Prioritizing your todo list

May 22, 2018 by
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Look at your todo list(s). Too much to do, right? Where do you start? You start by prioritizing your list, so you can focus on what matters most.

There are lots of ways to do this but here’s a good place to start:

Next to each task, write down why you’re doing it.

Is it something you have to do to deliver work product or results to a client? Are you doing it because harsh penalties will result if you miss a deadline? Are you doing it because it is a key step towards achieving an important goal?

Whatever it is, verbalize it (mentally) and write it down.

In thinking about each task, you may discover that you’re doing some things out of habit but that those things don’t contribute much to your growth. You can safely eliminate them, defer them, or delegate them to others.

You may discover that you doing certain tasks in a perfunctory manner, not really giving them the attention they deserve. As you realize this, you’ll be prompted to allocate more time or resources.

When you know why you’re doing something, you’ll be better able to manage your priorities. The next time you look at your list and the “reasons why” look back at you, you’ll find yourself being more intentional about your choices and more effective in your results.

Why did I write this? To remind you that there are referrals waiting to be had and encourage you to let me help you get them.

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Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: ,

Lean and simple or cluttered and powerful

May 18, 2018 by
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We’re told that it’s important to use the right tool for every job. It’s more efficient and we’ll get better outcomes.

But what about the overhead?

It takes time to learn each tool, keep up with the updates, and move information from one tool to another. And what about the visual clutter?

When we continually add tools and equipment, methods and workflows, we risk winding up with Fibber McGee’s closet. And let’s face it, we won’t use most of those tools or methods long term, or we’ll use them so sparingly it’s not worth keeping them around.

What if instead of seeking the best tool for every job we pared things down to just a few? What if instead of a quest for the perfect system we substitute something simpler and good enough?

It’s a different mindset. Minimalism, I suppose. But it appeals to me on both esthetic and practical levels. I also like a good challenge.

One thing I’m doing right now is cutting the number of tags I use in my task management system. Fewer tags require fewer decisions, less maintenance, and a cleaner look and “feel”.

All of this might mean some compromises. For example, fewer tags might mean it takes longer to find things.

Is the tradeoff worth it?

I’m doing my best to find out.

A simple way to get more traffic and more referrals

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How to take the pain out of your weekly review

May 15, 2018 by
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A weekly review is an important part of any productivity system. Without regularly reviewing your plans and progress it’s easy to get off track.

But it’s a pain in the behind.

Going through all of our tasks and projects, current and proposed, takes a long time and makes us continually re-visit decisions we thought we had already made.

Too often, we put off our review and before long, we’re lost in the weeds.

Here are a few ideas you can use to avoid this:

  • Do SOME of the weekly review tasks daily instead of weekly. It will be quicker to empty your inboxes during your weekly review, for example, if you’ve developed the habit of doing this (or most of it) every day.
  • Schedule the time in advance. I do my weekly review on Sunday mornings at 10 am. It’s on the calendar and has become a habit. I don’t have to think about it, I just do it.
  • Use a checklist. Prepare a list of #weeklyreview tasks so that you can dive right in and git ‘er done.
  • Reward yourself. When the review is done, do something fun to reinforce the habit.

One more and it’s a biggie: Use a time limit.

I now limit my weekly review to just ten minutes. Easy peasy. I can do that standing on my head.

A ten-minute limit means I can’t go through my #someday/maybe and #idea lists each week. I do that once a month, or periodically (when I’m in the mood).

A ten-minute limit also requires me to keep on top of my lists throughout the week, which I do. My lists are always just one click away so I can look at them frequently during the day.

“What if you’re not done in ten minutes?” you ask. “Aren’t you taking the risk that you’ll miss something important?”

I’ve come to trust that if something is important, it’s already got my attention.

Try a ten-minute review and see how it works for you. Before you do that, however, do one last major review to clean up your lists. Or, do what I do periodically: hide everything (in another folder, another app) and start fresh with a clean slate.

New lists, new you.

Evernote for Lawyers

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Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: ,

Getting paid to write snarky emails

May 14, 2018 by
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I watched a video about productivity. The speaker suggested that we identify our “A” work, that is, what we do best, and do more of it. We should do less of our “B” and “C” work, and avoid doing anything we might rate a “D” or “F”.

Write down ten or twenty activities you do in your business and grade them. Assign an “A” to your best work, a “B” to work that might not be your best but that you usually do well enough, and so on.

The more “A” work you do, she said, the better, suggesting that you will be happier and so will your clients or customers.

But is that true?

What if our “A” work is something we don’t enjoy? I’m good at making cold calls but I don’t like it. I certainly don’t want to do more of it.

