Real Life Practice

The guru of getting things done.

“Most people haven’t realized how out of control their head is when they get 300 e-mails a day.” – David Allen

Can many lawyers relate to the quote above? You bet!

Just a quick update on David Allen, the GTD Guru. (See post under Time Management & Productivity, Sept. 22, 2006.) If you’re looking for ways to increase your productivity check out The Five Secrets to Getting Things Done at Time.com. Then do yourself a favor and buy the book. Even if you only use a few of Allen’s strategies, you’ll be way ahead of those who aren’t on the GTD track.

Q: “What’s the best time & billing software?”

A: “The one you’ll actually use.”

I can’t tell you how many attorneys I speak with who are still keeping their time on some sort of manual system. Most often this involves taking a few minutes at the end of the day to recall what they did, estimating time spent, giving the list to their assistant, and having the assistant enter it in some sort of timekeeping system. Some of these attorneys have timekeeping software installed on their computers, but for whatever reason just don’t want to use it. Well, if you need some incentive to find software that you’ll actually use, take a look at the numbers.

Statistics show that attorneys can capture up to 15% more billable time by keeping their time contemporaneously with computer software. So, an attorney billing at $300 per hour who typically bills 6 hours per day, could increase the time billed by .9 hours per day or $270. That’s found money because the attorney is not working and extra .9 hours, just capturing the accurate time. And that captured time adds up to $1,350 per week and $64,800 over the course of 48 weeks! (Yes, you should be taking at least 4 weeks off each year.) If you beat the curve and only lose 7-8% of your billable time, you’re only missing out on around $32,000 per year. Do you have staff who bill their time? They’re not capturing all their time either.

There are plenty of great software packages out there, so find one that you like and use – or as they say – lose it. Don’t cheat yourself out of earning all you’re worth!

Here are links to three of the top time & billing software companies. Please check these or others out and find one that works for you.Abacus LawAmicus AttorneyTime Matters

How’s your inbox?

Email. Can’t live with it; can’t live without it. And it can be a source of ongoing (endless) frustration unless you feel like you can get a handle on it. One strategy that works well for some is to set aside a certain part of the day to deal with emails. While that strategy can be very effective, it just doesn’t work for everyone.

If you can’t stand the idea of waiting until a prescribed time to answer all your emails, try setting your email to do a “send and receive” only once per hour, rather than every five minutes, or three minutes or (please tell me you don’t do this) every minute. By setting your “send and receive” on an hourly basis you not only limit your interruptions, you also build in breaks and won’t feel stressed by not looking at your email until the end of the day.

Better the ball.

I was talking to my friend Debbie Foster, President of InTouch Legal, the other day, and she said, “It’s everybody’s job to ‘better the ball.’” She could tell by the look on my face that I didn’t know what she was talking about. She explained that her daughter is the “setter” for her volleyball team. As the setter, she hits the ball second to set it up for the all important third hit.

Well, Debbie’s daughter complained to the coach that the first person was giving her “bad” passes. The coach’s response? “Don’t complain about what you get. Your job is to better the ball.” In other words, regardless of how bad the ball is when it comes to you, make it better before you pass it on. Wow. Words to live by.

The next time you or one of your staff complains about ANYTHING, remember, it’s our job to “better the ball.” Regardless of how a situation comes to us, we have the opportunity to make it better. We have the opportunity to make a client’s life better each time we interact with them. Write it down, put it on your office refrigerator, make it a screen saver for your office computers. Better the ball!

Getting things done.

Read any good books on productivity lately? It’s a challenge to stay on top off all that’s out there. I’ll write about some of my favorites in these posts. Many are filled with great information to help attorneys grow their practices, earn more money, serve their clients better, and generally have a life. My goal is to be your resource for anything that will help you in the practice of law. -To help you work smarter, not harder. To help you reclaim your life. Let’s get started.

Have you heard of David Allen? He is the guru of “getting things done.” As a matter of fact, that’s the title of his first book. Have you read it? If you haven’t you should, especially if you can’t remember the last time you actually saw the top of your desk. Check out his ideas for productivity at http://www.davidco.com. Click here to download free tools and gear from David’s website.

As David Allen says,”Knowing what to do and doing it are two separate things.” Start today doing what you know you should be doing . . . and get it done!

Your primary aim.

As Goethe said, “Things which matter most should never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” Do you know what matters most to you? The process of figuring out and writing down what really matters most to you must take place before you can determine what you want from your law practice. This process has been referred to for some time as creating your Mission Statement. While a personal Mission Statement is crucial to your personal and professional success, many people are put off by the idea. Maybe it’s because Mission Statements have become trite or been trivialized over the years. Or maybe you think the whole process is just too “touchy-feely.” If your reaction to creating your personal Mission Statement is akin to having a root canal, then don’t think of it as a Mission Statement.

In his book, The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber speaks in terms of a Primary Aim. “What do I value most? What kind of life do I want? What to I want my life to look like? Who do I wish to be?” If you don’t know – or have never thought about – the answers to those questions, how can you design a law practice that will serve your life? The answer is simple. You can’t.

So take some time to discover your Mission, your Primary Aim, or whatever you’d like to call it. You owe it to yourself. Then you can create a law practice that serves your life, rather than living a life that serves your practice.

If you need some help getting started, check out this nifty On-line Mission Statement Builder from Franklin Covey.