What to do with the Pile(s) of (Work)?

Growing up, a certain somebody often reminded me of how applicable baseball is to the real world. Having to stare at the real world everyday now, I of course fully appreciate that wisdom: Everyone wears spikes and a glove to court and the bailiffs don't blink twice about all the bats piled up in the jury box. Yeah, not so applicable.

But today, while looking at the piles of things I haven't done yet on my desk, I thought of the old baseball-coach instructions for overcoming a 10-run deficit: Chip away, inning-by-inning.

Law practice when you're not the boss is heavily prone to getting behind. You start out a case with detailed plans, concrete objectives, and know exactly what to do to get where you want to go. Then the inevitable happens, "We've got this brief that I'd like you to work on" or "would you mind . . ." And up go the piles.

So what do you do? Stay late and get them knocked out? Most of the time. But sometimes that's just not an option.

The key for me is to make some progress--get some items checked off the list today (i.e., don't go for the homerun). So I'm identifying phone calls and short letters and knocking those out first. The discovery responses and contract reviews will come later. At the end of the day, my list will be smaller and filled with at least a few crisp, bold strike-out lines, not heavily notated with "started--05/29/09."

So I suppose I find myself digging my spikes into the floor and shooting for a couple of singles before the end of the day. By next Tuesday, I'll have that one-run lead back in time for the closer to come through in the 9th.

Maybe I'll even bring by baseball glove to court next time.