The views and opinions set forth herein are the personal views or opinions of the author; they do not necessarily reflect views or opinions of the law firm with which they are associated. 

The road to being a lawyer is nothing short of amazing, especially given the sheer effort needed to get to the finish line. Navigating undergrad, conquering the LSAT, and immersing oneself in the rigor of legal education for three years demands immense sacrifice. Once you cross the graduation stage, all of the early mornings and late nights feel worth it. Yet, almost before the graduation confetti hits the floor, newly minted graduates jump right into the next major challenge: studying for their bar exam. In our profession, momentum is constantly prized over stillness. This leaves virtually no room to pause and process our own experiences. 

As I handed in my bar exam packet, dropped my pencil, and walked out of the bar exam room, I realized that this was it for me. Two decades of schooling—with some gap years in between—had come to a sudden, screeching halt. No more memorizing negligence or the exceptions to hearsay, no more papers due at 11:59 PM, and no more timed practice MBE questions. After years of running on adrenaline, I found myself back in my quiet apartment staring at the almost two-month gap between the rest of my bar summer and my start date at work. As that large block of time stared back at me, I had to come to terms with something almost as nerve-wracking as school: learning how to rest. 

When you’ve spent your entire life as a student, your brain gets wired to treat downtime like a crime. Rest feels like slacking and quiet time feels like inefficiency. As women entering the legal profession, we are conditioned to constantly scan the horizon for the next issue. But sitting in this unique stretch of time between putting the pencil down for an exam and walking through the doors of my first post-grad job, I couldn’t help but wonder: How do we intentionally rest when there’s nothing left on the to-do list? 

What’s the Value in Intentional Rest? 

My father would always say, “don’t joke about your sleep.” He emphasized that rest is just as important as your productive output because rest and work go hand-in-hand. Rather than treating sleep as time stolen from work, he taught me that rest and performance boost each other forward. 

While many of us try to bypass true rest by passive means like endless scrolling or background TV, active rest requires intentionality. True rest happens when you let go of the worries of the world and focus on rejuvenating your body and mind. Lying on the couch isn’t truly restorative if it is coupled with ruminating over a cold call that went sideways, an outline that isn’t finished, or the looming workload of the upcoming quarter. Intentional rest requires us to give our nervous systems permission to unwind from a stressful period. 

Unwinding is important because working in the legal profession is a marathon—lawyers work closely with their clients to provide excellent work that often has long-term ramifications. That is a lot of pressure. Without deliberate restoration, we become increasingly vulnerable to burnout, which quietly erodes the professional fulfillment of practice and leads to cognitive disengagement. Given that the legal profession is uniquely susceptible to attrition, rest is not an option. It is a necessity. 

Conduct an “Adrenaline Detox” 

After going through a productive marathon, it’s difficult to expect your mind to magically switch from high-stress preparation to deep relaxation overnight. The first helpful action before resting is to check for any leftover anxiety. For me, this looked like waking up bright and early because I thought I missed a bar prep practice set even though I already took the bar! For others, common examples might look like feeling guilty for watching a movie on a Friday night and thinking about projects while out with friends because you feel like you should be doing more. In these situations, you might look like you’re having a day off, but your mind is not where your feet are. 

When you’re coming down from a stressful period, give yourself permission to feel off, tired, or even strangely restless during your first week post-bar. Sleep in, put away the law books, and let your brain process the fact that the crisis is over. Try your best to have a bare-bones routine, nourish your body, and catch up with life outside of work. 

Reclaim Your Non-Legal Identity

Law school has a sneaky way of consuming your entire identity if you let it. Use this downtime to reconnect with the parts of yourself that have nothing to do with the law. Read a novel purely for entertainment. Revisit a creative outlet you abandoned during finals. Pick up a camera, start a personal project, or spend an afternoon exploring a new neighborhood without checking your email. Remind yourself who you are when nobody is testing or billing you. Intentional rest becomes far more natural when your identity is rooted in who you are holistically, rather than solely in the credentials on your resume. 

Protect Your Transition Boundaries

When people learned I took the bar, the immediate follow-up question was usually, “So, what’s next?” Even with an exciting plan in place, it is easy to feel pressure when forced to think about the future. This may lead you to overthink future work scenarios, start pre-studying practice groups, or organize your work wardrobe months in advance. 

I say this earnestly: Resist the urge to rush into the future. Your firm, court, or organization will provide the tools, training, and context you need when your tenure actually begins. More importantly, by the time you are ready for your first post-grad role, you will already have years of hard work from law school under your belt. If you could learn how to read a case, you can learn on the job. Protect your relaxation time as a sacred boundary between your academic chapter and your professional career. 

The Takeaway 

If I could offer advice to my 1L self, it would be to listen to my father and not joke with my sleep. The legal profession will always present another briefing deadline, another project, and another milestone to chase. But you cannot sustainably capitalize on those opportunities if you operate from a place of depletion. 

Starting your first real legal role, whether at a firm, a public interest organization, or a judicial clerkship, demands your energy, focus, and resilience. But true professional sustainability does not start on your first day at the office. It starts in the quiet moments after pushing through arduous seasons when you make the conscious choice to pause. You worked hard to earn this transition. Now, take a deep breath, step away from the desk, and let yourself rest. 

Oluwatobi Ajimoko is a first-generation Nigerian-American and a 2026 graduate of Howard University School of Law. As a student, she enjoyed immersing herself in the law school experience, serving as a Senior Notes and Comments Editor on the Howard Law Journal and a Legal Writing Dean’s Fellow. Oluwatobi also participated in the Garvey-Nkrumah Fellowship Program, where she learned about alternative dispute resolution and commerce throughout the African diaspora. Oluwatobi received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and studied abroad at the University of Ghana, Legon in Accra, Ghana. She is excited to enter the legal profession and aims to be a social engineer by using her background, experiences, and training to shape her community.

In her spare time, Oluwatobi enjoys going on walks, playing soccer, making bouquets, and watching old films and shows.