Cambridge Dictionary defines focus as the main or central point of something, especially of attention or interest.

Cambridge Dictionary defines consistency as the quality of always behaving or performing in a similar way, or of always happening in a similar way.

In the context of your legal journey, it is crucial to understand why you may be lacking focus and consistency.

1. Burnout. Simply put, you have overworked yourself. You have stretched yourself too thin, and your mind is struggling to focus on the task at hand.
2. Overwhelmed. Have you got too many things going on in your life? Does your mind spiral into a million different thoughts? You may be dealing with studies, exam season, your job, home life, friends… and the list goes on. It can be exhausting even thinking about these these things, let alone trying to balance them alongside your legal journey.
3. Fear of failure. Law is competitive. The training contract process is cumbersome and challenging. Interviews, by definition of what they are (you being assessed and judged by someone) are fear-provoking. Why even bother trying if you know that you may fail?
4. Lack of self-worth. You do not feel that you are good enough. You feel that you do not have the skill, intelligence, resilience (… and the list goes on) required to become a lawyer. Why would any law firm want you? What could you possible bring to a law firm and their clients?
5. Environment. The people around you have different priorities and interests to you. Perhaps your friends prioritise socialising over studying. Perhaps no one else in your family is a lawyer, or has any interest in law. You stick out as a sore-thumb as a result.
6. Mental health. All of the factors mentioned above can of course impact your mental health negatively. However, I want to stress the significance of not downplaying your mental-wellbeing. This is even more important if you are someone who is dealing with a mental health condition. For instance, depression and anxiety can have major implications on focus and consistency.

There are of course many more reasons why someone may be struggling with focus and consistency. But I have outlined the above as a starting point.

Solutions

1. Burnout. Simply put, you need to pace yourself. The same problem will not resolve the same issue. If your issue is that you have worked yourself to your capacity, it is quite literally impossible to work anymore. Take a break. A simple analogy to remind yourself of so that you do not feel guilty for doing so: your iPhone notifies you that it is on 20% battery life. Your iPhone notifies you that it is on 1% battery life. You still decide to not charge it, and continue using it anyway. Your iPhone can no longer send you a notification on its battery life because it is out of charge. Can you continue using your phone? No. Similarly, your mind and body notifies you of when it needs a rest. Perhaps your lack of focus is your mind’s way of telling you that it needs a break (to recharge like your phone).
2. Overwhelmed. This can be part of burnout as well. In which case, as mentioned above, take some time to relax. Something else that can help with feeling overwhelmed is a routine. I will address routines as a separate point altogether.
3. Fear of failure. As cliche as it sounds, we all start somewhere. It is not necessary, nor is it realistic, to think that you will succeed at everything from the first try. Let us consider Islam’s role here. If you ‘failed’ at something or were rejected, it was not meant for you, or perhaps it was not meant for you at that time. Just try to think about what Allah may be teaching you from this experience. What is meant for you will not pass you. Have patience and trust His timing.
4. Lack of self-worth. Firms will often ask ‘why you?’ and ‘why our firm?’. It can be really difficult to answer these questions when you feel that you do not belong in that firm, or any firm. But Allah has planted that desire to become a lawyer for a reason. If you know that you want to become a lawyer, and Allah is providing opportunities for you to obtain this goal, believe in His plan. It can be difficult to have such high regard and faith in your own abilities. Instead, think about Allah’s capability. He planted that desire and the opportunities for a reason. He will get you there.
5. Environment. It can be difficult to change our circumstances and the people around us. I am not saying to remove all of these circumstances and people from your life. Rather, implement influences which can help motivate, encourage and drive you towards having the focus and consistency that you need. An example of how to do this is using social media to your advantage. Follow accounts that share the same interests as you. It may also be worth unfollowing accounts which distract you from what is important to you.
6. Mental health. As mentioned earlier if the above are all contributing to general poor mental health, implement the above strategies. However, if you are struggling with a mental health condition, such as depression or anxiety, these should be tackled head on in order to resolve the issues of lack of focus and consistency. Seeking professional help -whether that be from a GP, private therapist, or a school / university counsellor – is highly recommended as they can provide expert and tailored advice to your specific situation. But for the purposes of this blog post, I would say to begin with trying to mitigate factors contributing to the poor mental health. For example, if you know that scrolling on social media every morning and learning about devastating world news contributes towards heightened levels of anxiety and depression, do not do this. You can either cut this habit out altogether, filter out news-related posts, or only keep updated on the news when you do not have pressing tasks to tend to. Consequently, you will not be in this heightened state, and will therefore be able to better focus on your task at hand.

Routine

A routine is built up on habits that we carry out. If you are lacking focus or consistency or both, you need to build a routine that works for you, not against you. A good starting point would be determining what time of day works best for you. For instance, perhaps you are a morning person, who is most productive during these house. In which case, this would be your prime time to get your important tasks done. You can then leave the less significant tasks or your leisure time for your evenings. Another factor to consider is your location. Perhaps studying at home is not the best environment to work on training contract applications due to family distractions. In such a situation, you may find that choosing to study in a library, for instance, is more effective for you. With regard to mental health, there are small changes you can implement on a regular basis to make things easier for yourself. For example, you may find that having a coffee in the morning is enjoyable and gets you in a good headspace for being productive… But the caffeine in the coffee results in a spike of your anxiety, and as a result your productivity plummets. A good alternative to this may be switching to decaffeinated coffee. This way you are not depriving yourself of what you want, but you are rather promoting a conducive routine that works in your favour.