You may go online with the intention to look up cases.  The next thing you know you are on The Wall Street Journal’s website, because you remembered a news topic you wanted to learn more about.  Before you know it, you have been on numerous sites, have wasted a good 30 minutes and still haven’t looked up the cases you had originally planned.

There are many distractions that lawyers and business owners face and it takes a lot of self-discipline to ignore these diversions and focus on the task at hand.  I have found that creating an Internet to-do list can keep me on track.  For example, I have a small notebook I keep either in my pocket or next to my computer.  This notebook is only used for the Internet. Whenever I remember an email I need to send or something important I want to look up later, I write it down.

After you have created your to-do list, you can set aside a specific time for it.  By using an Internet to-do list, you are able to protect your time and still satisfy your curiosity.

For more attorney time saving tips, check out the program, Militant Time Management.

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It seems that a lot of lawyers share these misconceptions.  Here’s the thing, you don’t have to be available around the clock, as that is not an effective use of your time. Plus, in the long run it is not helping your clients.  You could also be sending the wrong impression if you are always available.  For example, would you hire a heart surgeon for a non-emergency procedure who cannot see you for six weeks or would you hire one that isn’t busy and can see you right away?  I’m sure you see the point I am trying to make.

You don’t have to take every case either.  These small cases can quickly steal your time and that of your staff’s.  Here is one way to think about small cases – if you only had an hour, wouldn’t it be better to use it to increase the value of a case worth $100,000 by 10 percent than it would be to increase the value of a $10,000 case by 10 percent?

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