Burr's Blog

Burr’s Blog 3: Time Management I have a friend who always arrives early to events, and thus she can be counted on to be the first to knock on my door if I am having a party. She once said to me, “I remember that you were late to my party and you didn’t stay long because you had another party to attend.” I blushed over the phone, feeling embarrassed. One of my time management challenges is over-booking. If I get invited to three events within the same two-hour time frame, I will try to drop in on all three. As a consequence, I will be on time at most for one of them. My friend’s remembrance has prompted me to rethink this policy. All of us are often bombarded with invitations to events, some of which coincide. How do we manage our social time? I have decided that when I am invited to conflicting events, I will ask the host, “Will you mind if I do not get to your event at the beginning?” If she says yes, I will give an anticipated arrival time window. Rather than state a specifi...

Burr’s Blog 2: Time Management During the month of January, much is written on keeping resolutions. The New York Times reported on 6 January 2012 in an article titled “Be it Resolved” that by “the end of January, a third will have been broken their resolutions, and by July more than half will have lapsed.” The Times also reported that individuals can improve their chances of success by setting clear goals, binding themselves by letting friends and family know through email or Facebook posts, and setting a penalty for resolution violations. One recommendation is to make a formal contract at a website like www.stickk.com where you pre-commit to paying a penalty to an “anti-charity” like the George W. Bush library if you’re a Democrat or the Clinton Library if you are a Republican. I resolved to manage my time more effectively by tracking the consequences of being early, on time, or late to events in this blog. Rather than use a website to manage penalty violations, I set up a simpl...

This year, I have resolved to improve my management of time. I am tracking what happens to my life when I show up early, on time, or late to events.   As an attorney, law professor, and journalist, I operate in professional worlds where turning something in on time is of the essence. I emphasize to my law students that if they attempt to file a brief late to a court, the clerk will most likely refuse to accept it, and they will have committed what is known as “stupid malpractice.” In 2009, the Houston Chronicle reported that Texas attorneys failed to file briefs on time in nine death penalty cases, and thus forfeited their clients’ final appeals. Six of the nine men were subsequently executed. By being late, those attorneys committed lethal malpractice. Similarly, in my journalism career, if you miss a deadline, your copy will not be printed. If you have something important to say, you have just missed your opportunity. This only had to happen to me once before I resolved to tur...