Sometimes, we do things we’re good at simply because we have to. But we don’t want to do them any more than we have to. Hiring and firing come to mind.

There’s another element missing from the equation: value. What if our “A” work isn’t an important part of the job?

You may be good at editing videos, for example, and enjoy it, but if you don’t create them often or they don’t bring in a lot of business, finding ways to do more editing isn’t going to help you build your practice. What’s more, your editing skills aren’t your highest and best use. You could pay someone $30 an hour to do it while you earn $300 an hour doing legal work.

As you go through your list of work activities, assign a letter grade for all three elements: what you do best, what you enjoy, and what contributes the most value to you or to your clients.

Ideally, you’ll find some activities that all get all “A”s.

What do you do with the rest? Eliminate them, if possible. Delegate them. Or, if they are necessary and they can’t be done by anyone else (be honest), see if you can do them less often or more quickly so you’ll have more time to do your triple-A work.

I’m good at showing you how to get more referrals

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Filed Under: Productivity

I don’t know, let me check my list

May 7, 2018 by
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I’ve started using a daily checklist. It’s a list of things I need to do as soon as I sit down at my computer and throughout the day. Most of the items on the list are things I’m already doing, without prompting from a list, but I like seeing them in front of me. I know I won’t forget anything and I can get things done and out of the way.

I have three categories: @admin, @personal, and @work.

On the @admin list are things like checking the calendar, email, and a @tickler list (upcoming date-oriented tasks to review or start), followed by checking my other lists to see what’s on tap for the day and for the week.

@personal includes my daily walk, reading, and writing in my journal.

@work includes some of my routine activities like writing a daily email/blog post and working on my current book project.

I’m just rolling this out so I know it’s going to change. I’m already thinking I could combine the three lists into one since I work from home and don’t ordinarily differentiate between work and personal, and because admin is intertwined with my work.

But, we’ll see.

If it’s not obvious, I like lists. I guess I’m a linear thinker, although there are times when I like to use a mind map to brainstorm and flesh out ideas. For the record, once I’ve done that, I convert them to a linear outline or list prior to “doing”.

I’ve also got a checklist for my weekly review. This has always been a work in progress.

Next up? Maybe an evening “shutdown” list. Hmm, I wonder if I need to write down “Netflix and chill”.

Evernote for Lawyers. Click here

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Filed Under: Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: , ,

Thinking on paper. Sorta.

May 4, 2018 by
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The other day I mentioned that I was thinking about scheduling regular time for thinking. I said I thought it would help me solve problems, make better decisions, and help me move closer to achieving my goals.

Well, I’ve done it. Five minutes every afternoon is now dedicated to the task. It’s right there on my daily checklist.

It’s just five minutes. With no agenda other than to see what I think.

To make it easier, I’ve started journaling again. Thinking on paper, or in this case, typing on a computer screen, helps the process. It allows me to capture my thoughts so I can come back to them after doing research, talking to someone, or just letting the idea incubate for a spell. I’ve created a #thinking tag for that purpose.

Writing things down also helps improve my thinking. As the words appear on screen, I can see where I’m going and where I need to go.

I didn’t schedule thinking time to brainstorm ideas but to contemplate ideas I’ve already recorded. Nevertheless, I’m finding that ideas are coming to me and that’s okay. You’ve got to learn to trust your mind and let it take you where it wants to go.

I haven’t kept a journal for a long time. I’m starting to realize that I missed it. If you haven’t tried it, or have moved away from doing it, give it a try. If you do keep a journal, I’d love to hear how you use it and how it has helped you.

A good place to keep your journal: Evernote

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I can’t talk right now, I’m flowing

May 2, 2018 by
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You’ve heard the term “flow”. You know a “flow state” refers to an immersive and highly focused mental state and that when it occurs, you are more creative, productive, and happy.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the Hungarian psychologist who recognized and named the concept said, “The happiest people spend much time in a state of flow — the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”

Sounds like a plan.

To achieve a flow state more often, manage your environment to make it more conducive to achieving flow:

  1. Outsource or delegate tasks that don’t lend themselves to a flow state, if possible, to give yourself more time for those that are.
  2. Allow more time for flow to occur, e.g., don’t schedule appointments immediately after a writing session, for example.
  3. Eliminate distractions and interruptions; you know the drill.
  4. Single task; one thing at a time, so you can do “deep work”.

Then, when things are going well, when you find yourself lost in a task and losing track of time, don’t kill the mood by stopping. Breaks can wait. Other tasks can wait. Maintain the flow state as long as possible.

When you do this, you should find that in addition to getting more of your best work done, you actually have more energy than before you started.

All that and a bag of chips.

