Monday Map/Friday Wrap: Is Perfectionism Holding You Back?

I’m Melissa Shanahan, and this is The Law Firm Owner Podcast Episode #242.

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Hey, everyone, welcome to this week's episode. Today, I have something a little bit different for you. I had two different members of Mastery Group ping me this fall, this past fall, about a call that we had where people were voicing some of the same barriers that they were experiencing. What I had to say, I think, affected them positively.

I had two different people reach out to say, “Hey, you should put this on the podcast, just this little excerpt right here.” Well, I haven't done anything with it, until today. And so, now you're going to hear this excerpt. It's not very long, the sound is not as high quality as my typical podcast because it was just a call I was on.

But I did want to share it, because it's been the back of my mind ever since the members suggested that. So, I want to give a little bit of context before I start playing the clip. The context is, it was a call around thinking through strategic planning for their firms. We were done setting goals; the numbers that they're shooting for in their firms. And now, we're talking about what are the things they think they need to do in order to take themselves, to get to, the goals?

So, what are the levers they need to pull? How do they get leverage? What do they need to spend time on? What efforts do they need to put forth? This is when we have conversations, and what starts to surface is their quarterly Rocks. The most important things that quarter that if these things aren't done, they will be held back.

They were putting ideas into the chat. I was reading through their ideas. And one of the questions I asked was, “How do you need to spend your time differently over the next quarter?” So, I'm listening to some of the responses, and there are a few people, more than a few people, talking about Monday Map/Friday Wrap.

If you don't know what that is, it's a process that we teach that helps you not only prioritize the things that you're going to be getting done, but really helps you plan your time so that you can honor your plan and get more done in less time. So, you're more effective, you're more efficient. It's a really beautiful process. And, it is a process. It's a practice.

And so, I offered some thoughts, because I've worked with some of these people for a while now. They have made progress, but they're getting stuck on something, a very specific aspect of Monday Map.

What you're going to hear in this clip is what I had to offer them that day. I hope that it is helpful for you as it was for some of the members who were listening. Even going back to listen to this myself, gosh, I think we all need to be reminded of this time to time, including me.

So, I am going to let this play, it's probably about 10 to 12 minutes long. I hope you enjoy it. I hope it kickstarts something for you. I think that if you listen to what I have to offer the members here there's going to be something that probably resonates with you. I would say take it and run with it.

This practice of planning your week and then honoring your calendar, is something that will make you just better; a better business owner, a better lawyer, a better leader. It'll give you more peace of mind. It will allow you to show up differently in your personal life. It really is about being very intentional, prioritizing what matters, and showing up for what matters. It all comes back to making a plan and honoring your plan.

And if you don't take time to plan, you're not going to be intentional. So, you have to do that. That's what this clip goes into. People are running up against their own barriers time and time and time again, the same barriers, and this was, apparently, helpful for some people to kind of cut through the noise and help them get to their own next level. So, enjoy.

Quite frankly, I think a big problem is that you all aren't being honest with yourselves. I really think that you guys have more on your plate than what you're going to get done. So, when you sit down to do it, it feels super deflating because you try to fit it in and it doesn't, it's like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” That's what happens in your head. “Yeah, yeah. I got it.”

Every time I hear myself say ‘yeah, yeah, yeah,’ I know I need to stop acting like I've got it, because it's not going to work out. It really is like math. So, the only way that I should feel comfortable saying, “Oh, yeah, yeah, I don't need to do that anymore,” is because I have so much space that it's inevitable that all of this stuff will get done. When I say ‘yeah, yeah,’ meaning you're putting a slot for something but it's really going to take longer than that.

No one on this call has the luxury of putting a slot on a calendar that’s not the right length of time, to the best of your ability. That is going to screw things up, period. None of us have the luxury of winging it, and actually feeling good about the progress that we're making and where we're going. There's a time and a place to wing it, trust me. I get that. I do understand that. Certain phases will just call for that kind of internal cultural push.

But you guys aren't there. This is not where you are. You have a real firm, that has real priorities, and someone in charge is winging it. I say that not to say that you need to be perfect, but you certainly need to be intentional. And if you don't sit down every week, to really think through and do your best, you aren't being intentional. Now, that might be hard to hear, and it might feel cold, but that's the truth.

