Lawsagna

Cognitive Fitness

From "Cognitive Fitness" by Roderick Gilkey and Clint Kilts, Harvard Business Review (need subscription, you can preview the summary of the article on the order page):

…advances in neuroscience suggest that there is no reason why your brain at 60 can’t be as competent as it was at 25. That would not have been news to thinkers such as Socrates, Copernicus, and Galileo, who were all still at the peak of their intellectual powers in their sixties and seventies. Nor would it surprise business leaders such as Alan Greenspan, Warren Buffett, and Sumner Redstone. These icons and others like them have intuitively understood that the brain’s alertness is the result of what we call cognitive fitness—a state of optimized ability to reason, remember, learn, plan, and adapt that is enhanced by certain attitudes, lifestyle choices, and exercises. The more cognitively fit you are, the better you will be able to make decisions, solve problems, and deal with stress and change. Cognitive fitness will allow you to be more open to new ideas and alternative perspectives. It will give you the capacity to change your behaviors and forecast their outcomes in order to realize your goals. You can become the kind of person your company values most. Perhaps more important, you can delay senescence for years and even enjoy a second career.

The article goes on to suggest steps you can take to stay cognitively fit and discusses some implications of the brain research to learning.  For example, the study of mirror neurons, which "aid the speed and accuracy of our perception by mentally simulating objects and actions in our environment," helps us understand how we can learn better through observation and indirect experience. 

The authors encourage play at work because play "engages the prefrontal cortex…nourishing our highest-level cognitive functions – those related to incentive and reward processing, goal and skill representation, mental imagery, self-knowledge, and memory, just to name a few."  They suggest playing games, such as bridge, chess, sudoku, solving challenging crossword puzzles, doing improvisation, reading funny books.

Searching for patterns is another way to maintain your cognitive fitness:  "First and foremost, challenge your existing mind-set, enlarge it, and make it more complex."  The authors encourage executives to "[l]isten to different viewpoints, read new kinds of articles and books, and visit places with a focused set of learning objectives."

Those who seek novelty and innovation through continuous learning benefit from neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change and enhance its performance.  The article suggests learning a new language, musical instrument, or new technology.

Achieve sustainable personal efficiency!

What’s your theme?

I am trying something new this year.  I actually have a theme for 2008.  My theme is learning to get out of my comfort zone.  Here are my reasons for creating a new year’s theme:

Focus.  Maintaining just one theme throughout the year will help me stay focused and hopefully, make better progress.

Layered goal structure.  I’ve found that I accomplish more if I have just one goal in front of me.  At the same time, I want to have a big picture to know where I am heading and a clear set of actions to follow.  My optimal structure has three layers:  the theme, the goals to support my theme, and the steps to accomplish my goals.   

Momentum.  Working under a unifying theme builds momentum for growth and development, which is more difficult to achieve if you try to work on a list of unrelated things. 

Process.  My theme is process-oriented.  It is about how I do things, as opposed to what I do.  It allows me to apply my theme across the board, to a variety of projects.  No matter what I do, I can ask myself how I can get out of my comfort zone to build a new mindset and new skills.

Am I missing any important component in my approach?  Do you have a theme for 2008?

 Claim your best life now!

   

More on energy management

As synchronicity would have it, after I wrote my post on energy management, we received the October issue of the Harvard Business Review with an article on this topic.  In “Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time,” Tony Schwartz, the president and founder of the Energy Project, describes some specific rituals that can help busy executives to gain more energy.  You can also take a short questionnaire “Are You Headed for an Energy Crisis?” to evaluate your energy needs.

Susan Cartier Liebel of Build A Solo Practice, LLC answers my question

Susan Cartier Liebel is an attorney, national coach and consultant who shares her wisdom and advice on how to create and grow a solo practice in her blog Build A Solo Practice, LLC.   Here’s what I asked Susan:

“I saw your category of "You Ask...I Answer" posts and thought I'd ask a question on behalf of my readers.  Summer time is when many students try to get practical experience by interning at a firm, government or non-profit.  If students know they would like to go solo after graduation, what would you recommend they do during their summers to prepare for their solo practice?”

Susan was kind enough to craft a great answer with good questions to make you think about your overall law school experience as it relates to your goal of becoming a solo, as well as practical advice on what you should be doing with your time outside law school:

“If you know you are going to become a solo practitioner upon passing the bar then everything you do, from your course selection to your extracurricular activities to your summer internships should be geared towards two things, networking/building professional relationships and gaining 'practical' experience that mirrors the life of a solo practitioner.”

Read the rest of her post here as she shares her three-step approach to your solo success.

Thank you so much, Susan!

Let’s begin! (Part II)

“There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other.”
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

You’ve probably heard the saying “to begin is half the work.”  It is also the hard part of the work.  Have you had trouble starting a thing or two?  What is a good way to begin something?   In Let’s begin (Part I), I gave some tips on how to get yourself ready to cross the start line.  Today, I want to talk about the importance of finding common ground as the first step in many initiatives.  What we have in common with one another can be used as glue to make all the pieces of our project stick together.  How so?  Let’s look at some of the contexts where you can use common ground as your beginning point.    

1. Whenever you need to make a speech or a presentation, it’s a good idea to begin by sharing something that your audience can agree with.  If you establish a point of agreement with your audience from the start, your listeners are going to be more willing to accept what you have to say later.   To learn how to do that, listen to The Engaging Brand podcast Powerful Presenting Pt 1 and Pt 2.   
2. When we meet a person for the first time, it’s only natural that we look for commonalities in our backgrounds or interests to establish rapport.  Remember that next time you are at a networking function.  You conversations will be more fulfilling if you take a genuine interest in the other person.   
3. When mediators work to resolve a conflict between parties, they often try to have them agree on something as the first step of the mediation process.  Even if the point of agreement is really small, its psychological benefit can be great.  Sometimes, a small object that has sentimental value for both parties, such as the kids’ pictures, can do the trick.  Next time you see a conflict brewing, try to agree before you disagree. 
4. When you work as a team, you need to start with a common agenda and common goals.  It applies to meetings, collaborative projects, study groups.  It ensures that all the members of your team are moving in the same direction. 
5. When you write to persuade, inform or entertain, it’s a good idea to consider what characteristics your readers share and what you can do as a writer to address their concerns, interests and desires.  You can apply the same principle when you launch a new product or service. 
6. Whenever we encounter a new situation, we look for a familiar pattern in it.  That’s how our brain processes the information.  To understand the new piece, we need to find a link or an association to something we already know.  If you train yourself to be better at pattern recognition, you will learn more and remember longer.  So next time you need to learn something new, compare it first to what you already know and see how you can transfer your existing knowledge or skill set to the new context.

