Category Archives: communication

Why Weekly Planning Works: The Incrementalist, Ep. 9

Posted on March 10, 2021 | Comments Off on Why Weekly Planning Works: The Incrementalist, Ep. 9

With a weekly plan, you focus on your top priorities over the course of 7 days rather than 1 day. The tasks can be work-related like client projects or business development and marketing activities. Or they can be personal like prioritizing family, movement, sleep, outdoor recreation and creative hobbies.

A weekly planning session leads to more clarity, control, focus and flow.

It gives you a broader perspective of what you need to get done. It also gives you more flexibility to get the right things done. It’s often more essential than a daily to-do list or a daily action plan.

In episode 9 of The Incrementalist podcast, you’ll learn about why weekly planning works, and how it creates more clarity, control, focus and flow:

1. Clarity: Weekly planning reduces overwhelm and makes space for your best work with greater ease. It gives you more direction in how you will move forward on your high-level projects, while taking care of routine tasks and obligations to others. 

  • The Five Projects Rule
  • The four blocks to plan your days in each week: focus blocks, social blocks, admin blocks and recovery blocks

2.  Control: Weekly planning reduces stress and feelings of defeat because it puts you in control of the next 7 days. It not only gives you more flexibility, but also allows you to be more spontaneous.  You have a whole week, not just a day to accomplish key tasks. 

  • The Eisenhower Matrix or Priority Matrix: important and urgent; important and not urgent; urgent and not important; not important and not urgent
  • Do, defer (schedule), delegate, drop

3. Focus: Weekly planning gives you more freedom to focus. It makes daily planning easier because you can add, delete, and check tasks off as you move through the week. It puts you in proactive mode instead of just react to what comes up in the day or what’s coming up the next day. 

  • Triage your calendar and task list
  • Use weekly to-do list instead of a daily one

4. Flow: Weekly planning produces more flow, which is the optimal experience in which you’re so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter. It’s a key ingredient of a meaningful and happy life. 

  • Synch with your natural rhythm
  • Align with context and circumstances
  • Consider the concept of state-dependent recall

Resources cited: 

  • Kate Northrup, Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management for Ambitious Women
  • Charlie Gilkey, Start Finishing: How to Go From Idea to Done

To listen to episode 9, Why Weekly Planning Works, click here. Subscribe to The Incrementalist at Apple Podcasts or other apps.

Here’s to planning your ideal week,
Dyan Williams

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Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps. 

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How to Plan an Ideal Week: The Incrementalist, Ep. 8

Posted on March 3, 2021 | Comments Off on How to Plan an Ideal Week: The Incrementalist, Ep. 8

If you feel overwhelmed and off course, weekly planning helps you to take control and get back on track. The lack of a plan or the plan itself could be your problem. Cultivate purposeful work and intentional living with a review of your past week and a preview of your upcoming week.

Consolidate by planning your ideal week, designate by prioritizing your tasks with the weekly review, and activate by beating interruptions and distractions. Streamline your to-do list by connecting to your heart, mind, and body and the cosmos.

What do you want to have done in the week? What are the big things you can do to call the week a success and make it great? 

Unexpected things will come up. Tasks will take longer than you expected. Distractions and interruptions will pull you away. But you’re more likely to accomplish what you must when you plan for it and begin with the end in mind. 

In episode 8 of The Incrementalist podcast, I discuss achieving more by doing less in a week. You will learn: 

1. How to consolidate by planning your Ideal Week 

  • The concepts of batching and theming
  • The categories of front stage, back stage, and off stage activities
  • The use of color codes in your weekly plan or calendar to reflect focus areas

2. How to designate by prioritizing your tasks with the Weekly Review and Preview

  • The best times to do a weekly review and preview
  • The six steps in a weekly planning session: list your biggest wins; review the prior week; review your lists and notes; check goals, projects, events, meetings and deadlines; designate your Weekly Big 3 things to accomplish; and plan for self-care

3. How to streamline your to-do list

  • The four areas to help you design your week and your weekly to-dos: body; mind; heart; and the cosmos. 
  • The importance of margin or buffer time

Resources Cited: 

  • Michael Hyatt, Free to Focus: A Total Productivity System to Achieve More by Doing Less
  • Kate Northrup, Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management for Ambitious Women

To listen to episode 8, How to Plan an Ideal Week, click here.

Cheers,
Dyan Williams

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Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps. 

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The Busyness Trap, Minnesota CLE, 2021 Family Law Institute, March 15 to 16

Posted on March 2, 2021 | Comments Off on The Busyness Trap, Minnesota CLE, 2021 Family Law Institute, March 15 to 16

Minnesota CLE’s 2021 Family Law Institute is completely online this year. It’s the best way to ensure you are up to date on all the latest cases, legislation and other new developments in Minnesota family law. It also provides practical instruction on dozens of important topics, as well as extensive written materials. 

If you register for this online event, I invite you to attend Breakout Session E at 2:15 – 3:15 p.m., in which I will present on The Busyness Trap: How to Reduce Overload and Create Space for Things that Matter.

