There is never enough time in a lawyer’s day. This is a reality every lawyer knows well. Distractions are constant, and frequently prevent the completion of priority work which requires real intellectual focus and analysis. The high-tier advisory work clients value most is often postponed in favour of a quick email. Computer science professor Cal Newport terms these high-tier activities ‘deep work’ – ‘the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task’ – which he explains in his book, ‘Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World.’ Insights explores Cal’s philosophy of work as it applies to lawyers, and what key takeaways some lawyers have used to achieve focus for their most important, demanding tasks.
Craft a narrative, not a to-do list
Plan your work so you can work to a plan. One lawyer who committed to Cal Newport’s deep work ethos wrote the plan as a narrative rather than a traditional to-do list. This switched focus to how the work would be completed and allowed core hours of focus to be allocated to cognitively demanding tasks.
Here is the lawyer’s plan for Monday, written as a narrative:
Monday
Work on [contract draft under urgent deadline] for 120 minutes before doing anything. Ship by 11am. Then, do weekly planning and finish before lunch.
After lunch, talk to [founder of startup I advise], meditate, then draft [company name] distribution agreements for a 120 minute block. Ship both by 4pm.
Take a short break, then edit [writing project] posts for tomorrow and Wednesday by 6pm. Finish with 30 minutes of small tasks and follow ups.
Leave by 6:30.
According to the lawyer, this approach delivered strong results: more was accomplished in 45 hours than 100 hours. With the most meaningful work done, the lawyer could go home on time. This plan even included a side hustle, the ‘writing project’ noted for the afternoon.
Be disciplined about distractions
Stop the churn of simply ticking off ‘busywork.’ Take the time to step back and assess what cognitively demanding work is of most value to your job and your clients, and create your schedule accordingly. Doing so means making tough, disciplined decisions around distractions. Cal is a strong advocate of switching off social media and becoming comfortable with ‘annoying people’ by failing to immediately respond to an email.
Some proponents of ‘deep work’ have implemented a practical tactic to achieve focus – they work for 52 minutes and break for 17 minutes. According to a Hiroshima University study quoted in The Atlantic, the brain tires like any other muscle and benefits from strategic breaks. Step away from your computer, exercise or do nothing at all. Strategic breaks like these allow you to return to work refreshed and ready to focus.
Adjust as necessary
No plan is perfect. The benefit of planning your deep work is that urgent, cognitively-demanding tasks are prioritised earlier in a day. Tasks like these are committed to times you suffer the least interruptions, and span between one to three hours a day. Think of it as being on a flight. Without wi-fi or phone reception, you can do nothing but get the work done.
The lawyer who wrote a ‘narrative’ to plan his week found that accomplishing the most important, difficult tasks early on meant there was space to adjust his schedule should the need arise. Good planning and getting the right work done early opened his schedule and kept him on track to go home on time.
Jumpstart deep work with a grand gesture
Jess Birken heads up Birken Law Office. The self-described solopreneur is an attorney passionate about helping non-profits. Like many lawyers, she longed for the freedom and productivity promised by workflow hacks like Cal Newport’s ‘deep work’, but ironically could not find the time to get started.
“In shallow work, we flit from one small task to another, favouring the quick and easy over longer and harder tasks,” Jess wrote in the Lawyerist. “When we do find focus for things that really matter, those longer, harder tasks get chopped up into smaller bits, and we don’t give them ample time or concentration to produce something really valuable or creative.”
Her solution? A dramatic grand gesture to jumpstart deep work.
“By shaking up your normal environment and investing some time (and maybe some cash), your newfound dedication to deep work becomes much more important psychologically.” Jess explained.
Jess teamed up with friend and fellow lawyer Megan Zavieh.
“We hatched a plan. Three days, locked in a room in a different city, laser-focused on firm improvements, with zero distractions,” said Jess. “Guess what? It worked. We eliminated distractions and excuses. We both finally made a tonne of headway on our projects.”
