Law Consulting Blog : Cordell Parvin's Law Consulting Blog : Coach & Consultant For Lawyers & Law Firms : Business Development, Career Planning

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I am convinced that our two most important resources as lawyers are our time and our energy. How well are you using your time and what are you doing to have a high level of energy?

Carl Sandburg, a noted author, once said: “Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how well it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.”

I want you to use your imagination with me. I bet you waste at least 30 minutes a day on things that really do not matter. I know I open and sometimes respond to unimportant emails at least 30 minutes during the day. I also do things I could delegate to others. Finding materials on my desk or in my office causes me to lose time. If you saved 30 minutes a day, that would be 182 ½ hours for a year. Suppose you used that time for client development or your own development, what do you think would happen to your career?

I learned about the importance of energy management by reading The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. I urge you to read the book or listen to the CDs. The authors point out the importance of the energy we bring to any task. Interestingly, we have two problems. First we do not have enough energy to meet the demands we are placing on our energy, and second, we do not renew our energy very well. What can we do to change? First, we need to focus on the four aspects our life: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Next, we need to change our thinking from the idea that we are running a marathon to the idea that we are running a series of sprints. Balancing stress and recovery is critical to managing our energy.

After reading The Power of Full Engagement and other books that mentioned the four aspects of our lives, I put my life goals into those categories. I am working on the oscillation concept of expending energy in each of these categories and then renewing my energy. You should try the same. If you would like a copy of my lifetime goals so you can think about your own, contact me and I will send you a copy.