Attendees have the opportunity to view the video recording with live written Q&A to claim CLE credit, which they will not receive if they watch the recording at another time. 

Here’s a description of what The Busyness Trap will cover:

The path to being a diligent and effective lawyer involves reducing overload and creating space for things that matter. Yet the emphasis on billable hours and “presenteeism” continue to prevail in the legal industry.

Lawyers who work more and stay longer at the office – often at the expense of their personal health and well being – are typically viewed as more successful, productive and committed. But when you’re in the busyness trap, you are less able to do high-quality work, think creatively, and solve problems with the greatest impact and least resistance.

In this presentation, you will learn effective ways to:
1. Cultivate productive habits by focusing on your top priorities, limiting your to-dos, keeping a startup and shutdown routine, and matching your tasks to your energy cycles;

2. Tackle the problem of facetime cultures and 24/7 accessibility by setting realistic expectations and healthy boundaries;

3. Collaborate and communicate in moderation without having emails, phone calls, meetings and interruptions take over your day; and

4. Take restful breaks and regain lost momentum on important projects.

Click HERE to get more information on this 12-credit online CLE event and to register for it. 

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Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps. 

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Deadlines and Daily Habits, Minnesota CLE, Ethics Fundamentals – Safekeeping Property, Collecting Fees, Acting with Diligence, March 24

Posted on March 2, 2021 | Comments Off on Deadlines and Daily Habits, Minnesota CLE, Ethics Fundamentals – Safekeeping Property, Collecting Fees, Acting with Diligence, March 24

On March 24, Minnesota CLE will host Ethics Fundamentals – Safekeeping Property, Collecting Fees, Acting with Diligence via live webcast. This is a 3.0 ethics credits event that runs from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. 

There are three separate 1-hour sessions in this special credit CLE, including my presentation on The Ethics of Deadlines and Daily Habits – Discovering the Essence of Diligence. 

Below is the description: 

An attorney’s ethical duties of diligence, competence and communication are paramount in client relations. Yet we often struggle to fulfill these obligations. Deadlines are often associated with heightened stress, time crunches, and external pressures beyond your control. But by using external deadlines to your benefit and setting self-imposed ones effectively, you help fuel productive action. Deadlines – in combination with daily habits that enable you to pick, prioritize, and perform your big tasks – are the essence of diligence.

Click HERE to learn more and to register for this event. 

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Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps. 

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Time Blocking and Time Boxing to Get the Rights Things Done

Posted on February 24, 2021 | Comments Off on Time Blocking and Time Boxing to Get the Rights Things Done

How do you make time for important projects or tasks that need attention now?

How do you stop working on a project once it meets the required standard, rather than waste time perfecting it?

Time Blocking and Time Boxing are two planning techniques that you can use separately, but complement each other. Time Blocking is making time for a project. It hones your focus to meet the highest quality standards. Time Boxing is limiting the amount of time you spend on a project. It pushes you to complete a project that meets acceptable standards.

Time Blocking helps you to get unstuck, stop procrastinating, and move forward on a project. It makes time and space for tasks that need attention. It’s a way to chunk projects into smaller parts so it’s easier to start and make steady progress. 

You set time blocks with a start time and end time to work on a specific activity. You could single focus on one difficult, high-leverage project like a strategic marketing plan, or batch process similar, low-level tasks like responding to emails and returning telephone calls. You can move around time blocks if true emergencies and unexpected delays come up. You can schedule new time blocks if you need more to finish the task.

Scheduling a time block goes beyond making a to-do list. It tells you when exactly you will do a task, in what context and under what circumstances, and for how long. It encourages you to take deliberate action steps and to block out distractions and interruptions.

Time Boxing helps you to stay within scope, avoid perfectionism, and finish and deliver a project on time. It puts time constraints on projects that tend to take too long to complete. It takes advantage of Parkinson’s law, which states that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. Having a cut-off time to stop working on a task makes you more mindful of the value you bring, rather than the hours you put in.

A timebox can be as short as 15 minutes to several months, depending on the activity or project. One project might take one or two steps, while another requires hundreds of steps. A timebox has project milestones, deadlines and deliverables. 

In episode 7 of The Incrementalist podcast, I cover:

  • The Pomodoro Technique, a popular method for time blocking
  • How time blocks help you do deep work, improve your ability to focus, and make progress on the right things at the right pace for the relevant deadlines
  • The core problem with the billable hour model
  • How time boxes help you to be more efficient, intentional and results-oriented

Resources Cited: 

  • Francesco Cirillo, The Pomodoro Technique: The Acclaimed Time-Management System That Has Transformed How We Work
  • Cal Newport, Deep Work (Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World)

To listen to Episode 7, Time Blocking and Time Boxing to Get the Rights Things Done, click HERE.

Cheers,
Dyan Williams

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Dyan Williams is a solo lawyer who practices U.S. immigration law and legal ethics at Dyan Williams Law PLLC. She is also a productivity coach who helps working parents, lawyers, small business owners and other busy people turn their ideas into action, reduce overwhelm, and focus on what truly matters. She is the author of The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps. 

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