It’s (kinda) fall and I’m ready for it. I love summer but the heat and camp schedules took it out of me. As we gear up for this next season, I was thinking about my favorite autumn activities: tailgates, youth soccer, breweries with friends, and writing in a cozy space with nothing else on my calendar. So let’s talk about writing. How do we fit it in when we’re busy or uninspired? Read on for my best tips.

A couple of notes:

• The Supreme Court of Virginia issued a new published decision. It was a criminal case about an internet-use restriction and defense attorneys should give it a read. For the rest of us? Don’t neglect the Virginia Constitution. The appellant raised a First-Amendment challenge under the U.S. Constitution but the Opinion included a footnote mentioning that the appellant did not raise or preserve a challenge under the Virginia Constitution.
• Our firm is growing. We are actively recruiting a new experienced appellate lawyer if you know of any who want to join our team. Send me an email anytime.

How do we make time for marketing or writing or [insert 100 things we should be doing]?

Long-time readers know that I regularly post on LinkedIn, write articles for various lawyer publications, and do this blog. Oh, and I write some appellate briefs, too ;). New acquaintances will occasionally ask about whether I do these marketing pieces myself. My answer? Absolutely.

I have a few reasons. I wouldn’t know where to begin outsourcing writing content about appeals because I write for other lawyers. The subject matter is hard. So I started doing it myself . . . and found that I enjoyed it. My second reason for continuing to do it is that it’s a fun creative outlet. We should hang onto the things we like most. Third, we all have a unique voice. Anyone can ask AI to write something. But it wouldn’t sound like me. As a result, I keep marketing for myself. I outsource other things I don’t enjoy and that I’m frankly not very good at (bookkeeping, fractional CFO work, etc.). 

What’s my method? Just do it. I try to be very disciplined about continuing to do business-related things even when the legal work is filling up my calendar. This makes for some busy days, but it’s the only way to keep things moving as the owner of a boutique law firm in a niche area.

Listen, we all have days where we are pulled in too many directions. Or days where we just don’t feel inspired. For instance, it’s Labor Day and the rest of my family members are running a quick errand before we head out to meet friends. All things being equal, I would generally prefer to be enjoying this alone time by reading a good book without interruption. But I committed to doing a blog post this weekend so here I am. And my reward at the end is a trip to the pool with my favorite people.

Here are my best tips for writing when you don’t feel like it (or doing anything else you don’t want to):

1. Sit down and do it anyways. Truly. Just start writing.
2. Set a timer. For instance, I typically write these in an hour. Where there’s pressure (even if it is artificial), sometimes it helps you put pen to paper.
3. Get a good drink. Martha Stewart’s latest digital ad for Starbucks inspired me to get a pumpkin spice latte in 100-degree heat. You like what you like! Treat yourself.
4. Turn off distractions. Don’t look at your phone or email for an hour. Put it on your calendar that you don’t want to be disturbed. This goes for blogs, articles, and legal work.
5. Remember how lucky we are. Our hard work is intellectually stimulating. We get to work in nice, air-conditioned offices. We are privileged generally to have enough of everything we need for ourselves and our families. Our ancestors would be amazed at our soft, lovely lives.
6. The work that we do is important. The legal work helps our clients and it helps move the legal system forward. The system doesn’t work when we aren’t doing our best. I think any judges reading this would agree that it is better to get great briefs than it is to get boring/bad ones. What we do matters.
7. Remember that we really like writing (or whatever it is that you don’t want to do right now). When it comes to marketing, we can write about anything. Anything! Think of it as a creative outlet. When it comes to legal work, remember what a joy it is to accomplish something that was hard. I personally love when opposing counsel keep us on our toes. Don’t you get inspired when you feel the urge to say “touché” when you read someone else’s brief? If you don’t, maybe it’s time to take a break so you can come back refreshed. If you still don’t feel that way, think about which aspects of legal work you still enjoy and try and do more of it. There is a specialist for every area of law. Do what you are passionate about and outsource the rest.

Lawyers, we all have important work that we put off doing. Just put it in your calendar and do it. And maybe implement some of these tips.