Time Management Tips for Lawyers For panel on “Practicing Mindfulness, Time Management, and Other Practical Tools to De-Stress Your Legal Practice” by Margaret Spencer Dixon, Esq. www.TimeManagementForLawyers.com

Tip #1: Make and honor a daily action plan Use a to-do list as a tool for making good time-use decisions Choose a convenient format Keep it visible or easily accessible Keep it short (try for no more than 6 items) Prioritize it Honor it

Honoring your to-do list means sticking to it unless you make a conscious decision that circumstances have changed to justify revising your plan.

Tip #2: Engage in periodic brainstorming for goals Aim to revisit your goals weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly Set SMART goals: Specific Measurable Activity-oriented Reasonable Time-limited

Tip #3: Engage in weekly planning sessions Best times for weekly planning Agenda for your weekly planning session Review your long-term goals Review last week’s goals Review your “sources of work” Review/preview your calendar Create this week’s to-do plan

Tip #4: Maintain a dynamic, prioritized, categorized to-do list Benefits of including (almost) all of your to-do items in the system Think of your to-do system as a pyramid: The Daily To-Do List The Weekly To-Do Plan The comprehensive Master To-Do List

Tip #5: Process information efficiently Triaging versus processing Be strategic re how often to process email Handle each item as few times as possible The key questions to ask when processing The two-minute principle (and variations) The “decide next action” (DNA) option Dealing with a backlog

Tip #6 How to overcome chronic procrastination “I must . . . .” “I choose to . . . .” “I have to finish.” “When can I start?” “This project is huge.” “I’ll do one small task.” “I have to be perfect.” “I can be human.”

“I won’t have time for fun, rest, or relaxation until this is over.” “I must make time for fun, rest, and relaxation even when I’m busy.”

Tip #7: How to avoid low-grade procrastination Start anywhere Start even if you’re not in the mood Realize that unpleasant tasks don’t get any easier over time Schedule catch-up time (weekends may work best) Think of working in fifteen-minute increments

Maxims If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re never going to get there. It’s never a matter of time, it’s a matter of priorities. Organization is your servant, not your master. Do what you can in the time that you have. It’s no harder to live with good habits than with bad habits. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. “What’s the best use of my time right now?”