Tools and approaches for time management continue to evolve. Find recent top tips from law practice management experts below.
Back in June, our friends at Attorney at Work sourced an expert roundup of tech tips for lawyers to manage time more effectively and enjoy more time off from work. Although it can be more challenging to stay focused on your well-being in the legal profession than in others, the profession is working to improve conditions, and you can create positive change for yourself with the right tools and approaches.
I encourage readers to use the 15-Minute Pickup Rule. I picked up this tip a few years back from a productivity resource. (Likely from Allison Shields and Dan Siegel’s How to Do More in Less Time guide, published by the American Bar Association Law Practice Division. It is a great read regardless.) The tactic is simple:
Designate 15 minutes at the end of each week to clean up your stuff. Yes, I task my 5-year-old with the same. The more stuff we have around us, the more we procrastinate getting things done, and the more our stress increases because it creates the appearance that work is never done. And the more stuff, the more time we take trying to find the work we need to do. I’m not just talking about clearing the physical papers from your desk, but also all those electronic files that found their way to littering your computer desktop.
Take a few minutes at the end of the week to clear your space — both physically and virtually. Program this into your electronic calendar each week and set a reminder so you do not forget. When you’ve cleared your space, you have taken one step toward maximizing your environment for productivity, thus allowing you to be more focused and get more done.
You can find more on other expert tips on time management in the full post on AttorneyatWork.com.
- Adopt Online Scheduling — from Reid Trautz
- Automate Your Invoices — from Larry Port
- Don’t Pomodoro — from Andrea Cannavina
- Set a Notifications-Free Zone — from Sharon Nelson and John Simek
- Use Tech to Draw Boundaries — from Tom Lambotte
- Deploy the Eisenhower Matrix — from Sheila Blackford
Finally, check out our comprehensive guest post on Personal Productivity + Time Management for Lawyers here, where you’ll also find:
- Time Management: How to Use GTD + MIT [Template]
- Achieving Inbox Zero: Email Management Tips
- Winning Strategies to Increase Productivity
- 5 Steps to Organize Projects + Increase Productivity in Your Law Practice
- How to Manage Obstacles to Productivity in Law Practice
- How Lawyers Can Manage People for Productivity
