Welcome to our blog. We're on a mission to change the legal industry for the better. Browse our blog for industry insights, career tips, human stories and everything inbetween.

The Flex Legal blog

Welcome to our blog. We're on a mission to change the legal industry for the better. Follow our blog for industry insights, career tips, human stories, and everything in-between. Don't forget to sign up to our newsletter too!

The Flex Legal Blog

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Welcome to our blog. We're on a mission to make the legal industry more human and agile. Follow our blog for Flex Legal stories, industry news and views, and career tips. Don't forget to sign up to our newsletter too!

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It’s no secret that the legal industry has a long way to go when it comes to managing the health and wellbeing of its legal professionals.

A study carried out by [LawCare](https://peopleinlaw.co.uk/research-reveals-high-risk-of-burnout-in-legal-profession/) earlier this year revealed that 69% of  lawyers were afflicted by anxiety, poor moods, and depression. Fast-paced work and tight deadlines were found to have been key elements which add serious pressure to the job, leaving many feeling disengaged and battling burnout.

As a paralegal new to the industry, it’s important to maintain a healthy workflow without feeling fatigue and burnout, but how can you achieve such a serene state of mind?

## The GTD Method

David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) method was conceptualised with the idea of experiencing stress-free productivity. In the [GTD podcast](https://www.scribd.com/podcast/547006304/Ep-133-David-Allen-chats-with-William-Elliott-David-explores-the-psychology-of-productivity-with-William-Elliott-a-counseling-psychologist-and-GTD) whilst speaking with psychologist William Elliot, Allen emphasises how humility and accepting our limitations can improve our productivity and overall quality of life. He also discusses the idea of “background stress” when it comes to deciding what to say no to and the value of decision-making or prioritising. Finding out how to manage work and set boundaries is key to beating burnout whilst still being as productive as possible. 

Here are our top 3 tips for improving your productivity as a paralegal:

## Capture what has your attention

If you’re constantly trying to figure out and take care of what you must do, you’ll forget other tasks. You might get so caught up in interviewing clients that analysing a document slips your mind. Allen recommends collecting everything that has your attention and placing it into an inbox to address later. This creates an opportunity for you to focus on one thing at a time whilst keeping track of the other tasks on your plate.

You can write personal plans in a journal, then keep job-related to-dos in your email inbox specifically for work. Task managing apps can also help segregate the type of work you will need to do, making it easier for you to tick off what’s finished and what still needs to be done.

## **Reflect on your process**

Many people undertaking the GTD method fail because they ignore the critical task of reviewing their methods. They organise their tasks, but forget to practise mindfulness to complete them in the most effective way possible. Many don’t take the time to reflect and make adjustments so that they can stay productive. Allen states that reviewing is a critical part of GTD, as it allows you to figure out how to better yourself and make the next move.

You can hold weekly meetings with yourself to gather your thoughts and tasks, and find new, better ways to manage them for improved productivity. Constant reflection can make the GTD system habitual, helping you streamline your workflow so that you can focus on that tricky case, or make the best recommendations. It’s also a good process to have for document review, as [Flex Legal previously stressed](/blog/ultimate-paralegal-guide-doc-review) — particularly the importance of double-checking and noting down pertinent information. In-depth reflection will ensure you’re soaking up all the details.

## **Prioritise the right tasks**

Paralegal work can sometimes be overwhelming, even more so when taking on more than you can handle. PM Column notes that employing the four ‘Ds’ — Do, Delegate, Defer, and Drop — into your work system can help you to filter out what you can and cannot handle. “Do’s” are usually essential, urgent tasks that fall under your scope of work and must be prioritised. For work not in your expertise or job description, “delegate” the work to the right people who can help you. You can “defer” or “delay” things that are not urgent to avoid running off-track while you’re carrying out valuable tasks. And, of course, “drop” time-consuming work, such as social media, non-work-related emails, and other distractions for later.

The GTD system has a lot to offer paralegals to boost productivity. It’s equal parts sorting, clarifying, and getting tasks done that makes the method work. And in law, organising your tasks can make all the difference.

**Additional Resources:**

* [Apply to become a Flex Paralegal](https://flex.legal/apply/paralegals) - want to gain more legal experience in the real world? Well look no further! Click here to learn more about our interim paralegal roles.
* [How can future lawyers develop client-centric skill sets?](/blog/how-can-future-lawyers-develop-client-centric-skill-sets) - take a read of this blog post to find out how you as a future lawyer can work on developing client-centric skills.
* [The ultimate paralegal guide to document review ](/blog/ultimate-paralegal-guide-doc-review)- what is document review? How do you review a legal document? What on earth is tagging? We answer this and more with the help of some experienced Flex doc reviewers.

