Just One More Thing … by Jean P. Dahnk, Esq.
Despite my efforts, this seems to be my default mantra. I try mightily to set a daily work schedule so that efficiency, productivity and happiness can rein supreme in my work world. Efficiency, so I get the work done; productivity so I get paid; happiness so I enjoy what I am doing. I even write it down while brushing my teeth. Messy, but a blueprint for the day.
I arrive in my office early in the morning, and strangely, turn around and it is already 4:30 p.m. My organized set schedule for the day sits on my desk with nothing crossed off. I have been working hard all day but not accomplished (usually) one thing on my “to do” list. I have billed a full day worth of work yet nothing I wanted to do, I got done.
Pausing, I think back over the preceding ten (10) hours. Did I black out? Was I hijacked by a travelling circus? Do I have multiple personalities and the non-lawyer one took over?
What happened?
If I am in control of my daily schedule (adult, self-employed, capable of saying no . . .), why didn’t I get done what I thought was important? Maybe even more important stuff came up? Maybe my self directed list was not any good to begin with?
I find myself making this analysis as I look at the work on my desk and my “to do” list. I am frustrated, tired and facing what looks like a work glacier. This work glacier appears to be slowly sliding down hill while increasing its height. Simultaneously, moving to pull me in underneath and avalanche me from above. This is not good. I am a grown up, hard working, relatively smart, and a reasonably organize person. Why can’t I control the daily circus in my own office?
Whining to my husband and law partner, we find that both of us feel that sometimes our work day is like a grease pig we chase around the office.
Ok. Stop. We can figure this out. For me, I think the culprit is my belief that I should stay on top of everything all of the time. To do this, I have to constantly check my emails, take all phone calls, speak with anybody who “stops in” or I will not be a good lawyer.
I wonder if it is my sincere desire to help. After all, that is the reason I became a lawyer in the first place. Except, over 25 years of law practice, “helping” is not a “touch and go” proposition. Helping entails time, documentation, phone calls, meetings, research and review. “Helping” as a lawyer is a complicated act that takes time to do correctly.
For years, I bullied through thinking that if I worked harder, was more organized, just got “one more thing done”, I would be a good lawyer, efficient, productive and happy. But I never seem to get to a spot in my work where I was satisfied with my work efforts. If only I got one more thing done, satisfaction would be mine.
So, if I do not feel that I am as efficient, productive and happy as I should be, what to do to change? I don’t always achieve the following on a daily basis but this is what I try:
Focus
- First, pay attention to the “to do” list. I try to stick to my list unless a real emergency appears.
- Only view emails at set times, say mid-morning and mid-afternoon.
- Calls - take phone calls as necessary and return messages as promptly as possible.
- U can stay organized. Weekends are sacred. Do not get into the mode of thinking that you can do this more important work on the weekends when it is quiet. Get the work done during normal business hours on weekdays.
- Self sabotage. Interrupting yourself to just do one more thing is self sabotage. To let yourself answer one more e-mail or just take a quick call will perpetuate the frustration that you are trying to work away from.
Maybe part of this is that I want to distract myself from the hard complicated work I have chosen to do. I value being a lawyer. I like being a lawyer. I do not like how sometimes I allow the complicated intensity of law practice to tumble my work day into smithereens, chaos and frustration. If I try to stick with FOCUS, I feel that I have gotten done (mostly) what I thought was important to do for that day. I end up feeling more efficient, productive and happy.
© 2010 Jean P. Dahnk
Jeannie Dahnk is a partner at Glover & Dahnk in Fredericksburg. She is a member of the Fredericksburg Area Bar Association and is a mentor to lawyers. An active Virginia State Bar member, Ms. Dahnk served as Bar President in 2003–04 and was named 2008 Local Bar Leader of the Year by the Virginia State Bar Conference of Local Bar Associations. She is co-creator and presenter of The Devil Wears Green: A Primer on Trust Accounting, which she developed with the seminar with the ethics staff of the Virginia State Bar.
Updated: Mar 22, 2010