When I coached lawyers over the last twelve years, I believe the most popular agenda item at the first coaching session was time management.

It was not surprising because I believed that time and energy are our two most important assets. The question typically included how can I find time for client development and came from lawyers who had not previously had a written plan with goals. My answer was always:

You have to make time and the way to do it is through a plan. If you don’t, you will never “find” it.

For each lawyer, making time will be different. As lawyers I coached know, I made time for my writing and speaking preparation on Saturdays and Sundays from 6am to 9am.

I chose those times because I was up anyway and because Nancy was working out or “easing into her day” with coffee, and Jill was still asleep. I spent Saturday afternoons with Jill. We called it our father-daughter time.

We started when she was young and continued until she left home for college. We frequently at lunch in international restaurants that her mom would not likely pick.