You guys will hear this podcast come out, I think it's this Tuesday, but recently, I had a retreat. At the end of it all, there's so much information that comes at them, it comes out of their brains, it's a lot of information flowing, a lot of information on whiteboards around, and we distill down, at the end, “Here's what's what came out of your retreat.” So, it's really easy to digest, even though a bunch of stuff was thrown around.

But still, it can feel overwhelming at the end. Many of you might feel that at the end of this retreat. But hear me, when I say the only things that matter is that you keep your finger on the pulse of your numbers. You know your numbers. You don't stress out about them. You don't freak out if they're up, or if they're down when they should be up. You don't have emotion around your numbers, you just keep your awareness higher on the numbers.

Then, you do your Rocks. That is it, in terms of effort and what you should be focused on. Focused in terms of shifting things and doing what's right for your future, is the Rocks. And the last thing, is sit down once a week and get intentional about your upcoming week. Those three things are all that it takes. That's all that matters. That's all that matters in order for you to make progress in ways that will blow your mind.

So, this Monday Map thing, I'm trying to figure out if there is this sense of perfectionism with it, that kind of comes with it. If that is it, throw it out the window. Intentionality is more important than anything else. And if you are intentional week to week, you will make progress. If you're not intentional week to week, you will not make progress.

That's it, those are the things that matter. Pay attention to your numbers only. You don't have to pay attention to all the numbers, just the numbers that you have goals set around. You can choose more to look at on a regular cadence. But if you're not used to keeping your finger on the pulse of numbers, just start with the goals that you set, and that's it.

But don't not know where those are in any given week. So, look at your numbers, commit to completing your Rocks, and sit down once a week to be intentional with your calendar. There is so much filler in between there, there's so much we have to do. We let our brains get wonky around the fact that we have all these things to do, and we lose sight of the most important levers.

So, I want you to just commit to being willing to suck at Monday Map, week over week over week over week over week. Just be intentional. Show up. Don't not show up. Because if you don't show up, you're not going to see progress with your time. It doesn't mean your firm's not going to grow. It doesn't mean you can't have good things happen to you.

It doesn't mean that, but the frustrating cycle that we get ourselves in, is not a mystery how to get out of it. It's not. You will figure it out, but you have to show up. You have to do it.

I can't remember, recently, one of my team members passed me a note that someone was having a hard time with Monday Map, and then I dug into it and they hadn't even watched the videos. Well, of course you're going to have a hard time. I can't do it for you; not that anybody's asking me to. But no one's going to give this to you. You have to take it. You have to get it.

You have to sit down and you have to show up. And, you have to be bad at it for a while. Then you'll get good at it, and then you'll get better at it, and then you'll get ballsier, and then you'll delegate more, and then you'll make decisions faster. All of this will get better, but not if you stay in the same position you are right now, by not plugging in. You have to plug in.

So, I don't know what a Rock needs to look like. I mean, maybe you plug in every freaking week. And so, for the course of the quarter, that means you had, I don't know, 13 sessions. Sitting down 13 times to be intentional with your upcoming week. I don't know how many weeks are in the quarter, that are not holidays. So, it's not 13. Count them up. That's what you have to do.

Maybe, for some of you, it's good. You have started the plug in and you've realized Fridays aren't working, so you're going to do it on Thursdays. That's great. That's good. That's information you couldn't have known if you had not tried one thing. So, it's going to feel messy, but you have to show up. That's it.

That will take the conversation that we typically about Monday Map, and it'll put it here, in terms of level of conversation we can have about Monday Map. We can't go here, until you're in it. You’ve got to be in it.

The alternative is… I don't think Monday Map is the only thing on this planet that’s going to help with this. But it's a process, and you're here, do the process. Be willing to do it imperfectly. And then, over time, see what happens. But nothing will change if you don't show up.

I just think, you're here, you're in a community, how can you take advantage of these Monday Map calls better? All of you are struggling with this, how can you show up with real questions and real barriers and say, “Okay, I tried this, this is what I hit.” It's quiet on those calls. I lead some facilitation because it's quiet, but it's quiet on those calls.

How can you not be quiet? How can you be just chirping away, chirping away, chirping away, trying to figure out your answers? How can you be that when it's time to do that? When it's time for that topic to come around? So, I think there's a lot of kicking your own pants here. Try. Really make your next wave of effort.

