I love technology. I love new gadgets. I love thinking about how
technology can transform the legal profession and how it can help
bring legal services to a vastly underserved market. But as much as
I love technology, if I'm not careful I find myself overwhelmed and
distracted by it. You all know precisely what I'm talking
about.
As lawyers, we are constantly juggling client demands,
administrative responsibilities, business development
opportunities, financial management and much more. We are plugged
in 24/7. We're checking emails right before we go to sleep, in the
middle of the night and yet again immediately upon waking. We go to
seminars and meetings and spend the majority of our time, again,
checking and responding to emails, or doing other work on our
mobile devices, acting like we have the capacity to multitask, but
instead failing to engage or retain anything. So, what are we to
do?
My colleague, Jared Correia, educates lawyers about
technology and has advocated ditching the smartphone as one drastic
measure to avoid disruptions altogether. Indeed he follows his own
advice and doesn't even own one himself. But I say there's a time
and place for technology. With a few strategies and a little will
power, you can minimize distractions, focus more on the
present and take a break from time to time. Here are a few
suggestions to help you make this happen:
Turn Off Notifications
Every application has a notification, many times activated by
default. If you don't take the initiative to disable notifications,
you'll be constantly disrupted by the ping of new notifications -
whether from your computer or mobile device. By turning off
notifications, you've taking one major step towards minimizing
distractions as a result of technology and creating more space to
focus on the important stuff.
Schedule Time for Your Tech
For most attorneys, it's primarily because of email that we are
slaves to our technology. Although it's not true, we feel that we
need to be connected every minute. So, even if we turn off
notifications, we may not be able to resist compulsively checking
our email to ensure that we haven't missed a beat. To help reduce
this anxiety and maintain some sanity, try scheduling time to check
email. Reserve two to three chunks of time during the day to check
and process your emails.
But don't block time for email at the beginning of your day. Use
that fresh and focused time to do something that requires brain
power, say, drafting an argument for a brief or composing your
opening statements for trial. Try reserving time mid-morning,
mid-afternoon and before you leave your office that evening. If you
are still worried you might miss an important email from someone in
particular, configure your email client to alert you only if you
receive an email from that sender. See, technology can even be used
to help you minimize the use of it - now that's meta!
Set Limits and Practice Mindfulness
The next step beyond scheduling time for emails is to set limits
on how you use your technology and devote some time to practice
mindfulness; that is, to be in the present. For example, you might
silence your devices while doing morning yoga, taking a lunchtime
walk or having dinner with family. Your mindfulness practice might
even include some use of technology, say, listening to music or a
podcast while exercising to boost your energy or using your mobile
device to record a lecture while you give the speaker your
undivided attention. The key is to learn how to use technology to
your benefit.
Synchronize Your Systems
If you are constantly troubleshooting your technology, you won't
derive any benefit from it. Of course, sometimes it is inevitable,
but many times that frustration can be avoided. If you use multiple
devices, such as a desktop computer, laptop, tablet and/or
smartphone, ensure that each of those devices syncs to one another
and that each device is configured similarly. For example, do you
save your contacts to the same application on each device?
Depending upon your device, you might be using Google, iCloud, or
Microsoft Outlook Exchange. If you save a contact on one device
with Google and another device with Microsoft Outlook Exchange,
your contacts won't show up on both devices, and that can be
frustrating. If you use Apple devices, are you signed in with the
same iCloud ID on each device and syncing the same apps (i.e.,
Mail, Notes and Calendars)? Do you have the same software running
on each device and does it sync your settings across devices? Spend
the time getting your devices synced up so that you don't get
bogged down unexpectedly.
If you can begin to implement these strategies, you should find
more time in your day, reduce stress and anxiety, and get more
done. In my opinion, it's not necessarily the technology that gets
in our way of productivity; it's the way we interact with our
technology. Part of this requires an education on how to use
technology effectively and the other part requires some
modification to our behaviors. The latter, I believe, is the most
challenging. If you want to work on overcoming obstacles and
changing behaviors, consider talking to my colleague clinicians at
Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, who provide excellent free
counseling to attorneys in the commonwealth. You can call them at
1-800-525-0210.
Heidi S. Alexander is a law practice management
advisor at Massachusetts Law Office Management Assistance Program.
LOMAP offers free and confidential law practice management
consulting to Massachusetts attorneys.