You probably have a long list of things you do to manage your time and increase your productivity. No doubt you also collect articles and ideas you’d like to try.

But, do you have a centralized place to record these things? A book of rules you follow or would like to follow?

Having a “rule book” will make it more likely that you’ll follow those rules.

You might have a set of rules for how you start your day, how you do a weekly review, and how and where you record and back up client information.

You might have a set of rules for doing research: where you begin, how you record citations, how you organize (tag, label, file) the information.

Your rules don’t have to be complex or overly detailed. One sentence for each rule will often be enough.

It also helps to record the rationale behind each rule.

Here’s an example of some rules you might adopt regarding email:

• Turn off notifications and keep Outlook/browser tab closed (so you’ll check email less often)
• Schedule (times) on calendar for checking email (so you’re not tempted to check it constantly)
• No email before (time). So you can get important things done first.
• Use templates to respond to FAQs, provide links, share bio, deliver work product, etc.
• Reply with statements: Don’t answer a question with a question [Not easy for lawyers, is it?] Example: When someone asks, “When do you want to talk?” you tell them, eg., “10:15 Tuesday. I’ll call you.”
• Short answers. Five lines max. (Don’t write ten lines when two will do.)
• Delay response. Many “urgent” issues often solve themselves.

And so on.

Over time, add new rules to your book, refine existing rules, and remove rules you no longer follow.

Keep your rule book close by and check it often. In fact, make that a rule.

Speaking of email, here’s how to use email to get more clients

How often do you clean up your task and project lists? If you’re like me, not as often as you should.

I’ve had a “clean up/organize my lists” project starting at me for far too long so, this morning, I had a go at it.

I have four task lists:

• Today
• Next (this week/soon)
• Backlog (Later)
• Someday/Maybe

I could have gone through each list and removed tasks one-by-one, but that sounded like work and is probably why I’ve been avoiding it. So, instead, the first thing I did was empty all of my list, to prepare for rebuilding them.

There’s something about looking an empty list that is refreshing. The list calls to you, asking to be filled.

Anyway, here’s what I did:

Step One: Move all “Backlog” tasks to Someday/Maybe.

I tagged these tasks so I could identify where they came from, which will be helpful when I move (some of) them back.

(Backlog is empty)

Step Two: Move all “Next” tasks to Backlog.

I tagged these, too.

(Next is empty)

Step Three: Move “Today” tasks to “Next”. (Optional)

If your Today list only has a handful of tasks on it, as mine does, you can leave them where they sit.

Step Four: Begin moving tasks from Backlog back into Next.

Let the rebuilding begin.

This will be done slowly, thoughtfully, to keep me from overloading Next.

So far, I added only four tasks back into Next. Later, I’ll add back some of the others I previously removed, making sure not to add more than 20 tasks to Next, enough for a week or so.

The rest will stay in Backlog, along with other tasks there, until I’ve emptied my Next list or I’m otherwise ready to elevate something.

Step Five: Clean up Someday/Maybe.

This is a big list and not very inviting, so my plan is to spend not more than 15 minutes at a time going through this list and paring it down.

I’m sure I’ll trash a lot of ideas but some may get my attention and deserve a coveted spot in Backlog (or Next).

But there’s no hurry and no need to feel anxious about it because Today, Next, and Backlog are clean and ready for me to get to work.

Speaking of work, I’m off to crush my Today list.

Marketing legal services is easy when you know what to do

No doubt you understand the value of planning your day before it begins. You sit down at your workspace or pick up your phone, check your calendar, check your lists, and decide what you’re going to do that day.

You make a short list for the day and work from that list. Planning in advance frees up the rest of your day to focus on doing the work.

When I do this I get a lot more done, but more importantly, I get the most important work done because I am much less likely to get distracted by the multitude of tasks that are less important.

If something urgent comes up that needs my attention, I can do it and immediately return to my list. I may lose time doing the urgent task but I don’t lose additional time figuring out what to do next.

It’s on my list.

Keeping that list in front of me, which I do, also keeps me on task.

Planning my day before it begins has helped me and many others. If you’re not doing it, give it a try.

But that’s not the “small habit that yields big results” I promised.

The small habit is this: “plan your day the night before“.

Before you end your day, take a few minutes to create your list for the following day.

That small change can make a big difference because when tomorrow arrives you can get right to work. Most people have more energy early in the day so the work you do early is likely to be better and go more quickly.

