Do More of What You Want: Making Time Work for You

By Allison Shields One of the biggest challenges lawyers face is the challenge of trying to get it all done and still have time to do the things they want to do. Theyre overwhelmed by the demands of their practice and juggling family, personal and work time. Theres really no such thing as time management
Time management is a misnomer. You have no control over time. Everyone is given the same amount of time every day, every week and every year. Whether you like it or not, youre stuck with only 24 hours every day. Rather than thinking about managing your time, think about managing your activities. Often, the problem is that lawyers are afraid to plan their activities within the amount of time available to them. Many lawyers think that their practice doesnt lend itself to planning because they want to be responsive to clients needs as they arise. The two do not have to be mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, having no plan at all usually means that the little, often least valuable or least important things eat up all of the available time, and important tasks never get done. Sometimes, its marketing, organizing your practice or your office, or following up on collections that gets neglected. Most often, its the family and personal time that suffers. Lawyers become victims of burnout, which leads to more profound personal problems and ultimately, health problems, in addition to business and professional troubles. How can you manage your activities to create time for high value business and personal activities?
Theres no one right way to do this that will work for everyone. And there is no one right tool, whether you use case management programs, electronic databases, personal handheld organizers, desk calendars or paper planners. But regardless of which method you choose to manage your activities and appointments, the steps are similar. First, divide your activities/tasks into categories
Julie Morgenstern, author of Time Management from the Inside Out and other books, likens organizing your activities to organizing your closet. She begins by sorting putting like items together. For example, you might sort activities into categories such as: errands (post office, dry cleaner, banking), closing files, entering contact information into your database, planning, filing, family activities, writing, blogging, etc. The categories are extremely individual and may depend on your practice area and other obligations; these categories are just suggestions. Break up your to do list.
Looking at the entire list of everything that needs to get done, from errands to client projects to marketing and administrative tasks can be overwhelming. And overwhelm leads to paralysis. By categorizing the tasks that need to be completed and keeping separate lists or folders for each category, your list will be easier to tackle. Another advantage is that performing like tasks together makes them easier to accomplish. Handling a number of telephone calls or emails at once is usually more efficient than handling them piecemeal. Writing several letters about the same topic (i.e. follow up to clients for documents or information youre waiting for or letters to clients about payment) or closing a number of files at once will make each individual task go faster. Prioritize the items on your list
Which activities bring the highest return? Which are the most important to you or to your clients? Which activities are the oldest (sometimes getting those old dogs off of your plate makes a lot more room physically and emotionally for you to get other things done)? Those are your priority activities. Some strategies for determining the priority of tasks include asking why youre doing that task in the first place, and ensuring that the task has a legitimate purpose and focusing on the outcome or anticipated result, rather than the task itself. You probably have tasks on your list that are priorities that you avoid because you dont like to do them. Sometimes those tasks can be delegated and sometimes they cant (see below). When they cant, focus on the result, rather than on the task itself. If youre avoiding a job, chore, etc., focus on the outcome what will it feel like when this is done? What will be the result emotionally, productively, financially, or organizationally? If the task has an important purpose and a high value result, make it a priority. Eliminate unnecessary tasks
Which activities can you get off of your list? Get rid of anything that you dont have to do. Some tasks can be eliminated entirely. Others can be delegated. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses can help you to determine what you should delegate. Anything that you avoid doing, hate doing or just dont do well is a potential candidate for delegation. If someone else can do it better, faster, more consistently, delegate it. Delegate it if someone else will get it done well enough (as opposed to keeping it on your to do list where it never gets done). See my article, Too Much to Do, Too Little Time? Why Your Dont Do List May be More Important Than Your To Do List for more on eliminating tasks from your list. Determine the amount of time each activity will take to accomplish and schedule it