Can you think of any other situations when finding common ground is a good way to begin? 

Summer Associates’ Guide to the Point of No Return

You are interning away, doing the best job you can and hope that your efforts, the economic trends and the Universe will produce the coveted offer to return to the firm as a permanent employee.  Let’s say you receive that offer.  Now what?  You will feel the pressure to accept it proportional to the amount of debt you have accumulated and the good intentions of friends, family and career services.  Does it mean you should take the plunge?  Even if you have one of “The Ultimate Summer Internships” described by Tara Weiss for Forbes.com, don’t let the “outrageous summer internship perks” cloud your judgment.  What makes you happy during your summer gig may not be the key to your long-term happiness.  Here are a few things to pay attention to as you continue your internship and questions to ponder when you decide on an offer:

What benefits do you get from working for that particular firm?  Consider expertise, types of cases or deals, networking opportunities, training, mentorship, career advancement, future employability, resume enhancements, paycheck. 

What are the costs or downsides?  How much control will you have over your lifestyle?  Will this work allow you to express all your talents and offer the best you have to the world? 

Will working for this firm bring you closer to where you want to be in your life 5, 10 or 15 years from now?  Consider the long-term implications of your decision.  Will this workplace help you become the person you want to be? 

How do you like the work itself?  Does it fuel your passions?  Can you see yourself doing this work day in and day out?

Are you comfortable in the culture of this place? Do you fit in?  Can you be who you are when you interact with your co-workers?  Will you have to compromise on your own values and attitudes if you take this job?

How do you like the partners or “bosses” you are going to work for?  Will they care about your professional growth?  How much will you be able to learn from them?  Do you respect the way they practice law and deal with clients? 

Have you noticed any red flags?  The support staff gets no respect.  The clients’ phone calls don’t get answered promptly.   Yelling is an acceptable form of communication.  You can’t get straight answers to your own questions.   People who work there seem to harbor a sense of bitterness and resentment about the place.   Different groups engage in hush-hush conversations.  There is a big turnover.  Take notice of such behaviors because they may signal trouble. 

Last but not least, once you have made a decision to accept an offer, sleep on it.  Wear it for a couple of days before you communicate it to the firm.  It’s a big decision to make, so take your time.  See how it feels.

How to deal with difficult people

Most of your interactions, I am sure, are cordial, pleasant and productive.  But for those rare occasions when you come face-to-face with a difficult, negative, or annoying person, here’s a blueprint for your actions and reactions. 

First of all, how do you spot trouble?  Chuck Newton warns of the “Six Personality Types You Should Avoid.”  Meet The Loafer, The Weasel, The Bridegroom, The Psycho Killer, The Replicant, and The Future CEO.

What assumptions do you harbor when you develop your relationships with people?  Here’s a list of principles that will help you build better relationships from the Lifehack article “Other people are not broken…” by Adrian Savage.

How do you deal with negative people in a positive way?  Catherine Pratt offers some tips on “How To Deal With Negative People” at Life With Confidence.   Do you know the type who always criticizes everything?  I’ve heard of a good neutralizing phrase when you talk to those people.  Ask them:  “Do you have a better idea?”   While you are at Life With Confidence, also check out “How to Kill Fear When Dealing with Aggressive People” by Peter Murphy. 

Here’s a secret about annoying people.  They are annoying only so long as you let them annoy you.  Take that power away from them!  The Chief Happiness Officer Alexander Kjerulf tells you  “How not to let annoying people annoy you.”

How do you keep your cool?

How to turn boring into fun

Let’s admit, sometimes we just have to do the boring stuff and there is no way around it.  Is there a way to sweeten the pill?  Try the following strategies to add excitement to your boring tasks.

1. Use fun tools, gadgets and accessories to do the task.  A nice pen, a sleek black Moleskine, a shiny techno-gadget can have surprising soul-soothing qualities and help to move you along.
2. Schedule some fun to reward yourself for completing the boring project and instead of focusing on how bored you are, visualize the fun part.  The anticipation of the reward is a great mood-booster in itself. 
3. Use the boring task as a procrastination method for something even less exciting.  When do you feel the urge to clean your house?  When you need to study for an exam or write a paper.  What is fun and what is boring is relative. 
4. Approach the boring with the beginner’s mind.  You don’t know that it’s boring.  Is there anything new to learn from this task?  Do it and pay attention as if you were doing it for the first time.  Question how you do things and why.  Have you noticed how kids can be fascinated with most ordinary things?  How they really study an object, poke and prod and test it?  Unleash your own curiosity.
5. Explain what you are doing to a child.  Their questions may force you to look at the situation from a different perspective.  They will make you wonder.
6. Talk to a person who enjoys doing what you consider boring.  Their passion and commitment can make the most ordinary thing look extraordinary.  Enthusiasm is infectious.
7. Role-play and pretend to be somebody who is really good at the task you are about to do.  What makes them so good at it?  Get into their mindset. 
8. Capture the contrast.  Pair up your boring task with an activity that you enjoy.  Brew some good coffee, turn on your favorite CD.  You will feel better.
9. Change the process.  Speed it up or slow it down.  Add a challenge.  Exaggerate or eliminate.  Do things differently. 
10. Fuel your competitive spirit.  Find somebody how has to do the same thing and turn the task into a competition. 
11. Change your physical environment.   If you task is portable, take it to a park, beach, coffee shop.   If you have to stay in the office or at home, change the lighting, turn on a water fountain, buy some flowers, put up a nice painting or poster on the wall.  Look for things that stimulate your senses:  smell good aromas, listen to soothing sounds, divert your eyes to take in beauty.
12. Create a story around your project.  Define your goal.  Find your direction.  Are you a struggling hero in conflict?  Are you bracing yourself for a big obstacle to overcome?  Write the script and make it exciting.
    
