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I was wondering if there's any focus strategies that you young attorneys developed after law school. I didn't have focus problems until I learned that law school was only about four weeks a year worth of hard work, but in practice you're expected to do a good job every day. I assume this is common, but I'm embarrassed to bring it up.

Depends on the type of work really. Document Review becomes muscle memory pretty quick. Nonjury Appearance Work is a puppet show once you know the players, Client Intake is just pretending you care (babysitting) while filling out templates, process serving is just not getting bit by dogs, odds are you are just tired. Long hours can do that to the body mind and soul. My 100% honest answer is try to get laid as much as you can (you get higher quality sleep REM that way).

Also, interested in some more tips and tricks.

Lacepiece23 wrote:Also, interested in some more tips and tricks.

Same. And just project management in general. I feel like if I don't do what's assigned to me that day, it gets thrown to end of the pile because it's not important enough...and then it takes someone saying "umm where is that?" for me to get going.

I've been practising for over five years and I'm very interested too.

Not sure if this will be helpful, but the best way for me to stay focused is actually by switching tasks when I've been doing one thing for too long. So for example, if I've been working on an appellate brief for most of the day and I don't have a pressing deadline, I switch to reviewing a contract or catching up with other cases I inherited and know nothing about. That way my brain stays entertained because there's something new.

(1) Run. Or exercise >= 40 minutes a day. You can find the time, and the focus dividends are enormous.
(2) Sleep. See above.
(3) Leave your personal cell at home. Or, if not feasible, turn it off for ~1-2 hour blocs.
(4) Pace your caffeine intake. I always kick myself for trading ~20 minutes of "hyper" focus for the residual ~40 minutes of freneticism.
(5) Trust your brain's internal "relevance" filters. I often find that I grow most unfocused when I've moved beyond the most relevant portion of a case, transcript, etc. Feel free to dial down into "skim" when you feel that happening. Of course, this strategy has limited application when comprehensiveness is the product.
(6) Music: Try trip-hop stuff like Emancipator. Put one song on loop.

Just some thoughts.

Anyone use the Pomodoro Technique in a biglaw environment? I only started using it for long days of law school studying, but I wonder how it would work out in the real world where you're expected to answer the phone and reply to emails in real-time.

One thing I like to do when doing research is set the doc to auto-scroll which tends to keep me focused.

Masturbate often.

Glasseyes wrote:Anyone use the Pomodoro Technique in a biglaw environment? I only started using it for long days of law school studying, but I wonder how it would work out in the real world where you're expected to answer the phone and reply to emails in real-time.

First time I've ever heard of this and checked it out this morning. Played with a few Chrome apps. Kanban Flow seems to take a ton of time to get going and to maintain--probably not my style. The easiest and simplest one to use is Totodoro, which I like very much because it combines the concept of the Pomodoro technique with a low maintenance to do list (which then acts as a little log of my time when the day is done).

Overall this has been pretty good for my productivity. I definitely don't stick to the five minute break rule, but having the timer there has definitely improved my focus when I'm actually trying to work.

I'll probably give that Kanban Flow some attention while I'm home this weekend and see if I can make it work. I just have my doubts about keeping five different lists with colors and inputs and blah blah blah rather than relying on my Outlook calendar that my secretary maintains for me.

AVBucks4239 wrote:

Glasseyes wrote:Anyone use the Pomodoro Technique in a biglaw environment? I only started using it for long days of law school studying, but I wonder how it would work out in the real world where you're expected to answer the phone and reply to emails in real-time.

First time I've ever heard of this and checked it out this morning. Played with a few Chrome apps. Kanban Flow seems to take a ton of time to get going and to maintain--probably not my style. The easiest and simplest one to use is Totodoro, which I like very much because it combines the concept of the Pomodoro technique with a low maintenance to do list (which then acts as a little log of my time when the day is done).

Overall this has been pretty good for my productivity. I definitely don't stick to the five minute break rule, but having the timer there has definitely improved my focus when I'm actually trying to work.

I'll probably give that Kanban Flow some attention while I'm home this weekend and see if I can make it work. I just have my doubts about keeping five different lists with colors and inputs and blah blah blah rather than relying on my Outlook calendar that my secretary maintains for me.

Yeah, I'm not super strict about the to-do list part of it either. I like having the ticking timer to keep me on point for 25 minute blocks of time, then I usually listen to a 5 minute song while frantically scouring the web for mindless entertainment. It definitely helps me plow through heinous reading when I would otherwise dawdle after 50 pages, but I haven't really tested the method with actual work. I use a really ghetto timer app but I'll look into the ones you suggested.

coffee

How has no one said adderall yet?

It sounds weird, as I've never been a vitamin guy, but I've started taking a B complex, GABA, and vitamin D, and I've noticed a difference both in mood and in focus.

Also, started seeing a rolfer for relaxation once a month or so - hurts more than deep tissue massage, and provides longer relief. Pain makes that stress go away, right?

Glasseyes wrote:Anyone use the Pomodoro Technique in a biglaw environment? I only started using it for long days of law school studying, but I wonder how it would work out in the real world where you're expected to answer the phone and reply to emails in real-time.

Yup. Using pomodoro technique with big success !!! I found rpg-like game based on pomodoro technique called pomodorium - makes pomodoro technique less boring.