Why taking breaks may be killing your productivity

May 23, 2016 by
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Everyone takes breaks. You can’t work non-stop for hours on end, you need to clear your mind and renew your energy every so often, don’t you?

Maybe not.

If you’re doing something you don’t want to do, something you have to force yourself to do, taking a break is a viable way to get through the task. That’s the idea behind the “take a break every 20 to 45 minutes” concept. It’s why we use mechanisms like the Pomodoro Technique (setting a timer and working for 25 minutes, for example, followed by a five-minute break) before going back at it.

These techniques and recommendations came about after studies showed that most people lose their ability to focus on a task after 30 minutes. But these studies were based on assigned tasks where the subjects were asked to do something they didn’t particularly want to do.

It’s different when you’re doing something you love.

When you enjoy what you’re doing, you tend to get lost in it and time passes quickly. You get into a state of flow and are able to reach incredible levels of productivity and creativity.

When you’re in a state of flow, why destroy it by taking a break?

It can take as much as 20 minutes to regain focus after a five-minute break. If you take breaks at regular intervals, you may be killing your productivity.

You might think you need breaks to renew your energy but the flow state provides its own energy. When you’re in that state, you might work for several hours without stopping and not feel the least bit fatigued. Gamers often go all day in front of their computers and sometimes have to be pulled away from it by a concerned loved one.

So here’s the thing. If you’re doing something you really don’t want to do you probably won’t get into a flow state and taking scheduled breaks can help you get you through the work. But if you enjoy the work at hand, don’t stop doing it because you’ve been at it for a set period of time. Keep going until you are no longer in flow or the task (segment) is done.

Knowing this means you should probably build some flexibility into your work schedule and allow uninterrupted time for tasks and projects you look forward to doing. Work, not games, okay?

Here’s how to get more referrals from lawyers and other professionals

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Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With:

A simple way to be more productive

May 12, 2016 by
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If you ever sent me an email, whether by replying to one of my emails or by using the “contact” form on my site, there’s a very good chance that you didn’t get a reply. One of the ways I stay productive is by saying “no” to most of the things that cross my path, and that definitely includes email.

I do read my email and I encourage you to write to tell me what’s on your mind or to ask questions. I get a lot of ideas for blog posts from your questions and comments, so please don’t stop writing. But don’t be disappointed if you don’t hear back from me, or if you get a one or two-word reply.

Time is money. Tempus fugit. I love ya, but I get a lot of email and I can’t spend hours every day replying to everything.

How about you? Do you answer all of your email? Do you “say no” to most of it? Or do you do something in between those two extremes?

I’m not going to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do because everyone is different. But I encourage you to think about your situation and establish a policy that works for you.

Obviously, you shouldn’t ignore emails from clients or prospects. Nor should you discourage them from writing. In fact, you should do just the opposite–the more you communicate with them via email, the less time you’ll need to spend on the phone.

The point is that email (and regular mail) takes up a good portion of the day for most professionals and it is okay if you don’t reply to everything. If you can shave off 30 minutes a day by not doing so, doesn’t it make sense to move in that direction?

A good place to start is by deleting or archiving emails from people who want to sell you something or do business with you. It’s not rude to ignore unsolicited email, however personal and polite (or known to you) the sender might be. Your refusal to reply is, in itself a reply that says, “thanks, but no thanks”.

It’s also okay to have someone reply for you. And to use form replies that require no more than a couple of clicks.

Start by making yourself aware of how much time you spend responding to email, and to whom you are responding. You might want to keep a log for a week or two and then imagine that time being spent doing billable work.

If you want to get more done in the course of your day, you need to say no to most things that cross your path, and email is a good place to start.

How I got my email to “inbox zero”

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Filed Under: Email, Law office management, Productivity

Write it once, use it forever

April 21, 2016 by
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I’m sure you have a welcome letter you mail to new clients. You probably also use some kind of “memo” or form to accompany mailed documents, along with check boxes to indicate what the recipient should do (e.g., sign and return, review, etc.)

Form letters save time and reduce the risk of errors or omissions and I encourage you to create them for all aspects of your practice.

Gmail has a feature called “canned responses”. Outlook and other email applications have something similar. They allow you to create email templates or “form letters” you can use instead of composing an original email each time, or copying and pasting paragraphs or whole emails from another document.

