Archives for September 2018

Micro-scheduling ain’t my thang

September 28, 2018 by
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What are you doing three weeks from today at 3:15 pm? Some people can answer that question. They schedule their days and weeks in 15-minute increments. If this describes you, God bless. Do what works for you. If you’re like me and this sounds suffocating and impractical, you need another option.

I’ve mentioned this before but thought I’d provide a little more detail about what I do.

I schedule appointments, calls, and anything with a deadline. I also (sometimes) schedule “time blocks” for working on projects or groups of related tasks. For everything else, I keep a list of 3-5 projects I’m currently working on or want to work on this week and a list of 3-5 tasks I want to work on “now” (today).

I keep another list of what I want to do “next,” that is after I finish what’s on the other two lists. I limit the “next” list to no more than 20 items to keep me from being overwhelmed with hundreds of options. Everything else goes on a someday/maybe list.

(Actually, I use tags for all of this.)

This gives me flexibility. I keep my lists in front of me and look at them frequently. At any time, I can look at my lists and decide what to work on. I make that decision based on factors like:

  • The type of work–some tasks require more focus and energy than others
  • Time needed to complete the work
  • My experience/ability with that type of work
  • What I’ve done/will do before the task
  • What I need to do after the task (e.g., appointments, other tasks)
  • My energy level (and projected energy level; mornings are better than afternoons)
  • Deadlines
  • Current progress on the project
  • Enjoyment factor–do I like the task or detest it
  • Difficulty
  • Need to coordinate with others (or waiting for something from others)
  • And so on

I don’t use a checklist for this. I look at my options and let my gut tell me what to do next. When I’m on a roll, I might keep at something for a couple of hours. When I feel resistance or fatigue,  I might put it aside or move it another list.

And that’s why I don’t micro-schedule my time.

Anyway, that’s how I do it. How about you?

Evernote for Lawyers ebook

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Filed Under: Productivity

The trend is your friend

September 27, 2018 by
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Some days, everything seems to go wrong. The day is filled with problems or complaints, you struggle to get your work done, you don’t want to talk to anyone or do anything, you just want to go home.

Go.

Leave work. Take the rest of the day off.

Go home and lay on the sofa or go to the park and get some fresh air. Get some rest and reboot your brain and come back the next day, refreshed and recharged.

Don’t fight the trend, investors say.

Typically, we don’t do this. When we have a bad day we muscle our way through it. We have things to get done, hours to bill, people who rely on us, so we don’t even consider stopping. But that’s ego talking. Sometimes, you have to give yourself a break.

Many a day, I left the office early and went to a bookstore or for a drive. Or I sat in a coffee shop and read a book or wrote in a journal. I turned my problems over to my subconscious mind and let it figure things out.

And it almost always did.

When I went back to work the next day, the problems were still there and I had work to catch up on, but I felt better and got the work done.

Because I didn’t fight the trend.

But here’s the thing. The trend goes two ways. When you’re having a great day and feel like you can do no wrong, you might want to take the rest of the day off, to reward yourself.

Go eat some cherry cheesecake. Your work will still be there tomorrow.

Earn more, work less

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Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With:

Measure What Matters: a different take on goals setting

September 26, 2018 by
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If you’re looking for a new take on goal setting (and achieving), take a look at the book, Measure What Matters, by John Doerr. I just read a synopsis and was intrigued by the way his system has you choose and monitor key metrics to keep you moving toward your goal.

His O.K.R. (Objective, Key Results) Goal Setting System has three key ingredients:

(1) An Audacious Objective. Set big goals that inspire you but that aren’t so big that you don’t believe you can achieve them.

(2) Quality and Quantity Key Results. Choose 3-5 metrics (e.g., revenue, new clients, referrals, new subscribers, etc.) that allow you to measure progress towards your goal.

Metrics should be quantitative, e.g., 100 new newsletter subscribers per month, and qualitative, e.g., from search terms like ‘divorce attorneys Orange County’–so you’re getting subscribers who are searching for an attorney to hire, not just looking for free information.

(3) Color-Coded Check-ins. Each week, month, or quarter, look at each of your key results and label them green, yellow or red.

GREEN: indicates you are 70 to 100% on target. Continue doing what you’re doing.
YELLOW: you are 30-70% on target. In this case, you should develop a “recovery plan,” to get back on target.
RED: you are 0 to 30% on target. Create a recovery plan or replace the key result with something different.

