As I was thinking about what to write in this week’s post, I realized that I had neglected my practice of writing out my To Do list. Every lawyer has a to do list, right? I mean, how in the hell can you not? How is it possible to order all the things that we have to do without some type of running list in which to tick things off? My law partner and I often kvetch and moan about how crazy our To Do lists look. Is there a better way? I am not so sure.

             Not only do we as lawyers have to juggle all the cases we have to attend to, but we also have to juggle those tasks within cases that we need to attend to. A To Do list within a To Do list. Included in our To Do lists are deadlines that we have to make and always keep in mind. All of this can be terribly maddening and feel very overwhelming. Especially if you are an orderly person, like I am. My husband likes to call me OCD (Obsessive Compulsive). I know I probably don’t meet the DSM-V Diagnostic and Statistical Manual on Mental Disorders definition of obsessive compulsive, but I do get “nervous” when I don’t accomplish those things on my To Do list in the time that I think I need to. I hate to rush, so putting things early on the list that I MAY have some time to complete but don’t want to do so under the wire, is key for me.

             Do you find that you intentionally trick yourself? I know I do! Especially when it comes to those court and filing deadlines. If I know a deadline is truly Tuesday, I will put it on my calendar as being the Friday before. To Do list mind games? Anything to get it done.

              A couple of months ago I was gabbing with some other attorneys just before court started. One attorney, who had been in practice for a while, started talking about how they were waiting on a draft agreement from opposing counsel for 3 months. Clearly, for that opposing attorney, their  To Do list wasn’t working all that well for them. Me and another lawyer chimed in that even hearing that gave us hives. We both extolled the sheer panic we would have not attended to something on the to do list in a timely manner.

              To Do lists are supposedly the tool of the organized. We employ to do lists to get organized and get our work lives together and on track. But, the To Do list can also be the bane of our existence! First, there is the task of making the list. Now the creation of the To Do list can be a small level trauma in and of itself. It makes us face, if we are being absolutely truthful, the sheer volume of things we have to do. Then, we have to think how we will organize this thing. Most important things on the top? The most urgent things highlighted? So many options, so many choices.  Dear Lord, I am just trying to make a damn list!

                Let’s be honest with one another, the sheer volume and weight of our work makes it sometimes hard to juggle. When that happens, what can we do to take the edge off the sheer number of things we have to do for our work is making a To Do List. However, one of the things I look forward to in writing my list is crossing things off that list. I mean physically crossing things off that list is very exhilarating. But do To Do lists work for us and our work? They have worked for me (if I manage to write one!).

               As I write this, I wonder what other practitioners do to stay organized and ensure that they are on task and doing what they need to do when they need to do it. I was surprised to learn that my law partner writes To Do lists like I did. I utilize the To Do list and my calendar and often feel like I am a slave to both. Especially the calendar, which is an extension of the To Do list. Perhaps instead of the To Do list, people have actual administrative assistants that repetitively remind them of what they need to do and when. Devil Wears Prada? She had two assistants! Damnit…I am in trouble.

                I know there are all types of software available to the lawyer to help us juggle all of these tasks electronically. But, I am becoming an old fuddy duddy. I like paper, and writing things down. These are some things that help me write and utilize my To Do list:

• Make it a Habit: When you make a habit of making a To-Do List the likelihood that you continue to do it just as a course of your working conduct increases the likelihood that it will get done.
• Write it Down: I mean this. I don’t care how photographic your memory is. If you don’t physically write down your To-Do list, just consider it like your dreams; forgotten the moment you wake up.
• Write ALL That You Have to Do On It: I put down not only the things I need to do for my individual cases, but what office type responsibilities I also have to do. It all needs to go on there; ‘cause it ALL needs to get done.
• Don’t Keep it A Secret: I find that if I share those items on my To-Do lists with friends and colleagues, I get so much helpful information like time saving tips. There have been more than one occasion when I shared my To-Do list with a colleague and they schooled me on a quick short cut to writing or filing a motion that took not only the time out of the task, but the stress as well.

Alright! Enough already…. Let me go and write this week’s To Do List….

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