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great attorney, works very hard, and he
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had no idea why. But at the end of the
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day, after working for nine hours, he
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might have three or three and a half
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hours build, and he had no idea. So, we
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began by tracking his day and seeing
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where his time actually went. And we
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started using the triangle system. And
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that day, he went from 3 or 4 hours a
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billable time average to 10.3 hours in a
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9-hour day. And that sounds intense, but
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he said, "This was the easiest day I've
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ever had. This really worked. I feel
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more comfortable. I feel more relaxed.
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But mostly, I feel productive. I feel
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efficient. Welcome to the Free Lawyer
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Podcast. I'm your host, Gary Miles. Good
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morning, everybody. I hope you guys had
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just a fantastic weekend. So, think
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about this scenario. It's 7:30 p.m.
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You're still at your desk. You're
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surrounded by open files. And most of
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all, you're completely exhausted. You've
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been working non-stop since 7 a.m., but
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when you check your billable hours, they
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they just don't add up. They just don't
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add up. Where did the time go? Does that
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sound familiar? You know, I've lived
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that story for years. Drowning in files,
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working like a hamster, driving myself
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crazy, and and watching precious
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billable hours slip away. But here's the
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good news. I've discovered a way out.
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Today I'm going to share exactly how I
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transformed my practice from chaos to
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control, boosted my billable hours and
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reclaimed my evenings, all while
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delivering better work to my clients. It
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is in theory. This is a system that
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actually works. It's worked for me and
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dozens of other attorneys I've coached.
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So stay with me because this could be
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the most valuable 15 minutes of your
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professional life.
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I I remember so well when I was in my
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active
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practice how hard I seemed to work. I
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would go from one file right into the
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next, not taking a break. Calls would
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come in and and I'd take them. I'd get
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an email from that challenging attorney
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and I'd look at it and I'd answer it.
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And I never seemed to get finished on
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what I started. And at the end of the
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day, I didn't know where my time had
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went. It was gone. and it just didn't
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didn't add up. It just the amount of
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hours I worked, the intensity with which
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I worked, and the amount of billable
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time I had, it didn't it didn't match
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up. Have you ever felt that way? You
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know, so often for so many of us,
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there's a real disconnect between the
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number of hours we've worked and the
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number of hours we build. And it creates
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such frustration for us because our
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effort is so intense. We're so
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dedicated. We're trying so hard. But our
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results are completely
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underwhelming. And this brings me to the
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problem of what I call busyness. You
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know, busyiness is not what we're
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striving for. We're striving for true
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productivity. And when we're constantly
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allow ourselves to be
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interrupted to have folks stop in our
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office and ask us just that quick
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question, which ends up taking 10
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minutes, 20 minutes, and then we've lost
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track of where we are, and then that
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call comes in and we interrupt again.
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They completely undermine our
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productivity. And when we react to one
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call, one email, one, can I ask you a
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quick question after
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another? Our productivity, our
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effectiveness is completely undermined.
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How many of you have ever collapsed into
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your chair at the end of the day,
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exhausted from your non-stop work only
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to find your billable hours are
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mysteriously and inexplicably
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low. And my revelation came when I
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decided one day to track everything I
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did that day. literally everything from
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the time I sat down at my desk until the
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time I wrapped up for the
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evening. And I learned where my time was
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actually going. My my problem was
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answered because so often I didn't know
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where I was going. And I talked to a lot
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of lawyers about this problem and they
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say, "I don't know how I work so hard
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and I only build two or three or four
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hours. I don't know where my time goes."
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And that's the problem. They don't know
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where their time
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goes. And this is so critical. You know,
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feeling busy, working so hard simply is
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not the same as being productive. And
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the first step for you, the most
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important
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step, the essential precondition to
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being more productive is being aware of
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how you spend your time. Are you working
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and not recording your time build? Do
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you allow yourself to be distracted by
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your cell phone or or the internet? Do
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you get too many
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interruptions? And there are so many in
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what I call invisible time thieves.