Go through your “sent” emails for the last 60 or 90 days and look for “frequently sent emails,” whether originated by you or sent in response to an inquiry. Flag them for creating canned responses.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

  • I got your email (and will reply soon/this week/after I review your questions)
  • Thank you (for coming in, calling, returning documents, for your help)
  • Here’s what to do/expect (what happens next, watch your mail, please call me, don’t forget to send us)
  • Answers to FAQs (hours, parking, fees, practice areas. Provide answers and/or direct to pages on your website)
  • Marketing inquiries (do you accept advertising, guest posts; I’m available for interviews)
  • Checking in (with clients, former clients, networking contacts)
  • Nice to meet you (after a networking event, introduction, phone conversation)
  • Announcing (new content on your website, firm news, new laws/regs)
  • Promoting (your newsletter, your ebook, your seminar, your podcast or youtube channel)
  • Reminders (next appointment, court dates, due dates)
  • It’s time to review (your lease, trust, corporate docs, agreements, legal status)

In addition to complete emails, you can set up a “library” of frequently used paragraphs, links, and subject lines.

While you’re at it, don’t forget to set up different “email signatures”.

For prospective clients, your signature might promote a free report or free consultation, invite them to connect with you on social, or invite them to review specific pages on your website. For existing clients, your signature might invite them to sign up for your “clients only” email list or cross-promote other services offered by you or your firm.

Using canned responses, form letters, and checklists might save you 30 minutes a day, or more. How much would that be worth to you over the course of a year?

Leverage is the key to earning more and working less. More

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Filed Under: Law office management, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: , , ,

How to make yourself do something you don’t want to do

April 13, 2016 by
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I know about that thing you’re supposed to be doing. I also know it’s not getting done. No, I didn’t speak to your wife, I just know. You’re dilly dallying. Avoiding it. Procrastinating.

You know you should do it, but you don’t want to. So you don’t.

No worries. I’m here to help.

The first thing I want you to do is to write down this thing you don’t want to do. Former CEO and author Max de Pree said, “The first job of a leader is to define reality,” so get busy and put it in black and white. You don’t have to show it to anyone, but if we’re going to get this thing done, we need to know what it is.

Have you written it down? Good. Now look at it and imagine being able to put a check mark next to it, or crossing it off your list.

What’s next?

Well, you know it’s important, and you know you’d like to get it done. But you need some convincing to do it.

Maybe you should hire a lawyer.

Wait, you are a lawyer. How about hiring yourself to argue the case for “doing it”?

You’re an advocate, so advocate. Write a demand letter to your other side (the side that doesn’t want to to it) and demand that it be done.

Present the arguments, the facts, the logic. Describe all of the benefits of getting it done. Describe the negative outcomes if you don’t.

Make the case for going to a networking event once a week, starting a newsletter, or adding content to your website. Tell yourself why you should, and give it all you’ve got. Your client is depending on you.

If you think it will help, sweeten the deal by offering a bonus. Promise yourself the rest of the day off, for example, if you get this thing done. Put a deadline on accepting the deal, and a non-negotiable start date and time. Add liquidated damages in case of default.

This may sound silly, but it’s not. Not for something important. You already know the reasons why you should do this thing. You just have to talk it through. No more hiding from it, burying it on a to-do list and moving it from week to week. It’s time to do it.

So yeah, hire yourself to advocate and negotiate the deal. You’ll be the best client you’ve ever had, and if you win this case, you might earn the biggest fee you’ve ever received.

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Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity Tagged With:

Slow down, you’re moving too fast. . .

March 24, 2016 by
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I just read an interesting article positing the benefits of working slowly. Those benefits include feeling less frenzied and less fatigued, creating higher quality work product, and being more productive.

Sounds good to me. But I’ve spent a lifetime doing just the opposite–looking for ways to work faster, finish sooner, and get more done in less time–and old habits are hard to break.

Even though I can see the benefits of slowing down, I’m wondering how I can do it.

Busy busy busy. . . no time to stop and chat, I’m late I’m late I’m late.

How about you?

How about if you and I try an experiment and see what happens.

Pick a task or project, or part thereof, grab your calendar, and schedule time to do it. But instead of blocking out the amount of time you think it might take to do the task, allocate more time.