    How do you fight boredom?

Research resources for summer associates

It’s not all play for summer associates, after all. You will have to do some work, such as research and writing.  Here are a few sites to bookmark that will help you develop your research strategy.

LawyerExpress, “designed by a busy lawyer for busy lawyers,” brings you a lot of information in a convenient and customizable format:  Here’s how they define their objective:

“Our primary goal at LawyerExpress is to make the Internet worth your while. Toward that end, we've developed great tools to find the "20%" that would be valuable to attorneys. LawyerExpress transforms what can be an inefficient, unruly morass of information into a format that works smarter and faster for busy people.” 

Georgetown Law Library connects summer associates to various legal resources.  Check out their State Research Guides and Online Tutorials, covering research in statutes, cases, administrative law, secondary sources, and other areas.

Finally, here are tips on summer associate research strategies from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law Library.

Tip bit #22: On managing expectations

Many problems can be avoided or resolved easier if you are good at managing people’s expectations.  We may want many things in work and life, but because we know that we can’t get them all, we are sensitive about things that we expect to get.  That’s our compromise, so to speak.  I may give up X, but I better get Y.  If you know how to lower or raise people’s expectations, you have an influence over their levels of happiness, satisfaction, appreciation.  I don’t suggest that you manipulate people by setting their expectations low on purpose.  I believe in honesty and respect when dealing with people.  After all, trust is essential in serving professions, such as law, but it is also fragile.  On the other hand, you should not promise what you can’t deliver.  But you already know that.  Let’s look at a few scenarios when managing expectations can save you a lot of trouble.   

Scenario 1 

You get an assignment from a partner.  You think you understand what the partner wants even though you are a bit fuzzy on a few points.  You think you will figure it out once you research the question more.  You don’t want to ask for clarifications now because you don’t want to look incompetent.  “What if I am supposed to know that?” your inner critic says in a reproaching kind of voice.  You go ahead and do your research.  One hundred billable hours later, as you are talking to the partner again, you are told that you answered a wrong question.

The lesson from Scenario 1 is that in order to manage expectations, you need to know what they are.  To be clear about your task or the process to be followed to solve the problem, ask questions and repeat the essence of what you heard in your own words to make sure you understood correctly.  Fire the inner critic.

Scenario 2

You get an assignment from your boss.  The task is clear.  As you go about your business, a few complications arise.  You think you can handle them on your own.  You don’t want to bother the boss with minor details.  The inner critic says, “The boss will never give me any serious work if I can’t handle this.”  Before you know it, two hundred billable hours later, the complications snowball into a major disaster. 

The lesson from Scenario 2 is that you must keep the channels of communication open.  Good bosses know how to stay on top of things without being a micromanager.  But if it’s not your boss, the burden is on you to make a call when something needs to be brought to her attention.  What you want to do is to have a plan ready how you would handle the situation.  That way, you are not complaining about a problem, you are offering a solution.  And fire the inner critic.

Scenario 3

You get an assignment with a deadline.  You need to coordinate with John Doe, who has an important role in the project.  No problem.  You think you will be ready in time with your part and so will John Doe.  Unfortunately, John Doe has a family emergency.  You think you can still finish on time when John Doe shows up in the office on Monday, so you don’t let anybody know that the deadline may be compromised and you don’t reschedule any meetings.  “They will kill the messenger,” admonishes the inner critic.  John Doe is not in the office on Monday. 

The lesson from Scenario 3 is that sometimes you have to deliver the bad news.  Nobody likes to miss a deadline, especially an important one.  But things happen, and if you keep communicating with your team and your clients, you may be able to renegotiate the deadline, which is better than missing it.  So, fire the inner critic.

Do you have your own scenario?

More bar exam tips

Still worried about the bar exam?  Here’s a list of resources that can help you study for and pass the bar.  (You can read my previous post here if you want my personal perspective on the bar exam experience.)

PLI offers bar exam tips from a panel of experts in the video and HTML text formats.  Learn about Preparation Just Prior to Starting Your Bar Review Course.  There is also advice on How to Write a Successful Bar Exam Answer and How Not to Be Conclusory.

Check out Passing the Bar site created by Professor Vernellia Randall.  It covers a variety of topics related to the bar exam preparation, including Specific Study Advice and tips on how to Develop Keywords Flashcards.

Carolyn Nygren describes a 7-step training strategy for bar candidates to practice before the bar review course starts.

FindLaw has a list of resources for the bar.

You can do it!

Tip Bit #20: On learning portfolios

In the summer time, many students pursue internship opportunities, study abroad programs and other activities outside the traditional law school curriculum.  It’s a good time for self-directed learning.  You can read about the characteristics of self-directed learners in the article “Learner, Direct Thyself” by Gerry Sexton, M.D. at LiNE Zine.

One of the tools for more effective learning is a personal learning portfolio.  When you hear the word “portfolio,” you may think of artists or designers creating a representative sample of their works.  A learning portfolio, however, is a record of your personal learning experience, and it can be created by anybody.  What are the benefits of a learning portfolio?

• It makes your learning more purposeful.
• It’s a place to record your learning goals.
• It allows you to track your own progress.
• It will keep you motivated because it is also a record of your personal victories.
• It focuses your attention.
• It teaches you to be a reflective learner. 
• It can be a springboard for your job-search and career development strategies.

