One of the most lucrative and prestigious professions besides medicine is the practice of law. However, with increasing pressures and numerous changes in the legal world, the workload is rising at an unprecedented rate.
The most important part of an attorney’s professional life is time. There is severe competition to meet the required number of billable hours. Usually, an attorney needs to complete 12 billable hours on average for every working day.
Many attorneys lose track of time. This slowly becomes detrimental to their productivity levels. If they keep track of their time, their attention will divert. This is bad because their whole focus needs to be on their clients.
Let’s first understand some key responsibilities of an attorney. These include:
Advising and representing clients in courts or government agencies.
Researching and analyzing legal matters.
Assisting and communicating with clients.
Drafting legal documents for lawsuits, deeds, contracts, etc.
Preparing to defend clients in courts.
The above-mentioned responsibilities may not encompass the entire set of duties attorneys perform. But, the important point to takeaway is that with these excruciating pressures it becomes hard to track time.
How time tracking app can streamline processes for attorneys?
When an automated system like Stafftimer app is monitoring time for attorneys, they can spend more hours dealing with their clients without the hassle of manually filling timesheets. In the end, every minute matters when you are practicing law.
Time monitoring is not left in workspace
Yes, you can use Stafftimer even in a court or some meeting with a client. Its screenshot feature is optional. This means that you don’t need to worry about accidentally capturing case proceedings. Attorneys just need to enter a task, and get liberated from the stress of calculating time. The tracker shall keep counting it for them.
Daily work reports
An attorney will not need manually filled timesheets since Stafftimer provides them with daily work reports. These reports can serve as verified proof of their billable hours.
Accurate invoicing
Staftimers calculate work hours in an immaculate manner. No need to worry about getting inaccurate invoices and wasting your hard labor. The app provides effective solutions for these situations.
Clients can receive bills with the proof attached. Don’t worry about bothersome tasks like payroll and making calculations for invoices. An attorney’s every minute counts and Stafftimer takes great care of it.
Intelligent reporting and real-time monitoring
As an employer or a partner in a law firm, your resources are not getting wasted. Why? Because Stafftimer is taking care of them. The app provides employers with daily reports. These reports can tell how much time an associate lawyer was spending on each task or window.
With real-time monitoring, employers know how much time an attorney is taking on each case as it live-shares their screens. This way, employers always know who has the chance to progress further and who is struggling.
Cost-effective solution
When an employer knows who is productive and who is a dead fish, they can save their resources by eliminating unproductive employees. Legal practice needs aggressive competition between equally capable persons. It can’t afford to carry someone around.
Team members’ hours can be tracked to plan budget costs. This data can then be used to accurately bill clients.
Offline tracking
If attorneys are out of the workspace and lose connection to the internet, Stafftimer will keep on working. It will update from the back-office once the connection is restored.
Female lawyers
Ambitious lawyers who are also mothers will find it difficult to split their time. Either they can spend quality time with their kids or focus most of their attention on their practice. Seeing this complicated predicament for their female lawyers, some major law firms are offering flexible work options.
This means that they can choose to work from home on certain weekdays. However, the real challenge is how to ensure that they are actually working? And how many hours they are spending on work? Stafftimer solves this problem by keeping track of time. This way, everyone gets paid according to the number of hours they’ve put into work.
Conclusion
Employee monitoring software is a crucial need for the legal world. Their work, routine, and progress all revolve around billable hours. Therefore, it’s necessary for them to use a time tracking software that can monitor their time. This lets them pursue their commitments without any worries.
With the rise of tech trends, limitations and challenges associated with 9 to 5 jobs, and a shortage of required skills have triggered the growth of remote work opportunities.
However as soon as the demand is growing, competition is growing as well. Coupled with competition, there are certain challenges and handicaps associated with the future of freelancing work.
Human resources are finding it hard to hire an appropriate workforce
No doubt there is an abundance of workforce available in the market but that doesn’t imply they are worthy of getting hired. There is a constant and rapid technological growth that demands a variety of skills that might not be readily available. Therefore finding a remote workforce remains as an only option.
But the challenge is…
This increasing requirement for a technically advanced workforce has made life hard for basic tech users available for freelancing. Things are not rosy for them anymore. Simple content writing with no SEO knowledge is not worth it.
More and more graphic designers, software developers, web developers/designers, photoshop editors, and similar skills are in demand. So basic tech skills are failing to take their place or get entertained.
Regardless of that freelance is in vogue
According to the Harvard business review report, 96 companies were surveyed with 18,000 employees but at least 70% were working freelance once in a week. The reasons are obvious. More and more time spent at the workplace and demands of the corporate sector has affected the work/life balance of employees.
