What’s next for you?

Share

It’s the middle of the year. It’s also the middle of the month and the middle of the week. For some, it’s also the middle of the day.

You’ve accomplished some things this year, yes? The question is, “What’s next?”

What project are you working on now? What do you plan to start soon?

It may be vacation time for you and your clients. Things may be slow. But that won’t last. Before you can say, “motion granted,” the holidays will be here and we’ll be on the cusp of a new year.

My advice: use this time to figure out what’s next for you (if you haven’t already done that) and begin working on it.

Get thee ready for the coming storm.

You should do this even if things aren’t slow right now because you have to stay ahead of the game.

Where do you start?

When I start a new project, the first step I take is to write down the desired outcome. What do I want and why do I want it. Nothing fancy.

This may change. The project may expand in scope, contract, or the entire idea may become something else.

Then, since I’ve probably been thinking about this for awhile and have some notes, I gather up those notes and divide them into three categories: Tasks, Resources, and Notes.

Tasks are things I have to do or might have to do, even if that means thinking about something or doing a little exploratory research.

Resources are links and docs or people I might need.

Notes is for everything else.

And with that, the project is begun.

I give myself permission to put it aside, however. If I’m not ready to move forward on a project or I find something else I want to (or need to) work on, I put the project aside.

I have more than a few of these residing on my hard drive, ready for me to pick them up again.

Grab a legal pad or digital device and flesh out a project to work on over the next few months. If you have several options, choose the one that excites you (scares you) because that’s probably the one you should be working on.

If you decide you’re not ready for it, put your notes aside and flesh out another project. And don’t dillydally. It may be the start of summer but I can already hear the sound of sleigh bells in the distance.

I keep my notes in Evernote. Here’s my Evernote for Lawyers ebook

Share