Try to spend less time deciding what to do next.
According to studies — as there is indeed some form of academic literature on everything — the average person spends 18 minutes on Netflix before deciding what to watch. This is not the most efficient use of one’s entertainment time. Not only does it waste time, but it also wastes it in an unenjoyable way. Time spent scrolling through Netflix is time not watching Netflix, and the whole indecision and decision fatigue is just adding more unnecessary stress to the whole ordeal.
The solution, of course, is to have a method to decide more efficiently on what you want to watch. But that’s easier said than done, since if you choose a movie that you don’t enjoy, then you’re wasting even more time. What you need is some type of device to plan ahead what you want to watch. This is called a list.
Make A List And Check It Twice
The same problem comes up all the time in law. At any time, you have inevitably any number of things that you could be working on, and when things are laid out in front of you, it’s all pretty easy: you just go through things as they need to get done. You have momentum, get into a flow, and everything’s awesome. But usually, it’s not like that. Usually, you end up spinning wheels between tasks and losing your focus as you evaluate your different options. Or, even worse, you end up doing something that wasn’t the best use of your time.
The solution, as with Netflix, is making a good list. But that’s also easier said than done: You need to make a good list. What makes a good list? A good list is at least a few things:
First, it’s realistic. If you list 20 things to get done for a day when you only really have time for three, it’s not going to be much help. It’s certainly fine to have longer-term items on your list, but they should be planned out appropriately, either by day or simply priority.
Second, it’s prioritized. Maybe the most important benefit of a good list is that it helps you tackle the most important or most time-sensitive matters first. It forces you to address those things you need to address and lets you decide what can wait.
Third, it’s in a format you’ll actually use. Even the best list is useless if you won’t use it. This is obviously personal, and in truth, you won’t know what works for you unless you experiment. I regularly try out new methods to organize, and sometimes they just don’t work — you have an idea that seems great in theory, but it’s either too cumbersome for you to keep up with or too simple to keep up with you. That’s fine, and the best thing you can do is fail fast, admit what doesn’t work, and try something else.
All these things take time. It takes time to decide what can and needs to get done, organize it all out, and experiment with the system that works for you. But that time’s an investment to save you time and get more done later.
The Other Benefit Of Lists: Staying Focused
The other benefit to lists, maybe the most important, is that it keeps you focused. It’s very easy in law to get distracted by the dopamine rush of random fires that you need to put out. But this is almost never the most efficient way to go about things. Usually what happens is that whatever is the current squeaky wheel gets your attention, at the cost of whatever may be a higher priority.
Instead, in most situations, the most efficient way to proceed isn’t to hop between emergencies, but rather to keep to your list and run down it. Naturally, sometimes — maybe even often — emergencies will come up that need to be addressed first. But a good list forces you to make the affirmative decision. It forces you to look at your priority list, look at the emergency, and decide where the new thing goes. Maybe it does go straight to the top — or maybe it goes lower down. In any event, investing the time to decide will make you more efficient in whatever you decide to do.
Matthew W. Schmidt has represented and counseled clients at all stages of litigation and in numerous matters including insider trading, fiduciary duty, antitrust law, and civil RICO. He is a partner at the trial and investigations law firm Balestriere Fariello in New York, where he and his colleagues represent domestic and international clients in litigation, arbitration, appeals, and investigations. You can reach him by email at [email protected].
