Legal Ease Blog

Do Something! Inject Some Calm Into 2019 - Try Meditation

This might seem like an odd post for this blog, but it really isn't. I'm all about preventing Lawyer Meltdown, being more productive, increasing your bottom line and making the practice of law more enjoyable. Believe it or not, meditation can help you with all of those things.

I wrote about meditation and mindfulness before in this post, in which I reviewed the book The Anxious Lawyer.  And lawyer health and well-being have been getting a lot of press lately. A post in yesterday's "Your Voice" column of the ABA Journal online, 4 Strategies for Building the Habit of Lasting Resilience in the Legal Profession, highlights the growing importance of resilience and mindfulness for lawyers, referencing the ABA's Working Group to Advance Well Being's pledge for law firms to acknowledge that more needs to be done to improve the health and well-being of lawyers.

The article poses the question, "What are the most effective and efficient strategies for achieving this important goal?" and outlines four essential principles for implementing an effective well-being strategy. One of those principles is to form habits around well-being.

One of the well-being habits attorneys can begin to cultivate is meditation. While I've long been skeptical of meditation (or at least skeptical my own ability to meditate), the increasing deluge of information in today's world has made it incredibly difficult to turn off and 'tune in' to what makes us human and what connects us to other human beings on a deeper level than just scrolling through photos on our social media channels. For other reasons that I will explore in a future post, I think the ability to connect on a human level and to use our intuition will become increasingly important, particularly for lawyers, as technology continues to advance and artificial intelligence becomes more mainstream in the legal world.

Over the past several months, I've been working on meditating more frequently. It certainly isn't always easy and I admit that I  completely got away from my meditation practice (and it does take practice) over the holidays. Part of that was because my usual routine was to meditate immediately after working out. But I was hit with not one but two nasty colds and threw my back out all during the holidays, so, working out wasn't even on the radar.

None of that should have kept me from meditating.  Thinking about the power of habit and developing habits around well-being makes me realize that when the habit of working out went away, the habit of meditating did also because the two were linked. Perhaps that is something to keep in mind when developing habits - linking them is great for reinforcement, but the loss of one habit could create a domino effect with unintended consequences.

But I digress, so I'll do what I do when my thoughts start taking over in meditation - simply recognize it and return to the practice. Back to meditation.

As we begin this new year of 2019, I'm re-committing to make meditation a part of my regular routine, if not daily, then at least several times a week. I find that by giving myself permission to slow down and let go of everything - even for a few minutes - I can be more productive with the rest of my day. And ironically, the days in which I have the most to do or the most pressure are the days when meditation seems to help the most - if I make the decision to carve out the time to do it. It helps me clarify my thinking and makes it easier to let go of things that aren't important or that create unnecessary stress.

As a beginner at meditation, I'm not yet comfortable just meditating on my own, so I've tried out a few meditation apps. The one I like best at the moment is Insight Timer - a free app available on iOS and Android. Insight Timer categorizes meditations into 7 categories: Mindfulness, Visualization, Gentle Repetition, Movement, Sound, Concentration, and Self-Observation. There are literally thousands of meditations available from all over the world - some guided, others just with music, ambient sounds or bells, or you can just use the app to set a timer for your desired length of meditation. 

One of the things I like about the app is that it keeps track of your meditation time and the milestones you reach when meditating, which helps you keep the momentum going once you start meditating. Habits require reinforcement, after all. And apparently I'm not the only one who enjoys using Insight Timer - according to this article, 63% of those who use meditation apps in the U.S. are using Insight Timer - that's three times more than any other meditation app.

If Insight Timer isn't for you, there are many other meditation apps available. For a calmer and more productive 2019, why not give one a try? Even 5 or 10 minutes can make a big difference. Just don't give up too soon - the more you practice, the better you'll get at it, and doing it "badly" or letting your thoughts intrude on your meditation practice is just part of the process.

Let me know in the comments if you already meditate and why, or if you decide to give it a try, let me know and tell me what you experience as a result of employing this new well-being habit.

