Scheduling Time for Non-billable Tasks

In a recent conversation with a group of lawyers, the question was raised, “Does anyone schedule a specific time to handle administrative tasks?” A chorus of responses came back, along the lines of, "Are you crazy? Who has time for that?" "I can’t exactly tell a client who calls with an urgent question that I’m busy doing administrative work and can’t take their call."  "Those things get done when I can get to them."

The last comment is the heart of the problem. If you ask me, of course you should schedule time to handle non-billable tasks.  All too often, without scheduling, they just never get done.  We're just 'too busy' to ever get to them.  They fall into that ‘important, but not urgent’ category.  Too often, as lawyers, we think in terms of the billable hour, rather than long term return for our time.

But consider this: what if the task you’re putting off or not getting to is following up on overdue bills?  That’s work that you already ‘counted’ as billable, and yet if you don’t follow up with a delinquent client or account, you’re losing that money. And the longer you wait to follow up, the worse it gets, and the less likely it is that you’ll get paid.  Not getting paid timely causes cash flow problems – and who wants that?

What if you just haven’t gotten around to reviewing the bill in the first place? If the bill never goes out, you’ll never get paid. Good luck finding the client who will call you and say, “Hi, I’m just calling because I never received your bill, and I really want to pay you for the great work you did.” 

If the bill goes out late, the client is likely to be angry that it took so long to send the bill (or that the bill covers so much time). Memories are short.  The further removed the bill is from the actual work that was accomplished, the less likely it is that the client will see the value of your services, especially if your work for the client has been completed. Not the best way to establish an ongoing relationship for referrals, nor is it the best way that your bill gets paid in its entirety. Besides, if the client knows it took you months to send the bill, why shouldn’t they wait months to pay you?

What if the task you’re not getting to is following up with a new contact?  Sure, it might not lead anywhere, but it also might lead to a new client, a referral, or an ongoing relationship that brings other value. Is it worth the time to attend networking and other events if you fail to follow up or establish relationships with those you meet?

There are lots of examples of why non-billable time can be more valuable than billable time, and many of these so-called ‘administrative’ tasks have to be done eventually. Putting them off usually only makes them worse.

I’m not suggesting that you avoid the truly urgent client matter because you have administrative tasks to attend to. But the fact is that those urgent client matters will somehow get done, and those deadlines will somehow get met because we know how important they are. It isn’t those demanding client matters that we need to plan for - it’s those boring, tedious, or difficult tasks that often get put off because we don’t like doing them, or because we don’t realize the value of doing them. That’s what makes scheduling time to accomplish those tasks so important.

So here’s my suggestion – DO schedule some time, at least weekly, for administrative matters. Put it on your calendar like any other appointment.  Try to pick a time when client calls are less frequent.  If you're a real procrastinator, schedule it first thing in the morning so you get it out of the way.

Don’t schedule anything else during that time unless it’s ABSOLUTELY necessary, and even then, don’t just ignore the administrative tasks that need to be done – reschedule them, just like you would any other appointment. There are few real emergencies that can’t be put off for thirty minutes, or even a half day. After all, there are times that you’re unreachable or can’t return a call immediately – when you’re in court, when you’re with another client, when you’re in the shower, …nobody needs to be totally accessible all of the time.

Scheduling time to perform those nagging administrative tasks not only brings you return you might not realize, but also frees you to be more effective as an advocate when you’re with your clients – you aren’t losing sleep thinking about the bills that didn’t go out, or constantly trying to remember to send that follow up note. Taking the time each week to get those items off of your list, and knowing that there’s a time already scheduled to get them done, will free you to be more fully present when you are with your clients.

Comments

[Jonathan Stein]

Allison -

You are exactly right about scheduling time to get these items done. At one firm I worked at, the office opened at 7AM on Fridays. Everyone was there and the administrative tasks were done before the phone rang at 8AM. The work got done. Now that I am on my own, I do these tasks after 5pm, when I can avoid answering my phone.

One of the most important things to do is to follow up on outstanding invoices. The older they get, the less likely the client is to pay. It is important to follow up on those.

----Jonathan