Ep. 24 - Managing Your Focus, Not Your Time

Successful Barrister

Are you managing your time effectively? In this episode of the Successful Barrister Podcast, Marc and Diana give listeners their guide to managing your time (or focus) more effectively. Time management sets the best firms apart, and mastering it can help your firm run efficiently. Learn how to delegate your tasks, schedule time to think, and minimize your distractions.

For detailed show notes, navigate using the time stamps below:

[1:11] In this episode, Diana and Marc are discussing time management (or “focus management,” as Marc prefers to call it). Focus management is all about managing how you think.

[4:26] The ability to focus on the right things sets the best apart. What are you supposed to think about as the leader of organization? Thinking correctly means thinking about strategy and the future of your firm.

[8:22] The first tenet of time management in Time Management for Attorneys is prioritization. You have to prioritize the “highest and best use” of your time.

[11:27] The next step is delegating tasks so that you can spend your time where it matters. Ask yourself what you are doing that you should not be doing.

[12:41] One often overlooked piece is marketing – you have to spend time on marketing if you want to attract cases. You also have to spend time on management. In a well-run organization, these should be the key focuses of the head of the organization.

[14:22] Think about your goals – from daily goals to five-year goals. Write down your plans to track and execute on them.

[18:22] The next tenet is “blocking and tackling.” This is essentially thinking time. Blocking off time to think will allow you the space to think through your goals instead of getting stuck on the day-to-day minutia of your firm.

[23:51] There are two parts to delegation: delegating the task itself and delegating the authority to execute and finalize the task. If you need to review all materials before they go out, you are creating more work for yourself.

[28:03] The final tenet is managing your interruptions. Marc closes his door when he needs to focus, and tells people to meet him at other times when he is busy.

[33:38] Email can be a big distraction because it can parachute into your day at any point. Marc manages his email through Outlook and organizes his emails into folders. He created a rule that court emails go into one folder, outside attorney emails go into a second folder, and staff emails go into another folder.

[40:13] Marc also has a “for further study” where he puts emails that he wants to go back to – usually emails from vendors making offers. His system helps him prioritize emails and frees up his time.

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