 

 

Do Something! Power Up Your LinkedIn Headline

Your Professional Headline is the line that appears under your name on LinkedIn. When users first encounter you on LinkedIn, they may not be looking at your Profile; they may see you as a suggestion in People You May Know on their Network page, in search results, in a list of connections, or in a LinkedIn Group. In many of those cases, all they will see is your photo, name, and your Professional Headline, like this:

Think of your Headline as your LinkedIn elevator speech or your virtual introduction. It should be short and to the point, but it should communicate enough information about you to entice people to want to know more. In the case of LinkedIn, you want your Headline to convince users to click on your name and view your full Profile or to connect with you.

Know your audience

Think about what is most important to your audience or the people you want to connect with on LinkedIn. Your Professional Headline is a valuable tool that can communicate your area of practice, your knowledge and experience and to distinguish yourself from other lawyers. It should be a differentiator that helps you to stand out in search results and it should be descriptive so that when people see your Professional Headline they immediately know what you do.

Be descriptive

Don’t make the common mistake made by many lawyers by limiting your Headline to just your title (Associate, Partner, etc.). Include your practice areas or the types of work you do for clients. Consider including the name of your firm as well – it won’t always be obvious to LinkedIn users if they’re not looking at your full Profile when they encounter your name.

But don’t stop there. Even your title and firm name (“Partner at Flintstone and Rubble, P.C”) are not enough. If a user is not familiar with your firm, this information may not be enough even to communicate that you are a lawyer (Flintstone and Rubble could be an accounting firm, for example).

Add a description of your practice areas or clients, keeping your audience in mind. Use keywords that your audience might use to search for a lawyer in your practice area. Utilize all 120 characters that LinkedIn makes available for your Headline.

Compare these Headline examples:

Partner -or- Partner at Scooby and Shaggy, LLP, Management-side Labor and Employment Law Trial Attorney

Associate at Lane & Kent, P.C -or- Elder Law and Estate Planning Associate Attorney at Seinfeld & Costanza

Trial Partner at Florrick, Agos -or- Partner, Scott, Schrute, Halpert, Beesly & Howard, PC, Risk Management and Legal Malpractice Attorney

If these headlines appeared in search results, which one in each pair would you be more likely to select?

Revising your Headline

Certain key events (getting a job, losing a job, promotions, etc.) will trigger the need to revise your Headline (along with the rest of your Profile). There’s no hard and fast rule, and much depends on your purpose and audience, and how fast those things change.

Revise your Headline as often as you need to. But keep in mind that when you revise your Headline, LinkedIn may send your connections a notification that you have a new job. If that isn’t the case and you’re just tweaking your Headline, you may want to turn off those notifications before you make your Headline changes.

If nothing significant has changed, you may want to look at your Profile and your Headline every 6 months to a year to see if there’s any updates that need to be made, any changes in language or new ways of phrasing that you might want to incorporate based on what’s happening in your practice and in the marketplace.

Job seekers: Include your desired position?

If you have a specific kind of job in mind, you can certainly make it clear in your Headline. But be aware that if you are currently employed, your employer or other colleagues may be able to see this information. If you do not want them to know that you are job hunting, you might want to keep that information out of your Headline.

If you don’t want your employer to know you’re jobhunting, you can still use LinkedIn’s job search and apply for jobs listed on LinkedIn, and you can make sure that your Professional Headline and your summary reflect the knowledge, skills and experience that would be attractive to a new potential employer or for the new position that you are seeking.

What you include in your Headline depends upon what you’re looking for, what you think your audience will respond to, and how much attention you want to call to it. If you want to let as many people as possible know that you’re seeking a specific kind of position, putting it right up front in your Headline is likely to attract attention.

For example, your Headline might read, “Recent New York Law Grad Seeking Associate Position in Commercial Real Estate.”

The benefit-driven Headline

Lawyers who want to really stand out on LinkedIn might want to consider writing a benefit-driven Headline.

What is a benefit-driven Headline? It is a Headline that focuses on the benefits that you offer to your clients, rather than your title or what you do.

For example, instead of, “Elder Law and Estate Planning Associate Attorney at Seinfeld & Costanza,” you might want to focus your Headline on the benefits that you provide to your clients, saying something like, “Helping families protect their aging loved ones and their legacy.” You might even try creatively combining these, using all the available 120 characters.

