Habit Hacks for Legal Professionals

Happy New Year from MLA’s Hire an Esquire! With each new year comes the time when many start to reflect on the year prior and think about what changes can be made to improve themselves and their lives. This year, a rising theme around 2025 has surfaced on social media: underconsumption and breaking poor spending habits. The recently released 2024 documentary, Buy Now, is bringing talk and reevaluation of buying and spending habits to the focus of the zeitgeist.

Whether it’s financial habits or just creating healthier habits in general, the new year can be a great time to think about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. Habits are tricky for everyone, and lawyers are 2-3 times as likely as the general population to have ADHD, making building and sustaining habits particularly challenging.

There are tons of resources out there like this book by James Clear, or this blog written by Annie Little, a former attorney who has ADHD, to help get you started. But once started, we want to help you to keep going with four different types of habit-tracking apps that anyone can use to build better habits in 2025!

For those who struggle with time blindness: Structured

Structured is a personalized habit tracker, day planner, and to-do list all in one. It’s a multi-use app that allows you to pre-plan your days down to the minute with curated reminders sent to your device. Sync it to your device’s calendar and use it to keep on time throughout your day or use it to remind you of the habits you want to form. One of the coolest features is the “energy monitor”, a feature you can turn on that will calculate whether you can handle how much you’ve put on your plate to complete based on the daily energy limit you set yourself. 

(This one comes with a personal recommendation from an HAE staff member who uses it daily)

For those looking to be more mindful with their habits: Atoms

Made by the author of the book we suggested above, Atomic Habits, this app puts all of James Clear’s ideologies into practice. It not only helps you track your habits, but it also assists you in being mindful of the choices you make and the reasoning behind them. It comes with a focus timer feature plus a library full of helpful articles on how to stick to the habits you’re tracking and, if you upgrade to Atoms Pro, you unlock access to additional features like daily lessons and mindset content. 

For those who need a rigid, high-stakes way to stick to their goals: stickK

This is the app that will kick you into high gear if all else fails! StickK is a habit tracking app that will take your money and donate it to charity if you don’t successfully achieve your goals or report that you’ve done them by your designated time. While putting your money on the line is an optional feature, stickK users are 3X more likely to achieve their goals and stick to their habits when they do. Don’t think you can hold yourself accountable? You can appoint a “referee” (like a friend or family member) to verify that you completed what you said you would. An extreme approach for powerful results!

For those who need a friend along for the ride: Habitshare

Sometimes doing tasks isn’t as motivating or as fun as it would be if you did it with a friend. Habitshare is your typical habit-tracking app but with a social feature. Complete goals with your friends so you can hold each other accountable or, if competition is what gets you motivated, make it a friendly competition with the reward of bragging rights amongst your friend group. 

As we step into 2025, embracing better habits can pave the way for a more fulfilling and productive year. Whether you're aiming to curb spending, enhance mindfulness, or simply stay on track with your goals, the right tools and mindset can make all the difference. Let's make this year one of positive change and growth, starting with the small, consistent steps that lead to lasting success. And again, Happy New Year from MLA’s Hire an Esquire!