It’s up to you to decide how you want to structure your learning portfolio, but here is a simple format to get your started:

1. Identify the content of your learning.  What is it that you want to know?  For example, as a summer associate, you may want to choose your favorite areas of practice, decide whether you like the firm’s culture, learn how to write good memos and how to network, etc. 
2. Write down the reasons why you want to learn those things.  How does your learning fit into the larger context of your personal development, career objectives, social life?  You are more likely to achieve your goal if you have a reminder of why it is important.   
3. Determine how you are going to accomplish your learning objectives.  What experiences do you need to have?  How do you develop the skills you need?  Who can be your teacher / role model / mentor?  Create your own learning curriculum filled with the activities that can boost your professional and personal development.
4. Figure out how you can measure you progress.  How do you know that you have reached your goal?  What are your milestones?  Record your successes and challenges.
5. Reflect on your learning process.  Write down your observations of what works and what doesn’t work for you.  How could you learn more effectively? 
6. Find the ways to use and apply your new knowledge and skills.  How can you learn more by doing? 
7. Have a section where you can record random comments and observations, clip images that appeal to you, write down quotations, ask yourself questions and just let your thoughts flow onto the paper without reservations. 

Have you ever used learning portfolios?  How did they work for you?  Let me know.

Tips to develop intercultural competency

What are the chances that in your practice, you will represent a transnational corporation, take an assignment at a foreign office of the U.S. law firm, advise international clients on the U.S. law, outsource legal work to lawyers in India, help American retirees to settle down in Mexico, or devise an estate plan for foreign nationals with assets in the U.S.?  You may think that you have a local practice, but in today’s economy, more and more of your business and individual clients choose to trot the globe.  Are you ready to travel with them?  If you need help, the following resources can be your guide across cultures:

Pamela Slim of Escape from Cubicle Nation gives advice on "How not to be a cultural knucklehead in a global business world." 

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston of Business Writing addresses pitfalls of cross-cultural communication in her post “Do You Like My Dressing?” 

Janet Moore offers great advice to lawyers across borders at her International Lawyer Coach Blog.  If you are considering a study abroad program, read the post “Study Abroad Opportunities for Law Students,”  which has a list of helpful websites.  The blog also has useful information for foreign lawyers in the U.S. 

I always look forward to Anne Fox and Dr. Laurent Borgmann’s podcast ‘absolutely intercultural!’ which deals with intercultural issues in creative and engaging ways. 

Law Practice: What Every New Associate Needs to Know

The current edition of Law Practice is online now.  It covers many important topics for young associates.  Here are some of the articles:

“The Smartest Marketer Around: What New Associates Should Know About Marketing” by Allison Wolf.  If you want to be a partner one day, start developing the business owner mindset from the start.  Do you know what it takes to run a successful legal business?   

“Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch” by Catherine Alman MacDonagh and Beth Marie Cuzzone.  Will your “elevator pitch” pass the "so what?" test?  Learn how to make it succinct, memorable and unique. 

“Being a Good Boss: Dos and Don'ts for Working with Your First Assistant” by Paul McLaughlin.  Should you introduce your assistant to your clients?  Can you share your personal problems with your team?  How often should you give feedback to your assistant?  The article answers these questions and many more. 

“The Art of Making Rain: Seven Steps That Give Associates an Edge” by Lawrence M. Kohn and Jill Rose Kohn.  You didn’t think you were going into sales when you graduated from law school, did you?  The sooner you start building a foundation for rainmaking, the better your chances are to become one of those powerful connectors that everybody wants to know. 

“The Culturally Savvy Associate: Top Three Tips for Moving Up in a Global Economy” by Janet H. Moore.   These days, even if you don’t want to practice international law, chances are that your practice is going to be affected by it.  Can you spot international issues?  Are you comfortable working in multinational teams?

“Associate Technology Challenges: A Snapshot of Need-to-Know Applications” by Browning Marean.   There's life beyond LexisNexis and Westlaw.  What decision analysis tools would you like to use?  Are you ready for electronic discovery?

Let’s begin! (Part I)

"Too many of us wait to do the perfect thing, with the result we do nothing. The way to get ahead is to start now. While many of us are waiting until conditions are "just right" before we go ahead, others are stumbling along, fortunately ignorant of the dangers that beset them. By the time we are, in our superior wisdom, decided to make a start, we discover that those who have gone fearlessly on before, have, in their blundering way, traveled a considerable distance. If you start now, you will know a lot next year that you don't know now, and that you will not know next year, if you wait. "
The William Feather Magazine

You’ve probably heard the saying “to begin is half the work.”  It is also the hard part of the work.  Have you had trouble starting a thing or two?  Why is it so difficult to begin?  I think, it boils down to anxiety, uncertainty, lack of commitment, risk-avoidance and maybe, a few other things.  What is a good way to begin something?   Here are a few tips to get you ready to cross the start line. 

Start at the end.  That’s right.  Begin by imagining the end result of whatever you want to do.  George Bernard Shaw said: “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” If the outcome is compelling enough, the vision will propel you to action. If you can’t see the positive result, it may be a sign that you should not start. 

Take the bate.  Is there a part of the project that looks more appealing to you? Start there if possible.  Find the most exciting thing about the project and go after it.  The energy generated from such beginning will carry over to other less enticing tasks.  If you can’t find anything exciting, once again, it maybe a sign that the thing is not worth doing.  If you really have to do it, pair it up with some unrelated fun.  Make a deal with yourself that you will do the fun part first for a limited amount of time and then, you must do the boring part.  For example, you can watch one movie, but then you must start writing, reading, outlining, or whatever you need to.  That’s the reward upfront approach. The idea here is to put you in a good mood right away and mentally prepare you for other things to come.  This approach may help you if the promise of a future reward doesn’t do the trick.

Transform procrastination into the beginning.  Use your procrastination time to organize your thoughts, create a time-management system for your project, motivate yourself, rehearse ideas.  In other words, procrastinate with purpose.

Set a deadline to begin.  You have to set deadlines to get anything done.  Share your deadline with people.   If you make a public commitment, you are more likely to keep it.

Take small bites.  What exactly qualifies as the beginning?  If you need to write a paper, do you have to write a sentence, a paragraph, or a chapter to begin?  Subdividing your project into small easily manageable parts is a great way to conquer your fears and resistance. 

Enlist the help and support of others.  There is nothing like sharing your misery with somebody else (I am being sarcastic here).   Do you think runners would feel differently when they approached the start line if there were no cheering crowd around?  Surround yourself with energetic, caring and motivating people, and feel a sudden urge to begin. 

How would you begin whatever you need to do right now? 

