By Jack Fischer
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney LLP
For any attorney, regardless of the number of years in practice, developing effective time-management strategies is the key to a successful and rewarding professional career. It is easy to procrastinate the tasks that we dread the most, often stashing that motion or other project out of sight so that it does not weigh so heavily on you day after day, while cherry-picking the low-hanging fruit to gain that sense of accomplishment that comes with a job well done. However, that sense of accomplishment will be short lived as you continue to receive calendar reminders and emails from senior partners reminding you of upcoming deadlines and, in some instances, of missed deadlines. Ultimately, in the absence of effective time-management strategies, the weight of your oftentimes conflicting schedules and deadlines, both personal and professional, will take its toll. However, by adopting simple strategies for managing your calendar and task lists, you can enjoy the all elusive “work-life” balance that we all strive for.
Early on in my career, I was given what was probably one of the best pieces of advice that any young attorney could ever receive. The best way to maintain your sanity is to take the ugliest project that you have, the one that you dread the most, maybe that summary judgment motion or that long-overdue discovery, and tackle that project first. Make it your priority to work on it and it alone until it is finished. Granted there may be intervening demands that will divert your attention away from the task at hand, but no matter what comes up or how stressed out you are, you have to force yourself to return to that project until it is finished and off of your desk. The sense of relief and accomplishment once it is finished will be like a weight that has been lifted from your shoulders.
As an attorney, you cannot lose sight of the fact that you are a member of a team and that like any team, whether it be a winning legal team or a winning sports team, your teammates are counting on you to do your part to ensure a win at the end of the day. Being a winner as an attorney means putting in your best effort, day in and day out. Though being a lawyer is no doubt a demanding profession, it also has rewards beyond belief if you have the tools necessary for success. One of the main tools that every winning attorney has in his or her toolbox is an effective time-management strategy, a key component of which is recognizing the fact that your co-workers are, indeed, your teammates with their own competing demands and time constraints that must be accounted for.
Recognizing that emergencies will sometimes arise and that last-minute filings are not uncommon, the best thing you can do for yourself is to set realistic expectations of project completion times for each of the tasks that you have been assigned. If you think that a research project or motion will take you five or ten hours, you can almost certainly count on the fact that it will likely take you twice that time. The key is to keep everyone, from your supervising attorney to your paralegal, updated as to the status of your ongoing projects. If you need help on an assignment or if you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t be afraid to ask. Do whatever you can to ensure your project is completed far enough in advance to allow for final review and approval by both the client and your supervisors, which almost always entails further revisions. You also need to build in enough time to allow your paralegal to finalize the document for filing which, in the case of a complicated motion, could take a least a full day. So, the takeaway is that you should plan on having everything completed and off of your desk at least a week before any filing deadlines.
Always keep in mind that the people around you work exceedingly hard on not only your cases but the cases of every other attorney to which they may be assigned. Having consideration for their schedule is of paramount of importance on multiple levels. As the old adage goes, your procrastination does not make it someone else’s emergency. If advance preparation is possible, do not put your support staff in the position of having to work all night to complete a project that should have been done weeks in advance. Waiting until the last day to complete a filing puts inordinate amounts of stress not only on the support staff but on the entire office.
Lastly, be kind to those whose job it is to make your life easier. A simple thank you or words of appreciation to your fellow team members go farther for team morale than you could ever know.
Now, go out there and win.