The 3-Minute Activity That's Made Me a Happier Lawyer

Deep Dive

Gratitude lists changed how I perceive my day-to-day

Several years ago, inspired by obstacle course racing champion and fellow lawyer Amelia Boone, I started writing daily gratitude lists.* 

Each morning, the first thing I did when I arrived at work was to list 10 things I was grateful for.  These could include the massively important things (family, friends, health), but also included the small but impactful things that brought me joy (great cold brew, a run with views of Boston Harbor, the feeling of sunshine on my face at the end of a long winter). 

It was meant to be a quick exercise where I didn’t judge myself or my answers, but just got them out.  It typically took around three minutes.

(I made my lists when I arrived at work, because at the time, I had a one-year-old and mornings at home were packed. But you could do this at a different time if that worked better for your life.)

I loved starting my workday thinking about things that made me happy, and I found that after those few minutes, I was better equipped to take on the day, reacting with calmness and patience to any frustrating situations that might arise. 

Plus over time, something else interesting started happening.  Throughout the day, I started to notice the little things that brought me joy as they happened. 

I previously wouldn’t have focused on them.  Connecting with a colleague about something not related to work, hot soup on a frigid day, learning something new.  Tiny things that, over the course of days and weeks, added up to a lot to be grateful for. 

I continued the practice of writing daily gratitude lists for around six months.  Eventually, I stopped.  I realized that because I had started noticing the little joys as they happened, I was less interested in the act of writing them out later. 

And by regularly naming the joy as it happened, my life felt more joyful overall. 

Even though not much else had changed. 

Several years down the road, I still make an effort to notice the little joys as they happen.  And I am still certain that I am happier for it. 

Science backs up the idea that gratitude practices like the one I originally adopted have a positive impact, and I’ve certainly felt it. In this three-minute daily exercise, conducted for just three months, years ago, I increased all of them in my life.

If you are interested in bringing more joy or happiness to your own life, I’d encourage you to try daily gratitude lists. Writing them is low lift, with the potential for huge returns (my favorite kind of experiment!). Best case, you love doing it and feel happier. Worst case, you lose a few minutes a day during your experiment and learn that this isn’t the strategy for you.

*Amelia is a great example of how being an in-house lawyer can be just one aspect of your identity. She is a lawyer for Apple and a former Skadden associate who spent the early years of her legal career competing in—and often winning—the most extreme obstacle course races, like the World’s Toughest Mudder. Today, she’s still an athlete, plus an online influencer talking about everything from her running, to life in Boulder, to eating disorder recovery.

But wait . . . What does gratitude or joy have to do with building an in-house legal career you love?

Everything.

The old idea of “work-life balance” did my generation a real disservice—not because balance isn’t important (it is), but because it implied that work and life are two separate things. They aren’t. Not anymore.

We answer work emails from the sidelines of our kids' games and step out of important meetings in distant time zones to FaceTime home. Our families know our colleagues by name, and our colleagues have seen our houses on Zoom, if not in person.

Work and life are not separate.

Joy for the sake of joy alone is more than enough. Seek it out for that.

But also, joy isn’t just a nice-to-have, professionally. It’s a force multiplier. When we find joy—whether in a perfectly brewed cup of coffee, a great run, or a genuinely meaningful work win—we don’t just feel better. We show up better. We become more creative problem solvers, more resilient under pressure, and more present with our teams.

Gratitude and joy are more than soft, feel-good concepts. They are performance-enhancing tools.

And in a role where your ability to stay calm, clear-headed, and connected can make or break your impact, that’s a game changer.