Law Technology Today From the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center
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Working in a law firm is an impressive accomplishment. And, let’s be honest, it sounds great when you bring it up at dinner parties. However, it’s not always as exciting as it sounds.
It’s likely your workday often includes repetitious or non-creative tasks that help things run smoothly, yet are undoubtedly a bit boring.
Check out these ideas to make seemingly mundane tasks more interesting, which will help you get them done a whole lot faster.
1. Switch Up Your Routine
Perhaps you generally follow the same routine each day at your law firm unless something urgent requires you to adapt accordingly. Sometimes a routine gives stability to your work, but it could also lead to severe monotony.
If you don’t have restraints that require you to stick to a rigid schedule when getting stuff done, do tasks in a different order and see if that element of novelty makes them hold your interest.
2. Sandwich an Undesirable Task Between Two More Pleasant Ones
Some tasks aren’t exciting no matter how you view them. Take a look at your to-do list and see if there are ways to combine responsibilities you like best with the ones you aren’t as crazy about tackling.
Get engaged with preferable tasks scheduled immediately before and after the duties you don’t like. That way, you’re capitalizing on a goals-and-rewards-based system.
As a result, the jobs you really don’t look forward to doing are automatically a little better than before, because things you enjoy more surround the tasks you’d rather not handle.
3. Motivate Yourself by Unleashing Your Internal Competitive Streak
In many cases, your innate desire to succeed can naturally make boring tasks more interesting, too. Come up with ways to constantly push yourself to do the best you can with everything, whether you’re interviewing a client about his case or implementing a new system for organizing files. In the process, get involved in a competition with yourself and keep track of your performance.
While doing this, make sure you don’t sacrifice quality over quantity. Self-improvement doesn’t always mean you do things faster than before, but it sometimes relates to coming up with more effective methods that benefit the firm at large.
4. Listen to Music While Doing Data Entry Tasks
Music stimulates the brain in a variety of ways. Think about checking with your boss to see if it’s okay to listen to music while doing something repetitive, such as entering information on a spreadsheet. Research indicates ambient music improves data entry accuracy for 92% of people.
Also, because most business owners think tunes make their workers more productive, you might not have trouble convincing the top members of the firm to let you enjoy a soundtrack while working. If you’re worried about distracting others, plug earbuds into your laptop or .mp3 player to block the noise.
5. Become an Expert With a Task That Doesn’t Challenge You
You might feel like you’re facing a mind-numbing task due to seemingly knowing everything possible about how to do it. Take typing, for example. If you’re a legal secretary, the majority of your day is probably spent with your fingers pressing on a keyboard, making it very difficult to feel enthused about all typing-related tasks.
However, there are ways to become a faster typist. By learning them, you can stimulate your brain through the act of applying some new tricks. Then, the expansion of your knowledge base makes typing more fun.
Think about applying this tip to anything you typically do at the firm. Whether it’s answering the phone or transcribing case information, there are ways to become more informed about all your responsibilities. You might even serve as a mentor by passing on techniques to others.
6. Break Repetitive Tasks Into Manageable Chunks
Tasks often seem more uninspiring if they take a long time to complete. Review your daily to-do list and focus on jobs that require lots of repetition. Instead of getting those matters taken care of all at once, split them into segments, so they’re more palatable.
Consider using these tips regularly to make time at work more interesting. Your enthusiasm could be contagious and positively influence colleagues.
