleep, get lost in a book, do whatever work I feel excited to do, watch tv and generally relax

Sunday:

• Get quality time outside, allergies permitting
• Do some meal prep (grocery shopping or actual cooking).
• Astrology check in.

I know this probably doesn't seem like a lot, but for me personally, this is not a sustainable schedule. With everything I have to manage personally, including my grandparents' care, being in a position where I have to produce a lot of output 5 days a week is very depleting for me.

Luckily, I spent most of my time pre-launch resting so I had a little extra gas in the tank to push through the logistical and emotional challenges of launching a re-brand and business pivot, but by the time I: (a) announced the new name and business model; and (b) promoted the new offer for two weeks in April, I was pooped. Especially, because I launched right when I had no choice but to make money.

At the end of it all, I managed to meet my money goals for April, gain close to 100 new followers on social media, and fall one sell short of reaching my enrollment goals for my community lowercase legal.

All in all, not bad for something I put together from start to finish in 2 months. But now I am simultaneously exhausted and excited about my new business. Oh and because I drained my savings during the pivot, I need to keep working to pay my bills.

So here's how I am adjusting things post-launch.

Dialing Down Post-Launch

Now that I'm post launch and have people in my community that I'm responsible for talking to on the regular, I'm slowly recalibrating.

I know my launch schedule was not working because it required me to be more present on social media than I ever want to be and to work more than I want to. My nervous system is also pretty dysregulated from the stress and my body is totally done with me and needs rest.

Here's how I am currently thinking about dialing things down:

Adjusting my Social Media Strategy:

• I've gotten attention on social media and now I need to do the work of sustaining it. That doesn't require me to show up daily, but it does require me to create consistently high quality content on a semi-regular basis. Right now, I'm going to play with the following:
  • 1 long-form post on Threads 1x per week
  • 3 short posts on Threads each week
  • 1 IG reel a week
  • 3ish IG stories (repost from Threads) 3 to 4x a week

Just typing out this adjusted plan already feels so much better and relieving. The real shift for me will be staying off of social media when I'm not posting. I've been wasting a ton of time there lately so I'll have to institute designated social media times during the day. Whenever I do this, it always helps me dial things back. I set a standard time around lunch like between 12pm and 1pm to check social media and another standard time around dinner from 6:30pm to 7:30pm to go on it. Otherwise, I can't be on it. And if I miss my designated time, then I don't get it back.

Weekly Tech-Free Days:

One of the best things I can do for myself when I'm dysregulated to is ditch the screens. When I'm exhausted and need to regroup, turning off all of my screens for 24 hours each week does wonders for my mental health and creativity. I personally like to do it on Sundays so I'll be bringing this practice back over the next 3 months to give myself some breathing room. I'm going to try for 2 Sundays a month and see what happens.

Better Business Systems:

This is a BIG one. Part of the reason I get so overwhelmed in my business right now is that I have shit systems. My processes aren't documented and I make everything up as I go. I know I'm working harder than I need to be because I'm existing in my own ADHD chaos. I'll be working with a systems person over the next few months to clean this up and make my life a lot easier and I'm so excited.

Weekly Social Outings that aren't Co-working:

I am a horrible introvert. I love being home, but I also crave deep, intimate relationships of all kinds: friends, romantic, family, etc. Ever since I decided to make Baltimore my home, I've been on the neverending struggle to build community that is local to me, which means I have to get out of the house. I have a standing co-working date on Fridays that helps with that, but it doesn't build relationships beyond the person I co-work with.

I also know I need to spend time in places where people are pursuing hobbies that I enjoy like reading, creative writing, sports, and art (including visual art and film). So I'm committing to getting out on the regular for a hobby-ish social outing so I can do a better job of building community.

Getting out of the house for something other than work will also help me step away from work on a regular basis.

Conclusion

Alright, so that's how I've been regrouping and recovering while I'm still totally and completely hyped about my work. I'll be checking in next month to share my progress, how I'm feeling, and what it's opening up for my business.

How do you recover from big pushes at work and figure out how to step away when work feels really exciting? Let me know in the comments.