65% of Lawyers check their emails outside work, says LawCare research.
28% of lawyers also feel they need to be available for clients 24/7. ⏲
But, avoiding “The Seven Deadly Sins of Time Management” restores control.
I recently outlined all seven but here I look at DEADLY SIN ONE: TAKING ON TOO MUCH.
One of the hardest words for a lawyer to utter inside the firm is “no”.
Even more difficult is, “I need help” because it seems like an admission of failure.
You may think that cheerfully accepting an additional task to help out will do no harm but after a point stress levels rise as fast as productive efficiency plummets.
For partners this could mean taking on things which could actually be delegated.
I myself remember coming in at a weekend to to sort out close to deadline disclosure problems on a particular case.
I realised I was in the office (and not doing the music lesson run) as I hadn’t delegated with clear instructions earlier.
Time spent before would have been smarter: no-one to blame but me!
For more junior lawyers, key is the confidence to communicate clearly to a partner on work to prioritise if a new task comes in.
The moral is to learn to say “no” to yourself in a compassionate way and colleagues in a professional way.
And partners, for pity’s sake, delegate!
👉 If you would like to chat about how I help senior lawyers manage time poverty, please send a direct message on here on Linkedin.
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