6 Effective Paralegal Productivity Tips

In today’s fast-paced legal world, it’s important for paralegals to amplify their productivity; doing so makes paralegal life manageable and rewarding.

Technology is evolving rapidly the legal industry, and many legal professionals feel overwhelmed by the frenzied pace. Fortunately, there are several handy tools and technologies paralegals can use to streamline productivity.

What’s more — many of these productivity hacks will minimize drudgery and maximize stress-relief.

Here are 6 productivity tips for paralegals who want to get more done in less time, while also preserving their well-being.

#1: Create a Task List

Creating a task list, is an essential, beneficial technique for boosting productivity; this approach is particularly important for remote law firm associates, as working via Zoom poses unique challenges regarding time management. A dedicated workspace will help you focus on work and reduce interruptions.

Keeping a written list provides an outline for your day, even amongst challenging requests from attorneys and your workload. Maintaining a consistent work schedule enables you to stay productive, while reducing stress; in addition, it will allow you to uphold work-life balance while also appearing professional.

You can use an app for this, but there’s an additional benefit when you use a pen. Jotting tasks down on paper makes them easier to remember, both because you can reference the list and because writing triggers specific neurons in your brain while enhancing your memory.

A useful strategy might be to compile this list at the end of the day, so you can get a jump start the next morning.

Otherwise, you can reserve 20 minutes at the beginning of every day to prioritize tasks based on order of importance.

#2: Devise an Email Management System

The daily barrage of emails can overwhelm New Jersey Paralegals. If you want to stay productive, you should devise with a system for handling emails so don’t become a constant interruption.

One efficient tactic can be to reserve a specific time or times each day to review email, and try to confine email to those time frames.

Devote up to 30-35 minutes for email can allow you to be more focused for the rest of your day. Schedule email management as an appointment on your calendar, and then keep your inbox closed when you have meetings.

You might opt to avoid emails first thing in the morning, instead giving yourself time to get settled and review your schedule. beginning the day with email can easily distract you from your time-sensitive tasks as you attempt to juggle competing priorities.

#3: Fine-tune your Technology Proficiency

With all the legal software and tech tools that have become typical at law firms, it would benefit any paralegal to improve their technology proficiency.

If you earn develop a reputation as your firm’s go-to technology expert, your productivity and value can increase tenfold. Plus, you’ll be an invaluable player that the team can’t function efficiently without.

When considering the technology tools to learn, document management and word processing are essential areas for paralegals, whether your firm uses Word, Google Drive, or Dropbox.

Legal research platforms, like LexisNexis and Westlaw are must-haves.

Don’t overlook up-and-coming legal tech, such as billing software, eDiscovery, and e-filing. Subscribe to newsletters and blogs that frequently cover emerging technologies and subscribe to publications you find most useful.

#4: Identify an Ideal Productivity System

You can also elevate traditional to-do lists and employ a state-of-the art productivity system.

While a to-do list can be a clear-cut productivity system, other solutions are more intricate. These include popular techniques such as the 5-step Getting Things Done workflow, the Pomodoro technique using short time sprints, and the Kanban system using workflow boards with categories.

The important thing is to choose the right productivity system for you and test it for an in-depth trial period of at least 30 days.

Allow yourself ample time to learn the system’s intricacies, and then once you’re no longer thinking about how to do it, give it more time to produce results. Then, if it doesn’t work out, try an alternative designed to streamline your productivity. You can also use components of the entire system that you found useful while dropping other sections that offer little value.

#5: Develop Good Relationships with Court and Service Staff

An extremely useful productivity tip for NJ paralegals that’s not obvious is to develop good rapport with court staff. When you need something filed immediately or need to understand filing requirements, these relationships can streamline the filing process.

Conflict with court professionals is a huge waste of time. You evade missed filings by keeping relationships friendly, you can also avoid additional work and stress caused by these mistakes.

This relationship should also include service staff at the offices of opposing counsel.

While your attorney might be deadlocked in confrontational position with the attorney on the other side, a paralegal can be cordial and stay friendly with their staff.

Those paralegals and receptionists are probably encountering the same pressures as you are, so establish positive working relationships with them to balance your workflow.

#6: Take Meaningful Breaks

Another simple productivity tip is for paralegals to master the art of taking effective breaks from work.

Short breaks can leave you refreshed and invigorated, because of focusing on mindfulness and the opportunity to stretch your muscles and get your blood flowing. Take a brisk walk on your lunch break to clear your head.

In addition, there is a beneficial facet to taking breaks. Work breaks serve as a useful kind of self-care, where you provide yourself with space to separate from a chaotic mind.

To take more effective breaks, start by ensuring that you’re genuinely taking breaks. If you’re not in the habit yet, block out breaks on your schedule so that you get a reminder, and that time is designated as unavailable on your calendar.

When break time rolls around, stop working and step away from your desk. Don’t bring your phone. If you’re in an office space where people are likely to ask you work questions as soon as they see you’re “not busy,” think about taking a walk or sitting in your car where you won’t be disturbed.

This is a perfect time to listen to music or a podcast you enjoy, do some exercise, call your mom to chat, or focus on guided meditation. It’s important to make time for yourself, not just for your job.