The Professional Headline is one of the most important elements of your LinkedIn Profile – take some time today to sit down and think about how you can be more creative with your Headline to attract clients, referral sources, hiring partners, or even the media.

If you want help with your LinkedIn Headline or other aspects of your LinkedIn Profile, contact me to see how I can help.

UPDATE: If you're more of a DIY type, you might be interested in this FREE printable LinkedIn Headline worksheet.

Related articles

New York Social Media Ethics Guidelines

More Trouble from Facebook Posts - Judge Posts About Ongoing Cases

Do Something! Don't Let Fear Stand In Your Way

The Editor's Note from Amy Cosper, Editor in Chief, in the February 2015 issue of Entrepreneur magazine is an excellent read for any entrepreneur, including those intrepid souls who go out on their own to develop their own law practices.

Cosper's column is not only inspirational, but it contains a number of good reminders for those times when everything might not be working exactly the way you'd like it to. The column is entitled "It's OK to be great," and I think it's her message about hard work that may resonate the most.

For example, Cosper says, 

You have a hard job. but I promise you, no matter what direction your company does, it will be meaningful, and you will matter. Because what you do, even in failure, matters. Why? Because you have chosen the path less taken, the path less understood and the path most pockmarked with pain. Much of the time that path is a complete slog, and your job, on occasion, is simply to slog it out.

Later, she says, 

...the reality is, you are working your ass off to make something, to fight for something and simply to see your vision to the next stage. And it doesn't always work. But that's OK....It's not always rainbows and bunny rabbits. In fact, it rarely is. Being an entrepreneur is more than being the boss. You are the leader - not only the leader of your own destiny, but a leader to the people who believe in you: employees, investors, customers and evangelists.

Fear, although you may feel it, is not an option.

The truth is that going out on your own, whether as a solo or with others to form a new venture is scary, and it's hard work. Sometimes it's easy to lose the vision and to forget why you decided to do this in the first place. Those are the days that you just have to keep going. It's that hard work and perserverence even (and sometimes especially) when facing the nay-sayers, that makes the difference.

It doesn't always work - sometimes you fail. But that's OK, too, because it's all a learning experience. As Dan Lear, director of industry relations for Avvo, mentioned in his article this month in Law Practice Today (quoting one of his mentors),

The best way to figure out what you want is to do something. Whatever it is, just start doing something. You’ll learn more by actually striking out and doing something than you ever will from thinking about doing or even talking to lots of people about doing. Instead, just get started.

Don't let fear stand in your way. The doing makes a difference, whatever the outcome. And, after all,  isn't success even sweeter once you've worked for it?

Related articles

New Year New Marketing

Do Something! Get Educated About Social Media

Last week I had the privilege of participating in a panel presentation on social media and the internet for lawyers at our local bar association. On the panel with me were a jury consultant and two trial court judges. I started the program with an introduction to the major social media platforms, ethical pitfalls for attorneys using social media for marketing and business development, and a discussion of the reasons lawyers need to be familiar with social media platforms and how they're used - even if those attorneys are not going to use social media themselves. My fellow panelists discussed how internet use and social media have changed the landscape for trial attorneys.

This morning, one of my fellow panelists, Edward Schwartz from TrialGraphix, alerted me to yet another example of why lawyers need to keep abreast of these issues and how they might affect their clients' cases.

In a St. Louis sexual harrassment case brought by a female police officer who claimed not only sexual harassment, but also retaliation after lodging a complaint, a juror used Google to do research about whether the plaintiff would receive the proceeds of a punitive damages award. The jury verdict was for $7.5 million, $7.2 million of which represented the punitive damages award.

It has been reported that, after seeing the reaction of the attorneys to the award when it was read in the courtroom, the juror who performed the search confessed his misconduct. Further hearings are being held to determine whether the misconduct affected the award and whether a new trial will be granted.

This is just one example of how mobile devices and the use of the internet has changed the practice of law. Of course, this particular tale doesn't involve social media, but there are plenty of other examples that do involve social media (see my previous post on Confidentiality, Ethics and Social Media, which involved a client's family member' use of social media that jeopardized another award or this article discussing issues with respect to jurors and social media).

