I work with lawyers every day that ask me… “How in the world am I going to find the time to focus on business development?”

Yes… there are only 24 hours in a day and no one gets an extension. But what if you could squeeze more time out of every single week? It’s all about priorities and the discipline to stick to your priorities. So, ask yourself…

1. How often do you check your email? Do you check it every few minutes and then get pulled into addressing things that don’t need to be addressed at that moment? Then you justify it with… “It will just take a few minutes to get this off my desk.” Think about what is happening here. You are allowing someone else’s priorities to hi-jack your time. My suggestion is to schedule  15 – 30 minutes two or three times a day, that you will address your email and allow time for those quick fixes. Then at the end of the allotted time you go back to your priorities.

2. Do you go to “networking events” to meet people and collect cards? Only to have those cards sit on your desk collecting dust?  Stop wasting time. If you aren’t going to follow up don’t go! If you do want to make this process productive… have a meaningful conversation with 1 or 2 people, then you are done, you can leave. But, make sure you follow up with them.

3. Are you spending your time on matters that could be handled by others? Do you say… I can do my own bookkeeping, I can build my own website, I can do my own research? Yes… you are smart and very capable of learning lots of new skills… but should you? A bookkeeper, a web developer or an associate can probably do many of these things faster than you could, and at a fraction of your rate. You should be spending your time working with clients and working on their legal issues, developing business and looking for new opportunities. I can just hear you… “I can do it faster than explaining it to someone.” Yes, maybe it will take a bit some time to get started while delegating a task, but once the individual  understands what you need, it will save you loads of time in the long run.

I’m not telling you these three tips just because I think they are good ideas… I am telling you this because I have seen clients do them and and gain hours of productivity to focus on business development. We all have the same challenge… to get more done and find the time to do it. It’s a “trial and error” process. I challenge you… find the time to “do something every single day ” to develop business. Because let’s face it… you don’t have work without clients.