Time management: staying on top of things

One of the biggest risks any professional faces is procrastination: doing something other than the most important job. 

If you are self-managing  then the most important thing you do is stay focussed, deciding what you have to do and when: you have to make sure your day is balanced between fee earning work, administration, marketing and research. Add in some time for your family, eating and your health and the day has just disappeared!

So you need some tools to  help manage your time: anything from a calendar like Outlook through to personal management systems like Getting Things Done or a full-blown practice management and time recording system.

The important feature of any system is that it gives you the confidence that things that need to be done are being done and that nothing is being overlooked. Yes you may wake up in the middle of the night wondering about whether A or B has been done but when you check the next day you'll be reminded that you are waiting for a reply and that there is plenty of time before the next deadline or that yes you had thought of that issue before and  you have it covered.

Links: 43 Folders, Lifehacker