6 Time Management Tips For Those Who Are Sick Of Calendaring

Being the most productive requires you to be flexible and adapt to unforeseen circumstances.

During the last few weekends, I tried planning my week in great detail. I would give myself two five-minute breaks per day, and one hour for eating at the desk lunch. I gave myself no breaks between client meetings. Finally, I made plans to work on major projects from 8 p.m to 1 a.m.

But at the end of every week, I was unable to finish every activity I set out to do. While this was mainly due to unexpected calls from potential clients and opposing counsel, I also felt overwhelmed. I also spent more time goofing off than I care to admit.

I picked up some time management tricks that worked for me that I will share below. But if you need some more in-depth tips, I highly recommend reading David Allen’s classic book, Getting Things Done: The Art Of Stress-Free Productivity (affiliate link). Some of the time management tips below are based on Allen’s suggestions.

Only pick up phone calls when you absolutely have to. To do this, make sure that you save and classify all of the phone numbers. That way, if you know who the caller is, you can answer it or transfer the call to voicemail. So if a phone number belongs to a client, save their name to your contact list. Do the same for opposing counsel, government officials, referral sources, and family members. If the phone number belongs to a salesman, you might want to put the number on your block list.

The biggest problem is when a call comes from a phone number that you are not familiar with. It can be a new or potential client, in which case you must answer, since potential clients tend to have short attention spans. Or it can be a difficult or overly chatty person on the other end. Both can possibly suck up a good portion of your time with nothing to show for it. You can stall them by promising to call back, which brings me to my next suggestion…

Set up a time where you will get back to difficult people. We have to constantly deal with people at their worst. And some of these people act this way regularly. And if their anger is transferred onto us, it can be a source of stress and can negatively affect our productivity and mood for the remainder of the day.

However, it doesn’t mean we can’t control when we have to deal with these people. So do your best to set up a time where you can deal with these people. Mentally prepare yourself beforehand and make plans to calm yourself after you are done dealing with these toxic individuals.

Sponsored

Identify and stop time sucks. The most common time sucks are excessive use of social media and chat rooms. Of course, we use social media to help build our brand and develop relationships. We talk to clients, other lawyers, and other professionals through social media. If we use social media primarily to generate business and goodwill, that would be considered productive and acceptable.

But if you’re spending more time on Facebook reading the 999th op-ed on President Trump, or arguing with another chat member over who is the greatest Game Of Thrones character, you might need to get on a social media diet. If it’s a chronic problem, it’s okay — I and many others have made this mistake from time to time.

Another time suck is dealing with free-consultation moochers. Sincerely hear them out and help them as much as you can, but end the call as soon as possible if you think the potential client is not going to pay you.

Don’t schedule more action items than you think you can handle. I am amazed at how some people have the discipline to finish 10 or more things in a single day. While others have to spend an entire day (or more) just to get one thing done.

If you can get many things done, then that’s great. But since so many unforeseeable events can happen in a day, you may not be able to finish everything you planned to do, which can lead to disappointment and frustration that negatively affect productivity.

Sponsored

One thing that has worked for me is to set up priority action items that must be completed that day. I started with two to four priority items per day but later I increased it to three to five per day. I had a number of secondary action items that would be due by the following day or by the end of the week but some would turn to priority items for the next day.

If you are still struggling to get things done, you should consider hiring an employee or referring out excess work.

If you have difficulty deciding what to do, just do the first productive activity that comes to mind. Suppose you are contemplating doing one of three things. When you are done contemplating, you find out that 20 minutes have passed because you overanalyzed the situation. You shouldn’t spend more than two minutes. If one item is more important than the rest, you shouldn’t be contemplating at all.

If you find yourself paralyzed because of your choices, then just start with the first project that comes to mind, preferably something quick and easy. Once you are done, you will have one less item occupying your mind, which will hopefully make your next project easier to do. And so on.

Finally, do not set a time limit for creative or thought-intensive work. I have seen people try to write a 30-page motion with exhibits or some other thought-intensive work in three hours. Most didn’t do it and had to ask the court and opposing counsel for more time.

If you give yourself a time limit to do a potentially long and mentally exhausting job, you will start to spend time thinking about the clock and fantasizing about finishing before the time limit. And of course, when the deadline approaches and you haven’t even scratched the surface, that’s when things get stressful.

Instead, give yourself ample time to get the important things done. Save these activities for the end of the day so you won’t have to worry about (or deal with) anything else.

The traditional way of improving your time management was to calendar every event whenever possible. But ironically, being the most productive requires you to be flexible and adapt to unforeseen circumstances.


Shannon Achimalbe was a former solo practitioner for five years before deciding to sell out and get back on the corporate ladder. Shannon can be reached by email at sachimalbe@excite.com and via Twitter: @ShanonAchimalbe.