Top Lawyer Coach, LLC

5 Simple Steps to Get Control of Your Time Management

Time doesn't have to be your enemy!

Making improvements - even small ones - in your time management and organization skills can lead to more hours available to get real work done.

Here are five quick steps, presented by organization expert Paul H. Burton, that you can start taking RIGHT NOW for more effective time management.

1. Prioritize your meetings.

Before you schedule any meeting, first ask yourself if it really needs to happen. Next, consider that even necessary meetings can often be reduced in frequency or duration—for example, a weekly firm-wide meeting could be changed to a biweekly one, and 45 minutes will usually suffice for most 60-minute meetings.

2. Leave time in between meetings.

When you schedule meetings back to back, it means you are running out of one meeting without capturing all your thoughts. This results in lost data on both sides of the equation. Running and rushing also accelerates your mental exhaustion and reduces your overall effectiveness.

Leave at least 15 minutes open between meetings (plus realistic travel time). These precious minutes will allow you to collect and record the information from the last meeting before entering the next one, and that will help you be more focused.

3. Coach versus instruct.

When you manage others, the best thing you can do both for them is to develop their abilities to do their jobs with as little supervision from you as possible. Accomplish that by coaching them on how to get the results you need versus instructing them on each specific step. The difference is subtle but important.

If you help them figure out how to succeed on their own, you won’t need to look over their shoulders along the way. Thus, you’ll have more time to do the work that only you can do best.

4. Have a designated work space.

Multitasking is far less efficient than single-tasking. Creating a designated work area on your desk allows you to focus on the single thing that needs doing at the moment.

5. Assess your workload twice a day.

There are two times in the day when it’s vitally important to assess your workload—the first thing in the morning and at the day’s end. So, instead of starting your day in e-mail, first survey what is already on your to-do list and only then check your e-mail. Similarly, spend the last five minutes of your workday assessing what’s on your plate for tomorrow. This will allow you to prioritize and organize your workweek appropriately.

Making even just small improvements involves changing some long-established behaviors - which can be difficult.  BUT, you'll see positive results quickly.

There's no time like the present to get your time back...so you can use it to boost your bottom line!