The Zen of Work: INTRO

Holly’s first step

Holly came across a novel word – Zen.

And amidst all the hustle and bustle and threats of World War III, she decided to start using it to describe how she both lived and worked every day. It just seemed like the right way to approach life. In general, really. Especially right now. With a purposeful Zen-like approach.

So, to encourage herself, she thought –

Aaaah the “Zen” of things.

It was her first attempt of getting this whole “peace like” Zen thing into her life.

It felt like, to her at least, that just using the word “Zen” evoked feelings of being calm and being at peace with her surroundings. Like everything is perfectly in its place. That everything is being managed and all is fine.

She imagines meditative states of slow breaths in and out. Repeated to achieve an overall symbiosis with the world around her.

Breathing in and out. Slowly and deliberately. 

“Aaaaaaaah”. Goosefraba!

It is all so – Zen. There really is just no other word to describe this “otherworldly” feeling of peace that she is slowly acclimatising to.

Looking up the word “Zen” the Merriam Webster Dictionary, defines it as “a state of calm attentiveness in which one’s actions are guided by intuition rather than by conscious effort”

As an example – “Perhaps that is the zen of gardening—you become one with the plants, lost in the rhythm of the tasks at hand” – Irene Virag.

Easy as that hey?

Ok then. Time to get to work…. “Zenfully”.

Calmly and with very slow deliberate breaths – where her sole aim was to become “at one” with her task list in front of her – she opens up her laptop and begins reading through the dozens of unopened emails in her Inbox, slowly adding “to-do” items to her ever-growing list of tasks.

It’s not that she has been neglecting her task list or has ignored her emails. No. It’s just that she hasn’t quite been able to get to them. There is just SO MUCH that she needs to oversee. All by herself. Daily. And there really are only 24 hours in a day. She would know, she has literally counted every single hour.

Her heart begins to flutter, beads of sweat start rolling down her back and her chest begins to tighten. She knows this feeling – the very recognisable signs of a panic attack.

“Hello anxiety, my old friend”. 

What is this Zen thing everyone is talking about? And “Goosefraba” – fooey!

There is no Zen in Holly’s space. Quite evidently.

Holly very quickly realises that a true state of Zen requires not only time and effort, but also a little help. And it’s not help of the incense burning, slow breathing type (although some deep breaths to calm her nerves right about now would be a clever idea). 

She needs real help. Of the technological kind.

There is so much to do, with so little time that she feels like her billable hours will be filled with administrative tasks as opposed to getting work done and keeping her clients happy (after all you need “return” clients to build a sustainable practice). 

And right as her anxiety starts to reach its peak, an email “magically” (almost) pops into her inbox. And it’s not related to a matter – “Ease your stress by embracing technology”.

Hmmm. Interesting. A sign perhaps?

If she was honest with herself, she would admit that competition amongst similar firms – small one- or two-person(s) type practices – has become rather fierce. And for some or other reason she has been falling behind. Drastically.

It’s not that she has lost focus or that she doesn’t know what she is doing – she is an expert in her field. But she just can’t keep up. How are her competitors doing it? How are they getting all their work done? It kind of feels like they know something she doesn’t.

The last two or so years have been difficult. She will admit it. Working remotely, no client facing meetings (so she couldn’t schmooze the way she use to), no access to Courts (so she couldn’t sweet talk the filling clerks) and her PA was unable to assist her from home (so she had no-one really running the back end of her business). She quickly realised that things had to change.

So, she did the wise thing and invested in legal software by purchasing a legal accounting and practice management package (AJS Express) from AJS. “Well done Holly!”.

But despite her investment, she feels as though she hasn’t quite used the package to its full potential. In fact, she can categorically admit that she hasn’t.

And that probably answers her question as to how her competitors are able to do what they do, how they are able to get all their work done. They are using the legal tech to its full potential.

*Forehead smack*

In an effort to stay informed, Holly has also signed up to get AJS’s newsletters and regularly saw their articles on things like Systemising Your Life, Automation and The Robot Lawyer but she didn’t really pay attention. “Her bad”.

When AJS came out with their article on  The “Top 7” legal tech trends for 2022, she knew that she had to get herself into gear. But it all seemed a little overwhelming. And it made her nervous to try out the things that she knew very little about.

But enough is enough. She was tired of panic attacks and not quite living up to her competition. Also, she already has the software – its about time she started using it properly. 

So, she puts on her “big girl panties” and gets in touch with AJS support right then and there to find out what’s what.

Remember – Zen is (actually) within reach. By using your software package for what it is actually meant for (which is not just legal accounting) you can approach each day with a Zen-like peace knowing that everything is perfectly in its place. That everything is being managed and that all is fine.

Because you have the support and back-up to ensure that is the case.

There are a lot of attorneys like Holly who have the software packages but are just not sure how to fully use them, what everything does and how they can optimise their practice to ensure that it is performing with accuracy and reliability.

With the help of AJS, your practice (regardless of its size) can (and will) succeed.

In our Blog Work Zen with AJS, we hope to go through tips, answer your FAQ’s and provide you with information that will better equip the everyday user of legal tech.

All through the eyes of Holly as she undertakes her journey to achieve Work Zen.

It’s all easy. If you know how…

Just ask us.