60 Tips in 60 Minutes focuses on increasing productivity for work and life
The always-popular ABA Techshow closing session, 60 in 60, has taken on several iterations over the years: websites (“60 Sites in 60 Minutes”), general tech tips (“60 Tips in 60 Minutes”) and a hodgepodge of things (“60 Tips, Tricks, Gizmos, Gadgets and Sites in 60 Minutes”).
This year’s session, which took place at the Hilton Chicago on Saturday, reverted back to the 60 Tips format. Panelists Adam Camras, CEO of Legal Talk Network; Ivan Hemmans, senior manager of technical development at O’Melveny & Myers; Jack Newton, CEO of Clio; Deborah Savadra, editor and chief blogger at Legal Office Guru; and Rochelle Washington, senior staff attorney at the District of Columbia Bar, provided 60 tips to improve productivity and your personal life. The presenters included several apps, websites and services to accompany each tip. (The full list is available here.)
One tip was to move documents to the cloud and use online apps to collaborate with others. Camras recommended using G Suite from Google, while Newton suggested Microsoft Office 365. “It gives me so much time back,” Camras said. “All my documents are secure in the cloud, and I can log on and collaborate and get through things a lot more quickly.”
Another tip revolved around an area that most lawyers hate. “Who here loves timekeeping?” Savadra asked rhetorically. With passive timekeeping applications, lawyers can generate their time records automatically based on what they do on their computers. Savadra recommended Chrometa, Aderant, RescueTime or Smart Time.
The panelists also dished out tips to help attendees use Microsoft Word more efficiently, protect their passwords with a password manager, automate workflows, create PDFs on the go, set up online meetings and schedule things more easily.
Savadra suggested hovering a cursor over the paste button in Word in order to preview the result. “That way, you can check your text before you wreck your text.”
Washington, meanwhile, noted that with so many people using mobile phones instead of computers, it was inexcusable for a law practice not to have a mobile-optimized website. “Most people are looking at your websites on mobile devices, and they’ll move right along if they have to swipe across the screen to see your contact info,” said Washington, who recommended Duda Mobile as a way to build mobile-optimized websites.
The panelists also suggested a few “life hacks” to help people save time in their everyday lives. Camras praised Charlie, an app that combs through hundreds of sources to give you information about a person before you meet or speak with them. “I like to be prepared before a meeting, I like to know who I’m talking to,” says Camras. “It syncs with my calendar, it goes into all of my emails and meetings I have scheduled and automatically sends me a briefing of who I’m meeting with and gives me links to their social media and will even give me tips as to their likes and hobbies.”
Newton, meanwhile, recommended TripIt, an app for travelers that automatically builds an itinerary by going through emails and pulling out reservations, confirmation numbers and other details. “It has saved me hundreds of hours over the years,” Newton said.
And, if people are looking to avoid doing a certain task and want someone else to do it for them, there are apps and services for that, too. Shyp will bring people over to help you mail a package while TaskRabbit allows you to outsource jobs to people in your neighborhood, such as assembling furniture or cleaning the house. “Anything that gives me more time to spend with my family is good,” Hemmans said.
Follow along with our full coverage of the 2017 ABA Techshow
