What’s Your Superpower?
Imagine you could have any superpower you want. What would it be? X-ray vision? Flying? Mine would be Planning! Yes, planning! Because planning gives you time, something none of us ever seem to have enough of, at work or at home.
Failing to Plan, Planning to Fail
Get Ahead, Stay Ahead
Do those sound familiar? If we use our superpower for good at home, imagine all that extra beach time, or the trails you can hike? Plan out meals, get the tickets to the hot show early, make those hard-to-get dinner reservations all so you can avoid spending time standing in lines or getting to a destination only to find out you cannot get in. These seem so simple, and yet, if you don’t plan for it, you can fail at it – and miss out on some great food!
For our clients, our time-finding Planning Superpower is beneficial in several ways. We make our clients’ lives easier by giving them peace of mind knowing we are ahead of any deadlines. We can be more readily able to respond to a new twist if we are prepared to, thus avoiding the “I gotcha” thrown at us by opposing counsel. Communication with our clients is much easier when we are imparting a plan and our actions, rather than communications that are reactive to the situation and not actively prepared.
Internally we use a Green, Yellow, Red system for case management and meeting deadlines. 3 weeks out we are in the Green Zone: we know what those tasks are and prep them for filing or communicating as appropriate. 2 weeks out we are in the Yellow Zone: pay attention to the date, don’t delay on these tasks. Which brings us to the Red Zone! We do not like operating in the Red Zone! These are fires that have to be put out immediately, and unfortunately, karma usually lands them on a Friday! If we’ve used our Planning Superpower effectively, these Red Zone tasks should be exceptions to our case management and are typically in response to some new information or a filing by opposing counsel which has a short turn-around deadline. But again, if we’ve done our planning, even responding to these Red Zone tasks should be easily managed!
By the time Friday rolls around, if we have done our due diligence and kept tasks in the Green and Yellow Zones, our clients and our team have the freedom of a relaxing weekend with family and friends without a cloud hanging over us for Monday morning.
Time is the most valuable commodity on the planet! Get a little more of it in your life with your Planning Superpower!
– Written by Paul Murphy
