Time Management = Time for Writing - By: Jennifer Carsen

Lawyers are notoriously short on time. It's the nature of the beast - even if you're self-employed, you're largely at the mercy of court schedules, deals that come together and fall apart at the most inopportune times, piles of paperwork that need your review and/or sign-off, and - last but certainly not least - your clients.

You probably bill on the basis of your time in one form or another, and it's important to remember that the time you spend outside of work is every bit as valuable. Regardless of what type of writing you aspire to do, it's a process that takes time. You can't even begin to worry about skill, style, or hypothetical future publication and book-signings until you're actually doing the work of writing on a consistent basis.

The trick is remembering that time works for you and not the other way round. Think of it like a sulky Doberman - once you get it trained to do what you want, you have an intimidating ally on your side. (Letting it slobber all over you, on the other hand, gets you nowhere.)

Here are some fundamentals to keep in mind:

1. Do one thing at a time. Multitasking may make you feel like you're being more efficient, but chances are you're just doing several things badly. Also, since your attention can be in only one place at any given time, you're missing out on huge chunks of your life when you try to multitask - this can be particularly unfortunate if you're operating heavy machinery (or mindlessly munching your way through the jumbo-size bag of Cheetos).

2. Be realistic. Stuffing your to-do list for a given period of time with more than is humanly possible to finish will leave you feeling frantic and frustrated. Instead, hit the highlights and make sure you're not being overly ambitious about how long it will take to get them wrapped up. Even Superlawyers aren't Superhuman.

3. First things first. It's incredibly tempting to put off the big, unappealing tasks for later and knock off the little, easy stuff first. Be strong and resist this tendency - tackle the biggest, ickiest task on your list first (Brian Tracy, guru of goal-setting, calls this "eating the frog"). You'll feel like a rock star and have energy to spare for everything else on your list.

4. Two key questions. With everything you do, ask yourself:

* "Is this something I should even be doing?" You'll be surprised at how often the answer is "no" - it may be something that should be done later, delegated to someone else, or not done at all.

* "Will this get me where I want to go?" You may decide to proceed regardless of the answer - see above re: Cheetos - but it's an important question that, over time, will help you shape the life you want.

About the Author

Jennifer Carsen, J.D. is a "recovering lawyer" and the founder of Big Juicy Life. She specializes in turning lawyers into writers. Visit http://www.bigjuicylifecoaching.com for a copy of the free report, "6 Myths About Leaving the Law for Writing."

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Jennifer-Carsen/55500

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