GTD for JDs

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One of the biggest challenges of being a lawyer is managing what David Allen calls the “threefold nature of work.” He has a great article available as a free download on his website. To paraphrase Allen, the threefold nature of work consists of:

• Pre-defined Work - work that you would be doing all day if you had no interruptions or new work coming in (yeah, right, like that will ever happen). Basically, your pipeline of existing work.
• Unplanned Work - unexpected or unaccounted for work that comes in during the day. Letters that require a response, phone calls that require action, and client-related emails are all excellent examples of unplanned work. Most lawyers have little control or expectation of what work is incoming or how it will be handled on any given day. This, of course, can be extremely frustrating.
• Planning Work - work to define what to do with the other work. The process of capturing the new work, reviewing the new work, and deciding what to do with the new work is work itself. Jotting down notes from a phone call, adding something to your project list or calendar, processing your “in” box, both physical and electronic, are all good examples of planning work. A critical, but often neglected, aspect of work.

Here is the problem. Most lawyers don’t plan work very well out of necessity. Instead, we tend to concentrate on the seemingly unending and overwhelming unplanned work coming in. And for most lawyers in private practice, unplanned work is a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it means that we can continue to work and be paid for it (hopefully), and a curse because how and when the incoming work arrives is completely out of our control. As a result, pre-defined work gets continually interrupted and shifted so we can respond to the unplanned work. But the unplanned work keeps coming in. And we get frustrated, angry and stressed because we can never get to planning work or pre-defined work. You tell yourself, “if I just had more time to get to that project, if the phone would just stop ringing . . .”

Forget it! It is not going to happen.

Remember, it’s all work. You need to learn to deal with the interruptions and loss of control . . . or find a new profession. In fact, properly handled unplanned work is the single most important part of maintaining your law practice’s vitality. Without it, you would eventually run out of things to do. Unplanned work is your professional future. As frustrating as unplanned work can be, always remember that without it, your would be out of business or out of a job . . . quickly.

So, how do we deal with work in general and unplanned work in particular? With discipline, focus, & delegation, the subject or our next entry.

At their simplest forms, time management systems for lawyers only require two essential elements: (i) a calendar, and (ii) a project list.

A Calendar. Every lawyer must have an effective calendaring system. If you do not think so, just ask your malpractice carrier. As problem solvers, lawyers need a calendar to accurately track deadlines and commitments. It does not matter if your calendar is digital or paper, networked or not, written on papyrus or etched in stone. At a minimum, your calendar must do two things: (1) track all your hard deadlines; and (2) schedule your required commitments. Tracking your hard deadlines is critical for the obvious reasons. It protects your clients, your reputation, and your livelihood. Nothing will ruin a good night’s sleep worse than waking up in a cold sweat wondering if you missed some deadline. Scheduling your required commitments is almost as important. You always need to know where you need to be, what is coming up next, and what you have promised to do on a specific date or time. All of these time dependent commitments should also be on your calendar.

A Project List. Every lawyer should have a list of open projects. I believe this essential item is often neglected by many, but it is probably the quickest way to improve your practice. It is simple to implement. At a minimum, a project list is a list of every project that you are working on - no matter how small. The list is a marker that reminds you of your commitment to that project. If you make a new commitment to a project, it should be added to your list immediately. The entire list should be reviewed weekly to jog your memory of your commitments. You may find one or two things that you had completely forgotten about - that 5 minute phone call just before lunch last week, or that email request that you promised you would get to when you cleaned out your inbox. As soon as you take on a new commitment unrelated to another matter, put it on you project list - immediately. Then, if you like, go back to doing what you were doing. You will catch it during a quick review of your list even if you completely forgot about it. Similar to a calendar, it does not matter if the project list is digital or paper, only that it be accurate and up to date. I can not stress enough how helpful and important a unified project list is to a practicing attorney.

Why Not a “To Do” List? Most people associate a “to do’ list with time management, and a better “to do” list is what most lawyers strive for when trying to be more productive. But an elaborate “to do” list is actually not critical to time management for lawyers. In fact, with a good calendar and project list, many lawyers can track their “to do’s” in their head. I would not recommend that approach, but it can be, and is often, done. Think about it. When a lawyer develops a typical “to do” list, he looks at his calendar to see what is scheduled (a calendar), thinks about what else he might be working on (a project list), then develops what he needs to do. He may or may not write it down, depending on how busy he is at that particular moment (again, not recommended - always write it down!). But we all know the realities of law practice. How many times have you walked out of a hearing, quickly checked you calendar on your PDA or cell phone, then developed a simple to do list in your head. Lawyers do it every day, oftentimes, multiple times a day.

A calendar and a project list are the absolute bare essentials of any system. When everything is out of control, an accurate calendar and project list will keep you on track and out of trouble. You can always figure out what needs to be done in any given situation - on the fly if necessary. But you will not remember that a brief is due Thursday or that 5 minute phone call from an important client last week . . . unless they are recorded on your calendar and project list. Make sure you always keep those two items up to date, no matter how busy you get.

Everybody has to get things done. What is so special about lawyers?

Lawyers are professional problem solvers. Unsurprisingly, people paying a professional to solve their problems expect results. As a lawyer, you must be able to effectively get things done to solve your client’s problems. Otherwise, you are wasting your and your client’s time.

Lawyers have hard deadlines, which, if missed, can have dire consequences. Filing deadlines, statute of limitations, contractual notices, etc . . . a lawyer’s professional life is filled with hard, unforgiving deadlines. Missing these deadlines can have dire consequences. Your client can lose money - lots of it. Your client can lose his rights. Your client can lose her freedom. And, in the worse case scenario, your client could lose his life. But it is not only your client whose neck is on the line. You could lose your money, your reputation, or your professional license (and the ability to earn a living) simply by forgetting an innocuous deadline.

Lawyers constantly have competing demands on their time. Being a professional problem solver means that you have to deal with other people’s problems. Oftentimes, your client did not seek the advice of a professional problem solver until the problem became too difficult to manage. So now his problem has become your problem. Repeat for every client you have. Now add in the phone, email, and voicemail, and you have a lot of concerned people with problems contacting you constantly. Each one with a unique problem. Each one thinking that their problem is the most important problem that you are handling.

These three aspects of practicing law involve three separate, but complementary, skills. First, you must be able to plan to solve problems. Then, you must be able to track your deadlines and projects. Finally, you must prioritize the competing demands of your clients. No easy task in today’s world.

With that background in place, let’s next look at methods to accomplish getting things done as a lawyer.

So your a lawyer. And you would like to get things done. You have come to the right place.

This blog is all about getting things done. The tools, tricks, and troubles of trying to be productive in today’s information overloaded world. We will not only examine David Allen’s well-known GTD methods, but other simpler, tried and true systems and tools. My goal is not to pontificate on what I think is the “best” system, but rather to simply identify methods or tools you might want to try. After all, I hope to get as much from this blog as you do. I want to learn from others about how to get things done . . . efficiently and effectively. So, please comment and contribute. I would love to hear your solutions to these universal problems.

Why lawyers? Certainly lawyers are not unique in needing to getting things done. I am the first to concede that they are not. But lawyers do have some unique issues. Sadly, there is little information targeted to the unique productivity problems of attorneys. The typical solution tends to be “work harder.” I simply find that “solution” troubling in many ways. Hence, the blog. So sit back, enjoy, and contribute when you feel the need. Who knows, maybe you will learn something. I know I will.