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(12 Jun) Information overload has a significant impact on lawyer productivity. Seven in 10 lawyers believe they are inundated with information and 2 in 5 think they are headed for an information "breaking point" (LexisNexis Workplace Productivity Survey 2008).
Managing information overload depends to some degree on personal circumstances. Your work may be more time-sensitive than mine. My work may require more up-to-the-minute information than yours. Some people may have to work harder at turning off the incoming information channels. Those unfamiliar with certain technical solutions may have to invest time in learning something new before they reap the rewards.
What this means is that you have to find a method that works for you. To that end, what follows are some ideas for managing information overload. Adopt, modify or eliminate them as suits your situation.
Plan and Prioritize.
It's not always possible for those who provide a service to develop, and stick to, a daily plan. To some degree, the needs of clients, customers or patrons will shape the day.
But if you've been doing what you do for awhile, you have some idea of how the average day or week proceeds. Develop your plan around this knowledge. Prioritize the regular tasks you want to accomplish. Build in some flexibility for the unexpected.
Your plan should include limits. Suppose Friday afternoons are usually quiet, so you set aside 3 hours every week at this time to catch up with professional reading. But a client's call sets you back an hour or more.
Do you squeeze the time lost into the following week's schedule? I suggest not because if such interruptions happen regularly, or if the following week's schedule cannot accommodate the additional time, you could fall further behind. You'll lose a sense of accomplishment and you'll begin to feel overloaded.
Instead, let the reading (or the hour's reading you lost) go. Shelve it, or send it on. If it contains something you really need to know, that information will cross your desk again. If it's something you'll need to know later, you'll educate yourself when you need to know it.
Turn Off or Schedule the Incoming Information Flow.
If you must answer the phone when you're in the office, then you must. Can you instead turn off other incoming channels - e-mail, instant messaging, RSS, Twitter or any technology that appears to demand your immediate attention?
Consider how much time these technologies waste. (They can, of course, be time-savers, when managed. See below.) Out of the 50 e-mail messages you received this morning, how many comprise essential information or communication? If the answer is a relatively small number, then turn it off. Check it 3 times per day, or less, if possible.
Limit checking RSS feeds to once per day, or less. If you track (called "follow") people via Twitter, connect only to those who provide information essential to your work. Consider setting up a separate account to follow family or friends. If you receive too many non-essential interruptions through instant messaging or text messaging, turn them off and schedule times to check in.
Reduce or Mange the Incoming Information Flow.
You have more control over incoming information than you might think. One obvious example is opt-in newsletters you receive by e-mail. You may, of course, opt-out.
But suppose the information is highly relevant to what you do. Consider switching to the RSS version, if one is available. Then, rather than cluttering your inbox, the information will be waiting for you when you open your RSS reader. Better, it will disappear (unless you actively save it) when you close the reader. If you find that you're marking the issues read without reading them, then perhaps the newsletter isn't as relevant to your work as you thought.
Delete any feeds you mark read, without actually reading them, 2 or 3 times in a row.
If the e-mail newsletters you read do not have an RSS version, set up rules to sort them into special folders as they come in. This, too, will prevent clutter in your inbox.
Much of the advice on managing e-mail requires that you 1) spend an entire day organizing it or 2) delete everything after acting on it. Neither of these options works for me.
I depend heavily on rules to sort my incoming e-mail. Currently, my virtualchase.com e-mail is processed through 86 rules with spam-filtering minimized. What remains in my inbox I act on, when necessary, and delete or keep. I read pre-sorted e-mail once per day or less. I check the in-box about 3 times per day. I periodically clean up the folders and the inbox.
The Bottom Line
To be productive, you need time to focus on what you're doing. Interruptions decrease your focus. Remove - even if for a short time - those you can. If you invest time in experimenting with new technologies, you might discover other ways to manage incoming information and save time.
Above all, set reasonable goals and prioritize them. Plan your workday to the extent possible. If you accomplish most of what you plan, you'll feel productive. Moreover, if you let go of what isn't at the time essential, you'll feel less overloaded.
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(11 Jun) Glassdoor.com, a free site offering inside information about companies, launched yesterday. In exchange for a review or salary information about a current or past employer, you may display reviews or salary information for companies in the database.
"Glassdoor checks each submission before it posts to make sure it doesn't compromise the anonymity of the contributor or other employees or reveal trade secrets or inside information."
(5 Jun) What do you do when your paid expert no longer agrees with you? Should you sue? Whether or not you should, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says you can.
Bob Ambrogi, editor of IMS ExpertServices' BullsEye Newsletter, authors this article, which is reprinted with permission on The Virtual Chase.
SEE: States Wrestle with Immunity
The Virtual Chase, 5 June 2008
(Reprinted with permission from IMS ExpertServices' BullsEye Newsletter.)
RELATED: Expert Secrecy: An Ethics Dilemma?
The Virtual Chase, 8 May 2008
(Reprinted with permission from IMS ExpertServices' BullsEye Newsletter.)
RELATED: Expert Witness Research
The Virtual Chase, 4 December 2007
(5 Jun) Whatever a lawyer's degree of knowledge, software expert Ivan Zatkovich strives to help his clients break through common misperceptions and reveal the reality of how software works.
Bob Ambrogi, editor of IMS ExpertServices' BullsEye Newsletter, authors this article, which is reprinted with permission on The Virtual Chase.
(10 Jun) Paul Bush recently announced that subscribers to Legal Dockets Online will now find that the portal covers select public records and additional legal documents. In the past, the portal provided quick access to civil and criminal court docket and case information systems. Now it also covers property, recordings, UCCs/liens, business entity records and licenses, court rules, and forms.
(2 Jun) Google announced that it now makes real-time stock quotes available via Google Finance.
SEE: Google Finance
Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository: Find civil and criminal case information for trial court matters back to 1995. The site states (and I confirmed) that some older information may be available. Search by personal or company name, partial name, case number, or name and date of birth. Information provided includes party names, year of birth, if known and relevant (criminal matters only), case information (case caption, docket number, citation number, judge, status, violations, and disposition) and case history, when available. (et)
Glassdoor.com: Launched as a public beta on 11 June 2008, the site promises to deliver "reviews, ratings and salary details about specific jobs for specific employers." While access to the information requires registration, it is free. The catch? To join, you must provide a review or salary information for a current or past employer.
The type information you will find includes the company name, top executive, its industry, employee size, revenue, Web site address, reviews and salary reports. You may also search salaries or reviews by keyword.
Technical note: We experienced technical difficulty in attempting to register for access. We submitted a bug report. (et)
Legal Dockets Online: This subscription-based site provides a portal to civil and criminal case information and court docket systems for federal, state and local courts in the United States. In June 2008, it added coverage for real estate and county recorder records as well as UCCs, business filings and professional licenses. The site also offers a Weblog on electronic filing and public records retrieval. (et)
Research News Archive
2 June 2008
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Cite as: TVC Alert Research News, 12 June 2008, Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, http://www.virtualchase.com/tvcalert/transfer.asp?xmlFile=jun08/12jun08.xml
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Created: 12 June 2008
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URL: http://www.virtualchase.com/tvcalert/transfer.asp?xmlFile=jun08/12jun08.xml
Contact: Genie Tyburski![tvceditor [at] virtualchase [dot] com](../images/editor_882_sm.jpg)
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