Eight Habits of Successful Court Reporters

Every court reporter wants to be “successful.” But because “success” looks different from one person to the next, for the purpose of this blog post, our definition of “success” is:  The ability to put your head down on your pillow at night with a feeling of absolute contentment, knowing that you did a good job on both the work and home-fronts. This definition is purposely vague, because only you can determine what “a good job” looks like to you. Here are some personal comments from a few Planet Depos court reporters.

1. The alarm clock goes off every day at the same time to develop a healthy routine that tends to both the reporter’s needs and those of his/her family.
2. Equipment is always charged and ready to roll with the steno case fully stocked with all the essentials.
3. Clothing is always clean, pressed, and ready to be worn for creating an impeccable impression.
4. Pre-packaged healthy food and drinks are always in a basket next to the steno case/essentials and available to be thrown into a Ziploc for transport in a briefcase separate from the electronics.
5. Hand, arm and wrist stretches are performed either before leaving for the assignment or while on the job, and a combination of exercise routines that work to minimize stress and maintain energy are integrated into the daily routine.
6. Steno dictation/warm-ups before going on record and at home to maintain speed and improve writing.
7. Scopists are made an integral part of the daily work plan, and kept informed of turnaround times and any anticipated long-term and/or daily assignments.
8. Time is made for sleep, family, friends and hobbies.

Because everyone’s picture of what “success” looks like is so person-specific, your picture of what would make you content at the end of every day is ever-evolving, so ease up on yourself and allow yourself space to go with the flow. Work to create healthy relationships between yourself and your family, friends, colleagues and clients, keep your skills top-notch, remain flexible, and take care of yourself.