Other issues that may arise with social media during your representation of a client include:

• Accessing social media sites of parties or witnesses in litigation for discovery and investigation
• Accessing juror's social media sites for jury selection and information about how best to present arguments to particular jurors
• Jurors accessing attorneys' social media sites to research the attorneys involved in the case
• Preservation of social media evidence in litigation
• Use of social media posts as evidence at trial

It is no longer acceptable for attorneys to close their eyes and ears to social media; even if you aren’t planning to use social media yourself to market your practice, it makes sense to have a working knowledge of at least the basics of each of these platforms, what they’re used for, who uses them, and how.

Clients, witnesses, adversaries and jurors are all using social media tools, which may become a key component in a client's case. Since almost everyone has a powerful computer in their pocket these days in the form of a smartphone that they can use to post to or obtain information from the internet almost any time, anywhere, it is imperative that lawyers stay informed about these issues.

And if you need further incentive, in 2012, the American Bar Association amended the Model Rules of Professional Conduct to make clear that lawyers have a duty of competence with respect to technology. Specifically, the ABA amended Comment 8 to ABA Model Rule 1.1, governing competence, to provide:

Maintaining Competence. To maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology, engage in continuing study and education and comply with all continuing legal education requirements to which the lawyer is subject.

 One way to get an introductory knowledge of these issues is to review our presentation from last week. Contact the Suffolk County Bar Association to find out how to purchase or view an online recording of our program, "Social Media in Litigation and Law Firm Management."

Related articles

Ex-cop's $7.5 million award could be at risk due to St. Louis juror's Google search

Legal Ethics and Social Media - a follow up

Marketing Your Law Practice on the Internet

California Clamps Down on Jurors Using Social Media

Do Something! Social Media Checklist

I am a list person, and I especially like checklists. Many tasks or projects are repeated throughout the week, month or year in any law practice, but that doesn't guarantee that something won't fall through the cracks or that steps won't get skipped, either as a result of being forgotten or as an attempt to take shortcuts.

Checklists are another way to 'get everything out of your head' and to focus on the task at hand, rather than on the specific steps that need to be accomplished.

Checklists can also be helpful for training new employees or as a handy 'cheat sheet' for those who don't perform specific tasks regularly.

Many lawyers and law firms are still new to social media, and often, their efforts are haphazard and ineffective at best. MaximizeSocialMedia.com has developed a social media checklist to help you identify potential gaps in your social media strategy and implementation and fill them.

The six steps begin with who should be in charge of your social media campaigns (not an intern!), cover setting goals and developing basic guidelines for your "brand," establishing and documenting processes, and forming an official social media policy for your firm.

The Social Media Implementation Checklist – An infographic by the team at Maximize Social Media

 

 

Related articles

Can Checklists Improve Your Law Practice?

NY Rules on Lawyer Advertising Take Another Hit

LinkedIn Tip #3: Re-Organize Your Profile

This is the third post in my series of LinkedIn Tips. Tip #1 covered invitations to connect and tip #2 talked about improving your professional headline. For this time, we'll work on one easy way to improve your LinkedIin Profile.

When you first set up your LinkedIn account, LinkedIn walks you through the steps required to set up your Profile. By default, the Profile contains certain sections, including your Experience, Education, Honors and  Awards, etc. You can also add sections to your Profile that help to demonstrate your expertise and make your Profile stand out, including Projects, Publications, Skills and Expertise, and more.

Some of those sections may be more important to your potential clients and referral sources than others, and the level of importance of the different sections of your Profile may change over time. For example, if you're a recent graduate, your Education may be important; you may not have much else to add to your Profile. But as you gain experience in the practice, your Education may become less important.

LinkedIn gives you the option to customize your Profile by changing the order of the sections so that you can put those areas that you think your potential clients, referral sources, or potential employers would find most valuable at the top of your Profile.

How to Re-Organize Your Profile

To change the order of sections on your Profile, drag and drop section headings so that the most important items appear higher up on your Profile. To do so, click on the vertical arrow to the extreme right of the section heading and drag and drop the section to the desired location in your Profile.

