Time Management for Busy Attorneys: Eight Key Strategies to Increase Productivity and Reduce Stress in Your Practice

By Kimberly Lee

Kimberly Lee owns the Desert Law Group in Indian Wells, California. Her practice focuses in Estate Planning, Probate, Trust Administration and Elder Law. In her spare time, she is an Adjunct Practice Advisor for Atticus, the leading attorney business coaching firm in the country. Kimberly credits Atticus for being a big part of her law firm’s success and her ability to live a great life by design.

The process of planning, prioritizing, and deciding how to effectively spend your time sounds simple enough. But there is a subtle art to time management, a calculated formula that enables you to increase productivity and reduce stress in your busy law practice. A pioneer of the self-improvement industry, Paul J. Meyer once said, "Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning and focused effort." To manage your time, you must first ask yourself: what does your current daily planning look like?

You might start the day with the best intentions — an early alarm, a meticulously planned to-do list, an already prepped wholesome breakfast — yet find that you still end up working late. You’re rushing from task to task and the to-do list seems to almost always carry over to the following day. For busy attorneys time management is one of the most powerful skills you can master to increase your productivity and reduce your daily stresses.