Resolve to Use Your Device as a Tool- And To Resist Being Tooled by It

Introduction

It’s that time of year: reflection and some soul-searching about what to do differently when we turn over a new leaf on January 1st. Let me offer a modest proposal.

The New Body Part

Everyone reading this post has a smartphone. (Ok, Jared Correia does not have a smartphone, but the rest of you do). And chances are you are not going back to a flip phone, a bag phone, or a rotary dial phone hanging on the wall in your kitchen.

These cases require us to decide how the search incident to arrest doctrine applies to modern cell phones, which are now such a pervasive and insistent part of daily life that the proverbial visitor from Mars might conclude they were an important feature of human anatomy. — Chief Justice Roberts, Riley v. California.

And I know you have some legitimate uses for your device: very convenient to get things done at any time and wherever you are. Ridiculous amounts of computing power and broadband internet speeds and video and pictures and those GIF memes, emojis, etc., etc. I get it.

But I am pretty sure that none of us planned to be on our devices constantly, at least not in the way we actually use them. Be honest: when you are on your smartphone, how often are you doing productive things? And how often are you doing “unproductive” things intentionally?

I am not being a scold here. No one enjoys playing as much as I do. The question is whether you decided to play, or whether your device just happened to be there and you started swiping and typing.

Are You Using the Device, or Is it Using You?

Bright, shiny devices that are so easily accessible and so full of bells and whistles tend to hijack self-control. And left to our own devices (thanks, I will be here all week), we are likely to create our own little Skinner Boxes- with games, social media sites, and constant checking of all our information streams- all the while not knowing that we’re doing it.

Your attention is being sought and used relentlessly by those doing business in the online world.

“If you’re not paying for something, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold”. — Andrew Lewis.

Technology as a Servant, Not as a Master

And when computer tools are using us, we don’t get a chance to determine the ways in which we can use these technologies as part of our “extended mind”- allowing computers to perform tasks that free up our minds to do higher-level thinking. That higher-level thinking is what is going to enable work and workplaces to continue to evolve as automation advances.

In other words, if you are going to have your device as another appendage, then put it to work for you.

Train Your Mind-Try Meditation.

Headspace is just so easy to use (I mean operating the application, not doing the practice). And you can use it anywhere. At anytime. Carving out those quiet moments may create the space for you to see the way your minds works, and how these technologies have commandeered your attention and created the idea that you are so “busy” all the time.

And I certainly am a proponent of getting quiet- whether through meditation, getting outside, exercising, or undertaking other pursuits- and away from devices altogether. But I don’t think it is an all-or-nothing proposition. The key is to have the space and frame of mind to discern what tools to use and when. And to realize who or what is being used.

Give Your Mind a Rest.

See above. In addition, stop keeping all these ideas in your head. Use Evernote or a similar program to memorialize and organize things for later use. If the device is going to be with you at all times, at least take advantage of that fact. As the late great Mitch Hedberg remarked:

I sit at my hotel at night, I think of something that’s funny, then I go get a pen and I write it down. Or if the pen’s too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of ain’t funny.

Free Up Your Attention

Quit complaining that you don’t have time unless you have gotten smarter about the way you use your time. Try Boxed. Or Amazon Prime. The idea is to use your time and attention up to do meaningful things. An afternoon of shopping and hauling things around is not meaningful in my world when there are available alternatives.

Feed Your Mind

There has never been a better time to learn new things. And these devices make myriad information sources available to you at any time. Below are just two examples.

Listen to Books. It has never been so easy to have great content literally at your fingertips. Consider a subscription to Audible, and listen while you drive, work out, walk, or otherwise have downtime. If you are looking for recommendations, click here.

Listen to Podcasts. See above. Long-form discussion. Topics directly related to your profession, interests, or entertainment choices. Always available. Pushed directly to your device. You don’t have to do anything but click and listen. Podcasts for lawyers? Click here.

Conclusion

The age of machines (artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomous vehicles, the blockchain) is only just getting started. The changes in the way we live and work are going to be significant (and arguably have already been significant). In order for humans to figure out where we fit in, we have to have lots of attention and figure out where to spend (pay) it. That means understanding these tools- their benefits and risks- and making sure we use them wisely and effectively.