Get into the flow of getting more referrals

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You might want to sit down to read this

April 24, 2018 by
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Some people advocate keeping a “not to do” list. By eliminating or delegating low-value activities, or activities they simply don’t like doing, it frees up time to focus on high-value/high-enjoyment activities.

Most of us have a list like that. We just keep it in our heads. I don’t mow my lawn, for example, but I don’t have this written down anywhere.

I have other things on my (mental) list. Not just “not to do” but also “not to consider doing”. On that list: getting a standing desk.

My daughter uses one at work and recommends it. What the hell do kids know?

Actually, I did look into this a while back. I read articles and watched videos and decided that while I could use the exercise, standing for hours at a time wasn’t going to work for me.

I used to go to a lot of conventions. Multi-day events with a lot of sitting. I used to stand (and walk around) a lot at these events because it was better than being squished into a seat.

I just don’t want to do that every day.

Anyway, the point is that this is something I’ve looked at and made a decision about. That means when I see an article or video on the subject, I don’t have to think about whether or not I’ll read or watch it. I already made that decision.

I’ve made that decision about a lot of things. It saves me a lot of time.

When I see an article about Linux, for example, I don’t read it. I know it’s not for me.

Does that mean I’m not open to anything new?

Of course not, silly. If you saw how many apps I’ve downloaded on my iPhone, you wouldn’t ask that question.

Are you open to a different way to get more referrals?

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A different kind of “done”

April 4, 2018 by
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It feels good to check off a task on your list and mark it done. You’d like to be able to do that more often but you only have so much time and energy.

What if instead of waiting until you complete the task you mark it as done when you do ANY work on it?

Does that sound a little nutty? Hold on, Skippy. Let me ‘splain.

Marking a task as done doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to do. It simply means you’re done for now. If there’s more work to do, you can put it back on your list.

Huh? Why would you mark it as done and then put it back on the same list?

Because doing that will help you to get better at planning and actually finishing your work.

You stopped working on the task for a reason. You didn’t allow enough time, you needed more information, or something more important came up. Or maybe you ran out of gas and just didn’t feel like continuing. By understanding why you stopped, the next time you have a task like this you’ll be better prepared.

But that’s next time.

For now, if you’re not ready to continue working on something, check it off and move on to the next task on your list. When you’ve worked your way through everything on your list, look at the task you marked as done and if there’s more work to do, put it back on your list.

You might put it at the bottom of today’s list and do it later today. You might put it on tomorrow’s list. You might postpone it to another day. Or you might decide you don’t want to do it at all and spare yourself a lot of time and effort.

Is your website pulling in enough clients? Here’s what you need to do

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Filed Under: Productivity, Time Management

The list’s (still) the thing

April 2, 2018 by
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Many moons ago, I told you about the lists I kept for my boyhood coin collection. Yeah, the one I sold buy furniture and pay the first month’s rent on my first law office.

Anyway, I had two lists: one for “want” and one for “have”. I kept these in my wallet so that when I visited the Kennedy Coin Club in suburban Chicago, I would know which coins I needed for my collection and extras I had to trade or sell.

I’ve also written about the value of having lists for running your practice. These can be lists of steps, instructions or checklists, to make sure you don’t forget anything, or to train new employees or temps.

Examples:

  • File opening/closing procedures
  • Investigating/background checks
  • Drafting pleadings/discovery
  • Form letters/email templates
  • Experts/vendors (stenographers, investigators, arbitrators, mediators, interpreters, repairs, etc.)
  • Supplies: quantities, where to order
  • How to use software, apps, online services

How about for marketing:

  • Prospective clients
  • Bloggers/editors in your niche
  • Publications that accept guest posts
  • Organizations/groups where you can speak/network
  • Ideas for blog/social media posts/videos/articles
  • Social media posting schedule/process
  • Lawyers you know and what they do (for referrals)
  • Business owners/professionals who sell to your niche market

And a ho lot more.

We can’t be all work and no play (even if we’re not named Jack) so how about some personal lists:

  • Movies/books that interest you
  • Your bucket list
  • Packing checklist
  • Vacation ideas
  • Writing prompts
  • Health metrics (blood pressure, weight, etc.)
  • Exercise routines, workout schedule
  • Retirement planning
  • Investments
  • Debt reduction schedule/journal
  • Jokes/stories/quotes/
  • Recipes
  • Routines (weekly review, inbox zero, computer updates)

And the list goes on. And on and on.

You can keep lists of just about anything, as reminders, as a way to measure progress, or as a way to memorialize your journey.

You might start with a “list of lists”–ideas for lists that can make you healthier, more productive, or more profitable. Or lists that sound like fun.

(Lawyers are still allowed to have fun, aren’t we? Well, as long as there are no witnesses.)

I keep my lists in Evernote

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Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity
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