Today’s tips are general and applicable to a variety of contexts.  It’s just the beginning (pardon the pun).  In Part II, I plan to address some specific situations, for example:

• How do you begin writing a paper?
• How do you being a job interview?
• How do you being a presentation?
• How do you introduce yourself to people?
• How do you begin a cold call?

If you have any advice or a topic to suggest, I’d love to hear from you!
 

Five states of mind

Part of my exercise routine is yoga.  I’ve been doing it at home for years but recently  I’ve decided to join a yoga studio.  As I was researching my options on the web, I came across the article “Witnessing Your Thoughts in Yoga Practice” by Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati.  It talks about the importance of observing the “natural flow of the mind” to bring yourself to a peaceful state.  There are five states of mind in the yoga philosophy: 

1.  Kshipta / disturbed.  This is the agitated mind: 

“The ksihipta mind is disturbed, restless, troubled, wandering. This is the least desirable of the states of mind, in which the mind is troubled.”

2.  Mudha / dull.  You may be in this state of mind when you feel lethargic and sluggish.

“The mudha mind is stupefied, dull, heavy, forgetful.”

3.  Vikshipta / distracted.  This is the state of mind that lacks consistent focus.   

“The Vikshipta mind in daily life can concentrate on this or that project, though it might wander here and there, or be pulled off course by some other person or outside influence, or by a rising memory.”

4.  Ekagra / focused.  This is the mind of the focused attention. 

“When the mind is one-pointed, other internal and external activities are simply not a distraction.  The person with a one-pointed mind just carries on with the matters at hand, undisturbed, unaffected, and uninvolved with those other stimuli.”

5.  Nirrudah / mastered.  This is the ultimate state of mind in the yoga system, distinguished by control and stillness. 

“It is not that the thought patterns are not there, or are suppressed, but that attention moves inward, or beyond the stream of inner impressions. In that deep stillness, there is a mastery over the process of mind. It is that mastery that is meant by Nirrudah.” 

When you learn something new, the last two are the desired states of mind because they allow you to concentrate better and be more perceptive.  I am starting to pay attention to my state of mind. When I feel the need to quiet my mind, I do deep breathing exercises or meditate.

What state of mind are you in? 

Getting ready for the bar exam

No groundbreaking secrets here, just the ground work to pass the bar.  I ended up taking the bar exams in two states, Illinois and New York, due to the move.  And, guess what… I am no longer in either of those states, but I don’t see a third bar exam in my future.  So, the first lesson I’ve learned is not to move so much if you want to practice law, or work for the federal government, then a license from any state will do.  Here are a few other things I learned:

• To succeed at the bar exam, it’s not enough to know the law, you also need self-discipline, endurance, time-management and stress-management skills.  You must train for each of these requirements accordingly.
• Remember the three “Ps” of performance:  prioritize, plan, prepare.  You need them as you study for the bar.  To make my life easier, I just followed the schedule of the bar review course.  You must have a schedule and stick to it.  You won’t be able to catch up if you seriously fall behind because of the large volume of the material. 
• Find a routine that works for you.  It may consist of lectures in the morning, a lunch break, a short study session, a nice nap, another study session, a workout, dinner – you get the idea.  See how your energy flows throughout the day and adjust your activities accordingly.   
• Pace yourself and take study breaks.  It’s a marathon, not a sprint, you need to build up your endurance and mental toughness and not to burn out in the process.  Incorporate some type of exercise into your routine to bring oxygen to your brain, relieve stress and stay healthy.  Take naps if you can.  You are going to be learning so much every day, an afternoon nap will help you consolidate your memories.  I started meditating daily for about 10-15 minutes when I was studying for the bar. 
• Don’t try to make yourself more miserable than you need to be.  Reward yourself periodically with some fun and entertainment, but avoid anything that can give you a hangover, insomnia or indigestion.  The idea is to make you feel better, not worth.  You can even combine your studies with something pleasant.  Pack your books and go to a park or to the beach.   
• Do lots of practice questions for the MBE portion of the exam.  After reading a lot of questions, you become more attuned to the language and start recognizing patterns better.  Time yourself when you do them.  Getting the pace right is very important at the bar exam, so you should practice time-management early.
• Make sure you practice writing your full essay answers within the time constraints.  Go back and edit some of your essays to make the writing more crisp and concise.  Find better ways to state legal rules and standards so that you can use those phrases in other essays.  For the rest of the essay questions, outline your answers to see if you can spot all the issues. 
• Do the in-class, practice MBE exam, you need to know what a six-hour exam feels like. You can also schedule your own practice test or partner up with another bar candidate and take it together. 
• On the day of the exam, the last thing you want to worry about is getting lost or being caught in traffic, torrential rain or blizzard.  Visit the place beforehand.  If you have to drive far or if the weather is unstable, consider staying in the hotel nearby for the days of the exam.  When I moved to Buffalo, New York, I decided to take the February bar exam.  Buffalo can get lots of snow, and I didn’t want to concern myself with the weather, so I stayed in the hotel where the bar exam took place.  I slept better and longer. 
• Finally, no matter what, just remember that it is going to be over soon. 

Good luck!

8 times smarter : learning with multiple intelligences

Today I offer yet another approach to reviewing – I’ll call it “transformations.”  The idea is to transform the material presented in one format into a different format and engage your multiple intelligences in the process.  Here are some examples:

Linguistic intelligence.  Make a list of the most challenging concepts and then write a coherent paragraph on each of them as if you are explaining the concept in an article.  Find the most efficient ways to describe legal tests, rules, standards, so that you don’t have to waste time and words when you take an essay exam. 

Logical-mathematical intelligence.  Play with fact patterns and causalities.  Start by analyzing a hypothetical, and once you have your solution, change the facts.   Ask “what if” and observe how the changes in the fact pattern influence the outcome.  List all the assumption you make as you are analyzing the situation.  Verbalize every step in your argument. 

Musical intelligence.  Create musical jingles or rhymes to aid your memory.  Record yourself speaking on the subject:  your voice will reinforce the retention.

Spatial intelligence.  Pick a topic in your outline and rearrange it into a flow chart or a table.  Create a mind-map of what you have read. 

