So you set up your new practice or business, you want to get better at not just what you do but in managing your time. For lawyers and businessmen, time is literally money and time management is a skill that takes pointed effort, patience and a ridiculous amount of post-its to master. In an effort to save the trees (and reduce your stress levels) here are 5 apps you can download and use right now for free to take your time management to the next level.
1. Evernote
This app is super essential if you move around a lot. You might be on the way into work and think of a new strategy for a contentious matter but have nowhere to write it. You can take a voice note or even a video of yourself and incorporate it into other notes. Evernote has a great feature I have used since university which allows you to take a picture of handwritten notes, upload them and run searches through them. Evernote allows you to store files in the cloud and search from any location so long as you have your phone or access to the internet. Most enticing is that the app itself and basic accounts are free.
2. Dropbox
I cannot state how many times this app has saved presentation mishaps in university and the applications for law practices are numerous. You can work on documents together with other lawyers from any computer or device. Dropbox periodically saves the progress so you can go back to previous versions if someone has a 3 am mind cough and writes something that makes you squint.
You can share very large files and can send to anyone even if they do not have the Dropbox app. You can get 2GB free or it is 10 USD or EC26.00 per month for 100GB. Dropbox annually runs promotional events where you can get and keep a lot more storage for free.
3. CamScanner
So you are out visiting a client perhaps (if you live in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines like I do) on an island or in an inconvenient place and you have documents to scan. Once you have a phone with a decent camera – Camscanner pretty much has you covered. This is available for both iOS and Android, this legal app uses your phone’s camera to generate PDF documents and using this for the past 5 years no one can tell the difference. You can annotate the document, share it via email or WhatsApp and upload it to another application. The password protection feature allows you to have an added layer of security for sensitive documents. There is built-in optical character recognition that can extract text from an image and import it into a PDF that can be edited.
4. Notion
Notion uses artificial intelligence to help make sense of your email inbox. Personally, I have not tried this one out yet but I have read that Notion runs effective algorithms that use your email history, and actually has elements of learning code that selects which messages are important (Gmail already has something like this). This is in addition to a Radar feature that hones in on messages that could use urgent replies for maximum productivity. Notion also includes an Alexa skill that allows you to listen to important emails and organize your messages through Amazon’s smart speaker system. Notion supports Gmail, G Suite, Office 365 and IMAP email services. I will certainly be using this on my next app trial month.
5. Todoist
Todist is the easiest to-do list I have used on Android and it is a great feeling to remove the completed tasks. It shows you your tasks for the day, week and month. You don’t have to just use it for work, it can be any task you need to do. For example, it integrates with Gmail and as soon as I get an email that requires me to do something, I note it into Todoist and it reminds me when the time is closer. Other apps do this but the user interface, I think, pushes it past a lot of other apps. It has massively improved my time management skills and should I work in a team in the near future I will certainly be bringing this app along.
Continuous improvement is the greatest commitment in life.
“Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.” – Napoleon Hill
Best wishes for your legal practice or business.
Chevanev Charles is a maritime lawyer, consultant an tech hobbyist with a Masters in International Maritime Law (LL.M, IMLI, Malta). He is skilled in giving informative opinions on maritime matters, legislative drafting, contractual drafting including ship mortgages and crew agreements.
