Digitize your life with Evernote’s “Paperless Challenge”

January 10, 2013 by
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When I want to find something stored in “My Documents” on my Windows machine, I have to open and close a lot of documents to find the one that has what I’m looking for. When I want to find something stored in Evernote, I rely on its ability to search through the entirety of those documents to find what I need. Very fast, very accurate.

Finding something in paper files are even more challenging, of course, and that’s one of the reasons so many people are “going paperless.”

If you’d like to join the crowd, Evernote is conducting a “Paperless Challenge” to help you. It started January 8 but there’s no reason why you can’t get started right now. Make sure you download Jaime Rubin’s “Paperless Challenge Checklist” to use as a guide.

Lifehacker just posted a comprehensive article, “How I Went Completely Paperless in Two Days.” I think two days is a bit ambitious for most attorneys due to the amount of paper in our possession, questions about security issues, and our innate resistance to change, but even if it takes two years instead of two days, it’s worth it. I’m not yet completely paperless but my file cabinets are empty, I’ve trashed dozens of boxes of paper collected over thirty-plus years, and we get very little (important) postal mail these days. I’m well on my way to digitizing and simplifying my life.

Speaking of security issues, this article has a summary of some of the options. (Hat tip to Robert Oschler, developer of the forthcoming Evernote search client for Windows desktop, BitQwik.)

Finally, my own Evernote for Lawyers ebook discusses security issues and how to deal with them, as well as helping you through the process of going paperless.

By the way, even if you don’t use Evernote these resources can still help you in your quest to reduce or eliminate the paper in your life.

Did you know: Evernote for Lawyers has a chapter on using Evernote for marketing.

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

What’s the one thing you most want to accomplish this year?

January 2, 2013 by
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Just finished taking down the outside Christmas lights. Tis’ no longer the season.

Onward.

So, what’s next? You’re probably wondering that yourself.

You’ve got all these ideas and plans and goals for the new year but you’re overwhelmed. Too many options. Or, you don’t have any ideas, you just know you want things to improve but you don’t know how.

I know, it’s frustrating. But help is on the way. (Puts on cape and tights. . .).

First, relax. Take a deep breath and let it out. Everything is going to be okay.

Now, go for a long walk or a longer drive. I get some of my best ideas when I do that. It helps me think, or rather not think, and that’s when the most important thoughts bubble to the surface. Bring a digital recorder or smart phone app so you can record your pearls of wisdom.

Ask yourself this question: “If I could only accomplish one reasonably big goal this year, what would it be?”

It may be hard to choose only one goal, but you can do it. Pretend you’re Aladdin asking the Genie for one wish, what would it be? (No fair asking for ten more wishes. The Genie has counsel, too.)

I know you probably have lots of goals but if you think about it, most of them are sub-goals of another goal. If one of your goals is to launch or expand a web site or blog this year (an excellent goal, by the way), that’s probably tied into a bigger goal, that of increasing your income.

So let’s say your “one big goal” this year is to double your revenue. The web site is one of the ways you’ll do that.

There are lots of “rules” for writing effective goals, but here’s all you need to know for now: On January 2, 2014, if I ask you, ‘Did you reach your goal for 2013,’ you’ll be able to answer yes or no. You reached it or you did not.

With me? Good.

When you know the “one thing” you most want to accomplish this year, write it down.

Next, it’s idea time.

Grab a notebook or open a digital file and start brainstorming. Write down everything that comes to mind. Everything you can think of that might move you forward towards your one big goal. Edit nothing, eliminate nothing, write it all down. And if you already have an idea file or notebook, add the contents to this one.

It may take you a day or two to do this. That’s fine. In fact, this is something you should always be doing because there are always new ideas and new context.

Okay, so you have a goal and you have a bunch of ideas. What’s next?

Pick something. Just one thing from your list, something you can start today and finish today. It doesn’t matter what it is, just pick something and do it.

Tomorrow, I’ll ask you if you did it. I want you to be able to say, “Yes I did, thanks for asking”.

It feels good completing things and crossing them off your list. It feels good because when you accomplish things, a chemical reaction is triggered in the pleasure center of your brain. The more you accomplish (and the bigger the accomplishment) the bigger the “rush”.

Kinda like when you found out you passed the Bar exam.

You want to develop the habit of starting and completing tasks. Big ones and little ones. The more you do, the more you will want to do. In time, you’ll be addicted to that feeling. You’ll crave it, and as you satisfy that craving, you’ll get more and more done.

Nice, huh?

At some point, you’ll choose more important tasks and projects. (A project is something that takes more than one step.) You should work on no more than five or ten projects at any one time, by the way. Some will be long term, some will take you a few days, and some will wait.

The point of this isn’t to do it right, it’s to get started. You do that by knowing where you want to go and always keeping that in front of you. Like the destination on a map. “Here’s where I’m going.”

You take a step in the direction of your destination. Then another. Along the way, you cross off things you have done and eliminate those you have decided you’re not going to do (or do right now). It is a journey and there may be many detours along the way. As long as you know your destination, you can always get back on the road.

Your route (plan) may change. In fact, the plan you write today will almost never be the plan that gets you to your destination. Things change and so will your plan. That’s okay. Keep moving forward.

For growing your practice, I suggest you use the marketing plan module in The Attorney Marketing Formula. It will help you focus and help you get started.

You don’t need to figure out everything in advance. You just need to get started. Today would be a good day to do that.

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Filed Under: Goal Setting, Marketing Plan, Personal development, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Here’s why you’re NOT getting things done

December 12, 2012 by
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Apparently, there’s an art to creating a to-do list. And because most of us aren’t practitioners of that art, we fail to do the things we put on our lists. So says blogger Janet Choi, who shares some telling statistics from her company’s internal survey in, “How to Master the Art of To-do Lists by Understanding Why They Fail”:

  • 41% of to­-do items were never completed.
  • 50% of completed to-­do items are done within a day.
  • 18% of completed to­-do items are done within an hour.
  • 10% of completed to­-do items are done within a minute.
  • 15% of dones started as to-do items.

“In other words,” she says, “people aren’t that great at completing their to-do tasks; tasks that do get completed are done quickly; and tasks that are reported as done don’t correlate with planned to-do tasks.”

Choi says one of the reasons we aren’t good at getting things done is that we have too many to-do’s on our lists. She might have something there. On my list (in Evernote) I currently have 14 notes tagged “Now” and 385 tagged “Next”. This doesn’t include “Someday” (177) or items tagged “Read/Review” (583). A lot, but I’m not concerned. As long as I get my three or four “MITs” (“Most Important Tasks”) for the day done, I’m good. Choi agrees. She suggests looking at that big list of tasks and choosing, “the most important, pressing or interesting ones to work on, big and small.”

As for why only “15% of dones started as to-do items,” Choi attributes this to our lack of skill (discipline?) in creating task lists, and because of the unpredictability of our daily lives. Stuff happens, emails and phone calls cry out for our attention, things don’t turn out the way we expected. Those may be the reasons, but in my opinion, they aren’t good reasons for not doing important tasks, and those are always planned.

Yes, the unpredictable happens, and we must allow for that in our daily planning. But it should not dominate our day. No more than 25-30% of our time should be left open for the “unplanned,” not 85%. Most of our day should be spent getting important things done, the ones that move us towards our vision of the future we want to create. If you don’t plan your future, you can’t expect to wind up where you want to go.

Choi says we should be more specific in our planning, and I agree. It’s easier to know when something is done if it is well defined from the beginning. This is especially important to remember for those of us who do anything relatively open-ended like research or writing. I remember pulling all-nighters in school and also as a lawyer, writing briefs and preparing for trial, and not knowing when I was done because you can always do more.

