Looking for actionable tips to improve efficiency. I’m a senior associate doing primarily employment litigation. I get great reviews on my work product, including my writing, but lately I’ve been getting feedback that I’m spending too long on tasks and partners are having to write off too much time (not good for partnership prospects). In particular, writing briefs, emails, and letters takes me forever, probably because it takes me a long time to form the right sentences. [Cont’d below]

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I literally have the words “DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT” written on a post-it and stuck to my monitor. Just get the words out of your head and into a document and then you can “make it pretty” and rearrange it all later. I call it “brain dumping.” It’s the same thing I do with to do lists when I feel overwhelmed with the amount of tasks I have- I just write everything down on a piece of paper and get it out of my head, which I’ve found “de-clogs” my brain and I don’t feel as stuck/frozen with where to start.

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This is what I do.

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Following because I’m in the same boat. In addition to re-writing every sentence in emails I also have a really tough time sending out emails before I have explored every possible option to figure something out myself. This often turns what should be a quick email into an active exercise where I end up finding the answer myself but that leads to more questions so I have to rewrite/restructure the email and the cycle continues. I also have a tough time delegating and find I often end up being so detailed that I am basically doing the work myself. This has all been amplified by the isolation of COVID, and working with too many other anxious/perfectionist/ADHD lawyers who also operate in weird ways. I’m going in house soon but I think it’s going to take a while to try and break some of these habits.

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@OP I go section by section, writing what I want and then moving on to the next. I can come back to earlier sections only after I’ve gone through the remaining ones. It’s like painting, your throw down the first coat on the entire wall before painting a second coat

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Any tips to become a faster writer? For example, I’ve never been one to just “word vomit” then edit—how did you make that transition? I’m slow even when I’m hyperfocused, so it’s not just a distraction issue. My group is slow and I already underbill my time, so underbilling even more isn’t an option for me.

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When I am stuck like this, Sometimes it helps me to imagine if I am trying to outline the main points or explain whatever issue at a high level to my client or to someone verbally, and I’ll use the Microsoft word dictate button (if you have it) or good old talk-to-text and send whatever comes out of my mouth in an email to myself. Then edit from there

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Are you properly breaking up your time entries? If you are answering a substantive question in an email then you are probably doing substantive work (thinking) that could be its own billing item. Then you bill for actually typing up and sending the email.

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Awesome — appreciate the examples, especially as I wrap up my November billing today.

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I'm so happy I'm in house. Saves me the need to worry about this too much as I don't need to bill hours. I can use my own time to compensate for taking my time to make everything just right ...

That sounds awesome! Enjoy the time off!

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