Yes it is! – though many lawyers may argue there just isn’t enough time in the day to accomplish everything they must do professionally and personally. Rest assured, you can employ certain time management strategies to maximize your productivity and leave the office feeling satisfied with your work day. What’s more, realizing that there is no perfect lawyer, no perfect work product, no perfect analysis, and no perfect strategy, can be incredibly liberating.

So, how can you do this? Accept that there will always be room for improvement and consider implementing these tips for time management in 2026:

1. Juggling Multiple Cases and Projects

Break down large projects into smaller chunks and invest the necessary time to figure out the individual tasks that must be done to complete a project. Then, work on them for thirty minutes here and a few minutes there and delegate tasks as needed.

On a daily basis, create and maintain a to-do list that includes all tasks, including short and long term projects. And while it may be tempting to create any overly ambitious list, be reasonable in terms of the number of tasks you can accomplish that day in light of your appointments and commitments and then prioritize them.

2. Dealing With Client Emergencies

While it is important to expect the unexpected, it is critical that you distinguish between true client crises and those generated by a lack of planning. Always look ahead on your calendar for any potential conflicts among multiple client deadlines and determine whether legal projects are progressing sufficiently to meet court, filing, or other official deadlines

3. Managing Client Communications

Despite our best efforts, we all admittedly keep a somewhat constant eye on our email inbox throughout the work day. However, to ensure you stay on task and not get distracted by that email ping, differentiate processing from triaging. Consider your quick glances at Outlook as triage where you look for important or urgent items that must be handled immediately. Processing is different and means you plan time to focus your full attention on your inbox and reply to all client communications and other incoming messages.

4. Keeping Up With Changes in the Law

Your desk can quickly become cluttered with advance sheets, legal periodicals, or and other items of professional reading. When the magazine or article hits your desk, quickly skim it to determine whether it is worth reading. If it is, save it in a separate file to review and get into the habit of grabbing this file whenever you might have a few minutes to spare, perhaps during your commute or when you find yourself in a waiting room for an appointment. You can also set a few minutes aside each day devoted to keeping up with professional reading and don’t hesitate to set a timer if that would help you complete the task.

5. Dealing with Client Demands

Be sure to monitor your workload and anticipate how long it will take you to complete your work. After all, learning how to estimate completion time is a critical function of the legal experience. Once armed with a strong sense of your current commitments, don’t hesitate to decline client requests if necessary. Although it can be difficult to say “no,” better to decline the work than provide an untimely or poor product. Consider responding with something to the effect of “I’d love to work with you on this, but at the moment my plate is so full l that I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to give this important matter the attention it deserves.” You can then offer alternatives to the client, such as a partner or colleague at your firm who has the bandwidth to take on the matter.

6. Striving for Perfectionism and High-Quality Work

As lawyers, we strive for perfection in everything we do. However, commit to giving each legal project the time it deserves. For example, aim to do only B+ quality work for your initial draft of a brief, pleading, or other legal document. Expect that you will make some mistakes during the course of a project but try to catch them early and when you revisit your draft, use the time saved to revise, edit, polish, and otherwise improve that initial version.

7. Maintaining Concentration

Try to minimize physical and mental clutter to reduce temptations for distraction. An organized work space is important, so reserve your desk for only the essential tools of the trade: your computer, phone, pen, and a notepad. Building in mental breaks can also aid in helping you stay focused, and you can take these as needed or at prescheduled times during your work day.

8. Tracking Billable Time

To keep accurate time records, you must record your time as you complete a task. Consider jotting down a brief description of the planned task before you start working on it to stay focused and ensure you capture the time in case you are interrupted.

9. Dealing With Client Interruptions

In our business, client interruptions are inevitable. However, try to triage them quickly and decide whether changed circumstances warrant revising your daily plan. If it is helpful for your practice, try to plan your daily schedule anticipating expected interruptions so you have built in time to address client emergencies if necessary.

10. Managing Stress

Rest is productive. Whether passive (sleeping and relaxing) or active (exercising and eating nutritious meals), give your body and mind the necessary time to reset so you can be at your best at work. And, understand that some stress is actually good. As long as you allow for adequate recovery time, regular exposure to stress can actually improve your ability to handle the daily pressures of the job.

As the year draws to a close and you reflect on your goals for the next year, make sure you put everything through your own professional common-sense filter. All of these tips cannot be implemented overnight, and there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to time management. But, by aiming to incorporate these tips and techniques little by little in your practice, you might see them turn into helpful habits that better serve you and your clients.

Adapted by Kate Gould from seminar materials by Margaret Spencer Dixon.

Margaret Spencer Dixon

Margaret Spencer Dixon is a lawyer and consultant specializing in time management, project management, and stress management seminars for lawyers and legal professionals. Ms. Dixon came to the field of organization and time management by way of a career in law, during which she practiced in the litigation and energy groups of the law firm formerly known as Shaw Pittman in Washington, D.C. She received her undergraduate degree, cum laude in economics, from Princeton University, and received her law degree from Stanford Law School. After law school she clerked for Judge Cecil F. Poole of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco.

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