If you think you can do it in 15 minutes, block out 45 minutes or an hour.

Does the thought of doing that make you nervous? Yeah, me too. And that’s why I think we may be onto something.

Now, when the scheduled time arrives, the important thing is to use all of the scheduled time on the task and nothing else. If you finish early, go through everything again. Check your work, revise and update. See if there’s something you missed or something you can improve. If other ideas come to you about other things you need to do, write them down and put them aside.

Don’t stop working on the scheduled task until the scheduled time is up. Force yourself to work slowly on this and other projects, as a way to train yourself to slow down.

In fact, you might schedule a regular block of time on your calendar for “slow time”. This is time you dedicate to more focused, reflective work. As you race through the rest of your week and find tasks that might benefit from greater focus, i.e., a slower pace, mark them to be done during slow time.

You might eventually block out an hour a day for the same purpose.

I don’t know how well this will work, but I’m going to try it. I’ve got a project on my plate I’d planned to do today and I’m going to spend more time on it than I originally planned. If all goes well, I’ll not only get it done, I’ll get it done right–better than I might have done if I sped through it.

And then I’ll skip down the cobblestones, feeling groovy.

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Filed Under: Productivity, Time Management

You’re good, but not at everything

March 14, 2016 by
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You’re smart. And good at what you do. But other people are better at some things and if you’re not hiring them or networking with them or letting them inform you through their books and presentations, you’re working too hard and limiting your growth.

I’m guilty of this myself. I do things I know are not my strengths, because I think I’m “good enough” or out of false economy (“I don’t need to pay someone to do that”). Or I fall into the trap of thinking, “It’s quicker if I do it myself.”

Even if that’s true, speed is not always paramount. Not for the long term, anyway.

There’s an old African saying on point. It says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Some say that TEAM (T.E.A.M.) is an acronym for “Together Everyone Achieves More”. No matter how good an individual is, no matter how much he or she can produce on their own, a team can produce more.

As Aristotle put it, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

What’s more, a team is more efficient because each individual doesn’t have to do their job and everyone else’s. You won’t have as much time or energy to try cases if you also do your own bookkeeping.

Whether you run your own practice or work for a firm or a company, you have a team. They may not be an employee, they may never have worked for you, in fact, but they’re out there, just a phone call away.

Think about all of the tasks that go into doing your job or running your practice. Some tasks should only be done by you. Many tasks, however, are best done by someone else.

Go find them and hire them. Or learn what they can teach you.

Earn more, work less: The Formula

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Filed Under: Leverage, Productivity, success Tagged With:

I’m married, not dead

February 19, 2016 by
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Did you hear the news? The App store has 17 paid iPhone and iPad apps that are free today! I can’t tell you what they are, however, because I didn’t read the article. Nor did I read yesterday’s article about 12 others apps that had gone free. In fact, it’s been a long time since I’ve read anything about new apps, or downloaded one, free or otherwise.

I stopped looking at other apps when I got married to the ones on my iPhone.

I’m comfortable with my notes apps, calendar, utilities, and games. I’m happy with my news and radio/podcast apps. I’m used to them, they work, and I don’t need to look at anything else. Sure, I dated a lot of other apps when I first got my phone, but not anymore.

Maybe when they invent a new category or something. Until then, I’m happy with what I’ve got.

Okay, I admit that I’ll look at a pretty new app from time to time. Hey, I’m married, not dead. But then I recall that I’m doing just fine in that department and that’s the end of it. And that’s good. I don’t spend time trying out new apps, reading about them, comparing features, or learning how to use them.

I’m happy and productive. And I’ve got a lot more time on my hands to do other things.

But that’s me. You may be different. You may not be married to your apps the way I am. You may enjoy playing the field. That’s okay.

One day, however, you may fall in love and you’ll want to settle down.

You’ll choose five or ten apps that do what you want them to do, and stop looking at others. You’ll be happy and productive and have more time for other things. You’ll get more work done, read more books, or take up a new hobby.

Or not. Who am I to say what’s right or wrong? You may keep looking at new apps, flirting with them, dating them, giving them a place on your home screen for awhile, until something else catches your eye.

And that’s okay, too. You may be married, but you’re not dead.

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Filed Under: Productivity

When should you do it yourself?

