84: Sarah Tetlow - Reducing Stress Within the Legal Field Through Streamlined Processes

09/21/20 • 43 min

As someone who has worked in the field of law for a number of years now, I have seen first hand how prevalent stress is within this industry and the effect that it has had on the individuals who are practicing professionally.

Joining me today is someone who is combating that issue through specialized coaching and consulting, Sarah Tetlow! Sarah is a Legal Productivity Consultant at ‘Firm Focus’, a company dedicated to helping legal professionals streamline their workflow, better utilize their time management skills, and reduce the stress that many within the industry have suffered from throughout their careers. Through her work, Sarah has successfully assisted clients in managing their stress levels through productivity-based solutions that cater to each individual's needs.

In this episode, Sarah shares her perspective on some of the common behaviors she’s seen within the lawyers she’s worked with and how her coaching methods have helped those clients create balance and efficiency in their work life. We also talk about the need to set realistic and measurable goals, particularly in this line of work, how technology can be utilized to amplify productivity, as well as how communication is such a vital step to ensuring a team is working efficiently and coherently.

To learn more, tune in to Episode 84 of Technology for Mindfulness!

Some Questions I Ask:

How did you get started in a field that is so specialized? (5:30)
What practical skills do you use when helping your clients? (12:19)
How do you respond to lawyers who have a tendency to catastrophize urgent tasks and overwork themselves? (14:07)
When your clients have a genuine emergency in their work, how do you set up a process that addresses and resolves that? (18:43)
What could a client expect from working with you? (21:22)
What do you take into account when interviewing new clients to work with? (29:56)
Could you talk about how you help your clients’ reduce stress in their lives? (38:43)

What You’ll Learn:

What Sarah’s ‘legal eagle’ system aims to achieve (9:44)
How technology has permeated the legal profession & Created a sense of urgency around small tasks (11:19)
What I’ve noticed about how lawyers respond to deadlines (25:50)
Sarah’s take on using productivity apps and technology to help streamline legal processes and offload stress (27:18)
How ‘proactive communication’ helps reduce the need to cram in work at the last minute (32:33)
Why communication is so important, particularly now as most people have shifted to working remotely (37:21)

Connect With Robert Plotkin:

Connect With Sarah Tetlow:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To learn more, tune in to Episode 84 of Technology for Mindfulness!

Some Questions I Ask:

How did you get started in a field that is so specialized? (5:30)
What practical skills do you use when helping your clients? (12:19)
How do you respond to lawyers who have a tendency to catastrophize urgent tasks and overwork themselves? (14:07)
When your clients have a genuine emergency in their work, how do you set up a process that addresses and resolves that? (18:43)
What could a client expect from working with you? (21:22)
What do you take into account when interviewing new clients to work with? (29:56)
Could you talk about how you help your clients’ reduce stress in their lives? (38:43)

What You’ll Learn:

What Sarah’s ‘legal eagle’ system aims to achieve (9:44)
How technology has permeated the legal profession & Created a sense of urgency around small tasks (11:19)
What I’ve noticed about how lawyers respond to deadlines (25:50)
Sarah’s take on using productivity apps and technology to help streamline legal processes and offload stress (27:18)
How ‘proactive communication’ helps reduce the need to cram in work at the last minute (32:33)
Why communication is so important, particularly now as most people have shifted to working remotely (37:21)

Connect With Robert Plotkin:

Connect With Sarah Tetlow:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

83: How to Transition Yourself and Your Team to Remote Work Effectively - Part 2

Continuing on from last week’s episode, today’s focus is all about maintaining productivity within your workspace while working remotely! I’m going to be discussing my key strategies and tips for conducting yourself effectively while operating from home, the nuances that come with communicating virtually with your team members, as well as how the very real effects of isolation must be taken into account by leaders in business.

Now more than ever, our mental wellbeing needs to be prioritized within the workplace, and managing the complex and often overwhelming feelings that come with our new working arrangements is going to be a team effort. While this period has been and is going to be difficult for many of us, there is solace in knowing that there are ways to cope and that we are not alone.

Join me on Episode 83 of Technology For Mindfulness to learn more!

In This Episode You Will Learn:

Statistics showing that remote work was already on the rise before Covid-19 (1:23)
My four key tips for Managers to help their teams work effectively in a remote environment (2:47)
Why sticking to a daily routine is so imperative for workplaces right now & The power that our triggers have over us creating habits (2:55)
Examples of positive triggers that can help to simulate a work day (6:17)
Understanding how intentions and perceptions can affect virtual communication between co-workers (10:51)
What you can do to rectify a miscommunication or potential negative interaction with someone you work with (15:07)
Why we should stay aware of the effects that isolation can have on us while working remotely & Why leaders in business should be understanding of this and offer assistance to employees where needed (16:22)
What I think the workplace will look like after Covid-19 (22:17)

Connect With Robert Plotkin:

Resources:

Book: ‘Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones’ Author, James Clear

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

85: 4 Tips for Managing Distractions in Work and Life

In today’s episode, I’ll be sharing a few of the strategies that I use in my everyday life which help me to reduce distractions and improve my overall sense of productivity. There are so many factors that influence our ability to cultivate a healthy work-life balance and so many of them are within our control and are easily accessible to us.

I’ll be diving into how you can best manage your notifications to quell anxieties that present themselves when given too much information, why practicing time management skills, and prioritizing a structure can improve our productivity, and how micro rewards can yield positive results in relation to our own motivations.

If you’re curious to learn more, then tune in to Episode 85 of Technology For Mindfulness!

What you’ll learn: