How To Improve Time Recording Without Living By The Clock
For many lawyers, time recording is one of the least enjoyable parts of the working day. It can feel administrative, intrusive and like yet another task competing for attention.
However, leaving it until the end of the day, or worse, the end of the week, usually makes matters harder. Time is forgotten, descriptions become vague and valuable work may never be recorded.
The answer is not to spend every minute watching the clock. It is to develop a straightforward routine that makes accurate recording almost automatic.
Record as you go
Enter your time when you complete a task, finish a telephone call or move between matters. A few seconds spent recording it immediately is far easier than trying to reconstruct an entire day later.
If that is not practical, set two or three regular points during the day to bring your entries up to date – perhaps before lunch, mid-afternoon and before finishing.
Use timers sensibly
Timers are useful when working on longer pieces of work, but they do not need to control your day. Start one when beginning a task and stop it when you finish or switch matters.
The purpose is to support accurate recording, not to create unnecessary pressure.
Improve your descriptions
Clear narratives make bills easier for clients to understand and reduce the likelihood of entries being challenged or written off.
“Work on file” says very little. A description such as “Reviewing medical evidence and preparing advice on next steps” is much more helpful.
Capture non-chargeable work too
Business development, supervision, training and internal meetings all take time. Recording them accurately gives the firm a more realistic picture of workloads and prevents productive contributions from becoming invisible.
Reduce interruptions
Constantly moving between emails, telephone calls and different matters makes time harder to track. Where possible, group similar tasks together and protect blocks of focused working time.
This can improve both productivity and the accuracy of your records.
Review the pattern – not just the total
Time recording should provide useful information, not simply a monthly target. Regular reviews can highlight excessive administration, inefficient processes, capacity issues or work being carried out at the wrong level.
Used properly, it can support better decisions about delegation, staffing and wellbeing.
Good time recording is not about living on the clock. It is about making work visible, recording it fairly and building habits that leave you free to concentrate on the legal work itself.
Claire Cox is a qualified, non-practising Solicitor, with a comprehensive understanding of the legal profession and a proven track record of delivering results with almost 25 years legal recruitment experience.
Visit Bailey Hunter or contact Claire Cox for a confidential chat:
Tel: 0113 3185293 Mob: 07786 224036