Dont be stingy with your estimate; estimating too little time will add stress and confusion to your schedule. Decide when you will perform that activity and physically schedule it on your calendar Make sure you leave some empty space or downtime on your calendar, in addition to the personal and family time that you schedule. Scheduling tasks can be done by scheduling a specific time for a particular task (i.e. I will call this client at 3 p.m. on Tuesday or I will draft the contract at 10 a.m. on the 27th) or by using a method known as time blocking. Time blocking can be as simple as putting like activities together, which is why the first step of categorization is so important. Often, when youre doing one task for one client, its that much easier to do the same activity for another client. For example, you can time block by saying that Thursday afternoons will be reserved for errands, or the last Friday of every month will be used for closing files, or you will focus on business development every Monday. At the same time, recognize that the schedule is not entirely set in stone. As a lawyer, it is likely that there will be last minute emergencies, unforeseen circumstances or client crises that must be addressed. Thats further evidence that what doesnt get scheduled and isnt urgent, isnt likely to get done. More often than not, you probably react to whatever is in front of you, rather than determining in advance what you want to accomplish. If scheduling time on your calendar for important tasks allows you to complete them even half of the time, its probably a lot more than youre doing right now. The advantage to setting specific times to accomplish important tasks is that as soon as the crisis or emergency has passed, you can return to your schedule without missing a beat. Leaving your schedule to chance is much more likely to deteriorate. Scheduling or time blocking gives you a purpose or plan for every day. One of the reasons many lawyers get discouraged and feel overwhelmed is that they keep one long to do list and theres no way that theyll be able to accomplish all of the tasks on the list. They continue to carry the same things on their to do list day after day. Theres no sense of accomplishment, because they see the same tasks carried from one day to the next, over and over. By using the method outlined above and making appointments with yourself, whether at specific times or in blocks of hours or days, you will be able to see when youre about to overload a specific day or week and make adjustments ahead of time. If you see that one day is already booked, youll know you need to put the new task on another day, or reschedule an existing appointment. Some final tips: Minimize interruptions or unplanned activities
Just because the phone rings doesnt mean you have to answer it, and you dont need to answer every email as it arrives. Often, we waste time addressing issues or interrupting the flow of our work by being distracted by an unrelated (and often unimportant) email or telephone call. Frequently answering the email or phone call takes longer when were in the middle of something else. The same goes for interruptions from colleagues or employees; if it isnt a crisis, ask them to come back at a specific time when you can focus on their issue. Dont multitask
Our society has become one in which multitasking is seen as a good practice. In fact, studies have shown that (with few exceptions) the more you multitask, the less attention and focus youre devoting to any of the tasks youre trying to accomplish. Chances are that youre performing any of those tasks well. Focusing on one thing at a time ensures more efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction. Reward yourself
There is no such thing as being done; there will always be more work to do. Its easy to focus on what hasnt been done yet, and what still needs to be done, or what should have been done. Focus instead on what youve accomplished and how far youve come. Celebrate when you accomplish something or stick to your schedule and forgive yourself when you lose track. Get back to the schedule and move on. Repurpose
Everything you do should be able to be used more than once. Keep track of the legal arguments, motions, documents, letters, procedures, articles, etc. Almost everything in your practice can be used over again, either by you or by someone else in the office. If you can use the same product over again with minimal modifications, youll free up more time, rather than constantly reinventing the wheel. Take breaks and incorporate personal time
No breaks and no time for yourself = burnout. Need I say more? Set deadlines
A goal isnt worth much unless theres a deadline. The same is true for a task. Thats why scheduling the task for a specific time on your calendar makes it more likely that youll complete it. For more information about setting deadlines, see the December 2006 newsletter for the feature article, The Productivity Secret: How to Complete the Tasks Youve Been Avoiding. Get a buddy/accountability system
Your buddy may be your spouse, your assistant, your best friend, another lawyer in your office, or a coach or consultant. Find someone with whom to share your goals and intentions and to keep you on track, to help you stick to your schedule and identify which tasks are priorities and which can be delegated. When you tell someone else what youre going to do, the peer pressure can be a big motivator. Create some way to keep yourself accountable. Dont get overwhelmed with all you have to do, and dont overwhelm yourself with a never-ending to-do list. Categorize, break tasks down into smaller chunks or parts, prioritize, eliminate or delegate what you can and schedule the just the first step of what remains, rather than the entire project. You may be surprised at how much you can accomplish and still have time to spend with your loved ones (or on the golf course!) (c) 2006-2007 Allison C. Shields and Legal Ease Consulting, Inc. This article may be reprinted, but must include the copyright and resource box below. Allison C. Shields, Esq., President of Legal Ease Consulting, Inc., helps lawyers and law firms create productive, profitable and ejoyable law practices. Legal Ease Consulting provides leadership, practice management and business development services for successful lawyers and law firms. Allison is also the author of the Legal Ease Blog at http://www.LegalEaseConsulting.com Her website, http://www.LawyerMeltdown.com contains articles, resources and information for lawyers. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Allison_Shields http://EzineArticles.com/?Do-More-of-What-You-Want:-Making-Time-Work-for-You&id=448915 ambien experiences
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