Helping Female Attorneys Achieve Prosperity

Time Management Strategies

Keeping a To Do list sounds like such a trivial thing but it is the key to never missing a deadline and managing your time more effectively. If you do not use a list you will undoubtedly miss something or forget an important detail which results in you appearing unprofessional or unreliable. The secret is to use the list properly.

To get started just write down everything you hope to accomplish today. If you get into the habit of jotting down notes of things to do over the course of your day you can use it to plan your To Do list for the next day.

Now categorize the tasks on your To-Do List as follows.

• Need to do: These are the tasks that require immediate attention. Anything urgent or aproaching deadline would go in this category.

• Have to do: These are the routine things that you do on a daily basis that are not high priority but must be accomplished daily.

• Ought to do: This category is for the tasks that are performed only ocassionally. Things like staying in contact with past clients, networking, planning future projects, etc.

• Want to do: Cleaning and reorganizing your office space, and other low priority tasks.

Tip. Break large projects down into manageable time blocks allowing you to complete them in intervals, if possible, over the course of several days.

Anything not accomplished today must be transferred to your To Do list for tomorrow and moved up the list depending on their importance. Do not be too concerned if your “ought to do and Want to do” categories don’t get completed for several months. They are very low priority and must only be done after the important tasks are completed. By keeping a prioritized list of things to do you will never miss a deadline and will not waste time performing low level jobs in place of the ones that really matter.

Check each task off your list as you complete it. This gives you a greater sense of accomplishment and a better feeling that your time was well spent. Without a To Do list your time management can’t be visualized and monitored.

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