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.  Listen to legal opinions while walking around campus.  Do some repetitive movements as you study: you can juggle, do squats, pace around your room.  If you feel creative, try molding a piece of clay as you are learning a concept.  Here are more tips for kinesthetic learners.

Interpersonal intelligence.  Participate in a study group.  Explain the concept you are learning to somebody who has never studied law, answer their questions. 

Intrapersonal intelligence.  Be a reflective learner.  Take time to figure out what works best for you and capitalize on your strengths.  Ask yourself:

• On the scale 1 to 10, how well do I understand this topic?
• What are the most challenging aspects of the material?
• What can I do to learn it better?
• What resources help me most?
• How do I know that I have done enough?

Naturalistic intelligence.  Are there any similar laws, principles or categories that you can observe in the natural world?

How to form an effective study group

Some students prefer studying on their own, others join study groups.  A study group can be beneficial if it is set up and run effectively, but it can quickly turn into a time-waster if the participants gather to socialize, share confusion and commiserate.  How do you make your study group more effective?   Here are a few suggestions:

• Choose your study-buddies wisely.   A person who is great to share a beer with may not be the best choice when it comes to studying together.  You want people who are responsible enough to prepare for the meetings, who contribute with ideas and tips, who are self-directed and motivated learners, with a schedule compatible to yours.  Also, avoid large study groups because they are hard to manage and you have less opportunity to contribute.
• At the end of each meeting, set an agenda for the next meeting and allocate specific times for every task.  Make sure you have the ending time.  Stick to your plan. 
• Assign a person to each topic on your agenda to lead the discussion.  Do it in advance of the meeting so that the person can think about the best way to address the topic and prepare questions.  This is done for the sake of efficiency, and not for the purpose of sharing the workload:  everybody must still prepare to discuss each topic on the agenda. 
• Make it a goal whenever you speak to keep your message brief, crisp and to the point.  This is good practice for real-life meetings.  Brevity helps to crystallize your understanding.
• Identify your personal goals that can be advanced in a group setting.  For example, you can practice your communication and listening skills.  You can learn to think on your feet when somebody asks a question.   You can see how good you are at motivating people.  You can even work on your leadership skills.   Pick a specific goal for each meeting and focus on it.   Don’t be shy about asking for your peers’ feedback.  “Am I rambling too much?”  “Did I present your point of view correctly?” 
• If your study session reveals points of disagreement, confusion or misunderstanding, prepare a list of questions that you can ask your professor during the office hours or have a volunteer to consult a treatise or other sources for a follow-up presentation at the next meeting.  The point is to have a course of action to clarify the confusion. 
• Role-play during your studying sessions.  It may sound silly but it is a fun and effective way to step into somebody else’s shoes.  You can act as a lawyer explaining something to a client.  Talking through the material and putting it into the words that are easily understood by a lay person will reinforce your own comprehension.  Whoever plays the “client” will make sure that you don’t speak legalese and ask clarifying questions.  Or how about trying to read your professor’s mind and predict what questions can appear on the exam?  Have each member come up with one possible question or hypo that all of you can do during a review session.  Compare your answers, give constructive criticism.  When the exams come around, keep scores to see who the best “mind reader” is.  Here’s another interesting exercise to do as part of your group review sessions – the “Final Exam” procedure by Win Wenger of the Renaissance Project.
• Do practice questions and essays as part of your meeting.  It is easier to take timed practice tests within a group.  After the time is up, trade your answers, critique and offer tips to improve.  Pay special attention to the organization of your essay answers.
• Right before the exams, the students are understandably more stressed out and may feel the need to talk about something else as a diversion.  If that’s the case, schedule some time during the meeting for stress-relief activities.  Share something positive and motivational with the group.  Look at great photography or listen to a piece of music together.  Laughter is an excellent way to reduce stress and uplift your spirit.  Do an act of kindness or say something nice to the person next to you.  It will make you and those around you feel better.

What are your experiences with the study groups?  Do they work for you?  If you participate in one right now, how can you make it better?

Memory techniques

Do you need memory boost?  Here are a few suggestions of memory techniques that you can use as you review for the finals and, for some of you, for the upcoming bar exam, with the links to my earlier posts.

• Create crossword puzzles to memorize legal terms and concepts.  Puzzle your brain tells you how to do it with the example of the crossword puzzle on the rights and duties of cotenants.   
• Create mnemonics to aid your memory.  Memorize this provides an illustration from Property, Rights of Founders Against the Owners of Land.  And here’s a mnemonic to help with the Rule Against Perpetuities.
• Branch out:  use mind-mapping to create additional study aids.
• Metaphors and associations are great tools to incorporate the new material into your existing knowledge base. Here’s an example from the landlord and tenant law.
• If you find it hard to remember how and when certain rules apply in a sequence, peg the application of those rules to a system that is more memorable and familiar to you.  Here’s an example of a memory peg to remember the interaction between the Rule in Shelley’s Case and the Doctrine of Merger.
• Visit the “memory palace”: 
  First, you choose your “memory palace”, which can be any place or route that you remember well.  Next, you place your thoughts or images that you want to remember next to distinctive points in the rooms of your palace or along your route. Those points serve as memory hooks.  When you need to recall the material, you mentally walk through the palace and “collect” the pieces of information that you left at each distinctive point. 

For more learning techniques, check out the Project Renaissance web site.   

Tips on how to review before the test

Many of you are approaching another round of finals.  In order to give you more varied pointers on how to review before the exam, I decided to ask some people about their approaches to reviewing.  Coincidently, my husband is studying for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level III exam right now, so I asked him.  Here's how he thinks about reviewing material. 

Let's assume that you've read through all the testable material.  The goal in the review is to ensure that the information collected is converted into knowledge and insight.  One way to do this is to consider three points:

1. What is the key point?  Information generally comes with extraneous detail and noise.  Boil down the key ideas into crisp points.
2. Why does it matter?  Knowing the importance of the information is critical.  First, it provides context and relevance for the information.  Second, it gives your mind an anchor or reference point to hang the information, so that it can be easily retrieved later.
3. What does it mean?  Put differently, how will this information change behavior going forward?  Consider how you or people you know are impacted by the information?  If you were an impacted individual, how would you see the world differently?  Thinking about information through the eyes of those affected provides powerful insight into the consequences (intended and unintended) of the change.

