The Advocate, Journal of the Nevada Trial Lawyer’s Assoc., April 2004 issue.

Around 1982, when I was first trying to start my own law practice, I found that I was having difficulty getting things done effectively. My desk and office space were piled with files and papers, and it seemed as though I would spend the whole day "putting out fires" without making effective progress. I was constantly worried about trying to "remember to remember" to do important things; and troubled by the fear that my staff (which at that time consisted of one person) would timely complete an important project I had assigned.

A client at the time was a part-time management consultant person, and he recommended me to purchase a book and audio tape set entitled "Productivity/Time Management," by Dean Atchison and Mike Smith, that was put out by "The Hanover Press." I purchased the system and utilized it, with what I would characterize as very good results.

I recently searched the Barnes & Noble website, and it appears that this book and tapes set is out of print. But, I think I can do a fair job of summarizing its basic, simple program.

I have since tried some other time management programs, notably the Franklin-Covey computer program; as well as a time management program written by a Harvard MBA graduate. Although these other programs are useful, they are, in my opinion, too complex; and I have found that after a couple days of trying to follow them, I give up because they are too time-consuming and complex. I find myself returning to the original principles of the above program.

I would say that my efficiency in getting things done increased by approximately 100% when I started to use the above system. When others in my office have used the system they have noticed great increases. Like everyone, I and others in my office, through laziness, will drift away from using the system from time to time, and it will require a "rededication" to using the system. But I guarantee that if you use this system you will receive remarkable results in how much you get done, and in having peace of mind.

I have shown this system to a few other lawyers who were curious about it. Almost to a man, they have said "well that looks like something I have seen before, I will think about it," and then they do not do it. So I expect that most people who read this article will have the same idea. But, I would challenge you to try doing it. The initial phase will probably take you about eight hours.

The basic underlying principle of the program is that if you have a bunch of papers, files and so forth in your office and on your desk, this creates on a subconscious level a lot of anxiety, particularly about "remembering to remember" things. Whether you are working on the file or a stack of papers or not, you see them out of the corner of your eye. And, if that were not bad enough, if you do not have an efficient system for delegating work, you will always be worrying about whether or not your secretary or paralegal got the most important things done on time.

So, here is what needs to be done.

1. Set aside a full day that you are going to work on this program, without interruptions. Doing it on a Saturday might be best. Let others know that they are not to disturb you this day. (If you try to do this in increments, two hours one day and two hours another day, it is not going to work very well. I know this from experience.)

2. Gather everything that requires some sort of task to be done with it (even if the task is throwing the thing away) and put it into one pile. Go through everything on top of your desk. Go through everything in your desk and in your credenzas. Go through the trunk of your car. Gather everything that has attached to it some action that needs to be done and put it in one pile. (This particular step will not take long.)

One warning. As you are gathering everything to put into the "pile," do not stop to read something and start thinking about it. If you stop at this point to read a document or think about it, then you will be taking much too long for this step.

3. Now, sort the "big pile" into four separate piles. I find it helpful to write on a sheet of paper a label for each of the four piles. The labels I use are "throw away," "do in less than five minutes," "delegate it," and "delay it."

Again, a strict warning. If you stop at this stage to closely read documents and think about what you are going to do with it beyond labeling it for the piles, you will be spending much too long and taking way too long on this step.

Just go through the pile and sort it out.

As you are doing this, thoughts will occur to you about things that you need to do. When such a thought occurs, write it down on a separate piece of paper, and put the separate piece of paper into the appropriate pile. This way, you will not be worried about "remembering to remember" the thought that just popped in your mind about something that needs to be done.

As with anyone, your desk and work area will contain some items that are personal business tasks as opposed to strictly work tasks. Treat these things the same as you would the strictly work tasks.

As to the four piles, the "throw away" pile is self-explanatory. Actually, this pile can be a trash can. Just put into that pile, or trash can, things that can be thrown away.

The "do it in less than five minutes" pile is strictly for items that can be done in five minutes or less. The temptation when you are sorting out the piles is to go ahead and do the task now. Do not fall to this temptation. Just put it into the pile. Be strict in your assessment of how long it is going to take you to do it. If it is more than a five minute task do not put it in this pile.

The "delegate it" pile is for jobs that you are going to assign to others. The basic rule is that "if it can be delegated, it is." In other words, you should favor delegating tasks to others whenever possible. If someone else in your office can do it sufficiently, put it in this pile. Just because you could do it better is not a reason not to delegate it. Your time is worth, say, $200.00 an hour. If you can do a task in 10 minutes and it would take a staff member 30 minutes (and the staff member makes $15.00 an hour), you are still ahead of the game by delegating it. Again, at this point in time we are just putting things into the pile.

The last pile, labeled "delay it," are jobs that you need to do. This is something that takes more than five minutes; and is something that cannot be delegated. You will probably be putting many things into this pile that are the pieces of paper, upon which you are writing things to "remember" to do, that occur to you as you are going through the "big pile."