You can now also rearrange items within a particular section of your Profile. The process is similar to rearranging a profile section - find the vertical arrow to the right of the item, then click and drag the item to the location where you want it to appear within that section:

Rearranging the order of your LinkedIn Profile is quick and easy, so make the most of this feature and put important items front and center so those who view your Profile will see them right away.

If you want more information about how to use LinkedIn in your practice, check out LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers.

Related articles

LinkedIn Tip #2: Improve Your Professional Headline to Stand Out

Do Something! Protect Your Law Firm and Confidential Data

October has been designated as National Cyber Security Awareness Month. When was the last time you checked your firm's security policies and software? What about the mobile devices used by employees of your firm to connect with the firm's network and email?

The Department of Homeland Security recommends these tips for all Americans:

• Set strong passwords and don’t share them with anyone.
• Keep your operating system, browser, and other critical software optimized by installing updates.
• Maintain an open dialogue with your family, friends, and community about Internet safety.
• Limit the amount of personal information you post online and use privacy settings to avoid sharing information widely.
• Be cautious about what you receive or read online – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Techlicious.com has just come out with its 2013 computer software security buying guide. The guide covers anti-virus, firewall and anti-malware programs, parental controls, the differences between free and paid security software and more. The guide also cautions that Macs are not invincible and talks about how to protect Macs and tablets. Take a look at the guide for their specific picks.

If you're looking for a lawyer-specific guide, check out the mobile security checklist from Law Technology Today, which provides information you need to know about security for your mobile devices. It covers the security measures you can take yourself to protect your device, as well as third party applications to enhance security.

For a more complete treatment of all things information security for lawyers, you might want to pick up a copy of Locked Down: Information Security for Lawyers (2012) by Sharon D. Nelson, David G. Ries, and John W. Simek, now available from LPM Publishing.

Do Something! Tips for Organizing Your Law Office

 

In my last post, I literally opened up my closet to show you my first organizing project of the year. When working with my clients, I find that they are often not as productive as they could be because they aren't organized and they don't have good systems in place, which creates clutter and confusion, leading to a vicious cycle of disorganization and poor productivity.

 

I talked about the basic steps to getting rid of office clutter on Lawyerist some time ago, but this post expands on those ideas, particularly with respect to Step 3 - organizing. 

Step 1: Clear Out

The first step in de-cluttering is to determine what you have. The best way to do that is to clear everything out.

If just not possible or practical for you to tackle your whole office at once, you can begin de-cluttering on a smaller scale, by doing one area (such as one shelf, one desk drawer, or your desktop) at a time. But as you go through the de-cluttering process, remember one of the enemies of organization is duplication if you don’t know what you have or you can’t find it, you tend to collect multiples. If you’re not doing your whole office at once, you’ll have to be even more aware of duplicates.

Step 2: Quick Sort and Purge

 Once your office (or that one desk drawer) is empty, it’s time to sort through all of the stuff. The initial sort is done on a ‘one touch’ basis – pick something up and make a snap decision as to which pile it belongs in. You can read more about this step here.

One of the most important parts of the initial sort is the purge – getting rid of what you don’t need. If you’re feeling stuck in your practice, you might be surprised at the effect that a good  purge can have. Getting rid of the old or outdated makes room for the new and frees up your energy. 

Your office should only contain paperwork that you’re currently working on, supplies and files that you need on a regular basis. Keep only those items in your office that you need to take action on or that you need to refer to when doing your work.

After this first round of sorting, you’ll probably still have more stuff than you really need to keep. That’s where Step 3 comes in. 

Step 3: Organize

 This is where the really serious work begins. First, take everything that doesn’t belong in your office and put it where it belongs – file room, your secretary’s desk, etc. Then you’ll only be organizing what needs to go back in your office.

Before you put anything back, ask yourself these questions:

• When was the last time I used or referred to this?
• Is this something I need to use or access frequently?
• Is this information I can easily find elsewhere (like the internet)
• Does it fit my current practice and my goals for my firm?
• Will it advance what I am seeking to achieve?