Doerr says that if one of your key results are almost always green, however, meaning you’re nearly 100% on target most of the time, your goals or the key results metrics aren’t challenging enough and you should adjust them to get a mix of green and yellow.

I like this system because it forces you to choose appropriate metrics, helps you monitor your progress, and allows you to change what you’re doing when you’re either not hitting your target or you’re hitting it too often.

How to get more subscribers for your newsletter

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Filed Under: Goal Setting

Newsletters: I don’t have enough to write about

September 25, 2018 by
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YOU: I’d like to start a newsletter but I don’t think I have enough to write about. Can you help?

ME: I understand. You can only write so much about legal topics (although you can probably write more than you think.)

Similarly, you can only write so much about your personal life (although you can probably write more than you think.)

The solution? Write about the people who are reading your newsletter.

Your clients. Prospects. People in your target market. Write about what they do, what they want, their problems, their desires, their struggles and their victories.

Write about news in their industry or community. Write about the people, the events, the blogs, the litigation, the legislation, the past, present, and future.

Write about the businesses, consultants, and professionals who sell to or advise the people in that market. Promote their content, events, products, and services.

Study your market and write about it.

Your readers will eat it up and come back for seconds and you’ll never run out of things to write about.

How to create a newsletter that pulls in business

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Filed Under: Newsletters

Keystone habits for the win

September 24, 2018 by
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Charles Duhigg, author of “The Power of Habit,” talked about “keystone habits”. These are habits that tend to lead to other good habits and behaviors.

Exercise is an example of a keystone habit. Duhigg said,

“Typically, people who exercise start eating better and becoming more productive at work. They smoke less and show more patience with colleagues and family. They use their credit cards less frequently and say they feel less stressed. Exercise is a keystone habit that triggers widespread change.”

Other keystone habits might include meditation or prayer, reading personal development books for 30 minutes daily, writing in a journal, getting more sleep or learning a new skill.

Marketing is a keystone habit. Writing a weekly email to your clients and prospects, for example, can not only bring in more business, it can also improve your presentations, help you develop more content (and better content) for your website, and improve your conversational skills.

You don’t have to change every habit to achieve your goals. Focus on developing a few keystone habits that will allow you to create a wave of successful outcomes in your work or personal life.

Start by identifying one keystone habit and working on it every day. If you’ve chosen well, one small change in what you do or how you do it can cause a trickle-down effect and generate a plethora of positive outcomes.

Keystone habit: teaching clients how to identify your ideal client and refer them

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Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity Tagged With: ,

Say ‘thank you’ for referrals. Loudly.

September 21, 2018 by
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One of the best ways to get more referrals is to thank the people who provide them. Do it quickly, sincerely, and appropriately. Make the referral-giver feel appreciated for their gesture and they’ll be more likely to do it again.

In addition, let your other clients and contacts know that you regularly get referrals and that you appreciate them.

Find ways to mention it in your newsletter, on your website, and in conversation.

For example, when you tell a client story (to illustrate a point), mention that the client you’re referencing heard about you from a co-worker who had a similar issue. Or you might say, “I just started working with a business owner referred to me by one of the tenants in his building we also represent.”

You can tell people that if they know someone who [has an issue you can help them with], to give them one of your cards. “Tell them to mention your name so I’ll know who to thank!”

When a professional sends you a referral, thank them, by name, in your newsletter, and give their practice a plug.

In your new client kit, describe how to identify someone who could use your help and how to make a referral. Mention that you get most of your clients through referrals and how much you appreciate your clients for supporting you.

It’s simple. Find ways to talk about referrals and you’ll get more referrals.

This will help

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Filed Under: Referrals

Boring is for tunnels, not presentations

September 20, 2018 by
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Years ago, I recall reading that the optimal length of a presentation is twenty minutes. Any longer and the audience starts to tune out. If you have more information to cover, after twenty minutes or so, do something different.

Change the subject. Change the speaker. Tell a story. Survey the audience. Do a demo. Stop using slides or start using them.

Do something different to keep viewers or listeners paying attention instead of checking their phones or thinking about the rest of their day.

But that was then. This is now.

I just read an article that says (according to science) our brains get bored after ten minutes (not twenty). It noted that in view of this, at Apple product launch events they change the speaker every ten minutes.

If you do live presentations, videos, or podcasts, you might want to keep this in mind.

