We all know procrastination is our enemy. As lawyers, it is doubly dangerous because it is contrary to our ethical obligation to diligently represent our clients. Representation is diligent if it is thorough and done in a timely fashion. Yet many of us fail in this objective, to the point that some clients take their frustration with our inaction to the Statewide Grievance Committee, where we would find ourselves among other similarly situated indolent brothers and sisters of the bar. Diligence violations, often coupled with communications lapses, are among the most common types of cases that come before the committee.

Procrastination is a powerful example of the power of feeling over thought; the triumph of the drive to avoid emotional discomfort over the intellect’s recognition that some task must be attended to in a timely fashion. It is tortuous and self-destructive, and puzzling to those who do not suffer from its spell. It plagues most of us, myself included, at one time or another. But for us lawyers, failure to manage our work can have consequences far more unpleasant than the task we are dodging.

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