Do you have any tips to share?  Comments are always welcome.  And there are more tips to come, so check back soon.

Creative thinking

I’ve decided to dedicate this week to thinking because that’s how my posts shaped up so far.  It will be known as the “Thought-Full Series.”   Robert Sternberg, the developer of the triarchic theory of intelligence, divides thinking into three categories:  analytical thinking, creative thinking and practical thinking.  The analytical thinking refers to abstract thinking and logical reasoning.  It is about analyzing and evaluating information.  Creative thinking is about the ability to generate new ideas and deal with novel situations.  Practical thinking is about the ability to apply the knowledge in the real world and change your environment.  Last Monday, I wrote about reasoning by analogy as part of analytical thinking.  Yesterday’s post about goal-setting illustrated practical thinking.  Today’s theme is creative thinking.   

How important is creative thinking to lawyers?  Lawyers are not usually seen as creative types.  After all, they research the rules and advise on how to follow the rules.  At the same time, there are many aspects of law practice that can benefit from creativity:  how to find ingenious solutions for your clients while obeying the laws, how to negotiate better outcomes for all, how to mediate conflicts, how to communicate with your clients effectively, how to cut costs and grow business.   Can you think outside the box but play by the rules?   

“Think like a fool,” advises Roger von Oech of Creative Think.  You will benefit from fresh perspectives, shrewd observations and surprising insights.

Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project offers Eight tips for sparking your creativity.  Let your mind wander and take notes. 

I like to listen to Accidental Creative podcasts because I want to be “prolific, brilliant and healthy.”

What do you do to nurture your creativity?

Reasoning by analogy

Learning how to reason by analogy is one of the most important objectives of legal education.  But you certainly don’t have to be a lawyer to use analogy in your thinking.  In fact, whenever we encounter a new situation, we start searching for some familiar elements in it to give us an indication what to do.  In law school, you have to build awareness of what is going on in your head when you reason by analogy.  In other words, you deconstruct the process.  Generally, when you reason by analogy, you take the following steps:

1. Identify the analogy by recognizing the similarities between objects or situations.  Let’s say, you see a tangerine for the first time and you want to compare it to oranges, lemons, and peaches that you are familiar with.  We like to think in big categories or archetypes, so the first thing that probably jumps out is that they are all fruits, and the tangerine is just like an orange or a lemon because it is a citrus. 
2. State the purpose of the analogy.  The purpose allows you to determine what characteristics are essential.  In the above example, if your purpose is to avoid citruses because of the allergies they may cause, the attribute of being a citrus is essential and your analogy between the tangerine and the orange or lemon is good.  Now, let’s say, you want to know how easy it is to peel off the skin of the fruit.  If that’s the case the analogy between the tangerine and orange is still good, but the analogy between the tangerine and lemon becomes weak because it’s hard to peel a lemon. If you compare the sweetness of the fruits, the tangerine becomes more like a peach than a lemon.
3. Assess the source of your analogy.  If there are alternative sources of comparison, how do you choose which to use? Let’s say, in my last example, which focused on the sweetness of the fruits, I could use kiwis as another basis of comparison but I chose not to.  What is the significance of my choice?  Is there a difference in the perceived sweetness when I say, “Tangerines are just like kiwis,” and when I say, “Tangerines are just like peaches”?
4. Evaluate the ambiguities, dissimilarities, false attributions that may weaken or break the analogy.  Do the differences between the tangerines and peaches undermine the analogy?  What are the underlying assumptions when you make the comparison?  In the example above, I assumed that I was comparing ripe fruits, otherwise, the analogy wouldn’t make sense.   If you hear the sentence:  “This toy is a lemon,” does it mean that the toy is defective or it shares some attributes with the fruit?   

For additional sources on reasoning by analogy, check out LawNerds and Analogy and Precedent from the Bridge site. 

To test yourself, do Analogy Exercises by Peter Suber.  For some practice in pattern recognition, try Brain Workout for Your Frontal Lobes from SharpBrains.

Tip Bit #14: How to ACE your online reading

Internet is the repository of a wealth of information and a great time-waster as well.  What I am realizing is that the source of information overload is not so much the sheer quantity of information, but rather the inability or unwillingness to choose what is worth the reading effort.  I am guilty of spending hours jumping from one article to another to satisfy my curiosity.  Did all this reading make me more productive, inspired, creative?  I am not so sure.  That’s why I decided to give my ACE system a try.  It makes me more aware and accountable for what I read, why I read it, and what the results are.   “ACE” stands for “Accumulate,” “Choose,” “Eliminate.”  This is how it works:

Accumulate.  I schedule time to skim my feeds, perform searches, follow interesting links and do other things to collect potential reading material.  I bookmark the things I may want to read.  I set up several folders according to my projects and interests so that I could sort the links into their corresponding folders.  The challenge here is to fight the temptation to start reading.  The upside is that I don’t need to be selective at this stage.  Anything that catches my eye goes to one of my folders. 

Choose.  I schedule separate time when I actually read the materials that I bookmarked earlier.  Before I read though, I make a choice of what I am going to read about today.  The benefit is that my reading is more focused on what I am doing at the moment.  Instead of reading five articles on memory on various days, I read them all in the same session when I want to tackle this topic.  Another plus is that great sources accumulate over time without much effort on my part, and when there are enough of them, it is a signal for me to pay attention.  I find that I get more ideas and inspiration out of such sessions.

Eliminate.  I also take time to go over and clean up my folders.  I delete the links that are no longer relevant for some reason.  Again, I want to keep the things that I may read one day.

Do you have a system in place that helps you curb your appetite for online reading?  I’d love it if you shared your approach in the comments.   