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switching from one task to another
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without really giving focus work to the
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first. Allowing ourselves to be
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interrupted by our assistant or our
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partner or our associate in the office
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or to be interrupted by phone calls or
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emails or to work on a file and actually
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do the work but forget to record it and
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then at the end of the day or the end of
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the week we don't remember what we
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actually did. And so often our biggest
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problem is is multitasking. We we not
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only lose time during the interruption,
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but we lose time trying to refocus. You
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know, where was I on this pleading? What
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what was my thought process? What was I
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going to say next? We lose all that. We
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lose our focus and we have to back up
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and start over. And the simple tracking
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method of spending a week every day
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writing down from the day you get to the
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office until the time you leave each and
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everything you do, even walking down the
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hall to get a cup of coffee and and
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chatting with another attorney, whatever
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it might be, and then analyzing what it
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shows. Were you wasting too much time
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talking about things that weren't
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important? Were you working and not
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billing your time? And you know, when we
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have that multitasking, when we're
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constantly interrupted, it's pretty darn
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hard to figure out how much time we
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spent on the underlying project because
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we had the conversation, the phone call,
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the email, we lost track of where we
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were. How much time do we actually work
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on it? You know, we don't know. So this
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method of tracking your time
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comprehensively from the beginning of
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the day to the end of the day, literally
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a chronological record of what you did
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each day is a huge first step in
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becoming more productive. Because all
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too often the overworked attorney does
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not know where his time went. He does
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not know why when he got home at the end
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of the day when he worked 10 hours he
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only had three or four hours on his time
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sheet and the work he wanted to get done
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didn't get done and this will give you
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that initial
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answer. So how do we become more
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efficient? How do we get more
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done more effectively so we're more
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productive and we're more fulfilled and
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we're more satisfied? The first step is
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tonight.
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Plan your plan your tomorrow. Spend 15
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minutes figuring out what are the most
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important things that you have to do.
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What are the ones that you really should
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get done that are both urgent and
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critical and you need to get them done.
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Analyze what you have and and prioritize
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what needs to be done first tomorrow.
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And then plan your day. Plan what you're
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going to work on when and prepare
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yourself mentally for tomorrow's
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success.
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I I'll bet you and hardly any lawyer
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listening to this spends 10 to 15
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minutes at the close of one day actually
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planning what he's going to do tomorrow.
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What are the most important things to
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do? But it's a critical first
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step. And then when you get to the
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office in the morning, revisit that plan
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and pick the thing that is hardest for
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you to do, the one file you don't want
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to do, the one file that is distasteful
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or difficult or challenging or
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unpleasant or whatever, pick that hard
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file. You know, the one we keep putting
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off. And I used to do this all the time.
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I'd have that motion for summary
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judgement which was so challenging and
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raised such thorny issues that I had to
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answer, but I wanted to get ready to
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answer by cleaning my desk. I'd handle
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all the other small relatively
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insignificant relatively simple matters
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first so that when I had all them done
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then I could give devoted time to that
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big project. But you know what that
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really was? That was procrastination.
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Because so often we we put put aside the
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most important thing, the hardest thing,
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the most important thing, the most
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critical thing. We put that aside
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because we don't feel like dealing with
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it. you make up some story or some
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excuse why that makes sense. But if you
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tackle your biggest, hardest file first,
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you work on it without interruption,
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completely focused from 9 to 10, say,
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without interruption. Your door is
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closed. No one's going to no one comes
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in. No, you don't take any calls. You
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don't answer any emails. You turn off
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your phone and you just focus on it for
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an hour. At the end of that hour, you
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will both have gotten a lot of work
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done, but you'll feel really, really
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good about your success and making
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progress on that file that you had been
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ignoring for so long. It's a
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huge psychological boost to you and your
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psyche. And it's also allowed you to
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work on that file in an efficient way
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and at the time when you're you're
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sharpest and most on your
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ball when you start working on your
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files. I have what I call the triangle
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system. So often we just pick the file
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up, we start working on it, we may get
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interrupted, we finish, we call comes
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in, we grab the next file and and
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nothing is very orderly. So when you go
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to work on a certain file, there are
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three steps of what you should do. The
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first is before you start working on it,
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review the file in your computer system,
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in your case management system. Make
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sure you know the history quickly. Check
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the recent emails and your notes of
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phone calls and make sure you understand
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what the background is of the file and
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where it is present time. and and see
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for the project you're doing if there
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are any resources you need. Um do you
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need any um cases? Do you need to grab
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some of the exhibits? Make sure you have
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handy whatever you need to work on that
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file. And now that you've reviewed it,
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now that you have your materials ready,
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you're prepared to work on it. So second
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phase is your focused work phase.
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Undivided attention, no interruptions.
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It may only be 15 minutes, but no
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interruptions. And document what you're
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doing in your case management system
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while you're doing it. Record exactly
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what you're doing and why in some detail
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and write a narrative that will make
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sense to your client when they get the
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bill. And then the final stage is the
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closure
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protocol. Pre-work, then focus work,
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then we're closing the file.
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Make your final entries in the system of
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what happened and what's
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done. Make a choice about what needs to
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be done next. What's the next stage in
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the case? Update your case management
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system with a diary or a tickler or
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calendar, whatever you may call it, to
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look at the file on a certain date to
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handle that next step in the case. And
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then see yourself mentally closing a
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physical file, opening a cabinet, and
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putting the file in the cabinet. And
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then spend 15, maybe 30 seconds just
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closing your
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eyes, realizing you're done with that
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file, it's closed, and prepare yourself
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for the next file. And these three
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stages work together great to create a
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seamless workflow. You know what you're
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you need to do. You have reviewed the
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file so you're prepared to handle it.