Podcasts for Lawyers

I have written previously about the benefits of podcasts: interesting, relevant, and timely content pushed directly to your device (so you don't have to go looking for it) that you can enjoy whenever you want.  What's not to like? And if you want a tutorial on how to get and use podcasts, read this article I found while putting this post together. And further, if you are interested in starting your own podcast, take a look at this piece.

Here are the legal podcasts on my device right now (with summaries largely based on their own descriptions), in alphabetical order so I don't have to rank them:

1. Amicus With Dalia Lithwick. Lithwick writes about courts and the law for State, and Amicus is all about the United States Supreme Court. Great resource for following the goings-on at SCOTUS.
2. Digital Edge. Sharon Nelson and Jim Calloway discuss topics related to lawyers and technology. Sponsored by the Law Practice Management Section of the ABA.
3. Kennedy-Mighell Report. Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell educate lawyers on how technology can be used to improve services, interactions with clients, and overall workflow.
4. Lawyer 2 Lawyer. Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams address current issues from a legal perspective. 
5. Lawyerist.  A weekly show about lawyering and law practice hosted by Sam Glover and Aaron Street. Glover and Street interview successful lawyers and interesting people about law practice, and answer questions from the Lawyerist community. Great interviews with interesting people in the legal community.
6. Legal Toolkit.  A really good law practice management resource. Heidi Alexander and Jared Correia invite forward-thinking lawyers to discuss the services, ideas, and programs that have improved their practices.
7. Oral Argument. A podcast about law, law school, and legal theory. Joe Miller and Christian Turner, law professors at the University of Georgia, do some really in-depth analysis of cases and legal issues.  A must-listen for those (including myself) interested in the laws of airline seat reclining and speed traps.
8. This Week in Law. Denise Howell discusses breaking issues in technology law, including patents, copyrights, privacy, drones, driverless cars, the Internet of Things, and many other topics. 
 

Another Plug for Podcasts: Go With the Flow

This is not the first time I have blogged the praises of podcasts, which are a ridiculously easy way to get great content for free and on-demand.

While listening to a The Unbillable Hour podcast episode called Listening to Learn- Legal Podcasts as Educational Tools, some comments by guest Dennis Kennedy summed up why podcasts are so useful: they increase the value of leisure time, and allow the opportunity for lifelong learning.

In Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes the conditions through which people experience real enjoyment. One is the pursuit of lifelong learning, which provides the mind with the same kind of intense experiences that physical exercise gives the body, and allows a person to think independently and purely for the intrinsic benefits associated with it.

Another is active leisure, as opposed to the "passive leisure" so prominent in our culture. According to Csikszentmihalyi:

"Instead of using our physical and mental resources to experience flow, most of us spend many hours each week watching celebrated athletes playing in enormous stadiums. Instead of making music, we listen to platinum records cut by millionaire musicians. Instead of making art, we go to admire paintings that brought in the highest bids at the latest auction. We do not run risks acting on our beliefs, but occupy hours each day watching actors who pretend to have adventures, engaged in mock-meaningful action."

Now a podcast is not exactly active leisure. But you can listen to and learn from experts and very interesting people on just about any topic you can imagine. And you can access this resource anywhere and at any time.

And I am not advocating that you Blow Up Your TV. In fact, as I write I am watching an excllent ESPN 30 for 30 piece on Marcus Dupree: The Best That Never Was.

But time spent solely on passive leisure doesn't give you much of a return.

"Art and Music and the Pronouncements of Young Children"

(Note: originally published in 2011, I am sharing this again to coincide with the release of Roseanne Cash's "The River and the Thread").

Earlier this week, Fresh Air presented again an episode with Rosanne Cash in which she described the making of her album The List.

Rosanne is the daughter of the Man in Black, and was married for a time to that "Southeast Texas hayseed," singer/songwriter Rodney Crowell. (Click here for Crowell's tribute to Johnny Cash).

When Rosanne was 18 and beginning her own music career, her father gave her a handwritten list of "100 Essential Country Songs" representing her "musical genealogy." Rosanne says the list is more aptly titled "100 Essential American Songs," because it includes examples of all those strains that feed modern country music: folk, protest songs, Delta Blues, gospel, Appalachian, etc. Of course, the musical history of the extended Carter/Cash family by itself is a large part of the history of American country music. (And British punk rock and new wave history, too, as Nick Lowe is also part of that extended family).

The List contains the first 12 of those 100, including versions of "Sea of Heartbreak,"She's Got You," "500 Miles,"Girl from the North Country," and "Motherless Children".