Holistic learning

In his thought-provoking post How to Ace Finals Without Studying and the follow-up, Scott Young describes holistic learning and its benefits:

Learning holistically is not done by trying to remember information by using repetition and force. Holistic learners instead organize their minds like spider webs. Every piece of information is a single point. That point is then consciously related to tons of other points on the web. There are no boxes with this form of learning. Science becomes literature which becomes economics. Subject distinctions may help when going to class, but a holistic learner never sees things in a box.

The interconnectedness of ideas, concepts, experiences, disciplines is at the heart of holistic learning.  Whether or not you practice holistic learning regularly, I think you are likely to experience the “magic” of holistic learning when you research and write a paper, work on a case in a clinic, or work on a project as an intern.  You don’t try to memorize the material, but the engagement and thinking involved in the process will cause you to remember it even years later.   

Holistic learning is synthesis on steroids.  You establish connections not only between the legal concepts you study, but also link to other disciplines and areas of life in general.  Law is fertile ground for this as it permeates almost everything around us.  In addition, law is constantly evolving, so to understand where a legal standard stands in relation to other rules and doctrines on the grand scheme of things is more important than to know its current interpretation (that doesn’t apply to the bar exam).  It is like star gazing when you identify the stars by their relative positions in the constellation.  Issue-spotting is another context where the holistic approach will serve you well because you have to take the characteristics of the familiar pattern and extend it to a new situation.   

So how do you approach the study of law holistically?  Next time when you struggle to understand a legal concept, consider the following questions:

• What is this concept like?  Think of any association that comes to mind.  Go further and analyze the essential characteristics that make this association work.  Is there a point where the association breaks down? 
• What does this concept remind you of?  Think of what you already know and how it can help you understand this concept better.  Does it involve a process similar to “X”?   Can it be applied just like “Y”?  Does it produce outcomes much like “Z”?   
• How does this concept relate to the previous material?  Here you engage in synthesis. 
• How do you think the doctrine will develop from this point on?  Make some predictions about what’s to come. 
• Do you know of any concrete, real-life scenarios where you can practice applying the theory?  When you encounter or read about various controversies, think of what you know and how it applies to the situation in question. 
• What other disciplines influence the evolution of this concept?  For example, technological developments affect patent law.  Ethics come into play in the regulation of biomedical research.  As you read papers and listen to the news, think of the ways the law may change in the future.
• What areas of life are affected by this concept?  Think of the results and consequences.  Do you like them? 

Mind-mapping can be a great tool to visualize these multiple levels of connections. 

What do you think of holistic learning?  Is it worth the time and effort?  Does it really eliminate the need for the traditional cramming right before the exam?  Have you experienced those "Aha! moments" when
things just "clicked" for you?  How did you get there?

On books, papers and citations

Do you know what book holds the record of being the longest book ever written in the world?  It is Yongle Dadian - "The Encyclopedia of Yongle Emperor's Reign in Ming Dynasty.”  It took 4 years for 3,000 scholars to finish the compilation of 11,095 volumes and 22,877 chapters in 1408.  The encyclopedia has an estimated 370 million Chinese characters. 

As to much shorter but surely no less important Bluebook, check out "Introduction to Basic Legal Citation" by Peter W. Martin.  It has good information on legal citation, which you may want to read if your goal is to join a law review or write for one.

If you want to streamline your legal research and writing, CiteIt! may be the right choice for you.   It is a software that automatically formats legal citations according to The Bluebook or The ALWD Citation Manual, inserts properly-formatted citations into your word-processing document, creates a table of authorities and makes it easy for you to store, search and organize your legal research.  You can download a free trial version.
   
If you must write a research paper for any course or journal that uses MLA, APA or Chicago style, Slate Citation Machine is a free simple-to-use online citation tool to reformat a citation to the style you need.

Finally, here is a good compilation of resources for writing a research paper from St. Ambrose University Library.  This is how I found the Thinking Page, which offers information on improving organizational and individual thinking. 

Capture the contrast

Life is full of contrast.  We don’t always like it, but the contrast keeps the  current of life flowing, forcing us to change, adapt, move forward.  There is no “hot” without “cold."  The balance of sweet and sour gives flavor to our food.  We can’t feel joy unless we know sadness.   Sometimes, the only way to discover what makes us happy is to experience what makes us unhappy.  How can we harness this power of contrast and bring more momentum and clarity to our everyday routines?  Here are a few things to consider:

• If you have to do something that you don’t like doing, pair it up with an activity that you enjoy.  Maybe, a cup of good coffee will help you through a boring part of the textbook, just like a good CD makes a long drive more bearable. 
• Reward yourself after you have accomplished a project that felt more like punishment. Come up with a reward before you begin the unpleasant task.  That way you have something to look forward to and keep you motivated.   
• Play Devil’s Advocate.  When you prepare an argument, always consider the opposing points of view.  You will discover the weaknesses of your position before your opponents have a change to point them out. 
• Stretch yourself by experimenting with the ways you do things.  If you read slowly, try speed-reading.  If you are used to typing up your notes, leave your computer at home and take notes by hand.  If you are usually quiet in class, force yourself to ask more questions.  Reflect on how it feels to do the opposite and how it affects the process and the outcomes. 
• When you read a text in legalese, translate it into plain English to aid comprehension and practice effective writing.      
• If you are quick to jump to conclusions, stop and ask how one could reach the opposite conclusion. 
• When you evaluate a legal opinion, ask yourself what would have happened if the court had decided differently.  Think in terms of precedent, policy, outcomes. 
• When you consider career paths or job offers, visualize yourself doing the opposite of what your initial choice would be.  Notice how it feels and how your body reacts.  Do the same exercise with the other options.    
• If you have failed at something, ask yourself:  “What can I learn from this experience that will help me succeed in the future?”
• Counteract the negative self-talk with positive affirmations. 
• If you are angry, think of kindness.  If you are frustrated because you didn’t get what you wanted, express gratitude for what you have.  Start giving in order to receive. 

How else can you use contrast to your benefit? 

The Name Game in the Memory Palace

If you were to compete in the USA National Memory Championship, you would first have to memorize 99 names and faces in 15 minutes and recall them in 20 minutes. Next, you would memorize an unpublished 50-line poem in 15 minutes, followed by a series of random digits, an arbitrary list of words and a shuffled deck of playing ca