Lawyers are notoriously competitive, ambitious, and successful. To achieve this success in the courtroom and in life, lawyers must master the art of time management.
This post will be a handy guide with tips on how to allocate your time so that you can be as successful as possible both inside and outside the courtroom. These nine hints will help make sure you’re on top of everything without going absolutely crazy!
1) Understand Your Time
Determine your personal time-based goals and objectives for the year. What do you want to accomplish in the next twelve months? This will help you keep motivated and on task. If your goal is to pass the bar exam but your resource constraints prevent you from studying during the day, plan to study at night. A schedule and a time slot for everything are fine as long as it’s something you actually want to do.
2) Use technical solutions
Use time management software for law firms to plan and organize your time. Use the “Calendar” function, set alarms for reminders, and create recurring tasks. Email, search engine results, the Internet, and all of the other tools put at our fingertips are great ways to plan a schedule.
3) Set Milestones
After you’ve set up your schedule and completed specific tasks throughout the planning period, reward yourself by setting a milestone of accomplishing your objective. This can be anything from pushing out fifty e-mails daily to writing an entire novel by the end of the year. Just make sure that you don’t tie yourself down with deadlines that are too strict or won’t be met.
4) Don’t Be a Hero
Learn how much work you can realistically complete in a given time, then schedule accordingly. Remember you don’t have to say ‘yes’ to every request; learning to say no can help you become more productive.
5) Get it right the first time
This may sound obvious, but spending a little more time on getting something completed correctly first-time will avoid costly and time-hungry re-writes.
6) Get Organized
Keep a calendar and file system. This is the easy part! Just make sure everything is immediately accessible.
7) Don’t be a workaholic
This can be highly detrimental to your health and happiness, so set boundaries and limits for yourself with regard to how much overtime you’d like to take or how many hours you can actually be away from the office. Just because you’re doing something doesn’t mean you need to do it all day, every day!
8) Schedule breaks
Focusing on one thing for too long a period can be detrimental to you and your productivity. Take your mind off the task at hand for a few hours every now and again. This will give you more energy, which will then allow you to stay focused on the work that needs to get done.
9) Update your CRM
If you’re using CRM software, keep track of all of your tasks in an organized way, it’s far more effective than writing notes which can easily get lost.
Time is our most valuable commodity, so be sure to spend it wisely and effectively. These tips will help you stay focused and complete your tasks accordingly.
