Time Management Information for Lawyers and Law Firms

The effective use of Time Management Information is vitally important for any lawyer to run a successful law practice.  Attorneys who are able to adequately use and process time management information will be more productive and less stressed than lawyers who cannot use this information.  If you have any doubt that effective time management will increase your bottom line, consider that by capturing an additional 30 minutes per day of billable time with a billing rate of $250 per hour, you will increase your annual revenues by $30,000!

More than almost any other profession, time management is a skill that is especially important for lawyers.  Not only for the financial ramifications outlined above, but for practice management reasons as well.  A lawyer who is sloppy with their time is often sloppy with their cases.  This can lead to a number of problems, including increased stress, frustration, personal and professional dissatisfaction, and even possible malpractice claims. 

An Overview of Time Management Information

Lots of consultants advocate setting goals to assist with time management.  I agree with this, but believe that you must take goal setting to the next level to be able to truly manage your time.  As lawyers, we have so many demands placed on our time.  Without a rigid "system" in place to manage our activities, we will never be truly productive and stress-free in our daily lives.  Visit time management for lawyers for five simple things that you can do now to help increase your productivity, immediately.

The 80/20 Rule (aka The Pareto Principle)

The 80/20 Rule can be applied to a number of contexts when talking about legal marketing.  When discussing time management information, the 80/20 Rule says that 20 percent of your time will contribute to 80 percent of your results.  For our purposes here, that means that lawyers should strive to find the "20 percent that matters."  So when it comes time to manage the "daily crisis" that arises in your practice, consider whether working on this crisis is part of the 20 percent of your time that matters.

Another variation of the 80/20 principle says that 20 percent of your clients will contribute to 80 percent of your revenues.  This is an extremely profound idea, and should be carefully considered by all attorneys.  When looking at your time for any given day, you should strive to concentrate your efforts your best clients.  Using this principle should assist you in determining what items are the most important and profitable for your law practice.

Time Blocking for Lawyers: The Essence of Success

I discussed time blocking briefly in the time management for lawyers page.  However, the concept is so important to time management information that I felt a more detailed discussing is warranted here.  Time blocking is very similar to making a list, except that they are better.  It was reported in the Wall Street Journal that "30% of listers spend more time managing their lists than [they do] completing what's on them."  (Sandberg, Jared.  "Though Time-Consuming, To-Do Lists Are a Way of Life", The Wall Street Journal, 2004-09-10, as reported at wikipedia.com).

Time blocking is an exercise in which you sit down and actually plan out your activities on any given day.  I know people that take 30 minutes before they leave their office on Friday, and plan out every minute and hour of the following week.  No time is left unaccounted for.  I know other people that do this weeks, sometimes months ahead of time.  Is it any wonder that some people can get so much more done than others, even though we all have the same 24 hours in a day?

Learning to Say No

As a lawyer myself, I am acutely aware of how busy we can become putting out fires during the course of a typical day.  When I first get into the office, I will have 5 to 10 client emails waiting for me, and more come through during the day.  I may have multiple court appearances, or possibly need to prep for a court appearance or other deadline later in the week.  I have meetings scheduled with current and prospective clients.  I will receive phone calls from other attorneys or clients during the course of the day.  How can we possibly handle all of these demands on our time?

My advice in this regard is to just learn to say no.  There is no possible way that lawyers can manage all the demands on their time without saying no to someone.  Attorneys must learn to prioritize their time through effective list management and by learning how to say no to items that are not a priority.

This is just a small sampling of the time management information that is available for lawyers and law firms.  Review the Legal Marketing Center's Resources page for additional information on time management for lawyers.

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