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Lawyers: 5 Ways You Can Optimize Your Computer Setup To Meet Today’s Standards
How Upgrading Your Computer Setup Will Increase Your Legal Document Efficiency
When drafting legal documents, we know that learning a few helpful macros, typing more words per minute, and investing in different types of new legal software programs can help make us more productive.
When we have some or all of those things figured out, we need to start asking ourselves whether or not our computer setup is preventing us from becoming even faster. When you are able to make a few key adjustments to your computer setup and overall equipment layout in your law firm, you can make a world of difference from a productivity standpoint.
How do you know your current computer setup isn’t up to today’s legal competency standards? We explore how you can optimize your setup in order to accelerate your productivity when creating your legal documents and other regular correspondence.
1. Use a Dual Monitor Configuration
It may seem a little backward to add more equipment to your current setup to increase efficiency. However, studies have shown that a dual monitor setup can exponentially increase your productivity and overall efficiency – especially in a busy law firm where you are constantly working with correspondence, case files and other legal documents.
Ninety-eight percent of participants in one particular survey chose a dual display configuration as their preferred setup – proving that dual monitors are much more efficient and less frustrating to work with than a single monitor. Instead of spending a considerable amount of time switching back and forth between applications, files and web pages within the same display screen, you can easily increase your efficiency by working with multiple screens at the same time. According to a study done by the New York Times, dual monitor setups can increase efficiency from 20 to 30 percent. Perhaps you can have Microsoft Word on one screen and your research resources on the other. Regardless of what you decide to put on each screen, the concept of dual monitors opens a plethora of multitasking opportunities that will save you time, manpower and even payroll.
2. Invest in More RAM for Your Computer
Standard computer models usually come equipped with 2 to 6 GB of Random Access Memory (RAM). While these modest amounts of memory may suffice for personal computers and people who do not frequently use their systems, you should consider investing in more RAM if you want to become more efficient when creating and editing legal documents and correspondence. Why? According to Digital Trends, the more RAM your computer possesses, the more programs and applications you will be able to handle simultaneously.
As mentioned above, having a dual monitor setup allows you to multitask and accomplish more tasks in a fraction of the time it would take with a single monitor. But an insufficient amount of computer RAM can backfire and actually hinder your performance by adding a monitor. This is because your applications and programs rely on that RAM to function and operate smoothly without crashing or freezing up.
Can you imagine trying to conduct legal research through a series of tabs and browser windows on one monitor while typing a lengthy legal memo on the other, when suddenly your entire system freezes? Even if your work is regularly saved, you will still lose a substantial amount of time (and patience) by having to forcefully shut down those programs or even the entire system in extreme scenarios. Studies show that 8GB is an ideal foundation of RAM that will likely provide your system with all the memory it needs to efficiently run multiple programs smoothly.
Having the right amount of RAM installed on your computer will allow your setup to run your legal software programs faster. What if you were able to process information faster as well? Read our post “Clicks & Keystrokes: Shortcuts to Save You Time Creating Legal Documents” for some keyboard hacks you didn’t know you couldn’t live without.
3. Manage Your Startup Processes Wisely
Even if you have maxed out your available RAM slots and have invested in multiple display monitors, there are still a few steps that you can take to boost the efficiency of your computer from within. You may have noticed that Microsoft Word (or any of your other key applications) takes a significant amount of time to load fully. Even with brand new systems, this could become a major problem. What is the cause? Chances are that your list of startup processes and programs are dragging your system’s efficiency down much faster than you realize – especially if you have quite a few programs that are all configured to activate themselves shortly after the system boots.
According to PC Magazine, a quick and easy way to manage and minimize your startup processes in Windows is to access the Task Manager. You can either right-click the taskbar or simply press CTRL + Shift + ESC on your keyboard. Select the Startup tab and you will see a list of every program set to open at Windows startup. It is highly recommended to keep this list to a minimum. You can actually save a lot of time (and memory) by manually opening various programs after Windows startup instead of programming them to automatically open on their own.
4. Invest in a Wireless Printer
Having your own personal printer connected to your computer by USB cable may seem advantageous and may even boost the décor of your office desk. However, you can save a substantial amount of time (and space) by investing in a wireless printer. Since you more than likely are already using a wireless Internet connection somewhere within your overall office space, the next step should be to install a wireless printer.
The upgrades mentioned above are beneficial on an individual level – focusing primarily on each individual employee’s office setup. A major perk of a wireless printer, though, is that the entire firm can benefit from using the same printer, as long as they all have access to the same network. In addition to saving office space by placing the wireless printer in a centralized location that is easily accessible to all employees, you are also boosting the efficiency of your printing processes. Instead of basing the transmission of information from your computer to the printer via a USB cable, a wireless printer benefits directly from your high-speed Internet connection.
5. Use Other Shortcuts and Simpler Routes Accordingly
In addition to the equipment additions and configured computer settings, you can greatly improve your efficiency when creating, editing, formatting and sharing legal documents simply by paying attention to how you use the software that you already have. On one hand, you could allow time to fly-by through distracting websites and unnecessary programs that have very little to do with your workload. On the other hand, you can use well-developed Microsoft Word templates and other popular resources to reduce the time you spend in front of a computer screen and increase the quality time spent working with and for your clients.
Today’s law firm needs to be agile. However, there are many outdated practices and attitudes in your firm that will inhibit future change. Read our “4 Secrets To Implementing Legal Software Programs In Law Offices” to see how you can enact change in your firm.
The Optimal Approach to Technology For Today’s Modern Lawyer
In order to survive today, lawyers need to truly maximize their efficiency when using law office software programs. That means investing in powerful computer hardware you can rely on, learning ways you can maximize productivity by learning shortcuts, and by upgrading to powerful legal document software in order to create high-quality legal documents faster.
Stay tuned to the Infoware blog for more information on how lawyers can maximize efficiency, learn about new types of legal software, and other industry related news.