Which leads me to my favorite reference in the post, dealing with deadlines. Choi references a behavioral study most of us will recognize as the basis for Parkinson’s Law: “The study found that students who had longer to finish three papers performed worse than those who had externally-imposed or self-imposed deadlines that were evenly spaced and earlier. . . The more time you give yourself to finish something, the less likely it is that you will finish in that time frame.”

How do you know that brief you’re working on is done? When it’s 4:00 pm and it has to filed today by 5.

The Attorney Marketing Formula comes with a bonus module that helps you create a marketing plan that really works. Get it and get ready for the new year.

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Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: , , ,

Getting the words right in the opening of your next presentation

December 10, 2012 by
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How would you describe “Getting Things Done” to an audience of people who, it must be assumed, know nothing about the subject?

I’m doing a presentation this week to just such a group. I have no more than 45 minutes, so obviously, this will be an introduction. I hope to explain the basic ideas and get them interested in learning more. I’m going to use my blog post, “The Ten Commandments of Getting Things Done,” as the basis for my talk.

But where do I start? How do I quickly get their attention and show them why they should listen?

I was thinking about this as I was looking at my first slide, which has the title of David Allen’s book. It occurred to me that this is where I should begin.

The book’s title, “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity,” does a great job of describing the subject, as well as the benefits. It tells you what the book is about and what’s in it for the reader. So in my opening, that’s what I’ll talk about.

It will go something like this. . .

“Have you ever been frustrated because you’re not getting things done? The days fly by and you realize how much you haven’t done that day or that week, and before you know it, it’s the new year and you realize that you haven’t made a dent in the goals you set last year. It is frustrating, isn’t it?

Then, someone tells you about this great system for getting your whole life organized and you try it, but it’s so complicated, you spend all your time organizing your stuff and even less time getting things done. Or maybe you learn the system and it works for you, but then you find that while you’re getting things done, you’re not getting the right things done.

‘Getting Things Done’ is a book that promises to change all that. It’s about ‘Productivity’–which means getting the RIGHT things done, the most important things done, in a way that’s ‘stress-free’. If you use the system in this book, you’ll start each day knowing what you need to do that day and you won’t worry about forgetting anything important. Take a deep breath and imagine what your life will be like when you have everything under control.

This evening, I’m going to show you some of the basic ideas behind this system. . .

I’ve explained the subject of the book and shown them the benefits. I think they’ll pay attention, don’t you?

The most important part of any presentation is the opening. That’s when you sell the audience (reader, judge, jury) on listening to what you are about to tell them. When you get the opening words right, the battle is half won. When you don’t, well, you better be loud or you better be funny because that audience is thinking about what they have to do that day and not listening to you.

Get The Attorney Marketing Formula and learn the art of stress-free client-getting and income-building

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Filed Under: Communication, Copywriting, Productivity, Public Speaking Tagged With: ,

I know you’re busy, but are you happy?

December 7, 2012 by
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Some people’s lives are incredibly busy. They have a job and a business. Or two businesses.

They have a husband or wife, kids, and large extended families. They take great vacations and love planning them. They have several hobbies they love, love, love. They exercise every day.

They are handy around the house and like decorating, cooking, or gardening. Or all three. They create their own Christmas cards and include a personal note in every one. They are active in their church, home owner’s association, and PTA. They are a Cub Scout leader. They post every day on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and their personal blog. And oh yeah, they’re also writing a book.

If this is you, I have to ask, “How do you do it?” How do you cram so much into your life?

You must know that most people aren’t like you. Most people can’t do everything you do. I’m one of them. Just thinking about your day makes me sleepy.

Oh, I do admire you. You’re amazing. I just don’t want to be like you. But then, you probably don’t want to be like me.

My life is much simpler. Even when I was putting in long hours in my practice and our daughter was young and there was dance and piano and sports, my life was a cake walk compared to yours. My wife and I were busy (by our standards), but more importantly, we were happy.

And today, we’re even less busy, but just as happy.