Create broad categories that work for you (too many categories or categories that are too specific may be difficult to remember and actually make organization more difficult). Some categories you might consider if you’re de-cluttering your office might include:

• Marketing/promotional materials
• Research files
• Client files
• Personal files
• Personal items (photos, mementos)
• Office supplies
• Books
• Reference materials
• Work to be done
• Archive
• Delegate

For categories like ‘work to be done,’ don’t keep the entire file in your office unless you’re going to work on it right away. Instead, create some other reminder of what needs to be done, and only retrieve the file when you need it.

Next, you’ll need to create a home for everything that’s left. You might consider organizing by:

• Proximity (put things that you use together near each other)
• Space (make sure you use space to your advantage)
• Frequency of Use (how often you need to access something – the more you need it, the more accessible it should be)

Ensure that:

• High traffic areas are free from congestion
• Storage space and necessary materials are accessible
• You can easily see memo boards and important information that’s accessed daily

Tip - Technology is your friend
In the age of electronics, there’s even less need for the piles of paper, whether it’s forms, templates, checklists, periodicals, reference materials, etc. Rather than keeping a file cabinet full of reference materials or templates, etc., scan those items into your computer and save them electronically. You’ll feel lighter without all of that paper!

“I need to see it” syndrome

One way clutter piles up is because you think you need a physical reminder of what you need to do, or you’ll afraid you won’t get it done. Bad organizational and management habits and lack of productive systems can create this syndrome. But the truth is that the idea that you need the physical reminder actually reduces, rather than increasing, your efficiency and effectiveness. Having piles of work or files, etc. makes it more difficult to focus on the task at hand – you’re literally getting buried under your ‘to-dos!’ – they’re physically looming over your head.

If you really can’t do without the physical reminder or are afraid to rely solely on your electronics or your calendar, keep folders or lists grouped by category in your office; instead of keeping a big bulky file in your office, you’ll have only an item on your list or one piece of paper noting what you need to do.

Files and Filing
Create a filing system that works for you – the simpler, the better. Don’t file stuff just to get it off of your desk. Only file what you’ll actually need.

Statistics show that 80% of what you file will never get used or referenced again.

Reduce ‘reference’ files – ask yourself:

• Can this information be found elsewhere (such as on the internet)?
• Do I need the whole thing (i.e. just cite vs. whole case)
• Will it be outdated by the time I need it again?
• Can I scan it and save it electronically?

Closed files: Move them to an out of the way or off-site storage area or scan them; don’t let them use prime space in your office

Electronic files: just like paper files, electronic files can get lost and you can waste time searching if you don’t create conventions for naming files and documents so that you always know where to find what you’re looking for. Begin with broad categories and name documents accordingly.

Your desk: Your desk is PRIME real estate – the most prime real estate in your office. That means anything that’s kept on your desk should be something that’s used daily. Move non-work items off of the desk. Keep office supplies in drawers or on shelves where they’re within reach but not cluttering up your desk. Make use of vertical space – hang shelves or wall pockets or bulletin boards to keep control of those ‘important’ papers that regularly pile up on your desk. These methods keep the important reference information or reminders in view without interfering with your work.

Don’t keep shuffling paper around on your desk; make a decision about what to do with it; if it needs action, schedule it (see step 4).

Business cards: Get rid of that stack of business cards from networking events, etc. Scan the information into your contact system (or have your assistant enter it) with notes from your meeting and toss the cards.

Periodicals: Newspapers, trade magazines and other periodicals multiply quickly. To keep them from piling up, skim through the table of contents and pull out only those articles that you want to read. Keep a ‘reading’ folder in your briefcase for waiting in the doctor’s office, waiting for your adversary in court, riding on the train, etc. TOSS the rest! You may consider having a secretary or assistant pre-screen your periodicals and pull articles for you.

The same goes for electronic ‘periodicals,’ RSS feeds, alerts, and newsletters that clutter up your email. The same content gets recycled over and over, so if you haven’t read it and it’s over a week old, delete it or save it to a designated folder, like a ‘library’ or 'reference' folder on your computer - or save it to Evernote and tag it for easier retrieval later.

Step 4: Schedule

Once you have managed to clear out your space and organize the work to be done, it's time to schedule a time to actually accomplish those tasks. Use your calendar wisely and don't over-schedule. And remember to leave time for the chaos factor.

