Hard work is the hallmark of success. Or is that it? Lawyers and other legal professionals spend much of their time on non-billable work, which is often unproductive and unsatisfying. The key to improving profitability, job satisfaction and productivity levels is working smarter, not harder. But first, it’s important to recognize areas of unproductive work and identify the solutions that work best for you.
The work of a law firm is never done
Working long hours alone is considered an integral part of the legal profession – you need to impress managers, colleagues, and clients. Unproductive work occupies many of these hours, hours away from the tasks that would make lawyers happier and more productive. Let’s take a quick look at the differences between unproductive and productive work.
Unproductive work includes tedious, low-value tasks that can leave you feel exhausted and burnt out. You may be wondering, “Why am I doing these tasks?” and wondering what other work you could be completing instead, which is a red flag that unproductive work is dominating your day. Some examples of this type of work might include process-related items such as manually creating tasks, repeating emails, moving and copying files, admitting legal services, onboarding clients, and more. All of these tasks must be completed, but can be reworked using simple workflow automation tools.
On the other hand, productive work is meaningful work that can improve job satisfaction. It can be more visible, customer-oriented work that helps improve your reputation as well as feelings of accomplishment. Once unproductive and tedious manual processes are simplified, there is more ability to complete the work you have. highest value to your company and your customer – and it is meaningful to you.
4 tips to increase productivity
Here are some actions you can implement in your day to day life that can help you move towards more productive ways of working.
1. Be strategic with your day
First, it’s important to understand how you work and when you’re most productive so you can use your energy efficiently. Some people can get much more done first thing in the morning, while others are more productive in the afternoon. Does the lunch hour reduce your productivity for the rest of the day or does it increase your motivation? Are you ready to tackle difficult tasks first thing in the morning? Or would you do better on these tasks later in the day? Knowing how and when to work best is key to a productive day.
2. Take breaks
It is important to take breaks. No one can work incessantly and still be expected to perform at 100%. Taking breaks to stand up and stretch or get away from your desk can allow you to refocus and re-energize, allowing you to return to your work with a clearer mind to get your work done.
3. Apply the 80/20 rule
You can also apply the 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto principle: 80% of your output comes from 20% of your input. In other words, you can maximize efficiency by focusing your efforts, energy, and resources on priority items that will produce the best results first. To do this, you need to identify your most important tasks, as well as the tasks that generate most of your results, and focus on those first, rather than devoting much of your energy to low-value tasks that won’t generate much results in the long run. term. term benefits.
4. Invest in the right technology for the task
However, many unproductive tasks are wasteful, monotonous, and manual; can be easily automated using technology such as Q high. This adaptable legal technology makes the work of the entire team more efficient, from CIOs and IT leaders to managing partners, attorneys and knowledge management leaders.
Take small steps to higher productivity
HighQ helps you create greater operational efficiencies by turning time-consuming and repetitive tasks into intelligent, automated processes that not only increase productivity, but also strengthen your legal operations and workflow, enable seamless collaboration and knowledge sharing, and improve customer engagement .
While reducing the amount of unproductive work being done won’t happen overnight, small steps can be taken to set yourself up for a more productive and successful future for your business and your customers.
In a Thomson Reuters webcast, legal professionals from four firms discussed how they use HighQ to increase your work productivity, collaboration and competitive advantage. Watch the on-demand webcast today to hear the full conversation.
Source: news.google.com