Evolutionary Tips on Using Your Smartphone for Work
If we are using only 10 percent of our brains, then evolution says our brains are going to shrink.
Evolution strongly suggests that species survive by adaptation. Fortunately for humans, there's still time before the next generation takes over. But if we want to preserve brainpower, we need to adapt quickly.
In other words, download some apps to your smartphone. Here are a few:
Time Savers
There's nothing like short-cuts to roll back the evolutionary timekeeper. These are time-saving tricks, beginning with that number one time-suck -- junk mail.
First, unsubscribe from those junk email lists. The problem is, it takes too much time because there are so many. It's easy to delete them, but that doesn't get you off the list.
Try Unroll.me, which is a free service that cleans up everything like the plague taking out man in the Middle Ages. Then filter out email notifications through your service provider. Google, Yahoo, and Outlook all have filter functions.
Billable Time
Along this evolutionary timeline, lawyers naturally have to bill for it. Your smartphone can help with that.
It already has a clock and most likely a stop-watch function that could be used for keeping track of time. But that's so cab-driver and version 2.0.
iTimeKeep is a free "stand-alone" time recording app. You can enter information manually or seamlessly connect with popular billing software packages, including Amicus, Tabs3, ProLaw, Timeslips and many more.
Dictation & Education
Unlike the Neanderthals, who had bigger brains than modern humans, we also have smaller fingers that enable us to manipulate touch screens. And who needs an opposable thumb when you have voice-enabled smart devices?
For example, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law Library maintains a list of iPad apps that can turn your tablet into a:
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Dictation machine
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Second monitor
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Sketch pad
So if we do lose some brain functions to evolution in the future, at least our smart devices can help us accomplish a few tasks in the meantime. Hopefully we can do it before the robots take over our jobs.
Related Resources:
- Smartphone Tips For The Savvy Lawyer (Above the Law)
- 3 Simple Apps to Help You Stay Organized (FindLaw's Technologist)
- Tesla Claims No Duty to Design a Fail-Safe (FindLaw's Technologist)