For some of you, you have been putting it in, so what's the next wave of effort? And for some of you who haven't, what's the first wave of effort? But that's it. I wish there was a different way. I wish there was something I could give you. I don't know, that'd be great.

A couple of things I'm going to offer here around the Monday Map topic is: How can you sit down with your assistant and do it together? Figure out all the crap you got to do next week, and figure out how it's going to get in your calendar.

Sometimes just having a partner can be really valuable and speed things up. They can see things that maybe you can't see. And they have ideas about what they can take off your plate. Doing it with someone can be helpful. And so, maybe that's what you try as a way to sort of get some new, fresh energy brought to this process. Another one is, for sure coming to Power Hour.

I just listened to a Tim Ferriss’ podcast today, that came out I think this week. I was like, “Reach!” This guy was basically talking about calendaring your to-dos. I mean, it was like Monday Map, essentially, right? It's so good. It's such a good interview around this topic. Specifically, how to delegate, how to really utilize people, leveraging people so that you can get ahead.

But when he's talking about the calendaring thing, it's really funny to hear him talk about it because he says, “I do this thing with people, where I'll tell them…” He's a co-founder of a tech company. So, busy guy. But not like a productivity teacher, right?

He said, “I'll do this thing with people, where I will say, ‘Instead of crossing things off your to-do list, I want you to put your to-dos in your calendar, with the approximate time that you think it's going to take, an educated guess.’ A week later, they'll come back and be like, ‘This system doesn't work.’” He's like, “Why doesn't it work?” “Because it doesn't fit.” He’s like, “Exactly! That's the thing.”

I think when they’re saying that to him, they legitimately think it doesn't work. They are stuck in that, and then he has to help them see ‘yeah, that's the whole thing. This stuff is never going to get done the way you think it should. It's not possible. If it was possible, you would have just done it.”

So, one of the things he gave in there as advice, which is super interesting, and I've been thinking about this. Maybe I should revise this for beginners, is that you should have 50%. So, talking about buffer time. He's saying when you start this, it should be 50% of your day; is buffer time. Open space for when things go off track.

Because a bunch of stuff is going to go off track, because you're not good at this. I was like, “Hey, that's a lot.” I'm thinking about the lawyers that I work with, and I'm like, “Okay, well, if that is something that you guys could try, the beginners who are really struggling with Monday Map, well, you only schedule out 50% of your week.” Which basically means you're scheduling 50% of time, and it should be given to the highest priority, and that's it. That's what you're scheduling.

Then, you do have a running task list, and you're just going to go at it in the other hours that don't have time blocks. But it's a start. That's what I like about it, it's a start. Where 50% of your time you're actually logging the most important stuff. If you can only do four hours a day, or five hours a day, depending on what you work, scheduled, you are for sure going to put the most important stuff in those.

And then the rest? Run your game like you were running before, like just go in at things. But it's a big win, because you'd at least be doing half your day knocking out priorities, if you honor the plan. So, I thought that was kind of interesting.

He said, he doesn't call it buffer space, but now, the buffer space he has is like 20% of his day. But he thinks that it's tough for people to get to 20%, because they'll never do it. They lie to themselves too much. And so, they'll never be able to stick with it. Of course, some things are out of your control, but that's not what he's talking about; that's what the 20% is for.

So, I don't know if that's helpful. If that gives you any ideas. I would listen to the episode; I think you'll appreciate what he has to say. Because it's right in line with, I know mentally, on some level, you agree with it. It's just really tough to get yourself integrated into it.

Bridging that gap is not pretty. That's okay. Don't not show up for because it's not pretty. Because the only way to get it smooth is to go through the muck of it, first. Really learn yourself. Figure out where you're not being honest about things. Where you're hanging on to stuff that's ridiculous.

Trying to solve for some of that stuff, as you learn more and more about yourself, and about your firm, and about the work, and about what you really value, that's when you'll start making different decisions that will move the needle for real.

Thank you for listening to The Law Firm Owner Podcast. If you're ready to get clearer on your vision, data, and mindset, then head over to VelocityWork.com where you can plug in to Quarterly Strategic Planning, with accountability and coaching in between. This is the work that creates Velocity.