Nobody wants to miss the event at their child’s school, or not being able to spend quality time with family. Before there was a misconception that its only women who feel under pressure of full-time jobs. Even though men feel similarly trapped. More and more companies according to the report of upwork offering flex options. This clearly indicates that the future belongs to freelance.
What other limitations, does full-time work impose?
Other than lack of work/life balance, long hours in commute and pressures of meeting deadlines have added to the misery. Some people feel put off from politics at the workplace, lack of appreciation or unrealistic expectations. Freelance offers an escape from all of these.
Remote work put one in control of their own work pace. And lack of control is one of the biggest grievances a worker. Freelancing comes with liberation. An Earth trotter who feels restricted in one place can now travel and still work.
But nothing gives you an entire universe
Everything, every pleasure comes with its own drawbacks and challenges. Life is a struggle be it personal or professional. And humans don’t feel gratitude for whatever the blessing they have. First, they seek freedom of work then they crave for social life. One of the biggest complaints freelancers make is loneliness.
They are at home and with family but still perplexed. Now the concern is, ‘’we miss having lunches with coworkers’’, ‘’we miss getting feedback from seniors’’. And the list is endless. This has cultivated a feeling of severe loneliness that can potentially lead to depression. And depression, as we all know, can hinder our activity in the worst form.
How to cure the sense of alienation that comes with remote work
There is an emerging trend of coworking spaces where freelancers can come and work together. However, this option is mostly available in developed cities in progressive countries.
A freelancer in some remote rural area of a third world country won’t have access to it. An option is to work in public space that can be available in form of small coffee shops even in villages. Other than that there is a solution to get connected with the rest of the team members across the globe.
Even though most viable solution can be to keep a job with flex option of few weekdays. That can provide both a fulfilling work life and quality time to spend with friends and family.
Data security at the disposal of freelancers
One sensitive issue is companies are putting security of their data in peril by letting their remote employees access it from unsecured networks. A private internet connection at home is secure, but freelancers connecting through public wifi are adding to risk.
Therefore only responsible remote workers should be hired with better reviews. Even though those reviews are work related not indicating how that person maintained privacy. But it definitely demonstrates responsibility and a dutiful employee shall keep the trust of their employer/client intact.
Conclusion
Regardless of all the limitations and challenges, freelancing shall take over future markets with the majority of the workforce employed remotely in the coming decades. Besides, technology has made things easier that is adding towards the demands of flex work.
Employers or clients can now monitor their remote workers though staff time tracking software, thus knowing their productivity levels. Also ensuring if the decided number of hours was utilized or project took the mentioned time to be completed. Therefore employers don’t need to worry about the lack of micromanagement of their employees.
Workplace and professional life carry many challenges, one of those is simply getting distracted. The reasons are not limited to any particular kind. Some of the most common and troubling ones are addressed here.
Some colleagues are factories of noise pollution
While some healthy chit chat or even cracking a joke once in a while is healthy with coworkers. But some inherently seek overdose. They just can’t stay focused on their work or let others do the same. Even their sitting postures can cause vibration across the whole table.
They will constantly try to nudge you or drag you into their useless chattering. As a result, by the end of the day, you will be rushing like headless chickens to meet deadlines.
How to fix them?
Various forms of treatment can be applied to them. If they repeatedly address you, start wearing headphones so they know you aren’t available to chat. But some fellas are hell stubborn to disturb others. Create a distance! Moving away from your current location can be an escape while you are trying to concentrate.
Choose a peaceful corner in your office. Only a creep will come after you there. Try to communicate your concerns to them in a polite manner but if they still happen to ignore, then talking to seniors remains an alternative.
Even a work environment can be a nuisance
Sometimes you are working on an important task for a period longer than your colleagues were required to. They are a bit relaxed, and done with the heavier work of the day. They may want to have some fun time but you are getting disturbed.
It’s not on purpose vendetta against you so don’t hesitate in making it known. Do tell them that you need a space. Also, keep your surroundings clean, otherwise seeing clutter around can make you feel irritated and then distracted obviously.
Keep the social media temptations away!
How many likes my latest pic received? Well if you posted a recent pic of yours to flaunt away your latest branded dress or lunch in a posh cafe. You are going to have a constant urge to checking your social media account to see how many likes or comments you got?
If your phone remains right in front of you. No matter how hard you resist, you gonna break your resolve after some time.
So basically switch off your phone and place it at some remote albeit secured area. So the idea of it being away from reach can deter your motivation for wasting time.
Emails aren’t the most important business
Some people start wasting their peak productive hours in time consuming and least valuable task of responding to the emails. Try to answer them in between important assignments. Even then see which emails are worthy of reply and which ones are to mark spam.
