People who are considering dietary changes are often told to count their calories. “Write down everything you eat,” the advice goes. Then, at the end of the day when you tally up your consumption, you have to face the hard truth. If you were hoping that 3pm Snickers bar would just get forgotten, you’d be wrong. It’s awfully hard to argue with data that’s staring you in the face.
A similar principle can be applied to tracking time at your law firm. While we might think we’re spending our time one way, the data may prove something else entirely.
Time to Track Your Time
Billable hours are the bedrock of your firm. Without them, you’d have to close your doors. So, it makes sense that tracking those hours are the priority, but don’t forget about tracking how you spend the rest of your days either.
Even if you only do it for a week or two, institute a period where you track ALL the time you spend working. Heck, even track the time you don’t (it’s amazing how quickly that lunch break can go…).
After tracking your hours, you may notice some surprising findings. Maybe you’re spending a significant amount of time searching for case files, or you notice yourself going back and forth on a scheduling issue that could have been completed much quicker.
Your time-tracking audit may reveal opportunities for automation, or at a minimum, encourage you to shift resources and responsibilities. Once you know where all the time is being spent, you can then focus on what parts of your daily work can be automated via technology.
Start with the low-hanging fruit. Yes, scheduling can (and should) be automated. Yes, there are effective productivity tools to help with organization and collaboration. Then lather, rinse and repeat. For help with automation at your law firm, get in touch with our Apple experts at Honeycrisp.
