April 1, 2024 — billable hour check in.

April 1, 2024 -- a new month's #billablehour day.

Not going to downplay it: I killed it in March, pushing me out ahead of my goal for 2024.

This year, I hope to hit 1,750 base billable hours + 650 investment hours (for a total of 2,400 all in).

In April, that means: 195 hours total.

This month has 22 business days, and all of these will be full days for me.

This means that I'll bill or invest full days, each day, not having any half-billing or zero-billing days--at least not any planned to date, we'll see how the month shakes out.

195 / 22 = 8.9 hours a day--totally doable. And, if some half-billing or zero-billing days pop up, I'll:

⭐ catch up on the weekend, or

⭐ add more hours to the next day, or

⭐ spread the missed hours over the rest of the week or the rest of the month, or

⭐ push the missed hours into next month or annualize the missed hours over the rest of the year.

On days I exceed 8.9, I'll:

⭐ take time off the next day, or

⭐ bank time so I have less hours to hit next week, next month, the rest of the year.

This monthly planning helps me:

⭐ know where I stand with my goals (and my firm's expectations);

⭐ take breaks guilt free, because I'm ahead, right on track, or know there's time yet in the year--and because for substantive breaks, I've planned for them at the start of each month; and

⭐ avoid getting to the last month of the year and having to scramble and overwork myself to hit the goal (or requirement).

Shifting my mindset from begrudging the billable hour (and there are valid reasons to critique it) to seeing at as a neutral, as part of my job and even a tool to gauge my time and capacity, has removed some negativity and stress from my professional life.

I'm not an outlier in this. It is not impossible for you to get there too.

✌️❤️🔥

#emilylitigates #lawyerwellbeing #mindfullyemily #professionalwomen #biglaw