Weekend Open Thread

39 Comments

1. ISO timekeeping software that works well for lawyers. Considering Toggl Basic (free). Any other free suggestions?

   Key feature I am looking for is timers that I can use all day, with the timers corresponding to each of my matters, and ideally can switch by just clicking a button.

   My law firm implemented a new timekeeping platform, but it is not great – you have to have a separate browser tab open for every matter, so it is cumbersome to switch matters and the tabs don’t tell you what matter they correspond to so you keep flipping through till you find it. And even worse, it seems to time out after some unspecified period, and then all your timed entries are lost. Same if the browser crashes. The idea is I would use something reliable/easy, and then just manually enter my time in the annoying portal sometime between a daily and weekly basis.

   Bonus if I can code thing non-billable and billable so I can track my billable hours over the month/year (no way to do this on the timekeeping platform either!).

   1. Can your admin help? I keep hand written notes with start and stop times and the task description and then she deals with the data entry.

      1. Handwritten is way too time consuming so want something digital. I don’t have an assistant at the moment, and even if I did, assistants don’t do time entry at my firm. So if I hand write, I have to add up time over dozens of start/stop times every day. That’s what I want to avoid.

   2. Manic time. The free version doesn’t use stop watches but you can drag and drop time in real time.

   3. Current and last firm both use Carpe and it’s not bad?

2. My sister has a grad loan, unsubsidized, and they offer more than she needs for tuition and books. She won’t be working for the 2 years of her graduate school and hates the idea of not contributing to her retirement account. She is wondering if it would be wise or stupid to put some of the money into her Roth IRA. Thoughts?

   1. She can’t contribute to a Roth IRA without earned income, and earned income must be greater than the amount contributed to Roth. Unless she has a summer job I don’t think this would work.

   2. I believe educational loans have to be used for tuition, fees and living expenses. I don’t think this would qualify. Also, it’s not certain she’d get more than the cost of borrowing, especially if the fees accrue during her schooling. I would take out less money, knowing she can go to her financial aid office to ask for more money up to the limit during the school year if she needs it.

   3. I’d take the full amount. If she walks straight into a good job on graduating, she can pay it back, or she may need a lump sum to facilitate moving and starting a new job. As a fresh grad, ready cash is so freeing, it’s worth the debt.

   4. I think she should use any opportunity to minimize her debt. It could very well be a recession when she graduates, and less debt puts less pressure.

3. Well this was timely.

4. If you could have someone just magically handle something in your life for you (and it would be done the way you want it to be done), what would it be and why?

   1. interior design and home renovations. I can visualize my goal but the process of actually FINDING the cost effective way to do it is just… not fun.

      1. +1K

      2. For interior decorating I use Havenly it is perfect. Let me know if you want a referral code.

   2. Dishes! Doing dishes is by far my least favorite thing and something I spend a lot of time grumbling about.

   3. All of my meals. They would just appear though, I don’t want a cook living with me. You said “magical”…

   4. Food! The whole process from zero waste grocery shopping, to meal planning, to preparing everything from scratch.

   5. I’d want my yard looking beautiful; both my husband and I don’t have a good sense of how to get there inexpensively.

   6. OMG all the money stuff! Paying the bills, investing, budgeting, all of it.

5. Anyone have any home remedies/helpful tips for dealing with pityriasis rosea? I’ve had it since before Thanksgiving and it’s really bumming me out that I have to deal with it over the holidays.

   1. When I’ve had eczema shea helps.

   2. The in shower moisturizer! I had this years ago and it helped so much. Sorry it really sucked.

   3. OMG–I got this after playing waterpolo in the Navy pool at Annapolis (the old one). It was crazy. A Christmas tree on my chest, wearing turtlenecks to cover it, in summer in NYC. What helped was cool showers (no super-hot water) and time. GL!

   4. I had this once and it was so bizarre/awful! Mostly on my back. I think I was prescribed a brief round of an oral steroid and used topical hydrocortisone. You could also try the Aveeno oatmeal bath – yeah, you’re soaking in lukewarm oatmeal, but it does help with itching.

   5. Go to the doc and get a cortisone shot or a round of prednisone- both will knock out weird rashes like that

      1. Be careful with prednisone. It triggers serious anxiety and depression in some people. I wouldn’t risk it for something so mold (but super annoying!).
         When I had it, they gave me a topical cream that made it MUCH worse, because the cream was sticky and made things stick to me (and itch). I just had to wait it out.