Sleep recharges your physical energy
A good amount of sleep and consistent sleeping pattern are necessary to remain active at work. Otherwise, you will feel drowsy and listless so a healthy lifestyle is a key to focus. Never forget to add a nutritious diet.
Some soul searching is necessary
Sometimes the fountain of distraction is located inside you. Explore and fix it. Any form of stress or long-standing depression can contribute towards it. If you are facing some struggle in your personal life you will naturally feel diverted at work. Talk to your seniors or mentors.
Discuss to find a way out. Maybe a flexible work routine or readjustment of workload schedule. Or if you need more time you can utilize your reserved holidays to fix the issue and return to work with revitalized energy.
Its a bigger issue for freelancers!
When you are working from home, you can have a long list of distractions. It can be your attention-seeking pet or a child. It can be a sibling listening to loud music or the sound of the washing machine. All you need is a peaceful corner at home or maybe at a nearby coffee house.
Choose a space that comforts you the most. Wear headphones to block distracting noise. Turn off the phone. And indulge kids or pets with some activity.
But still, there is a chance you end up wasting time. Then a foolproof answer is using a staff time monitoring tool.Yes, your client can confirm that you worked for the decided number of hours and won’t create trouble while paying you.
But it will help you to stay organized as well. When you know you are being monitored with time tracking software.A little reason is there to let distractions overcome you.
Not only for freelancers employee monitoring softwarecan help any employee to stay safe from distractions. When one knows they have to complete a particular task or tasks in that given time. They will try their best to remain focused and deliver as much as they can.
Quality of life is a distinct concept from the standard of life. It’s your monetary capabilities that define your standard of life. But the quality of life lies in the contentment of heart.
It’s the small things in life that lay foundations of long term happiness and more importantly peace of heart. Some forms of happiness that are heavily relied upon as a benchmark of success and accomplishment only bring in temporary charms.
We, at times, mistake excitement for happiness and is short-lived.
Somebody landing an admission offer from Ivy league or a six-figure job might feel over the moon. For the time being, one feels its effect is going to last for eternity. Even though after some days when the excitement fades and the new change becomes a routine of your life you start feeling empty.
At times even worse than before. The reason is the spike in expectations generated as a result of that pleasant change in life. Materialistic accomplishments can inflate the human ego but the satisfaction of heart is just another matter.
So what are the factors that raise our quality of life if not these things?
Let’s discuss how we can improve the quality of life?
Quality of life is a subjective reality. You can’t generalize it. For some it’s maintained through their love for pets, for others it means books or family. An old lady in the neighborhood feels the serenity of heart seeing her garden every morning. So basically everyone defines it in different ways. No single formula exists for all.
1. Nothing can substitute for healthy relationships
No matter if you own a BMW or a luxury mansion in a posh area. If you are lonely in your life or even at heart, it will all look meaningless. Time spent with loved ones and quality of relationships add towards the longevity of life and overall well being.
Lack of quality relations is equal to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Risks of cardiovascular issues or dementia are drastically decreased too. Successful marriages bring in similar positive effects in contrast to a problematic one.
Some people while running for material growth forget it a big deal whom they are earning for? Spending over time at work or lack of quality time with families can cause feelings of frustration in individuals without realizing the cause. Working 16 hours a day to earn extra bucks but not being able to make it for an event at your child’s school won’t bring you satisfaction.
Instead of becoming a part of the continuous rat race, learn to value your relationships. They boost the sense of security and fulfillment in a person, not commodities. Things are meant for people, not people are meant for things.
2. Modern work habits differ a great deal from good old days!
When we say we are working, it’s not the same when our grandparents used to say they were working. Their work habits didn’t leave space for workouts or exercise. Instead, their work was an exercise in itself. Even in old age like beyond 80, or 90, people of preceding generations were more active than our present ones.
They were not excessively reliant on machines, used to plow fields, execute household chores themselves without any paid help. All of these factors strengthen vital organs, decrease the chances of obesity and keeps one active.
Whereas our generation tends to work for longer hours, but our mode of professional life doesn’t add to our physical well being. To keep the traditional work spirits alive, one can make some modest changes into the routine.
Instead of totally relying upon household help, there should be a distribution of tasks. Where both of you work side by side thus keeping your system running. Since a desk job will tie you up with the seat so enhance your activity at home. Do a walk for at least 20 minutes after every meal.
A workout is a good option but if you have long working hours, or families to look after along with work, it might not be a good option. Spending another 2 or 3 hours outside of home shall start giving you a feeling of being a guest in your own home.