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You have all the materials you need to
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do it. You focus on it. You make
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contemporaneous narratives and time
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entries. You diary ahead what's going to
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come next and when you need to see the
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file the next time or look at it. You
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plan your next step in the case and then
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you close it. And it's very very
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efficient. And each file is segregated.
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Each file is handled with efficiency and
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productivity. It's built
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contemporaneously with a great time
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entry. Another thing is how do we
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optimize our hours during the day? So
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the first is handle your most difficult
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matters when you're mentally your
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sharpest. What are your most complex
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tasks and when are you best prepared to
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handle them? For most of us, it's first
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thing in the morning. And one thing I'd
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caution you about, um, I've worked with
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some attorneys who the first thing they
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did in the morning was go to the coffee
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room and talk with the other attorneys,
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then sit down and do a quick check of
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social media and check and see what the
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news of the day is, and then they get
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ready to work. And and by the time
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they've done that, they've wasted 30 or
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45 minutes. You don't need a break when
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you first get to the office, but when
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you first get to the office, dive right
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into that file that last night you
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planned you were going to do first. Dive
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right into it. Work on it for an hour.
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And then take a break. Then take a
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break. Go to the coffee room, grab a
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glass of water, walk around the hall,
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maybe even step outside and get some
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fresh air. Take your break after you
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worked on that complex file. and then
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handle the things that happened while
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you were working on that. See, look at
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the emails that came in during that hour
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and answer them. See what calls might
00:14:29
have come in and return them. See who in
00:14:31
your office tried to see you during that
00:14:33
hour of focus work and get back to them
00:14:35
and answer their questions. And the one
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thing I've learned
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is I would answer every phone call when
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it came in. And most lawyers are like
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that. you're working and the phone
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rings, you answer it when you're at your
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desk, but you don't have to. The person
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who's calling doesn't know you're
00:14:52
sitting there waiting for their call.
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They don't know at all. So, I believe
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with our clients, it's much more
00:15:00
efficient to say, um, I'm available for
00:15:04
tele telephone calls between 10:30 and
00:15:06
11:30 in the morning and 2:30 and 3:30
00:15:09
in the afternoon. Clients understand
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that and they appreciate that. And if
00:15:13
they call you before that, call them
00:15:14
back at 10:30, whatever time window you
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set. And I found that clients actually
00:15:18
prefer that. And we've been trained that
00:15:20
way with other service providers, with
00:15:23
our doctor, with me, with our vet. I
00:15:25
know if I need to speak to her, there's
00:15:27
a certain time a day I can call. And
00:15:30
clients will absolutely accept that. And
00:15:32
it's so much more efficient for you than
00:15:35
interrupting everything you're doing to
00:15:37
take that client call.
00:15:39
And then take strategic breaks during
00:15:41
the day. You know, after that intense
00:15:44
file you worked on first, take a break.
00:15:46
Um, take a break for lunch. And I would
00:15:48
encourage not just sitting at your desk
00:15:50
and reading or looking at the internet
00:15:53
because that's still wearing down your
00:15:55
brain. Go outside, get some fresh air,
00:15:59
or or walk around the hall and and find
00:16:01
your your friend that you like to chat
00:16:03
with, your best associate in the office,
00:16:05
and and chat with him or her a bit or
00:16:07
meet someone for lunch. And then after
00:16:10
you work for a while in the afternoon,
00:16:12
maybe two hours, take a break in the
00:16:14
afternoon, and you'll find that really
00:16:16
helps. And at the end of the day, see
00:16:19
yourself closing your files and putting
00:16:21
them back in the drawer. Look at your
00:16:23
time sheet and see if it reflects the
00:16:25
time you actually worked. If you're in
00:16:27
that stage where you did what I
00:16:28
suggested and you've been tracking all
00:16:30
your time during the day, see if there's
00:16:32
anything you worked on that you forgot
00:16:34
to build or sometimes you can see it in
00:16:36
your case management system that this
00:16:38
file was worked on but you didn't you
00:16:41
didn't record any time for it and then
00:16:45
spend that 15 minutes and we're
00:16:47
completing the cycle now planning your
00:16:49
next day. So how do we how do we
00:16:52
implement this
00:16:54
process? Well, I would suggest start
00:16:56
step by step. Begin for a week with just
00:16:59
doing your evening planning and then um
00:17:02
next week start with your your morning
00:17:05
victory formula, planning the hardest
00:17:07
thing you want to do and tackling it
00:17:09
first. And you'll find that that's
00:17:11
really um efficient. And you may say to
00:17:15
me, "But Gary, you know, that all sounds
00:17:16
well and good. That sounds like a
00:17:18
welloiled machine, but this crisis
00:17:20
happens and that crisis happens.
