I have a rule that I try to instill in every person that works at the James Law Firm. It is a rule that I try to live by, even though I often fail. The rule is simple: When you work on a file, make sure you are creating something that can be used in the future and does not need to be redone. On a scale of one to ten, I would say that the firm is at about a six in following the rule. While we do a pretty good job in getting things done, it always seems like we could do better. The goal of creating value for every movement that we make might be a little high, but what’s wrong with that?
I often look back at the end of the day and wonder what I’ve accomplished since I woke up. When I get home at night, my children often ask me what kind of a day I had and what I did. Some days, I can give them a laundry list of things I have checked off the to-do list. Other days, I have to sit back and think and can hardly articulate anything of value that I have accomplished since I left the house early that morning. These are the days that worry me the most. Either I’m not recognizing the things I’m getting done, or I’m wasting my time.
How much of your time is spent in futility? How often do you find yourself doing something you have already done? The old saying tells us that if there wasn’t enough time to do it right the first time, then there’s certainly not enough time to do it a second time. If time isn’t the issue, then how about plain ol’ selfishness? Why make yourself do something twice that you could do only once?
It’s not about working harder; it’s about working smarter. Working smarter is nothing more than getting the most value out of one unit of work. What’s a unit of work? Put simply, time. None of us know how much time we have, but we all know we’re going to run out of it at some point. The more efficiently we use our time, the more we can accomplish with it. This isn’t a manifesto about merely working hard; by also working smart, we have more time to relax.
Go into the next week with the goal of working smarter. Watch for those times that you catch yourself messing around, and grab hold of yourself and focus on the tasks in front of you. Get the most out of the time you spend working. Think of it this way: if you worked 10 percent smarter then, theoretically, you could work 10 percent less. If nothing else, you’ll be 10 pecent closer to that illusory status of being “caught up.”
Of course, you should never be caught up. If you are caught up, then you don’t have enough on your plate. If you don’t have enough on your plate, then you should grab a second helping of life. People with full plates don’t get bored; those that don’t have enough to do become boring. I’m not completely convinced that’s entirely true, but it sounds good to a guy sitting way up in the CHEAP SEATS!
Bill James is a criminal defense attorney and co-founder of the James Law Firm with offices in Little Rock, Conway and Fayetteville, Ark. He may be reached at Bill@JamesFirm.com.