Billable hours feel impossible
I’ve been a paralegal for three years, and I still don’t feel confident about my billing.
My practice area involves a lot of small tasks for many different clients throughout the day. On most days, I work on 15+ client matters, with lots of .1 and .2 time entries for responding to emails and quickly reviewing documents. I also have anxiety and attention issues, which definitely make tracking billable time more difficult.
I’ve tried timing myself throughout the day, and it helps a little. The problem is that I inevitably forget to stop/start the timer when a new email comes in and I get distracted. Sometimes I also go too far down the rabbit hole researching an issue or overthinking while editing emails. When that happens, I feel guilty billing the client for all of that time. For example, if I spend 15 minutes overthinking an email that should have taken about 5 minutes, I can’t bring myself to bill .3 hours for it.
Even when I use timers all day, I end up with about half the hours I need to hit my billable requirement. The problem isn’t a lack of work. I have more than enough billable work and constantly feel behind on my tasks.
I’d appreciate any and all advice from people who have struggled with this. Does anyone relate?