posted
I'm on the home stretch of a two-semester research paper about pretrial scene of the crime stay-away orders as a condition of pretrial release.
I still have to significantly revise one 16-page section, revise the conclusion section, and then give all 70+ pages a final edit. No real time pressure - the research is done and I have two full days left with nothing else to do.
However, I have uncovered new personal limitations. I've always tired out fairly easily physically when running, lifting, or climbing. Basically, if it made me sweat, I couldn't do it as long or as well as most people. I'm well aware of the concept of working to muscle failure.
However, until recently, I'd not experienced a similar phenomenon with my brain. Sure, I've pulled all nighters and gotten too physically tired to stay awake any longer. And I've gotten tired and groggy before so that I couldn't think as clearly or quickly as I'm used to.
But I've never gotten to the point where my body is not exhausted and yet my brain just can't do something. It's very like doing 5 or 6 sets of bench presses to total exhaustion. After a few minutes your body will recover from the anarobic burst, and you can do most things just as well as you could before the last set. But you probably can't do things that require pushing with your arms at even half efficieny. Even opening a door is hard unless you push it with your butt.
Right now, my brain just can't physically seem to organize concepts in certain ways. I can basically compensate by thinking about things differently. But the automatic shifting and fitting together of premises and conclusions takes effort instead of just happening.
Of course, I used to have to very different mental tasks throughout the day: write a proposal, do a tax return or financial statement, hash out a data model, and maybe pound out some code in a single day.
Now I've spent the last three months pretty much performing the same mental tasks over and over again. And I think I just did the mental equivalent of the sixth set of bench presses to exhaustion.
In other words, I've always been able to plan my schedules when I have a time-crunch based on what my body can handle. If I kept my body rested, my mind would be there when I needed. Now I have to start planning within its limitations, too.
posted
Dag, I know the feeling. Like you depleted the necessary neurotransmitters in your brain. So, you take a break, have something to eat or drink, and let your neurotransmitter levels restore. And then you can think again.
I remember that "overstuffed brain" feeling.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
I will make sure to rest. I'm well within my physical limits, and I have 4 days of no thinking planned starting Wednesday.
It's easy to accept some limitations. For example, I pretty much think of my body as something I wear, not really part of Me. So physical limitations are easy to acknowledge and easy to account for.
My mind, however, is a lot of what I consider to be Me. So now it's getting personal.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
The obvious solution to this problem is to not get old. I mean, really, do I have to do all your thinking for you?
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Originally posted by imogen: I love Westlaw.
Love love love love love. It's really quite sad my work doesn't have a subscription for it.
I'm so going to miss free Lexis and Westlaw when I graduate.
quote:Originally posted by King of Men: The obvious solution to this problem is to not get old. I mean, really, do I have to do all your thinking for you?
If this keeps up you may need to.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
Poor Dag. Been there, done that. I find that power naps help immeasurably. So does just going away and doing something else for awhile.
I actually think that having the deadline looming, even if you can comfortably finish before it arrives, sometimes has the psychological effect of tricking the brain into a sort of panic mode where it thinks it can't do things that it really can. Then again, I have anxiety issues anyway, so maybe that's why deadlines affect me that way sometimes.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
Hey Dag, wanna come switch gears for a while and work on a really ugly international corporate acquisition deal? LOL (trust me, the answer is no! I sooooooo cannot wait till this thing is closed...)
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Noooooooooo! I helped document one REIT deal transferring real estate in 25 states, assuming about 12 mortgages.
This was enough to convince me I never want to do transactional work again. Transactions involving foreign jurisdictions are right out.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
Transactional work is my favorite. Unfortunately, unless you live in one of a handful of major cities, that kind of work is a lot more scarce than litigation.
I'm preparing for a day spent immersed in Lexis, myself. I prefer Westlaw for most things, but Lexis has improved about 600% since I was in law school, so I don't mind it at all.
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quote:But I've never gotten to the point where my body is not exhausted and yet my brain just can't do something. It's very like doing 5 or 6 sets of bench presses to total exhaustion. After a few minutes your body will recover from the anarobic burst, and you can do most things just as well as you could before the last set. But you probably can't do things that require pushing with your arms at even half efficieny. Even opening a door is hard unless you push it with your butt.
See, now this is why I try to use my brain as little as possible.
On a related note, I've found the butt can help compensate for the brain just as well as it does for the arms.
Posts: 3293 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I think I have a good chance at getting it published, but I'm not going to look at it for at least a weak.
quote:I prefer Westlaw for most things, but Lexis has improved about 600% since I was in law school, so I don't mind it at all.
As a former web developer, Westlaw offends me. Darn popups.
quote:On a related note, I've found the butt can help compensate for the brain just as well as it does for the arms.
That explains where a lot of law comes from - judges with tired brains pulling it out of their butts.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Dagonee: That explains where a lot of law comes from - judges with tired brains pulling it out of their butts.
And I thought it was just me. When I was doing the paralegal studies program, there were opinions I had to read that were just contrary. I'd read along, and everything that was said would point in one obvious direction. Then, right at the conclusion, there'd be this sort of, "but despite all this I'm ruling the other way" sort of statement. And I'd just sit there and think, "Huh? How is that logical in any way, shape, or form?"
But anyway, congrats for finishing. Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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And I thought it was just me. When I was doing the paralegal studies program, there were opinions I had to read that were just contrary. I'd read along, and everything that was said would point in one obvious direction. Then, right at the conclusion, there'd be this sort of, "but despite all this I'm ruling the other way" sort of statement. And I'd just sit there and think, "Huh? How is that logical in any way, shape, or form?"![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