Want more referrals from other lawyers? This shows you what to do

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Filed Under: Marketing legal services Tagged With: , , ,

12 lists for organizing and managing your practice

September 19, 2018 by
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I like lists. They keep me organized, focused, and productive. I use them every day.

Take a gander at this list of lists, to see if there are any you might want to add to your productivity toolkit.

  1. Current Projects. Everything you’re working on (or should be). Having these in one place will keep you from neglecting anything and see if you’ve got too much on your plate and need to offload something.
  2. Next Projects. What do you intend to work on once you’ve completed your current projects? This will help you prepare for those projects, e.g., write down ideas, research, etc., so you can start them without delay.
  3. Ongoing & Recurring Projects. Other projects or responsibilities, e.g., updating your website, networking activities, content creation, client relations activities, your newsletter, preparing reports, etc.
  4. To Do This Week. 3-5 important projects to focus on in the next week to ten days.
  5. To Do Today. Look at your “this week” list, your calendar, your project lists, and elsewhere, and choose 3-5 “MITs” (Most Important Tasks) for the day.
  6. Routines. Checklists of weekly or daily tasks for tidying up, organizing, and planning your work. Examples: weekly review, inbox zero, cleaning up computer files, paying bills, morning and afternoon “startup” and “shut down” routines.
  7. Goals & Dreams. Monthly, quarterly, and annual benchmarks. Long-term goals or vision.
  8. Someday/Maybes. Ideas you’re considering but aren’t yet committed to doing.
  9. What’s Working Now. Questions that prompt you to reflect on what’s working well so you can do more of them.
  10. What’s Not Working Now. Questions that help identify problems, bottlenecks, and poor ROI, so you can eliminate, curtail, delegate, or fix them.
  11. Budget. Track income and expenses to reduce debt, increase profits, manage investments, etc.
  12. Remember. Ideas, quotes, or accomplishments you want to keep in front of you, to stay motivated, focused, and on message.

Do you use any lists that aren’t on this list?

My Evernote for Lawyers ebook

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Filed Under: Law office management, Marketing legal services, Productivity

Deciding what to do first

September 18, 2018 by
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Yesterday, I said that when you feel overwhelmed with too much to do you should make a big list of everything and then choose (no more than) three things.

But how do you choose?

Do you select something that’s urgent? Important? Easy? Challenging? Enjoyable? Do you choose something at random just to get moving?

There’s no right or wrong answer.

One thing you could do is go through the list and for each item, ask yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen if I DON’T accomplish this today?” No doubt you’ll realize that most of the things on your list can wait but you still may be no closer to choosing.

One question that’s helped me choose is the one posed by Gary Keller in his book, The One Thing:

“What is ONE THING you could do such that by doing it, everything else would be easier or unnecessary?”

A simpler version: “If I could ONLY do ONE thing today, what would I do?”

When we limit ourselves to just one thing we make it easier to choose because we tacitly give ourselves permission to put everything else aside. It forces us to identify our priority.

Get your “one thing” done and even if you don’t do anything else today, you will have a good day. Get your One Thing done FIRST and you’ll have the rest of the day to choose what to do next.

Referrals every day

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Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity Tagged With: ,

What to do when you’re overwhelmed

September 17, 2018 by
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You’ve got too much to do. Too many ideas. Too many thoughts bouncing around in your head. You’re feeling anxious, confused, defeated, overwhelmed.

One of the best things you can do to gain some relief and clarity about what to do is to get everything out of your head and onto paper.

Grab a sheet or your favorite note app and do a brain dump. Write down every task, idea, and worry. Write quickly and don’t stop until your brain is empty.

When you’re done, you should feel a bit better. A little lighter, more centered.

What now? Take the rest of the day off. Go do something fun and life-affirming. Your list will be there when you return.

If you can’t do that, at least resist the urge to study and prioritize your list. That’s likely to make things worse.

Instead, read through the list quickly and choose (underline, star, circle) no more than three things that jump out at you. Things that are urgent or important and calling to you to get done.

Once you’ve done that, write down those three things on another list and put the first list away. Then, deal with those three things.

If they’re tasks, do them. If they’re decisions, decide them. If they’re problems, work on them, and continue doing that until you’re done or you have completed these three things or taken them as far as you can go.

Then, celebrate. You’ve re-established control and taken care of some important things. Pick up your list again and choose what’s next.

If “get more clients” is one of your three things, start here

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Filed Under: Personal development Tagged With:
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