High achievers, aka the outstanding attorneys who invest in themselves and enter a coaching relationship with me, are like perpetual-motion machines. Always doing; always on to the next thing. Never satisfied; never stopping. Their constant motion gets sh#t done. It has led to their success. As with all things though, there’s a “dark side” to the skill, habit, compunction, or whatever you wish to call it.
During a recent exit interview (remember, all coaching relationships have a beginning, middle, and end) I asked my graduating client to identify the greatest insight he had gained from our year-long coaching engagement. His answer: “Coaching built my ability to be intentional and reflective.” Let’s dive into why reflective time is critical for outstanding attorneys.
The Pitfalls of Constant Motion for High-Achieving Attorneys.
All the attorneys I work with are outstanding practitioners (they wouldn’t seek me out to team up with if they weren’t). Just think about the amount of client work you’ve done over the past month! Although you may perceive you struggle with focus (the statistics on time worked and time billed would back you up) or the mythical unicorn of “balance,” (which, in my humble opinion is bullsh#t), you nevertheless get the lion’s share of your work done. Kudos! Getting your legal work done is the only way to keep client’s satisfied and the lights on. There is a downside to the “nose to the grindstone” mentality. There are drawbacks to following the lie “if I’m not busy, I’m lazy.”
Why Intentional Reflection is Crucial for Attorneys.
Continuously moving forward, whether it be in case work, networking to create robust referral partners, speaking engagements, or whatever other activities you have on your calendar to fill your days has its benefits, of course. It is the “doing” of things that, well, gets things done. Outstanding lawyers are skilled at putting their heads down and achieving audacious goals. It’s how they’ve become successful by many metrics their firm may require or society measures them by.
The Myth of Productivity: How Busyness Can Hold You Back.
Head down and the constant focus on completing tasks, however, has a dark side. You're so focused on knocking out tasks and moving on to the next thing that you lose sight of the bigger picture. Sure, you're getting things done, but at what cost? Strategic thinking, creativity, and long-term planning all require space—mental space that you simply don’t have when you're caught up in the daily grind. This relentless drive, while it’s gotten you where you are, can actually be the very thing holding you back from where you want to go. It’s the trap of thinking that busyness equals productivity, when in reality, it’s a recipe for burnout and missed opportunities.
Structured vs. Unstructured Thinking: The Key to Your Success.
This is where intentional reflection comes into play. If you’re constantly in motion, you’re missing out on the opportunity to step back, reassess, and ensure that your actions are aligned with your long-term goals. Taking the time to pause and think—not just about what’s on your to-do list, but about where you want to go—creates the mental clarity and strategic insight that busy work alone can’t provide. It’s in these quiet moments of reflection that true innovation and progress happen. That’s why I encourage my clients to carve out dedicated time for thinking—both structured and unstructured.
How “Shower Thoughts” Lead to Breakthrough Insights.
There are two types of non-structured thinking time my clients perform; non-time (unstructured) and ideating (structured). Although they are both time dedicated to thinking, they are quite different. Non-time has no direction at all, think “mind wandering.” Ideating, on the other hand, has a direction, think the beginning of the annual planning process. “Where do I want my firm to be by the end of next year?”
Non-time results in shower thoughts. An article in the Washington Post takes a look at the phenomena of “shower thoughts” and creativity. Time dedicated to allowing your mind to wander is simply that. It is free time on your calendar for you to do nothing but allow ideas to flow through your mind. Have you ever been in the shower, or on a walk, thinking about absolutely nothing, and discovered the solution to a problem that was befuddling you? That’s a shower thought. Is such time billable? Maybe. Is it essential to your law practice? Definitely.
Creativity is a Lawyer’s Secret Weapon.
Before you say “But John, I’m a lawyer, not a creative!” Don’t. Just. Don’t.
Of course you’re a creative. If you’re not, who is setting the vision for your law firm or law practice? Who creates novel legal arguments, sometimes out of whole cloth? Who creates the proper environment to bring the buyer and seller to the conclusion of an M&A deal? I’ll tell you who…you! You are a creative, so cut the nonsense.
The Einstein and Steve Jobs Approach to Boosting Creativity.
An Inc. article discusses how two giants used non-time as a way to boost their creativity. Albert Einstein insisted some of his best ideas came to him while he was sailing (not very well according to his biographers) and not focused on anything in particular. Steve Jobs too allowed himself to have blocks of non-time in his schedule where he would simply permit divergent ideas come to him (iPod, anyone?). Tell me you’re less of a creative than Einstein or Jobs and we’ll have a discussion about why you believe that to be so.
Non-Time vs. Ideating: Two Critical Tools for Attorneys.
The second type of unstructured time, ideating, is different, but no less critical. Ideating is the process of generating ideas and solutions to a specific issue or challenge. Because there is a prompt that directs your thinking, your mind is not totally free to wander and, instead, is targeted. Ideating is brainstorming. It is iterative and time limited. It ought not drag on and on but, instead, has a defined beginning and end. Creating the vision for your firm or practice is ideating. Creating the AIM (acceptable, ideal, middle) of an annual revenue or networking SMART goal is ideating. Critical tasks required for any successful law practice.
As a successful attorney, you’re no stranger to structured time, but when it comes to reflection and creativity, many lawyers don’t realize there are different ways to approach it. That’s why I encourage my clients to dedicate time to two distinct forms of unstructured thinking: non-time and ideating. Both are essential, but they serve different purposes and yield different results. To help clarify, here’s a breakdown of the two approaches:
Non-Time vs. Ideating: A Side-by-Side Comparison
From Chaos to Clarity: The Impact of Reflection on Performance.
When my client first came to me, he was all about the doing of the work. His ability to step off the hamster wheel, pick up his eyes and look at the proverbial horizon, needed work. When we first came to work together, he couldn’t see the value of stepping back. By working with me, slowly and surely over our 12-month engagement, he came not only to see the value, but experience it first hand. His life, and his practice changed, his revenue increased, the quality of his work product leveled up, his clients were more satisfied, and his days were not nearly as hectic or frantic despite the fact he set aside daily non-time and ideation time.
Increase Revenue, Master Time, Reduce Burnout - Get a Coach.
Neither Einstein nor Jobs had their heads in the clouds all the time. We know from them, however, such time is critical. When they were done, they got to work, which, as I said, is necessary to succeed. After all, both Einstein and Jobs did the work after they thought of the stuff.
My clients are the best attorneys in their field. They increase revenue, master their time and focus, and improve performance while enjoying more free time and suffering less burnout. You can too. Schedule a complimentary 30-minute discovery session with me here, or send me an email.