I admit it—I am a member of AARP and have participated in the Senior Olympics. I am, as a good friend told me several years ago, playing “the second half.” Yet here I am working hard in the technologically advanced and challenging environment of law practice management. Admittedly, though, sometimes I am acutely aware of the challenges that come with being a member of the senior set. The question is how do we compensate for these challenges in the second half? I am certainly not ready to acknowledge a loss of intelligence, but oh how I long for fully functioning short-term memory!

Aging brings on changes in short-term memory and other brain functions, as well as all the physical changes associated with aging and age-related conditions. As Bette Davis once said, “Getting old is not for sissies,” and I agree. On the flip side however, there is the experience and wisdom that one gains only with the passage of time.

So what’s an able-minded lawyer to do in the face of these facts? Fight back! Exercise your brain as well as your body to stay in shape. Use technology to your advantage. Learn something new every day and practice the best law of your life. Following are some tactics and tools that will help you do just that.

Stretch Your Brain Cells and Suppplement Your Memory

Exercise and nourish your brain using some of these Web resources:

• Boost your mental agility with the neat tools on the AARP Brain Health Page www.aarp.org/health/healthyliving/brain_health.
• Luminosity www.lumosity.com/brain-games has five free brain games that can be played without registration. Registering on the site allows you to track your progress.
• Brain-training gadgets are available for your iGoogle page. From iGoogle, just click on add “Gadgets” and search for brain training or brain games. (If you don’t know what an iGoogle page is, read the December 2008 Your PMA article, ”Anatomy of iGoogle.”)
• Using your favorite search engine, run a query on “brain training” or “brain games.” Find a few you like and spend 15 minutes a day working them.
• Complete the crossword or Sudoku puzzle in the paper daily or on any of the various Web sites that offers such puzzles online.

In addition, why not try some technology to help compensate for those “occasional” short-term memory gaps? Ask yourself this: How often do you have a great idea, and before you get to write it down, you have forgotten it? Sure, you might remember it in a day or two, or maybe next week, but how can you save those great ideas right when they crop up? JOTT www.jott.com provides several different levels of service, which are all worth investigating.

I use JOTT Assistant, which at its basic level, for about $4 a month, allows me to pick up my cell phone and call JOTT, where a voice asks “Who do you want to JOTT?” I answer “myself”and speak the thought that I don’t want to forget. Like magic an e-mail containing the text version of my brilliant idea then appears in my inbox. Attached to the e-mail is the sound file in case the digital transcription didn’t work exactly right. Since I manage life and work by my e-mail, if an item hits my e-mail box, I will eventually deal with it. JOTT provides additional options and services, but this one basic service does it for me. This application will also integrate with some calendars and to-do-list programs like Remember the Milk.

Remember the Milk www.rememberthemilk.com/ is an online to-do-list, and it is currently free. This app lets you create tasks with due dates; receive reminders via e-mail, SMS and instant messenger; store notes with tasks; share and publish tasks and lists; and add tasks from wherever you are using e-mail. Check out this application and see if it might meet your needs.

Try TechTools to Help with Visual and Keyboarding Impairments

If you are struggling with visual impairments, the world of technology has brought some significant new tools to the market. Check into the following ones to start:

• WinZoom getwinzoom.com screen reader can help! The WinZoom reading software enlarges what is on your computer screen, offering magnification from 1.5x up to 36x. It has eight display modes and provides color enhancement, focus tracking, mouse enhancements, screen reading, mouse echo and typing echo. It will also provide narration with adjustable voice properties. WinZoom resides on a USB drive, and the beauty of the software is that it runs from the USB drive. Because it does not require any installation, you simply plug it into any USB port on any Windows-compatible computer and the auto-play function launches the application. When you are finished using the computer at the court, the library or a friend’s office, simply pop the drive out and be on your way. The application leaves nothing behind. WinZoom retails for $399 on the USB drive. It is also available for standalone installation at $299.
• Clarity clarityusa.com/ provides magnification equipment for your computer and also has portable equipment.
• WIZCOM Tech Solutions wizcomtech.com/ produces a Reading Pen that can be used in a variety of ways.
• Adobe Acrobat Standard and Professional versions will read PDF files to you! This feature is called Read Out Loud, and it is an easy two-step process to use it. To use the feature, simply open a PDF and (1) Click on View > Activate Read Out Loud, then (2) Click on View > Read Out Loud > Read This Page Only or Read To End of Document. The Read feature will remain activated until you close Acrobat. If you have voices installed (SAPI 4 or SAPI 5), you can choose your own voice. If not, the voice will be the rather mundane Microsoft voice. The voice is not stimulating, and the listening comprehension process requires some extra level of concentration. Even so, listening to a PDF document on your laptop or netbook while driving is far superior to trying to read one while driving!

If you have physical problems that make using a mouse difficult, products like SmartNav www.naturalpoint.com/smartnav/products/4-eg/ may be a solution. This system will let you control the mouse with your head.

Ergonomic keyboards with integrated touchpad functionality are also a helpful tool for some types of hand and wrist problems. Do a Web search for ergonomic keyboards to explore the range of possibilities.

Also, if typing is painful or difficult, consider dictation using an online service like the virtual transcription service at SpeakWrite www.speak-write.com. Your dictation is generally returned to you as either a Word or WordPerfect document in three hours. Another option is making the move to digital dictation. (Read the details in the August 2009 PMA article “Advantages of Digital Dictation.”)

Lastly, one general resource to help locate solutions is EnableMart – Technology for Everyone www.enablemart.com/. This site provides resources for nearly every situation.

So if you say to yourself “there must be a better way to do this,” use the resources in this article, call your PMA for additional advice, or search the Web and find solutions to the challenges of aging. Remember, “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind it doesn’t matter”—sage words from Mark Twain.