Being busy means different things to different people but being busy isn’t what’s important. If you’re surrounded by people you care about and do work that makes a difference, that’s what counts.

Tonight, when your head hits the pillow and you think about your day, don’t ask yourself if you did enough, ask yourself if you’re happy. If you are, great! Have a nice sleep. If not, ask yourself what you need to change. It could be something big, like a new career or a new spouse. More likely, you’re simply trying to do too much.

Want to be busier with more work? Get The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Personal development, Productivity, success, Time Management Tagged With:

New iPhone? Here are the apps I use and recommend

December 6, 2012 by
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A Facebook friend posted that they just got a new iPhone and wanted suggestions for apps. I just went through my screens and jotted down the apps I use the most and thought I would share them with you.

I’ve downloaded hundreds of apps, most of which I quickly abandoned. Some had a steep learning curve or were confusing. Some duplicated apps I already had that did the same thing, only better. And some I just didn’t like.

Of course everyone has different needs and preferences. This is just my list and it is by no means complete. Just the apps I use the most.

I’ve included a few excellent apps I don’t use that much. Dictamus is one example. You can replace your expensive dictation machine with this app. iA writer is another. I don’t do much long form writing on my iPhone. Small screen, small keyboard, old eyes. I make notes on my phone and do my writing on my laptop.

I try new apps all the time because I’m always looking for better and easier ways to do things, and because it’s fun. I like apps that are well suited for the job, and actively developed and supported. Many of my favorites are at or near the top of their categories.

I’ve organized my list by category. Please let me know (in the comments) if you use these apps, and if not, what you use instead.

Productivity

  • Evernote (Essential. Nuff said.)
  • Drafts (Great for quick notes that are uploaded to other apps (including Evernote).
  • Workflowy (I’ve been using this a lot lately; great for outlining. I use the web app mostly, and tweak my outlines on my phone; if you sign up for a free account through this link, you’ll get more free space (and so will I).
  • iA writer (Simple, distraction free writing with few options. Sync to Dropbox, iCloud, other devices.)

Business

  • Dictamus (Best dictation software; try the free version and you’ll see)
  • Jotnot Scanner Pro (I have others but mostly use this)

Utilities

  • Easy Calendar (Simple, quick to update)
  • Pocket Informant (Used this for a long time. Very capable, but more than I need; find it in Productivity)

News

  • Instapaper (Must have; anything saved for later reading, but not in Evernote, goes here)
  • Newsify (Google RSS)
  • Stitcher Radio (Live radio, podcasts)
  • Flipboard (News, social media feeds)
  • Zite (News, blog feeds, great for finding sources you don’t currently follow)
  • AppAdvice (For finding new apps and reading reviews)

Social Media

I have the native apps for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but don’t do much updating on my phone. When I do, I usually post from other apps (i.e., Drafts, Flipboard).

Other

I also have (and use) Youtube, Google, and Kindle. I have several apps for document downloading, storage, (Dropbox, etc.) and editing, but I prefer to use their desktop or web app equivalents. I listen to Pandora and Spotify. I don’t download games any more, but I do play Words With Friends.

So that’s my list. How about yours?

Let me show you how to grow your practice and your income. Check out The Attorney Marketing Formula

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Filed Under: Productivity, Technology, Writing Tagged With: ,

The Ten Commandments of “Getting Things Done”

November 30, 2012 by
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Many people refer to David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done, as their productivity Bible. Like the real Bible, however, Allen’s book isn’t particularly easy for the uninitiated to digest. It took me several reads and a lot of hi-lighting before the ideas started to sink in.

And yet the principles in Getting Things Done (GTD) aren’t that complicated. In fact, the system is basically your calendar, a few lists, and a process for organizing everything so that you know what to do first and what to do after that. This allows you to be effective (getting the right things done) and efficient (getting things done right).

The sub-title of Getting Things Done is “The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” and that is an apt description of the ultimate benefit of mastering GTD.