(For more on getting organized and productive, I recommend David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done, where many of these tips originated)

Need help with your law office organizing project or don't know where to start? Post your comments or questions below - or contact me to see how I can help.

Do Something! Organizing Your Law (or Home) Office

I consider myself to be fairly organized, but sometimes things just get away from me. The end of 2011 was a bit hectic which made things even worse, but now we've started a new year, and one of my goals for 2012 is to get more organized.

I have a supply closet in my office that houses reference materials, marketing folders, handouts, technical equipment, client gifts and a host of other odds and ends. It didn't have good shelving, and I was making do with a storage unit stuck into the closet, but I finally couldn't take it any more.

Before organizing

Below are the 'before' shots of the office closet - maybe you'll see why it stressed me out.

 

Before - everything's jumbled; these shelves just aren't working for me

Left side of the closet before - I can barely get those drawers open to get anything out

Right side of the closet before - I have to move everything to get anything

I installed some built in shelves and used some additional freestanding ones, and now the closet functions much more like it should - everything is easily accessible, I know where to find what I need, and I don't get anxious every time I open the door.

After organizing

 

Much more organized!

 

Right side of the closet after

 

Now everything is actually accessible

In addition to the shelves which are attached to the back wall of the closet (but are adjustable so I can customize the configuration as things change), I used a tall silver shelving unit which is small enough to fit in the space and makes good use of the height there, while still giving me access to the supplies I need without stacking them on top of one another. I also got a shorter, wider unit to accommodate the boxes of old files.

I hung some of my plaques in the empty space in the closet, rather than hanging them all on my office wall. This frees up wall space in my office itself, and since no one sees them but me anyway, (I travel to my clients or work with them virtually) putting them where I see them when I access supplies is a good reminder that the work I do is actually helping people.

Getting my office organized helps me to work more efficiently and effectively, because I’m not wasting time looking for things or moving them around to gain access to what I need; I can focus on working for my clients.

It's not often that I let people take a peek into my closet, but I hope it helps!

Do you have an organizing project that you want to tackle or that you just completed? Share your stories in the comments below - and keep an eye out for my next post with some times to help make your organizing project just a little bit easier.

Five Ways to Find Ideas for Blog Posts

Blogs can be wonderful tools for marketing your practice, cultivating relationships and engaging with others in your industry and your target market. But one of the major stumbling blocks that causes lawyers to fear starting a blog or posting regularly is the pressure to come up with new ideas for blog posts.

Here are five ways you can find ideas for your blog content:

Write about what is in the news

This not only creates a natural 'hook' for your piece, but it can help your readers understand how your services can help people in real life situations.

Repurpose

Writing a brief? Doing legal research on something new? Meeting with a client or writing to them to explain something about their case or legal problem? Convert that work into a blog post or series of blog posts. Use what you are already doing every day for clients as a jumping-off point for a post. 

Write about the basics

They may be basic to you as an expert, but they certainly aren't basic to your clients or potential clients, who may not have been in this situation before. Do new or potential clients ask the same questions or have the same concerns? Take your answers to each of those questions and concerns and turn them into a blog post. 

Read other blogs

Blogging is about engagement and building relationships. Bloggers appreciate it when you spread their content or link to it. Follow other bloggers in your industry or area of practice. When they write something interesting, comment about it on your blog, put your spin on it and link back to them. Not only will this help build your blogging relationships, but it makes it much easier to post when you aren't sure what to write about - someone else has done the work for you! 

Use social media and RSS to stockpile ideas

When I'm stuck for something to write about on my blog, I go to Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ or Google Reader to see what other people are talking about, what articles they are linking to, etc. I can usually come up with at least 2 or 3 ideas for blog posts. If I have the time and I feel like writing, I'll write up (or at least start) all of the blog posts then and there and just schedule them to post later. If not, I'll bookmark the ideas for the future.

This post is a perfect example of both #4 and #5:A member of one of my LinkedIn discussion groups posted a question asking for tips for attorneys starting a blog. This post originated as my response to her question. Since it fits right in with what I discuss here on the Legal Ease Blog, answering her question also created my blog post.