5. Now, you will deal with the "delegate" pile. First, I would sort out the items in the delegate pile that are simply papers to be filed. I use a stamper in my office to stamp the pages with the name of the file, and the section of the file into which the paper is to be placed. Go through the delegate pile and pull out all the items that are simply to be filed and sufficiently mark them for the staff to know which file to put them in and which section.

By the time you go through the "throw away" items and the "to be filed" items in the delegate pile, I will bet about half of the "big" pile is gone.

As to items that must be delegated to someone else, you must delegate in a specific way. You must do it in writing, with a date, specific instructions, and put a priority on it of some sort (I use "A," "B," etc.) Keep a copy of the delegate slip. So, one goes to the staff member, and you keep one. For a long time our office had little two-part NCR copies that we used. You would write out the instructions on the one slip, and save the NCR copy for yourself. We now do the same function with our computer, but it is the same concept. The basic concept is it is in writing, dated, specific instructions, with a priority, and a copy is kept by you.

When the staff member has completed the task, they return the slip to you writing the word "done" on it. Then you match up the slips of paper and throw them away. In a moment’s notice you can go through the little pile on your desk and see what has been done and not been done by staff. Again, you can do the same function on a computer if you prefer.

The temptation is always just to give oral instructions to a staff member, or very vague instructions on a post-it sticker. To the extent you do this, then to that extent you are going to have more problems with your staff.

You will come across many items in these piles that are actual files which you were using to remind yourself to do something. Do not use a file to remind yourself. Having files sitting around on your desk creates on a subconscious level a lot of anxiety. It also creates a poor appearance to others who come into your office, such as clients. Imagine if you were a new client walking into a lawyer’s office and you saw files piled all over the desk and couch. What impression would this give you? Some might think it funny, but some would not be positively impressed.

If you are using a file as a reminder to do something, then write down on a paper what it is that the file was there to represent and use that piece of paper as a task assignment rather than the file itself. It is a lot quicker to just dictate things out as you are going along, if you have dictation transcription capabilities.

6. The "do it" pile. Again, this is strictly for items that take less than five minutes to do. Just rip through this pile and do everything. If while you are doing something you think of some other task that needs to be done, then write it down on a separate piece of paper. (Or dictate it, as the case may be.)

You must discipline yourself to do tasks quickly. Sometimes, when dictating a letter to someone against whom I have some anger, I will go on and on with biting remarks and so forth (only to later scratch out such comments from the letter after it is typed.) Resist the temptation to dictate more than what is needed to get the job done. Dictating letters with sarcasm, biting remarks, etc. feels good at the time, but it in the end only causes trouble.

7. The "delay it" pile. These are for jobs you have to do, that cannot be delegated, or that take longer than five minutes. You probably will find a lot of files in this pile that were being used by you as reminders for the job. Write out or dictate out a piece of paper with the assignment on it, and put the file back in the cabinet. You will eventually end up, in this pile, with just a stack of papers that have various jobs that are assigned to you.

Now, you are done. I am guessing this probably took you about eight hours. If you had a horrible mess in your office, it might even take you as long as two days.

If you dictate things as you are going along, you will get all this done much quicker. You can dictate out assignments to others; you can dictate reminder notices to yourself of things to do; etc. You can, if you wish, handwrite or hand-type things, but that will take a lot longer.

Your desk and office is now clean. There are no files on the couch or on your desktop. You are not afraid that you will not remember to do something because you do not have the file in front of you to remind you. You lose the fear that the staff will not know specifically what it is they are supposed to do, or what job is more important than the other. You will know that you have on your desk a file with all the assignments you have made to staff, so you can check it at any time to see if someone needs to be doing something that day.

The real trick comes in keeping the system operating smoothly after you have cleaned off your desk.

First, you are going to have a pile of "delayed" things that you have to do. How can you get these done? For this, you need to simply make a list of things to do every day before you get started, and include one or two of these things on the list. It is helpful to block out an hour or two on your calendar every day for getting the important thing done. "Make an appointment with yourself" to get some of the "delayed" things done every day. Be realistic about how much time you block out every day for this. Every day has many unexpected interruptions and things to be done, so, if you are like me, you will probably find that you can spend no more than two hours on a given project in a given day.

As new items come in to your office, process them. Throw it away if it can be thrown away. If it is a less than five minute job, do it now. Delegate it if it can be delegated (and do so in writing as per the above.) If it is a task to be done later, then make a piece of paper up telling yourself what the task is. Be sure to date the paper and put a priority on it.

I have found that some staff members love this system and some hate it. You can predict rather easily which staff member will like this system and which will not. The staff members who fancy themselves "eccentric genius" types, with big piles all over their desk, will not like it. The staff members who are real "grinders" with clean desks will think it is a great idea. In the end, even the self-styled "eccentric genius" staff members will appreciate the system after they have used it for some time, as it eliminates confusion over what is supposed to be done, and when.

If you feel under stress, and feel as though you are not getting anything done other than "putting out fires," please try my system. I can promise you that after you start using this system, you will get much more done, and sleep better at night.