Time Management is Money: Beat the Clock & Save

One of the most frequent contributors to legal malpractice claims is rushed or forgotten work. A good scheduling system only goes so far toward minimizing time problems; you may end up just watching the deadlines pass if you don’t use your time effectively. Here are ten things you can do to beat the clock:

1. Organize Today. You may think you will get organized when you get around to it. The fact is, however, that you don’t have time not to be organized. Many experts say – and we agree – that an hour of organization can save many hours of work.

2. Make a to do list. Put everything down, including personal needs. Be as detailed as you want, and add to it as additional tasks arise. Review the list at the start of every day, and decide what to do that day.

3. Prioritize. Only by prioritizing will you be able to get the most important things done timely. In prioritizing, you should also advance up the list those things you do not want to do. Instead of agonizing over those things you don’t want to do while working on pleasurable things, you will reward yourself with fun things after finishing hard tasks.

4. Set aside time for routine tasks daily. In addition to time to organize, set aside specific times for reading mail, returning calls, and similar tasks.

5. Schedule time for yourself. If you don’t take time to relax, you will make mistakes and not work as efficiently.

6. Delegate where possible. Yes, you are responsible for what your staff does, and you should review their work. But you don’t have to do it for them. Create an atmosphere that allows staff to ask questions when necessary. Praise good work, make positive suggestions for change when work isn’t right.

7. Create systems that make repeated tasks easier. Use forms for client interviews and commonly prepared documents. Use checklists for different kinds of cases.

8. Touch a piece of paper only once. Once you read a document, take action. Schedule the work that needs to be done on that document and have it filed, or do the work immediately. Do not shuffle papers to another part of your desk only to repeat the process again later.

9. Make decisions and move on. While you need to analyze a situation fully before acting, at some point you just have to decide what to do and do it.

10. Focus on the larger picture. It is easy to get lost in details. If the ultimate goal of your work is not clearly in front of you, you may miss the forest for the trees while working yourself to death.

By Jett Hanna