Jay Harrington
Dear Legal Writer,
So much of what I’ve learned can be traced back to ideas that I first heard from Jay Harrington.
Luckily, when I was brand new here in Sept 2021, Jay’s posts were some of the first in my feed. That first year, I didn’t let a work day go by without reading Jay.
I also listened to his podcast with Tom Nixon, and I joined his “lab” for thought leadership. There, I learned almost everything I know about posting and marketing on LinkedIn.
Here’s my attempt to articulate just one of Jay’s many good ideas, as applied to the topic:
How to get more efficient when writing a legal brief.
🔹 Jay’s Tip: If you want to be more productive, avoid “context switching.”
Translation:
Don’t let yourself get distracted when trying to accomplish something important that involves deep thinking—and legal writing definitely does.
The reason is that you lose a disproportionate amount of time when switching from one task to another.
👉 So, when you’re trying to write a brief, don’t allow yourself to “dip in” to your inbox or “take a peek” at your LinkedIn notifications.
The total time lost far outsizes the actual time spent.
(I know this from my own battles with book writing; studies also show, I think).
💠 Takeaways:
—Write & work offline.
—Don’t check email, DMs, or other sites throughout the day.
Instead, set aside time blocks for those tasks, and try to stick to them.
Alternatively, set time blocks for the deep work, and don’t let any other tasks interfere there.
👉 Won’t you give it a try?
For 1Ls participating in the law-review competition later this month, in particular, keeping away distractions may be the biggest challenge you face. Remember not to context-switch!!
Fondly,
💌 Amanda
#Dear1L
P.S. Has someone or their ideas had a big influence on your success? I’d love to hear one tip you’ve learned!
P.P.S. Are you following Jay Harrington yet? Well, why the h_ not??? 🙂