Stressed paralegal looking at computer screen with head in hands

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Tips on stress-free productivity for paralegals

3 top tips to improve your productivity as a paralegal

We’re delighted to announce a pilot run of our new blog submission scheme!

One of Flex Legal’s main objectives is to offer deserving legal professionals a chance to get their foot in the door of the industry. Now, we want to offer you a new way to get your profile raised without even needing to be on the Flex platform!

Submitting a blog to Flex Legal is a great way to get your work published on a widely-read legal blog, and get your name out there in the legal community! We’re currently  looking for a handful of good submissions to publish here on the Flex blog. This post will explain what we’re looking for, how you can submit, and some general guidelines on submissions.

## What can you write about?

  
To help keep your submissions relevant to our audience, we’ve pre-selected some broad themes we would like you to write about. Here is what we’re looking to accept submissions on: 

* “*How to do (X)*” - We’d love to get your thoughts on the best way to complete tasks in the legal world. Whether this is “*How to review a contract*” or “*How to complete a DSAR*” or even something more general like “*How to manage your inbox*” we want your expert tips for professional life in the law!
* “*A day in the life of (Y)*” - One of our favourite things about the legal industry are the human stories within it. We want to hear those stories, and we know our community does too! We are incredibly receptive to posts such as “*A day in the life of a trainee solicitor*” or “*A day in the life of a commercial lawyer*”. If you’re not sure your story would suit this, please feel free to get in touch!
* “*My advice on (Z)*” - Careers in the legal industry are often fairly linear, and legal professionals know which step they need to take next. If you have advice about steps you’ve taken previously, we’d love to share it with our community! If you have thoughts on topics such as “*My advice on training contract applications*” or “*What I wish I knew about working in-house before I started*”, we want to hear it!

## What are the submission rules?

1. Your piece should be 600 – 800 words long.
2. Your piece must be original. Unfortunately, we can’t accept blog posts that have been published elsewhere, or your old academic essays.
3. Your piece should be politically neutral and include no hate-speech of any kind. Flex Legal reserves the right to reject any submissions we regard as insensitive.
4. Submission of a blog post does not guarantee publication. As this is a pilot of the scheme, we will only be publishing a select handful of blog posts at this time.

## **General formatting and best practice guidelines**

* The title of your blog post should be short, and under 60 characters.
* Don’t keep readers waiting to get into the meat of your submission! Your introduction should aim to get to the point as soon as possible.
* The best online written content is super consumable. Keep your paragraphs short, your sentences shorter, and use a few subheadings to break your piece into easily digestible chunks.
* If your blog post relies on external links or additional resources, make sure you include these or send them to us separately so we can link them in the text.
* Make sure to write with your audience in mind! Our blog readers are legal professionals of varying seniorities, so make sure you tailor your writing to a junior or senior legal audience who might want to read your piece.
* We want your unique voice and tone to shine through! This is your work - and it should be in your voice. It should go without saying, however, that Flex’s general tone is positive and optimistic. We will naturally express a bit of a preference for tones aligned with ours.
* Please make sure you send us a good headshot of yourself to go along with the blog post. Ideally this would be a well-lit, high-quality photo that includes your full head and shoulders.

## **What does a good blog post look like?**

We have a lot of blog posts on our website that were written by the wider Flex Legal HQ team. They’re all a little different, and all great examples of what a good Flex Legal blog post looks like. They are:

* [5 helpful hints to ace your open days!](https://flex.legal/blog/5-helpful-hints-to-ace-your-open-days) by Client Services Associate [Jacob Darcy](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-darcy-388a6776/).
* [How Nathalie works as a remote lawyer from Mauritius](https://flex.legal/blog/how-nathalie-works-as-a-remote-lawyer-from-Mauritius) by Head of Lawyer Engagement [Emma McDowell](https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-mcdowell-35102642/).
* [Will the SQE affect diversity in the legal profession?](https://flex.legal/blog/will-the-sqe-affect-diversity-in-the-legal-profession) by former Intern [Isabelle Booth](https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabelle-b-50899910a/).

# **How to submit your blog to us**

Please email your completed blog post to us as either a Word or Google document to [james.bosson@flexlegal.co.uk](mailto:james.bosson@flexlegal.co.uk)  
Please also include a preferred headshot of yourself, along with a link to your LinkedIn profile.   
  
If you have any questions about any part of this process, please feel free to email James at the email address above. Good luck!

The Flex Legal blog

Tips on stress-free productivity for paralegals

Flex Legal's Blog Submission Scheme