“I don’t have time!” I hear that over and over again. Often times, after lawyers complain about not having time we go on to discuss their business development initiatives and almost each and every time they divulge to me little and big things they are doing that don’t make sense that he or she is spending their limited time doing. But they don’t make the connection.
Time is money… I’m sure you have heard that phrase many times. It is never truer than it is with lawyers. Because you sell your time in hour increments and even if you charge a flat fee, you figure out what to charge based on how much time it’s going to take… Simple.
BUT, it’s not so simple when it comes to doing things other than legal work. Three times this week I spoke to lawyers about projects they were working on and each one lamented their lack of time. One talked about setting up a group on LinkedIn… great idea! But did she need to spend her time setting it up, no! The answer was… “It’s easy, I can do it fast.” Sure she can, but she has a team that could do it and besides, her time would be better spent writing an article to post on LinkedIn.
Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Others could bring expertise and insight that you may not have. And sometimes it’s simply a second pair of eyes that can be invaluable.
Ask yourself… “Could someone else do this task? Am I doing it because I like doing it or maybe because I want to prove how smart I am?” Neither of those qualifies as a good use of your valuable time.
Chelsea Greenwood wrote in Success Magazine… “Ticktock. Ticktock. Ticktock. For some, that’s what the passage of time sounds like. For others, it goes more like this: Cha-ching. Cha-ching. Cha-ching.” What does time sound like to YOU?