Tips for Lawyers: Bad Work Habits and How to Break Them

Lawyers are intelligent, driven, and multifaceted, yet many can struggle when it comes to staying productive day-to-day. And as productivity dwindles, stress and anxiety soon follow as the workload piles up. Let’s take a look at the worst work habits of attorneys and go over some tips that can help any lawyer be more productive and stress-free.

Flawed Document Management

Most attorneys consider the path of least resistance when it comes to technology. After all, attorneys do not have tech degrees. And with technology constantly evolving at a rapid rate, lawyers may find themselves struggling to keep up. If your team finds themselves burning through time searching for documents or taking the old fashioned approach of utilizing paper records, it’s time to take advantage of technology in order to work more efficiently. If your firm fails to do so, you’ll find yourself wasting time and money with outdated document management strategies and inefficient workflows. Ultimately, documents are your law firm’s intellectual property and a large part of your value offering. Make the smart business decision of implementing a document management strategy driven by technology solutions, and you’ll see your firm operate that much more smoothly.

Focusing on the Smallest Details

Too many attorneys obsess over the minutia of agreements and language. Though the small print certainly matters, it should not always be a deal-breaker. If you find yourself constantly getting caught up in the details when performing your day-to-day tasks , it’s time to reevaluate your mindset when it comes to your work and conjure up with a strategy. Be proactive about meeting deadlines, split up your work into manageable chunks throughout the week, and you will see yourself working much more efficiently. If necessary, designate certain times of the day to delve into operational and administrative tasks; you can even delegate certain tasks to associate attorneys or paralegals.

Investing an Abundance of Time on Emails

Email is certainly a necessity for attorneys, yet it has the potential to monopolize your time. In fact, the typical worker spends about 5 hours a day looking at emails, on average. And if you spend too much time on email, you won’t be able to focus on your actual work. The solution is to dedicate specific times of the day to read and respond to email. Carve out these time windows, stick to them, and you will find yourself feeling less distracted and bogged down by your emails.

Still Worried About Your Productivity?

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