Time management is an issue for all of us. We all have good days where we get a lot of the right things done and bad days where at 5:00 p.m. we confront the fact that we’ve been so tied up in "putting out fires" that few of our real priorities have been touched. Anthony Cerminaro’s BizzBangBuzz Blog pointed me to a Step-by-Step Guide to Time Management by Krissi Danielsson. Many of us have seen or read similar material before, but are we practicing these techniques? Beginning lawyers should especially take note.

Danielsson’s steps are:

Step 01: Getting started

Step 02: Set clear goals and objectives

Step 03: Keep an activity log

Step 04: Handle e-mail and phone calls in batches

Step 05: Divide larger tasks into groups of smaller ones

Step 06: Prioritize tasks

Step 07: Set aside chunks of time to do nothing

Step 08: Don’t overwork yourself

Step 09: Learn when to say no

Step 10: Know when you need time management help

Read the entire article here.

My April Oklahoma Bar Journal column is titled "Utilities Power Up Your PC." I cover a few of the basic utility software programs that most of us have on our PC’s. If you are a user of OSCN.Net and have had a problem with your computer only displaying the first page of the scanned image of a pleading for the counties that are imaging pleadings, the solution is here. This just scratches the surface, but Ross Kodner and I are doing a program on our favorite utilites for the OBA Solo and Small Firm Conference 2005 in June and I can’t give them all away yet.

An ABA TECHSHOW 2005 photo album has been released, thanks to ace photographer Dale Tincher. TECHSHOW attendees can download the photos at no charge or even ask Dale to send you the larger versions. The only restriction is to credit Dale if you post them on the Web. Lots of photos of the exhibit area are included. Here’s one of the 60 Sites presentation and another where Bob Ambrogi seems to be trying to use the microphones as binoculars.

The April issue of Law Practice Today has been posted online. The featured topic this month is malpractice prevention and risk management. It contains 8 to 10 feature risk management articles and a set of ethics links from Tom Mighell. I haven’t finished them all tonight, but they are all worth your attention. Print off a few articles and put then in your briefcase, purse or vehicle to read when you have a few minutes. Give some attention to these risk management ideas and you may sleep better. There are other articles related to management, finance, marketing and technology; the ABA Law Practice Management Section’s four core areas.

Speaking of the ABA LPM Section, the April/May 2005 issue of Law Practice, the section’s print magazine, has been placed online in large part here. This issue focuses on space use and planning with several articles. This is another treasure trove of material with Rick Klau’s nothing.but.net on advanced online bookmarking, John Simek and Sharon Nelson writing about spyware and Simon Chester with a review of the hot new features of Adobe Acrobat 7. (Eventually this issue will be archived for LPM Section member’s use only and these links will point to the next issue, or die.)

You’ve got a lot of reading ahead, but these are extremely valuable and generally short articles that you can work into your week. I’ve set the goal of reading them all within a week.

Law Professor Blogs is a still-expending network of web logs designed to assist law professors with information and daily news in their academic field. Right now the areas covered include antitrust, criminal law, health law, labor law, contracts, sentencing and more. This site is projected to grow and add new blogs. That’s what makes it a "must bookmark" site for the practicing lawyer as well as law professors.

We’ve all sat through lots of PowerPoint presentations─some good and some not-so-good. Many "experts" are saying you shouldn’t use PowerPoint now. Well, they are wrong IMHO. There is a lot of research that concludes that people remember information better when they receive it through both their eyes and ears. However, if you use the standard templates bundled with PowerPoint, you run the risk that someone in the audience (or jury) will have seen the color scheme before and be less attentive or distracted by thoughts of the prior programs. Enter Brainy Betty with many unusual free fonts and PowerPoint templates for you to download and use. These are not just primary colors rearranged, but very professional designs. She also provides tutorials and lots of advanced information about preparing presentations. Great site.

Please do not misunderstand me. A bad PowerPoint is still bad. Speakers should look at the audience, not their own PowerPoint. And excessively clinging to a PowerPoint may suck all of the life and poetry out of a speech. See, e.g. The Gettysburg Address in PowerPoint.

Dave Bilinsky is the Practice Management Advisor for the Law Society of British Columbia. He is a valued colleague and friend. He is a former co-chair of ABA TECHSHOW.

But he’s also one of the 20,000 or so people who qualified for and ran in the Boston Marathon Monday. His official time was 3:41:43, but his chip time (his real running time) was 3:35:09, which is quite good I understand. He was started at number 9201 and finished 5138, which means he passed over 4000 people. Congratulations, Dave. Here’s part of an e-mail he sent a group of friends yesterday.

"Details…wow …there are *SO* many…

"Seeing the wheelchair runners line up and seeing this one fellow who runs the course pushing his disabled son in a jogging stroller .. and watching the elite women start to warm up…

"Watching the Air Force jets fly overhead during the national anthem just before the start…

"The moment of silence for John Kelly – the fellow who ran Boston more than any other living mortal and who died in the last year…to remember him at the start was inspiring…

"The KIDS – I have never, ever, been "Hi 5’ed" so many times in my life…The kids along the route are just wonderful…and they just squeal with delight when you take an orange piece or something from them…

"The people…they hand out water bottles, oranges, ice, bananas, gummy bears, wet paper towels, sponges etc all along the course….etc…their generosity and support is **amazing**….

"The Girls at Wellesley College – just before the 1/2 way point – a mile of absolutely screaming college girls …hard to erase that one…!!

"The crowds….that just keep getting thicker and thicker and thicker…and the NOISE…all along but especially for the last 5 miles …it just rings in your ears….thousands and thousands and THOUSANDS of people cheering….

"The hills – that are just unending…heartbreak is just the highest in what seems like an unending series of hills…

"It was just unreal. I can understand and emphasize why Pat loves it so much!!!!!" (Editor’s Note: "Pat" refers to Pat Yevics of the Maryland State Bar, who qualified for and ran the BM in 2003.)

How would you like to have a coaching session from an internationally-known management guru like Tom Peters? Many readers would say, "I’d love to, but can’t afford it." Well, Tom Peters has posted part 1 of his "100 Ways to Help You Succeed and Make Money" online for you to read. If these don’t start you thinking, have someone check your pulse.