Here's a recycled tip I offered during ABA TECHSHOW 2005's 60 Tips in 60 Minutes. I think it's just as useful today as it was then.

If every file on your desk is on fire, and it feels like your practice is approaching meltdown, how do you know where to start to put the fires out? Let common technology you probably already have help you.

First, start by making a single TO DO list containing everything that you can think of that needs to be done. Don't try to organize tasks or arrange them by priority. Just list them.

Second, once you have the list made, go over it carefully to break it into two lists - one for yourself and one for your secretary or legal assistant. Your list should contain just things that only you (a lawyer) can do. Everything else should be on the other list. If the other list looks humanly impossible, you probably need more help.

Third, go over these two lists again, and divide each into two more lists, one high priority list for the things which must be done today and a second one for everything else. Revise the lists each afternoon before you leave or each morning as soon as you arrive at the office. Let the priority list guide your work during the day, but use the second list to add less pressing tasks as they come up. This way you can stay focused on what's most important, because you won't have to worry about forgetting something else. It's all on the list.

Once you've done triage on your TO Do lists, here's where the technology part comes in. Let your calendar help you manage your time. In addition to noting the final due date of important events such as statutes of limitations, filing deadlines, and hearing and trial dates, whenever an item is placed on the calendar the responsible party should also calendar at least three advance reminders of the event.

Then, use your calendar to better manage your work by not just creating ticklers for a particular day, but by actually scheduling appointments with your files on a specific day, at a specific time, for a specific length of time in order to make sure that the work actually gets done. If you take these appointments with your client files as seriously as you would take an appointment with the client, you are much less likely to allow yourself to be interrupted while you are doing the work. And if you set up two of these work appointments, with sufficient blocks of time to actually do the work, you're much more likely to complete it on time and without stress, even if it turns out to be more complicated that you anticipated. Actually scheduling appropriate blocks of time on the calendar to do work gives you a much idea of how busy you really are, and scheduling two sessions for doing the work also helps you avoid the time crunches that unexpected emergencies for other clients can otherwise cause.