3. Are you a foodie?
If yes, then this question was not to compliment you. Foodie in a contemporary sense has become someone with excessive intake of calories than normal. Processed, or junk food, carbonated drinks, and usual essentials of our daily meals are adding less value and decreasing more.
Eating organic has become a fashionable slogan with little implementation. Again in the old days, organic food was a norm and health issues or chronic diseases like those of today were almost non-existent. Nowadays commercialism has taken place of reasoning ability and many prefer harmful food more because of apparent taste.
4. Health is wealth
One’s emotional and physical well being are connected with their state of health. Our family/social lives, eating habits and work routine are all crucial and essential basis to maintain health and longevity of life. Money isn’t a savior and many affluent ones are suffering from acute depression. So be mindful of your lifestyle preferences.
Abkhazia, a small region under the administrative authority of Georgia has remained a center of attention for international media and global researchers. The reasons are extreme longevity of life and immaculate health of its elderly people. Many hit 150 there and above 100 is a norm.
In fact not only a norm even after hitting century they keep on working in fields and old women knit without glasses. Some men are reported to have kids after the age of 100. And research shows they don’t even suffer from chronic diseases or any significant health issues.
What are the reasons behind it?
The ones we discussed above. They eat organic completely and no concept exists to consume more calories than needed. They live in a form identical to tribal setup. With each family consisting of 50 members. The love and bonding don’t let them get old.
Even a person at 110 looks like 70 years old. Besides, they work at least four hours a day even after hitting the 90s. They don’t seem to retire and remain active in their collective social life for longer. The things we call backward or conservative add value to life. The lifestyle habits we left behind were the ones adding value to it.
5. Leave your comfort zone
It’s not always good not to take risks or embark upon new adventures. Sometimes leaving your monotonous and boring routine and sitting on a roller coaster ride of life brings more taste to life.
Like you eat daily from home or sometimes from a classy restaurant, but eating from a little cart by the street side has its own value. This is just an example. The real thing is to keep trying something new or different. Learning a new language, an art or a skill but keep experiencing life.
6. Become a voice for the voiceless
Do remember that people around the world and in every state suffering from some racial, political, ethnic or religious injustices and crisis. Do become their voice. Work for social change and resistance. When you find yourself capable of bringing even the tiniest change into society, it makes you feel actually accomplished.
7. Travelling brings a real-life exposure
When you’re traveling, ask the traveler for advice / not someone whose lameness keeps him in one place. (Rumi)
Travel brings in light and refreshment to life. Visually and physically experiencing new cultures, rituals, languages, traditions, and landscape creates vitality in life. It also broadens your horizons and adds new dimensions in life.
You will understand how much more you need to learn and explore in life. And it’s not confined to where you were glued before. You will emerge as more experienced and tolerant of views and beliefs contradictory to your own.
8. Read, learn and impart knowledge
Reading social media posts, or a newspaper doesn’t constitute proper reading. Learning anything new be it language, skill or a piece of knowledge acts as a form of mental exercise.
Therefore serving as a protection shield from Alzheimer’s and mental diseases. Also learning and education play an important part in the expansion of life span and keeps one healthy.
Book reading can trigger happiness in the human mind. When you read any literary text, you start imagining yourself in the world of your characters. You visualize the age and places spaced far apart than your own.
Similarly, if you are reading a philosophical text your brain starts racing to unlock the answers to complex questions. It makes you play mental gymnastics. The same applies for any subject. Knowledge comes to revive the emotional spirits of man, thus adds towards a sense of fulfillment.
But mere learning doesn’t suffice. Spread what you learned. Be it through writing, lecturing or just word of mouth. Especially writing helps one vent out their internal frustrations.
9. Money is not a useless thing either
By no means, its implied that earning a substantial amount is something evil and one should drop the idea of pursuing material success. It is important too. Getting short of finances can cause heavy stress in life.
After all no matter how many meaningful elements you have in life. You still need to pay the bills. The real thing is not to make it a purpose of life. Some people consider money as the end goal. Whereas its just a necessity of life. Like you need food to live but you don’t live for food. The same applies here. It’s not a purpose or ultimate goal.
But do strive for a good standard of life. Just remember don’t do it insanely. If you devise a careful strategy and worked hard. Money shall reach you eventually.
10. Learn to live for others
Even an animal cries when feeling pain but a human is one who feels for others as well. If you are blessed with anything try to share it with those who need it. If you have money more than you need than fattening your bank account won’t bring any gratification.
Its helping others, that would. Involving yourself in some charity work shall make you feel more at peace with yourself. Blessings increase with sharing.
No matter what one says or writes. Ultimately you can best decide and find for yourself what brings you real happiness. A man is capable of recognizing himself like none else. So do some soul searching and reach for the best conclusion yourself.
