BarTalk December 2004
Volume 16, Number 6

Taking control of your life

By David J Bilinsky

“Time, time, time is on my side, yes it is…”
Words and music by Norman Meade, recorded by the Rolling Stones

We are all born equal, or so we lawyers believe. However idealistic that statement may be, it is true in at least one respect. All of us are allotted the same 24 hours in each day. What we do with those hours determines many things. It is certainly true that each of us desires to use our time effectively and efficiently to do the things that we must do in order to leave time for the things that we wish to do. It is also true that there are principles of time management that can be learned and applied in order to reach our preferred life goals. Here is an overview of some techniques that allow us to do what we have to do in order to do what we want to do:

Dream
Yogi Berra said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.” Here is an exercise: Take whatever writing instrument that suits you (a word processing program, a pad of lined paper or sheets of looseleaf) and start making a list of everything that you need or want to do in your lifetime. In particular, do not list work-related items. The idea here is to make a list of all the goals for your life. Run a marathon. Sock away $X for your retirement. Learn to juggle. Pay for your kid’s university education. Buy a sports car. Start a charity. Take a cruise. Write a book. Whatever is important in your life should find its way onto your list. Now keep this list close to you in your office. This list will be the explicit listing of your stated life’s goals and desired achievements and it will serve as your reference point now and all times in the future. Add to it whenever the mood strikes you. Review it often. This is the list that imparts meaning to your life.

Personal Plan
Take your dream list and start to re-order it (this is where doing it in a word processor comes in handy). Group your life goals under different headings: “Financial Goals,” “Family Goals,” “Career Goals,” “Personal Goals” and the like. The headings will become apparent to you as you read through your list. This grouping will allow you to place different goals in context.

Work Plan
Now that you have some experience with the method, start to make a list of everything that you need to do in the office. Again, it helps if this is in a word processor, as you can sort and re-order the list in terms of priority. (You can also use Amicus Attorney, Outlook, Time Matters or one of a number of other software programs that build “To-Do” lists) Here the idea is to end up with a list of all the things you need to do in the office. You will be continually adding to this list and, as such, it is important for you to be able to access this list on a continual basis. Start to mentally group the tasks on your list as to whether they can be done in a few minutes, a hour, a few hours or longer (your “work tasks”). Also read through your list and make a note of the most unpleasant task that you must do today.

Take Control
Now look at your calendar, look at the appointments that you have today and the available time that you have left. Assuming that you have at least one uncommitted hour, pick off the most important items from your work tasks and start to make appointments with yourself to accomplish your work. If you use Amicus Attorney or Time Matters or Outlook, you can drag and drop your “To-Do’s” right onto your calendar. Here the idea is to specifically commit your time via your appointment calendar to reflect your most important tasks.

Face the Inevitable
Now, take your most unpleasant task for the day and schedule it as your first appointment with yourself. The idea is to get rid of the worst thing that you have to do that day right at the start. If you make this a regular daily habit, you will build a positive, self-reinforcing behaviour pattern that automatically avoids procrastination and avoidance behaviours. In fact, it is an excellent idea to use the repeating appointment scheduling feature in electronic calendars to make a daily appointment with yourself for 30 minutes each work day, say at 9:15 – 9:45 am, to “Get the Worst Over.” Seeing that appointment in your calendar will school you to deal with your worst task at that same time each day.

Fit in the smaller stuff, too
After you have penciled in your most important items for the day and your worst task for the day, start to block off time to work on some of your important but smaller (in terms of time demands) tasks. The idea is to create a blend of work and tasks that allows you to have some variety in your day.

Life’s Goals
Take one of your life’s goals and work it into your daily schedule. Be sure to set some time aside each day to take you toward a life goal.

Avoid Interruptions
Interruptions will seek to do one thing – dominate your day. E-mail, phone calls, office drop-ins – all of these take you away from your priorities. Certainly there are times when you must drop everything and put out fires. However, truly those times are rare – in most cases these interruptions are urgent but not important tasks that are crowding out your important but not urgent tasks. As such, you must seek to turn off the interruptions during your best work time in order to accomplish your tasks rather than have the interruptions steal time away from you. Put the phone on call-answer, turn off Outlook and close the door. Have your secretary stop people from walking in. Use your best time to do your most important tasks for the day. Once that time is over, then answer e-mail, return phone calls, etc. But take control of your time first!

Delegate
Of all the time-saving techniques, learning to delegate is certainly one of the best. By delegating tasks we are multi-tasking and allowing others to work with us and grow. Mentoring is a quality that is appreciated by younger lawyers and staff alike.

Time management is as much a skill as it is an art. What is important is to explore the different techniques that are available and then select what works for us so that we can truly say that time is on our side.

David J Bilinsky is the Practice Management Advisor at the Law Society of British Columbia. He can be reached at daveb@lsbc.org. The views expressed herein are strictly those of the author and may not be shared by the Law Society of British Columbia.

This article originally appeared in the December 2004 issue of BarTalk and is reproduced here with permission of both the author and the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch.