HCBA Lawyer Magazine Vol. 28, No. 4 | Page 51

let’s have a More ProduCtive 2018
Solo & Small Firm Section
Chairs: Amanda Uliano - Law Office of Amanda Uliano, P.A. & Matthew Crist - Crist Legal, P.A.
W
© Can Stock Photo / PixelsAway
e chose a
challenging
profession. For
those that own or
manage a law firm, the challenges
are even greater — servicing
clients, getting more clients,
managing cases, directing
employees, networking with
colleagues, and staying educated,
among countless others.
How can we get better at
managing these obligations? One
way is to be more productive.
Here are some tips on being
more productive this year:
E-mail Better. This is a big one.
Lawyers always complain about
how much e-mail they get. Let’s be
clear — spending your entire day
inside your inbox and responding
to e-mails is not productive. It’s
reactive and keeps you from
focusing on the big picture. Don’t
ignore your inbox. But take control
of it to spend less time there. Here
are some ideas:
• Set aside specific times each
day to review e-mails instead
of reading and responding to
whatever comes in, whenever
it comes in.
• Create folders and rules so
e-mails automatically get
routed away from your inbox
being busy is not the same thing as being productive.
so you can review them later.
This helps for listservs where
the discussions are important
but not urgent.
• Disable the sounds that your
computer and phone make
when you get a new e-mail
to avoid the distraction.
• Avoid e-mail if a letter or a call
is a better way to communicate.
List It. Make a list of what you
want to accomplish. But don’t
list broad, general concepts. For
example, your list should not say,
“Get ready for trial.” Break large
projects up into simple steps,
preferably ones that don’t require
any decision-making, so they can
be done quickly. By dividing large
projects into smaller mini-tasks and
eliminating the decision-making
process, they become easier to
do, and you’ll be more likely to
accomplish them. Weekly To-Do
Lists, which give you a road map for
the next five days, are more effective
than Daily To-Do Lists. Let’s face it,
one day can easily be derailed. If
that happens, you still have the rest
of the week to accomplish your list.
Calendar It. For every item on
your To-Do list, create a calendar
entry. That way, you have already
estimated how long it should take
and set aside the time to do it.
Maybe it’s because as lawyers,
scheduling events and meeting
deadlines are so ingrained, but
when something is on the calendar,
it gets done. Turning your Weekly
To-Do List into a schedule is a
great way to increase productivity.
Know yourself. A huge part
of being productive is recognizing
your own strengths and weaknesses
and working around them.
Structure your schedule to
maximize your strengths and
minimize the effects of your
weaknesses. For those things that
are your weaknesses but still have
to be done, come up with better
ways to do them so they are less
tedious, or delegate them to others.
If not, you will put them off and
kill your productivity.
Remember that being busy is not
the same thing as being productive.
We don’t want to be busy, we want
to be productive. So let’s all have a
productive 2018!
Author: Matthew A. Crist -
Crist Legal | PA
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