If you’re trying to learn GTD, or this is your first exposure to it, here is a summary of its key components, the “Ten Commandments of “Getting Things Done”:

  1. Put everything in a “trusted system”. Get it out of your head, off your desk, and into one “Inbox” (or a few), ready to be processed.
  2. Organize your tasks into lists, for example, “Today,” “Next,” “Someday,” “Waiting,” and “Projects”.
  3. A project is anything that requires more than one step (task). Each project should have a list of tasks needed to complete it.
  4. Organize your lists by “context”: Where (@Office, @Home, @Errands), Tool: (@Internet, @Phone), People: (@Debbie, @ABC Board). That way, when you’re @Office, having a meeting with @Debbie, you can zero in on appropriate tasks and not be distracted with @Errands or chores you need to do @Home.
  5. Use your calendar to record future tasks by date (i.e., appointments, start dates, due dates, review dates). The calendar is sacred territory. If it’s on your calendar, you should do it.
  6. Use a tickler system to remind yourself of things you may want to do or review in the future but aren’t due on a specific date (and thus, not on your calendar).
  7. Process your Inbox often: If something is actionable, either Do it (immediately), Delegate it, or Defer it (Calendar, or “Next” list). If it’s not actionable, either Trash it, put it on a list to review in the future (“Someday” or “Tickler”), or file it as Reference material.
  8. Review your lists daily. Decide what to do based on your Time and Energy and the task’s Priority. Don’t prioritize in advance because priorities (and Contexts) change constantly.
  9. Plan every day in advance. Review your plan and your progress once a week at a regular Weekly Review.
  10. As you process your Inbox or review your lists, ask yourself two questions: What’s the successful outcome? And, What’s the next action (logical next step) to make it happen? David Allen says, “These provide fundamental clarity for Getting Things Done, and they lie at the core of most everything I teach.”

This probably represents 90% of the GTD system. There are many nuances and refinements and many of us have modified “pure GTD” to suit our work flow and preferences. You can spend a lifetime tinkering with GTD or, once you have a basic set up, simply get things done.

GTD can be done with pen and paper. There are also many GTD apps for your smart phone or computer. I do all of this in Evernote (plus my calendar). My GTD system is presented in detail in my Evernote for Lawyers ebook.

Do you use GTD? How has it helped you to get things done?

You can use my Evernote GTD system even if you don’t use Evernote. Read Evernote for Lawyers, however, and you’ll want to use Evernote. Even if you’re not a lawyer. 

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Filed Under: Productivity, Time Management Tagged With: , , , ,

Marketing takes up too much time? I wrote this post in 15 minutes

November 29, 2012 by
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In the interview yesterday, (replay), I said that if you (the viewer) got nothing else out of my comments, I hope you are inspired to commit 15 minutes a day to marketing. Even if all you do is sit and think, or write down ideas, or read some articles. I said that if you do that, eventually you will pick up the phone and make some calls or write something that could be considered marketing-related. Like a blog post, article, or email.

You can do a lot in 15 minutes.

I wrote this post in 15 minutes. Sure, most of my posts take longer but I have the time. You might not. That’s okay. Short posts are fine.

How do you write a blog post in 15 minutes? You start with an idea and write it down. In this case, “writing a blog post in 15 minutes”. You open up something to write in. I write my posts in Evernote. And you begin writing. Put down your thoughts. Share a couple of tips or resources. Give your opinion on something related to your area of expertise.

Three or four paragraphs and you’re done. I’m at 200 words at this point. My posts are usually in the 300 to 500 word length. Length isn’t critical, as long as you have said what you need to say.

Then, edit. Make sure the thoughts flow. Not hard, really (pauses for a sip of coffee, reads. . .). Looks pretty good. Time to publish. Copy and paste into WordPress. Add some tags and hyperlinks and I’m done for the day. Elapsed time: 14 minutes. And what do you know, this post is now just over 300 words.

If you missed the interview yesterday, you can watch the replay here. It was about an hour so you might have to watch over the next four days. If you don’t have time, just order The Attorney Marketing Formula and call it a day.

