Jon Getz used to begin his days writing to-do lists in his head as he walked along the west side of the Genesee River.
"I would start usually around 5 or 5:30 in the morning, making sure that I didn't miss any conferences, court appearances and then even meetings,” he recalled.
Once his walk was over, it was just a few steps to the law firm where Getz worked for 24 years as a trial attorney, handling some high-profile criminal and civil cases.
The days were long.
"Twelve to 13 hours would be typical,” he said. “Now obviously, if there's a trial going on, there's no breaks. It'd be closer to 14-, 15-, 16-hour days."
With that came a lack of sleep, little exercise and poor eating.
And then came the COVID-19 pandemic. Courtrooms were shuttered, client meetings went virtual, and Getz got to spend more time at home than he had in years.
He was in lockdown with his wife and their two college-aged daughters.
"It may sound silly, but we did a 52,000-piece puzzle as a family,” he said with a laugh. “We did lots of family hikes outside. My older daughter is a gardener, so we gardened together. My younger one is a track athlete, so she would pretend to keep up with me and I would pretend to run as fast as I could with her."
Getz was also still putting in plenty of work time, but it didn't seem as hectic.
"It gave me time to reflect,” he said, “which I hadn't had in a while."
Time to think about making some changes -- because he got a glimpse of what life could be like if he slowed down.
"When you're going 100 miles an hour, you don't realize how fast you're going until you stop,” he said.
But another criminal trial was looming on his calendar.
"That's really when it hit me,” he said. “For me, the idea of doing another lengthy trial for a matter that would take up literally the entire summer just made me think about what I would miss."
So he walked away from a successful partnership in his law firm and opened his own mediation practice.
He still gets to work with clients -- one of his favorite parts of the job -- on cases ranging from civil rights to business mediation.
He calls it resolving conflict with compassion.
"I still get up early, but now I get up early to go for a walk or do something that's a little more meditative," he said.
And the 12- to 16-hour work days have been reduced drastically to six or seven hours.
The slower pace has been good for his health.
"My blood pressure's gone down to normal levels for the first time in years and that's no medication, just me doing what I need to do,” he said. “Sleep cycles are much better."
Despite the positive changes, the downshift wasn’t automatic.
“I’d have to say there is a certain amount of addiction to always feeling you have to be moving, that you almost have to detox out of that feeling,” he said.
Getz said he is adapting, though. He recently took a break during the middle of the workday for a bike ride.
"It was just wonderful,” he said. “I think it's helped me, and ultimately, it's helping the people I'm trying to help."
