CBA Record January 2018

Y O U N G L A W Y E R S J O U R N A L

is impossible to obtain. And since the only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on because it’s never of use to oneself, I thought I would share some of those tips that spoke to and stuck with me the most. First, calendar EVERYTHING, and then respect your calendar. Don’t let incoming emails, texts and phone calls dictate the direction of your day. Don’t simply react to the agendas of others. Pro- tect your time by calendaring it and then by respecting those entries as commitments. Carve out blocks of time to complete work assignments. Treat drafting time, prepara- tion time, and other important tasks the same way you would treat a court hearing. You can’t take calls or answer emails when you’re in court and you should treat this time the same way you would that. Second, learn to say “no.” This is hard, especially for young lawyers. We don’t want to turn down work for fear that it won’t be offered a second time. We don’t want to turn down networking opportunities for fear that we’ll miss a valuable connection. It’s lawyer FOMO, plain and simple, and it’s hard to resist. But consider the oppor- tunity cost. Every time you say “yes,” you’re saying “no” to everything else you might do in that time. The point is not to turn down everything until you’ve completed what’s in front of you, but rather to assess priorities and order them accordingly. Third, batch similar tasks together. I still struggle with this one. We’re interrupted by emails, phone calls, texts, app notifica- tions, and friends and colleagues poking their heads in the office door dozens if not hundreds of times every day. All this makes us feel busy, but the reality is that it prevents us from concentrating and performing high quality work. Busy doesn’t mean we’re getting things done. Try this: turn off your email pop-up notifications and set aside a few times a day for read- ing and responding to email. It’s hard, I know. We’ve trained ourselves to respond continued on page 43 For those interested in further advice, tips, and perhaps coaching, Professor Varol’s website is http://effective.lawyer/.

CBA YOUNG LAWYERS SECTION Chair Jonathan B. Amarilio Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

First Vice-Chair Brandon E. Peck Peck Ritchey LLC Second Vice-Chair Octavio Duran Hart & David LLP

Regaining Control: Strategies for Being a More Effective Lawyer By Jonathan B. Amarilio YLS Chair B alancing work, business generation, and personal obligations as a young lawyer is, in many ways, the hardest part about being a young lawyer. In any given day we’re expected to be legal experts, salespersons, networkers, intra-firm politi- cians and, if there’s time, parents, spouses, siblings, and friends at the end of it all. Few if any of us have reached the point in our careers when we can sit back, confident in our knowledge of the law, the strength of our business contacts, and the stability of our personal lives (to the extent we have those), and let the day come and pass as it will. There’s too much to do and not enough time to do it. That won’t change any time soon. It may never change. But what might change, what can change, is how you go about structuring your day so that you can perform more effectively and in so doing reduce the stress that naturally attends the paper chase of legal practice. You can regain control. Earlier this year, the YLS hosted Pro- fessor Ozan Varol of Lewis & Clark Law School, who has written, spoken and coached extensively on how practicing lawyers can be more effective in their everyday lives. The talk was full of helpful advice about how to achieve the balance we all strive to achieve, but secretly think

Member Service Manager Jeffrey Moskowitz J. Moskowitz Law LLC Public Service Manager Carl Newman City of Chicago Department of Law Project Officer Emily Roschek American Bar Association Project Officer Svetlana Gitman Bruce Farrel Dorn & Associates Secretary/Treasurer Alexis Crawford Douglas K&L Gates LLP YLS Journal Co-Editors in Chief Natalie C. Chan Sidley Austin LLP

Nicholas D. Standiford Schain, Banks, Kenny & Schwartz, Ltd. Assistant Editor Daniel J. Berkowitz Aronberg Goldgehn

YLS Director Jennifer Byrne

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