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

Marketing is easier when you use leverage

November 26, 2012 by
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As I mentioned last week, this Wednesday, at 2 pm PT, I’m being interviewed and you’re invited. Among other things, I’ll be talking about my latest marketing course, The Attorney Marketing Formula.

One of the themes throughout The Attorney Marketing Formula is leverage–getting bigger results out of the same effort. A simple example of leverage in marketing a law practice is the use of forms and checklists. You invest time to memorialize a process and then use that process over and over again, saving you lots of time, reducing errors, and impressing the hell out of your clients who see how remarkably well organized you are.

Another example of leverage is focusing on your current and former clients as a source of repeat business and referrals in preference to other ways of seeking new clients. There are much lower costs associated with marketing to people who already know, like, and trust you, and much better results. Even if someone can’t hire you again right now, and doesn’t know anyone they can refer, there are other ways they can help you. They can send traffic to your web site through social media, for example, or forward your email to their friends and colleagues.

A marketing joint venture with professionals and business owners to get exposure to their lists is another form of leverage. If you’re a small business attorney, for example, you could get together with an accountant, a tax lawyer, a commercial insurance broker, and a financial planner. Each of you contributes a report, article, audio, or video, and the four of you send (or offer) this collection to your lists. Or, you can put together a bundle of services for the small business owner, with discounts and/or free services from each of you, and offer this bundle to your lists.

Anyway, I hope you’ll join us on Wednesday and bring your questions. I’m looking forward to speaking with you!

Save an extra $10 on The Attorney Marketing Formula through 5 pm PT tonight, November 26th. Use discount code “thankful”.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Law office management, Leverage, Marketing legal services, News, Productivity Tagged With:

Evernote search just got easier. Well, sorta

November 14, 2012 by
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Although I use it extensively, I don’t write much about technology. One reason is that by the time I’m up to speed on a new piece of software or hardware, it’s usually old news. One exception is Evernote, my favorite tech tool.

I’ve written before about how I use Evernote for everything from note taking to writing to managing all of the information in my personal and professional life. I also use it for Getting Things Done (GTD).

In fact, so great is my love for Evernote, I wrote a book about it: Evernote for Lawyers: A Guide to Getting Organized & Increasing Productivity.

I included in the book’s resources an extensive list of Evernote’s “Search Operators”–the syntax used by Evernote to find notes. These search operators are powerful but can be difficult to remember, so many of us use “Saved Searches,” another Evernote feature that comes in handy, especially with complex searches. But Saved Searches don’t help when you’re looking for something for the first time.

I just found an alternative that looks promising. BitQwik is free software (for PC’s and Mac’s that can run Windows) that serves as a front end portal for searching your Evernote database using natural language. That is, you don’t have to remember precise search operators to find something. Instead, you can use a regular query, much like you would ask Siri.

Here are some examples, from the BitQwik web site:

  • “Show me notes created between May 1st and March 15 that are tagged with robotics, surgical robots, or telepresence”
  • “I want notes sent to me via the E-mail gateway”
  • “Find my encrypted notes that have the words financial data or private in the title but leave out notes I created yesterday”
  • “Give me notes with pictures from Skitch”

I usually find notes in Evernote by browsing tags and using a few simple search operators. But as my database has grown to over 5,000 notes, I find myself relying more on search, and BitQwik looks like it might be just what the doctor ordered.

I just downloaded BitQwik, so I don’t have a lot to report just yet. If it pans out, I could see Evernote adopting this technology, and that would be great because I don’t like the idea of using yet another piece of software. But I’m not holding my breath because everything Evernote does has to work on ten platforms, not just one, and that doesn’t happen overnight.

If you’ve tried BitQwik, let me know what you think. You can add your comments below, or join me on the Evernote Forum.

Get your copy of Evernote for Lawyers. Unless you don’t want to be organized and productive.

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Filed Under: Law office management, Productivity, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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