00:17:22
Absolutely. There are times or things
00:17:24
you have to push push ahead, be at the
00:17:28
forefront
00:17:31
because they're on fire. They're
00:17:34
emergencies. Something has to be done.
00:17:36
Absolutely, you have to adapt to those
00:17:39
emergencies. But don't abandon this
00:17:41
plan. Just get back on track once the
00:17:43
emergency is dealt with. And I don't
00:17:46
expect you to implement this and find it
00:17:48
goes perfectly in the beginning, but it
00:17:50
really is progress over perfection. And
00:17:53
you'll find you have more billable hours
00:17:56
and less time. You'll find that you
00:17:59
encounter so much less stress in your
00:18:01
day. You will have peace of mind from
00:18:03
knowing that nothing is falling through
00:18:06
the cracks. Your relationships with your
00:18:08
clients will improve because you'll be
00:18:11
in a better mental state. you'll be
00:18:13
handling their calls timely. And even
00:18:16
though I say don't take them all when
00:18:17
they first come in, do make sure you
00:18:19
return every call within 24 hours, if
00:18:21
not sooner. They'll find they're getting
00:18:24
better quality work from you and you're
00:18:25
actually more
00:18:26
responsive. And maybe most importantly,
00:18:29
you'll have better work life balance.
00:18:31
Your billable hours will be so much
00:18:33
higher during the week. You'll be so
00:18:35
much more productive, so much more
00:18:36
efficient, and you will have time to
00:18:39
reclaim your evenings and weekends. You
00:18:41
know, I coached one of my clients on
00:18:43
this. Um, great attorney, works very
00:18:47
hard. Um, and he had no idea why, but at
00:18:51
the end of the day after working for
00:18:52
nine hours, he might have three or three
00:18:54
and a half hours build, and he had no
00:18:56
idea. So, we began by tracking his day
00:18:59
and seeing where his time actually went.
00:19:01
And we started using the triangle system
00:19:04
of reviewing what he was doing in the
00:19:06
beginning um doing the work and then
00:19:09
closing it and making great
00:19:11
contemporaneous notes and and diiring
00:19:14
the file for when he wanted it. He
00:19:16
followed this system and that day he
00:19:18
went from three or four hours a billable
00:19:21
time average to 10.3 hours in a 9-hour
00:19:25
day. And that sounds intense but he said
00:19:28
this was the easiest day I've ever had.
00:19:30
This really worked. I feel more
00:19:33
comfortable. I feel more relaxed. But
00:19:35
mostly, I feel productive. I feel
00:19:37
efficient. So, it really, really works.
00:19:40
You know, you became a lawyer to make a
00:19:41
difference. You didn't become a lawyer
00:19:43
to drown in paperwork and be overwhelmed
00:19:45
by stress. And the system I shared today
00:19:48
isn't just about productivity. It's
00:19:50
about reclaiming your passion for the
00:19:52
law and for your life life beyond it.
00:19:55
You know, the journey from chaos to
00:19:57
control begins with a single step. So
00:20:00
tonight, take 15 minutes to plan your
00:20:02
tomorrow and commit to tracking your
00:20:05
time. You don't need to implement
00:20:06
everything at once. Start small, but
00:20:10
start today. Your future self and your
00:20:13
family will thank you for it. If you're
00:20:15
ready to transform your practice, I
00:20:17
invite you to schedule a complimentary
00:20:20
consultation. Let's turn your practice
00:20:23
into the success story that you have
00:20:25
always envisioned. Thank you so much for
00:20:28
listening to me today. I appreciate each
00:20:30
and every one of
00:20:34
you. Thank you so much for listening to
00:20:37
today's episode of the Free Lawyer
00:20:40
Podcast. Wherever you are listening, if
00:20:43
you enjoyed what I shared, please leave
00:20:45
me a rating and review. I would
00:20:48
appreciate hearing more about what you
00:20:49
like best and what topics you might like
00:20:52
me to cover in future episodes. If you
00:20:55
are interested in experiencing a more
00:20:57
fulfilling and a more successful life,
00:21:00
please contact me at
00:21:05
www.garym.net where you can schedule a
00:21:08
free discovery call with me so I can
00:21:10
learn more about you, your challenges,
00:21:13
and your dreams. I appreciate each and
00:21:15
every one of you and have a great rest
00:21:18
of your day. Thanks to all of you for
00:21:20
your support.
