The Supreme Court of Virginia has no new opinions. I wanted to call it the SCV’s “Bye Week” to be seasonally appropriate, but I don’t watch enough football to even know how to spell *bye week.* As a Wahoo, I blame UVA’s track record for my status as a fairweather fan. Like the eternal optimist that I am, however, I’m excited by our first win and ready to forgive all past wrongs. So on that note, let’s talk about planning for success.

Here’s the key takeaway: Your calendar is a tool.

• Start penciling in time for long-term strategic planning, vacations, and reviews for 2026 now.
• Go to your October calendar and block time for your highest priority items. This might be trial prep, working out, big projects, etc.
• Move from highest priority to lowest priority.

It’s easy to think we don’t have the time.

There are very few tasks that bring me more joy at work than writing a brief. Just give me a  cup of hot coffee, a closed door, and a window of uninterrupted time and *Chef’s kiss*. Finding that flow state is pure bliss. But if this is what it takes to make me happy and productive, why is it so hard to find a chunk of time?

As many of you know, I dreamed a big dream in launching an appellate practice last year. Appeals are all that I do. Given that, one might mistakenly assume that my days are peaceful and quiet. As one of my favorite prosecutors was fond of saying to me, “Dream On, Aerosmith.”

It helps to have an example. Last Tuesday, I went to my physical office to check the mail and print some materials to prepare for a writ panel argument the next day. I fielded questions from my team. I did a consultation and then did a review with intake on potential clients. I worked on a CLE presentation and then edited a checklist for trial lawyers on how to note an appeal (if you’d like a copy of this, please let me know). While preparing for my argument, I received two unexpected calls from colleagues dealing with urgent issues. I dealt with customer support for my case management system, which wasn’t functioning. Oh, and I did a little bit of legal work, too.

Some of these tasks are unique to my practice, but all of us field constant interruptions from clients, courts, opposing counsel, friends, and family. And email. Don’t get me started on email. In short…we have a tough job.  

What I’ve learned What I’m Learning

I am currently sitting in the airport on my way back from a leadership and management conference. I learned so much, but I want to share one specific takeaway that inspired this blog post. Readers, our calendar reflects our values. In other words, what we do says a lot about what we care about. If I say that working out is important to me, but I never seem to find time to do it, then I must not actually care that much about it. Even though I believe that a short walk is key to clearing my head, there are some days when I barely go outside until it’s time to pick up my kids. If we are letting external factors dictate what our calendar looks like, we’re doing what other people think are important. We are putting our own priorities at the bottom. And that isn’t right.

Here’s what I’ve learned: We need to use our calendar as a tool. Those of you who follow me on LinkedIn have witnessed my obsession with the book Deep Work and what I’ve learned about the magic of time-blocking. If writing my brief is my biggest priority (and my favorite task!), I need to pencil that in my calendar first. The theory is that you then slowly make your way down your list by importance: block time to do your court prep, check your email, eat lunch, go on your walk, do your consultations, etc. You should also build in long-term plans, like vacations, strategic thinking, conferences you want to attend, etc. If you don’t build time in advance, it’s too easy to say you don’t have time.

I’ve been largely successful with my own calendared projects. My personal struggle is what happens with interruptions from other people that weren’t on my original list. I feel an innate sense of urgency to respond to questions, and I hate feeling behind. A psychologist could probably dissect this, but the first step must be acknowledging I have a problem. Right??

My plan.

Still, I also need to get my own work done. So here is my attempted solution: “Office Hours” for my team. I am going to schedule a small 15-minute block of time in the morning and in the late afternoon to answer internal questions in Office Hours. And if I have some unscheduled/free time penciled in, that should cover any external emergencies that pop up. I can’t take credit for this idea—it came from a smart lawyer I met at this conference—but I’m excited to give it a try.

And on that note, it’s time for me to get home to see my boys. I’m looking forward to starting the week on the right foot. I’d love to hear your own tips on strategic calendaring and hope that this might similarly inspire or help some of you.