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PRODUCTIVITY
How
We Can Help
...weekly
planning...daily planning...project management...setting priorities...delegation...time
management skills...improving work habits....
You
have to get your billable hours for the month in today,
you’re president of your civic club and they’re holding
on line two with an emergency, your best client has been
waiting to see you for twenty minutes and you’re due home
now for your daughter’s birthday party. Sound familiar?
Welcome to overload; too much, all of the time. So what do
you do when you have a lot of things going on in your life
and they are all important?
The
answer is:
1.
Don’t take on any task that is not consistent with your
values and your life plan.
2.
Be as productive as you possibly can.
Your
values and life plan are part of the life balance issue, but
productivity can be improved dramatically by following a few
simple rules. Here are some that are especially helpful:
-
Don’t
over-commit. Just say “No” and don’t be flattered
into a commitment you don’t have time for.
-
Under-promise
and over-deliver. Give yourself a reserve of time. If
you can prepare the contract by Thursday noon, tell your
client you’ll have it done by Friday afternoon.
Deliver it on Thursday and you’ll be a hero.
-
Use
a gatekeeper. Train your secretary in how to protect you
from unwanted interruptions.
-
Set
up telephone free time. Nothing breaks concentration
like having a client call about a matter unrelated to
what you are working on. Mark off on your daily schedule
the times when you accept phone calls and when you
don’t. If you need to, give your gatekeeper a list of
special clients to put through. Educate your clients as
to when you usually accept or return calls; they will
usually call during those hours.
-
Learn
to handle your email efficiently. You can save up to an
hour a day by having your secretary check your email,
get rid of the junk and reply to routine correspondence.
Use your junk mail filters. Know how to use folders to
organize your email. Get help learning this if you need
to - it’s worth it.
-
If
your Internet connection is always on and the computer
dings whenever you have email, turn the instant
notification off, it’s too easy to stop what you are
doing to read your email.
-
Schedule
your time. Make appointments with yourself to work on
particular important matters and honor those
appointments. You don’t always have to decide what to
do next; it’s on the calendar.
-
Give
yourself sacred time to plan, every day. No
interruptions, twenty to thirty minutes to review your
progress, prioritize work and set your schedule.
-
Nothing
stops unnecessary conversations like a closed door.
Educate your partners as to your work habits. They
won’t be offended if they understand when you need to
be left alone.
-
Delegate.
If you think you don’t have time to train someone,
think again. You simply can’t do it all.
-
Lastly,
just for emphasis: Don’t over commit! Have the wisdom
to understand that you can’t be everywhere and do
everything. Just say “No.” Do a better job on fewer
commitments and enjoy what you are doing more.
Consider
productivity to be your continuing personal challenge. Make
it a game. Try to keep raising the bar. Make it fun.
How
We Can Help
It
doesn’t really matter how much time you spend at the
office, what matters is what you accomplish and how much
money you make. The coaching model is especially effective
in helping attorneys become more productive. The first
step is a discussion of the typical workday and particular
problem areas. Next the client and coach brainstorm to
determine what specific actions will be most effective in
improving productivity.
Accountability to the coach then helps the client
turn these actions into daily work habits resulting in
more work being done in a shorter time with less effort.
The bottom line: more billable work performed or more time
for your personal life. What’s that worth to you?
TOP
_________________
Daniel Roberts J.D., P.C.C.
dr@coachingforlawyers.com
(707) 570-2227
2350 Lakeview Drive
Santa Rosa, CA 95405
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