6. I’m approaching the end of my maternity leave from my firm (Biglaw-ish) where I’ve worked for more than 4 years. I have a lot of goodwill and consistently have good reviews but at my level the salary is below market by about 20-30k and no bonus. I didn’t make hours this year (we had a really slow start – Associates all billed below 100 hours for two months) and I’m guessing they are not giving me a raise based on the hours thing so I would be more than 50k below market for next year. The thing is I just learned a male colleague who also didn’t make his hours did get a raise and a small bonus. How would you approach the convo? I am peeved and started sending out feelers in anticipation of no raise. I’m sort of conflicted because on the one hand I know I can be flexible on hours here and ride it out for a few more years on a decent salary but I almost want to leave to make a point (to whom? The firm loses a lot of ppl due to comp and nothing changes). There are other reasons to leave – growth trajectory being one but I am also hesitant to go to a new firm with such a small baby at home. Thoughts??

   1. I would ride it out, it’s really stressful to make a change and you have enough going on. Commit to yourself to revisit in 18 months.

   2. I would ask for a raise if you otherwise like the firm. I would note that although you didn’t make hours, you contributed X, Y and Z that brought a lot of value to the firm and the firm is now better positioned to improve its finances over the next year. Then, regardless of the outcome of that conversation, I would leave in a year because you note the compensation situation is an ongoing issue and it sounds like there are also issues with advancement opportunities. I would wait the year out just because you have a new baby and it sounds like you have a lot of flexibility.

      I would not make the point you are paid below market – I’m not sure if you are referring to Big Law market or not, since you described your firm as Big Law ish. But you note that you can be flexible on hours, which in my experience is not the case in Big Law/firms that pay market (although this might vary by region). So that’s the trade off you are making (in general, people want flexibility, good pay and interesting work, and you normally can only achieve 2/3 in a given job).

   3. This may not be the firm for you for the long haul; however, flexibility is invaluable when you have a new baby, especially if you don’t have local family to fall back on if baby gets sick. Most daycares require parents to keep sick children out, so the ability to e.g. work from home or work a reduced schedule on some days is invaluable.

   4. I would ask for a raise and build an argument on the fact that you made a similar amount of hours as your male colleague while you had maternity leave, and he didn’t; also you’ve been underpaid for years, despite making hours before; your firm doesn’t want to look like they treat women differently, right?

7. Favorite paper planners? I’m old school and have to write everything down or I forget everything. Ideally, I’d like something that has daily and monthly views, with lots of room for notes.

   Spiral or disc bound so it lays flat.

   I was looking at the Happy Planner and Erin Condren, but they get so overwhelming with their stickers and washi tape. That’s beautiful, but I don’t have the time or creativity for that. I just need a regular ready-to-go workhorse. Suggestions?

   1. My absolute go-to, been using these for years. Zero frills.
      https://www.staples.com/2020-staples-11-h-x-8-w-appointment-book-black-21487-20/product_24355486

   2. The last two years I’ve used the blue sky version on emily ley’s simplified planner. This year I’ve gone back to plum paper which I used a few years ago. They have a bunch of different layouts and you can customize them if you want. They’re cute but not full of stickers and things. I wouldn’t be embarrassed to bring one into a meeting.

   3. Planner Pads. They aren’t exciting, but they work really well for me because I have sooo many things I need to get done in a week and a mix of scheduled (court, client visits meeting) and unscheduled time.

      I absolutely love doing a brain dump of all my to dos at the top of the page (where it’s visible all week) and then sorting them into daily tasks as I go through the week. I can see the entire week at once, I have enough room to write my schedule and my to dos, it lies flat, it’s light enough to fit in my purse, and it’s easy to find the current week (I got the ruler/bookmark for free with my first order). It makes my life so much easier when I have all my little tasks (call so and so, fill out admin form, etc.) and can do them if I have a few minutes instead of keeping them in mind and stressing about how much I have to do.

      I’m a visual person and tech just doesn’t work as well for me as writing it all down. I’ve tried a bunch of planners and planner pad is my workhorse match. Other planners are cuter and prompted me to figure out my life goals, but planner pad helps me get stuff done and reduces my stress. At the end of the day, that’s what I really need from a planner.

   4. This is a late response but I’m a huge fan of Day Designer planners. They make a version for Target but I’m an OG DD user and prefer to order from them directly — quality is better and the layout is a little different. I started with their spiral bound flagship and recently moved on to their A5 inserts. You can download printables at no cost to see if you like them. Quality is fabulous and I haven’t found organization or a layout that I like better!

   5. Check out Golden Coil. Very professional and also customizable. I also use a Simplified Daily by Emily Ley. The YouTube channel Amanda’s Favorites has reviews of all kinds of different planners and recently did a round up of her favorite weekly and daily planners in 2019.

8. I am not sure if this was discussed at some point of time, but has anyone bought Philips Lumea IPL? Have you tried other brands as well?
   I have very fair skin, medium dark hair, so I guess it should work on me. I wonder if I can use it kn lower part of face as well (those annoying few hair on chin) and whether it can be used over areas with birthmarks (I have thousands of then).

Comments are closed.