Summer break = client emergencies. THE tool to stay calm:

Reading time: 2:24 minutes

Every summer, the same lie: "It'll be quiet with everyone on vacation."

For years, I'd cover for my boss during his three-week breaks. He was reachable, just harder to coordinate. Should have been quiet weeks for both of us.

Every year, life had other plans.

A client emergency at the highest level. A new high-profile client. Senior partner attention required.

My boss was juggling client calls from a mountain, holding it all together. Half the office gone. And there I'd be, sweating at my desk, doing the legwork — drafting warning letters and briefs.

We worked well together, totally in sync.

But I was drowning in client crises that needed to be solved yesterday.

Shoulders tense. Heart pounding. Mind racing. "How will I fit all of this into my day?"

Those pressure-cooker summers taught me something crucial: Panic makes you stupid. And stupid is expensive when client millions are on the line.

So I developed emergency tools for emergency situations.

Here's the two-minute technique that transforms sweaty panic into calm focus.

Takes your nervous system from fight-or-flight to clear thinking. I wish I'd found it earlier. Game changer.

My clients love it. You can even use ina call, meeting, or hearing — no one will notice. Works whether you're in Berlin's sweltering office or preparing for a critical call from the mountains.

The 4–6–5 technique

Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds
Exhale through your nose for 6 seconds
Hold your breath out for 5 seconds
Repeat 4–8 times (or longer if you like)
(Breathe deep into your belly for best results — but master the 4–6–5 pattern first if that’s too much when you're in crisis mode.)

Slow breathing, longer exhales, short breath holds, and deep breathing activate your body's relaxation response. Your shoulders drop. Your mind clears.

Takes two minutes to shift from panic to focus.

Why this works so well

When you're stressed, your sympathetic nervous system floods you with cortisol and adrenaline. Great for running from predators. Terrible for precise legal thinking.

Your breathing becomes shallow and fast, sending "danger" signals to your brain. Your prefrontal cortex goes offline — the part that handles complex reasoning, weighs evidence, and spots contract loopholes.

Each element of the 4–6–5 technique works together, all stimulating your vagus nerve — which triggers your parasympathetic nervous system. This is your "rest and digest" mode.

Cortisol drops. Blood flow returns to your prefrontal cortex. You can think clearly again.

It's not meditation or mysticism. It's basic neuroscience that every lawyer can use.

Use it:

When the client email lands and your heart pounds
Before you call the partner with bad news
When opposing counsel files a last-minute brief

I know, taking just a few breaths feels too long in these crisis moments — you just want to move fast.

But moving fast is bad when you’re moving in the wrong direction.

So make sure you’re calm and clear beforeyou dash.

During those summer emergencies, I learned that two minutes of breathing beats hours of panicked scrambling.

Now I teach this to partners juggling calls from vacation spots, associates drowning in emergency briefs, anyone who needs to think clearly when the stakes are high.

So whether you're sweating in the office or taking calls from vacation, you're now equipped.

Two minutes. Calm focus. Crisis handled.

Try the 4-6-5 technique when the pressure mounts. You'll be amazed how fast two minutes can shift your entire day. But if you want to go deeper, there's more we can do together — to rewire your stress response permanently.

To your summer,

Jan

P.S.

Know a lawyer drowning in summer emergencies? Share this — help them find calm in the chaos.

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