February 15, 2016 by
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I’ve got some Kindle books I need to convert to paperback. I could hire someone to do it for me but I decided to learn how to do it myself. I did the same thing learning how to format the manuscripts for Kindle.

Short term, it makes sense to hire someone to do these things for me. Long term, having these skills means I won’t have to hire anyone or wait for them to do it. So, by investing a few hours reading books and blog posts and watching YouTube videos, I can now do these things myself.

I will always have the option to hire people to do these things for me. But now, I will be better able to diagnose problems and make sure my outsourcers do what I want.

On the other hand, there are some skills I know I’ll never tackle.

I outsource book covers and graphics, for example, because I don’t have artistic talent and because apps like Photoshop have a very steep learning curve. It might be fun taking classes and getting to the point where I could do a decent job of creating graphics in house, and “fun” isn’t irrelevant, but for me, the return on investment isn’t worth it.

Ultimately, ROI must be the primary factor in deciding which skills we learn and which skills we outsource. Few of us have the luxury of learning how to do everything ourselves, let alone the time to actually do it.

But we have to be flexible. We have to evolve.

In my practice, before computers, it made sense for me to dictate letters and documents to a secretary, along with instructions on what I wanted done. After computers, it was often quicker to type things myself.

You know that I’m a big proponent of delegating as much as possible. You’ve heard me say that my objective is “to do only those things that only I could do” and delegate everything else. But in a complex and ever-changing world, this isn’t an absolute.

If it were, I would still be dictating everything and I wouldn’t have fun learning new things.

How to get good at delegating

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Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: ,

What would your clients think if they saw you working?

February 12, 2016 by
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If your clients observed you drafting their documents, speaking to the other party’s lawyer, or arguing a motion on their behalf, do you think you might do things a little differently?

Scientists say you would.

It’s called “The Hawthorne Effect” and it refers to a phenomenon “in which individuals modify or improve an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed.”

When you’re part of an experiment or study and you know you’re being observed (and measured), for example, you work harder or faster, take fewer risks or more risks, and otherwise change what you do in order to better your outcome.

If you have partners, for example, you are accountable to them and no doubt this makes you work harder than you otherwise might.

Because someone is watching.

How could you use “The Hawthorne Effect” to improve your performance? You could get a workout partner or coach and have them hold you accountable. A daily check-in and report is very likely to improve your performance.

You could “go public” with some of your goals, announcing them to people who would care if you don’t reach them. Knowing they are watching will undoubtedly drive you to reach those goals.

Another way to use “The Hawthorne Effect” to your advantage would be to systematically record your results and compare them to previous efforts. Write down how many calls you made this week, or how many words you wrote. Record the number of new clients you brought in this month, and every month from now on.

If you’re not tallying your activities and results, then “nobody” is watching you and you are unlikely to modify your behavior, at least not consistently. When you start documenting your numbers, however, you will naturally push yourself to improve those numbers.

Even though you’re the only one who is watching.

Need more clients? Referrals are the best way to get them

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Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With:

How to simplify your marketing

February 5, 2016 by
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If you have ever assembled a piece of furniture from Ikea, you know that some items are more complicated than others. Even with detailed instructions and proper tools, it’s easy to mess these up, or take much longer than you were led to believe.

The same is true of any task or project. The more complicated it is, the more moving parts or steps, the more likely it is that you’ll get it wrong.

Some tasks and projects are so complicated we put off doing them. Or we make the effort, get flummoxed and frustrated and swear we’ll “never do that again!”

Marketing legal services is like that. Do yourself a favor and make it simpler.

On the macro side of the equation, that means using fewer strategies, and for each strategy, fewer techniques.

Try lots of things, and then settle in with a few things that work best for you. That’s what I do, and that’s what I recommend.

On the micro side, you simplify your marketing by using fewer apps and targeting fewer markets. You use forms, checklists, and “scripts”. You memorialize your process, in writing, to make it easier to train new hires and temps and so that you can continually examine your process and improve it.

When marketing is simpler, it is easier and takes less time. You get better at it and get better results.

It’s the 80/20 principle. Figure out what works best for you and do more of it.

Simplify your marketing by doing more of fewer things.

Referral marketing is one strategy every lawyer should use. Find out how

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Filed Under: Leverage, Marketing legal services, Marketing Plan, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With:
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