The rest of your day may not be as productive, but your day is a success because you got your most important work done early.

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I’ve mentioned before that one of my favorite productivity apps is brain.fm. I use it almost every day to block out distractions and improve my focus.

I just found out that they’re giving away 30-day free trials.

Normally, you only get 5 sessions for free before you have to pony up, and that was enough to convince me.

In addition to using the app to focus, you can use it to “relax,” to get to sleep, and to meditate.

This is not just relaxing music or white noise, binaural beats or entrainment. It’s different technology. You can read about it on the site.

The regular price is $50/yr. and it’s well worth it.

You can get your free 30 days here. (Not an affiliate link.)

Let me know what you think.

We’re all bombarded by well-meaning experts telling us not to waste time. They acknowledge the need to take a short break between tasks but remind us that “time is money” or caution us about the need to get back to work.

Truth is, most of us don’t want to follow this advice and most of us don’t.

We’d go nuts working eight hours a day every day focused on nothing but work.

So, offered for your approval is another approach–two ways to “waste time” productively.

When you feel the urge to stop working on whatever you’re doing:

1) Work on another case or something else important.

A bit of research, knock out some emails, make calls, dictate some letters or pleadings, or work on marketing.

You may not be working on your main task but you’re doing something productive.

Keep a list of tasks you can turn to when you tire of whatever you’re currently working on. Your mind craves variety so give it some.

Or

2) Do something mindless and unimportant.

Go have some fun, run an errand, play a game, watch a video.

Distract yourself from your work by taking a bigger break than usual, and don’t feel guilty about it because your “fun” break serves a purpose.

It allows your conscious mind to rest, so you’ll have more energy when you get back to work. And it allows your subconscious mind to work on the problem while you’re “goofing off”.

When you return to work, you may find that the break has allowed your subconscious mind to bring you new ideas and solutions.

Take 20 or 30 minutes to play and do something that doesn’t require a lot of thought or effort.

But do put a time limit on it or you might find yourself spending the rest of the day binge watching pet videos and getting nothing done.

Taking a marketing course is never a waste of time

If you spend just 5 minutes per day looking for things–on your computer, in paper files, on your desk–over the course of a year you’re wasting more than 20 hours.

Non. Billable. Time.

How can you reclaim some of that time?

I do my best to organize files logically so I can find things by drilling down through file category but documents are still filed in multiple directories and use different naming conventions so I still “misplace” things.

So, I use a program called “Everything“.

According to the site, “‘Everything’ is search engine that locates files and folders by filename instantly for Windows. Unlike Windows search “Everything” initially displays every file and folder on your computer.”

I’m sure there are similar tools for other OS’s.

For notes, I use Evernote and Workflowy, both of which have robust search capabilities. I search by tag and/or keyword to find names, dates, emails, phone numbers, and project-specific keywords.

I also make sure to add details to my notes that I might otherwise not record, so I can search and find what I’m looking for when I recall only random snippets of information, e.g., the client drove a Yugo and used to live in Paraguay or opposing counsel wore bow ties.

Paper? Physical files? Not anymore. But if I did, I’d set up a digital index that told me which file, which drawer, which box, contains the document or information.

How about you? How do you find what you’re looking for?

Asking your secretary or assistant to find it for you doesn’t count.

Check out Workflowy; use this link to get extra space

Laura Mae Martin is Google’s in-house productivity expert and just offered some of the most useful productivity advice I’ve ever heard.

Instead of defining productivity in terms of how much we get done, she says, we should define it as doing what we intended.

“If you spent a day watching Netflix. . . that’s a productive day–if you had intended to watch Netflix,” she said.

If you’re tired and need to take some time to re-charge and do something effortless, that’s a good use of your time. But her point isn’t about respecting our need for rest so much as redefining productivity in terms of intent.

If you intend to do legal work but binge-watch Netflix instead, you’re just procrastinating. That’s also true if you intend to do legal work but you bug out of the office to do some networking, because that’s not what you intended either.

“The secret is “knowing what you want to do, intending to do it, and doing what you wanted to do,” she explained.

When we define productivity in terms of doing what we intend, we become more aware of what we put on our plate, and what we don’t. We think about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.

Which means we’re more likely to do what’s important, not just what’s next on the list.

At the end of the day, when you look at what you accomplished, ask yourself if you did what you intended. If you did, great. You had a productive day.

If you didn’t, you’ll be more mindful of what you put on your plate tomorrow.

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