The songs, Cash's performances of them, and the music history in this podcast are significant standing alone, but I was also struck by the challenges she encountered prior to creating The List, and moved by the way she has not just survived, but thrived, with real grace. Despite losing her parents (and her stepmother June Carter Cash), undergoing brain surgery, being forced to stop singing and performing for several years due to polyps on her throat, and going through a divorce, Cash never asked "Why Me?" but instead "Why Not Me?" And the things that gave her strength? "Art and Music and the Pronouncements of Young Children," as well as a sense of humor and the love of her husband.

Cash did not immediately record or share the songs on the list, in part because becoming an individual necessarily required independence from her father, and in part because she could not appreciate the full meaning of that gift until after she experienced the loss of her father. But in an additional and beautiful paradox, her acceptance, exploration, performance, and recording of The List (made possible by her reflections on the life of her father) revealed that the "gift" Johnny gave Rosanne was really a part of her that she now was able to discover on her own terms. She summed up that revelation by calling on the words of T.S. Eliot:

"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring, will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time."

And now she is sharing her gift, so that we all can more fully appreciate our common "musical genealogy," and maybe, just maybe, spend a moment or two paying attention to the timeless and boundless things we share.

I eagerly await the release of more of the songs on the List, and hope that "Keep on the Sunny Side" (you didn't think I would conclude this post about gifts from family without mentioning Mother Maybelle, did you?) is one of them.

Update (November 26, 2012):  Click here to see Roseanne Cash and John Leventhal record "The Wayfaring Stranger" as part of The 78 Project.  Thanks to Ron Tate (@sccounsel) for pointing it out to me.

Some Good Podcasts and Episodes

Here are some Podcasts and particular episodes that have inspired and entertained me recently (go to this post if you still don't know what a podcast is or how to access them).

Update: Brand new article in the ABA Journal by Dennis Kennedy about the benefits of podcasts for attorneys.

Harvard Business Review (HBR) Ideacast:  The (Next) Financial Crisis
Nicholas Dunbar, author of The Devil's Derivatives: The Untold Story of the Slick Traders and Hapless Regulators Who Almost Blew Up Wall Street ... and Are Ready to Do It Again, discusses the gradual shift of the use of derivatives as useful instruments to hedge risk to speculative tools (gross simplification) and how that approach filtered down from Wall Street to Main Street.

WTF: Marc Maron and Todd Hanson. Maron sits down in his garage with one of the original writers of The Onion for a very funny, intense, and ultimately uplifting discussion. This is NSFW or for family listening, but Maron is an amazing human being and a great interviewer.

NPR Fresh Air: Comedian Louis C.K. Laughs Through Difficulties Terry Gross talks with another great comedian, whose perspective on aging, marriage, parenthood, and various other issues is at once hilarious, sobering, and insightful.

Freakonomics Radio: Hey Baby, Is That a Prius You're Driving? Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt, authors of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, discuss the "conspicuous conservation" that occurs when green-minded people buy the Prius (dubbed "The Pious" on Southpark).

Podcasts

One of the most useful, convenient, and economical (i.e. usually free) products of this ongoing (and accelerating) information revolution is the podcast.

"Tivo for Radio". That is the apt description of podcasts provided on this episode of the Kennedy-Mighell Report. (If you want to really learn about podcasts, listen to the KM Report).

There are scores of great programs you can download and experience at your leisure. Many offer continuing legal education credit. Anticipating the technology objection, that is no excuse: If you have an IPod, you can get podcasts the same way you get music. Get your kid to set it up for you.

For those with other devices, Wikipedia has a great list of "podcatchers" (programs which can fetch and store these files). When you subscribe to a particular podcast or feed, new episodes will be available for delivery to your device or computer through a variety of methods.

For attorneys, some great sources of podcasts include the Legal Talk Network (which hosts the Kennedy-Mighell Report and Lawyer-2-Lawyer, the TWiT Netcast Network (host of This Week in Law), and Cordell Parvin's Law Consulting Coaching Podcast.

Another resource for attorneys is the ABA TechEZ Training Library, offering short presentations on ways to use technology tools effectively in your practice. (Is this technically a podcast, webinar, or online presentation? Immaterial. It is a resource I can access when I want it).

There are many other sources for great podcasts: NPR, TED, and the Long Now Foundation, to cite just a few examples.

Use the power of the search engine to find the podcasts that match your interests. It is that simple.