Lawsagna

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? 

Tip Bit #18: It’s time to throw out bad apples

Occasionally, in a grocery store, I buy apples that look good and firm with shiny skin (probably coated with wax), but when I cut one of these apples a few days later, there is brown mush inside.  While I’d love to know how to pick apples better, today’s tip is not about grocery shopping.  It’s about identifying the “bad apples” among things you do.  Sometimes we engage in something that appears like a good thing on the surface, but if we dig deeper, it adds very little value to our lives.   Just like those bad apples in the store, such activities can be deceptive because they are not obviously bad or wrong. 

They often act as time-fillers and offer us a way to procrastinate.   Take example of web surfing.  There is a lot of good information on the internet that you may want to read, but after a while, internet search can turn your brain into a mush. Some things go bad with time: the more time you spend on it, the less productive the activity becomes.  That’s why time constraints are a good thing.  When do you stop evaluating options and make a decision?  When do you stop researching and start writing?  Here’s another “apple” that can go bad – reading study aids, such as commercial outlines, hornbooks, nutshells.  At what point reading more becomes a distraction form something more important that you should be doing, like thinking on your own or outlining?

We all pick “bad apples” from time to time.  What are yours?  How do you pick them and why? 

** I am doing the happy dance here because I just found my good Apple – my iPod.  Four days ago, I locked it and gave it to my baby to play with – she loves gadgets (bad idea), and then it disappeared.  I searched through every inch of my home office and couldn’t find it.  Today, I pulled a book off the shelf and it fell out.  She must have put it on top of the books.  I never realized I loved listening to podcasts so much.  It made my day!

Train you brain

So you want to be smarter, remember better and preserve your mental faculty as you age?  Train you brain!  The following articles and sites will help you do just that:

Mary Carmichael explores how exercise boosts brain power in the Newsweek article “Stronger, Faster, Smarter”:

…in a landmark paper, researchers announced that they had coaxed the human brain into growing new nerve cells, a process that for decades had been thought impossible, simply by putting subjects on a three-month aerobic-workout regimen. Other scientists have found that vigorous exercise can cause older nerve cells to form dense, interconnected webs that make the brain run faster and more efficiently. And there are clues that physical activity can stave off the beginnings of Alzheimer's disease, ADHD and other cognitive disorders. No matter your age, it seems, a strong, active body is crucial for building a strong, active mind.

Just like with the body fitness, you have to work on your mind fitness regularly.  If you don’t have time for a full workout at the gym, try “An ‘Exercise Snack’ Plan” devised by Howard Hartley, M.D., I-Min Lee, SC.D., and Nancy Ferrari.  Or pretend that you are a fitness buff, and you may just act your way to a healthier mind, as Stephanie West Allen of Idealawg explains in her post "Limber-brained lawyer thespians: An antidote for dimming, dulling, and dawdling?"

SharpBrains blog brings you a puzzle that challenges your ability to uncover a pattern.  Also, check out their advice on how to improve concentration and memory: 

In fact, many memory complaints have nothing to do with the actual ability of the brain to remember things. They come from a failure to focus properly on the task at hand, many times due to emotional and stress-related distractions. If you want to learn or remember something, concentrate on just that one thing. The harder the task, the more important it is to tune out distractions. Make more of an effort not to let yourself get distracted until you’ve finished what you have to do.

And don’t miss what’s under your nose.  Derik Bownds of MindBlog reports that "Odor cues during sleep stimulate memory."

Tip Bit #17: Find out what demotivates you

We often look for motivation and overlook things that demotivate us.  Motivation is not just about the presence of goals, purpose, energy and will.  It is also about the absence of certain things.  What are those things that kill your motivation?  Where do you look for them? 

Your surroundings.  Clutter demotivates me even though I have to admit that my now 16-month-old baby desensitized me a bit to this aspect of my environment.  A pile of blocks on the floor, a stack of old magazines to tear up and various squeaking things under my feet seem like a good bargain for a half-hour of uninterrupted work.  Is there anything in your surroundings that demotivates you? Any annoying noises?  An uncomfortable chair?

People.  Negative people have a great ability to demotivate, and so do rude people.  Limit your exposure to them if you can.   

Low energy level.  It’s hard to get excited about anything if you don’t have the energy.  Shortage of sleep and exercise, illness, poor diet can all contribute to the lack of energy and motivation.   Even eating a heavy meal can make you sluggish.

Stress and anxiety.  While short-term stress can add to your motivation, prolonged stress will most definitely diminish it.  And even though there are people who are motivated by fear, many of us find anxiety and negative thoughts demotivating.   

Your leisurely pursuits.  I am careful about what I watch and read.  There are many things out there that put me in a sulky mood.  On the other hand, being outdoors makes me more enthusiastic about things I need to do. 

What demotivates you? 

“Holistic Learning” E-book by Scott H. Young

If any of you took interest in the holistic learning concept, Scott Young has released a free e-book titled “Holistic Learning.”  You can download it here.  To describe the holistic learning process, he uses an analogy of constructing a brick building.  In class, professors often hand out bricks, but it is up to the students to construct a building out of them.  How do you approach your construction project?  This short, easy-to-follow book details the process.  Interestingly, Scott seems to think that law may not be a good subject matter to study holistically because of the arbitrariness of the rule-based system.  I am not so sure.  What do you think?   

The book made me ponder the question of how I link whatever I am learning to my existing knowledge base and what connections have more impact.  I believe you can generate some positive energy and empower yourself when you establish a link that truly resonates with you.  Without that link, the information is just a dead weight.  I learned that when I decided to develop healthier eating habits.  I read many articles, I knew what was good for my body and what was not, but all that information did not make much difference until I found the right connection.  Weight loss goals and abstract health-talk didn’t do it for me.  What prompted me to start looking at food as fuel was the notion that whenever I consumed sugar, trans-fats or other bad stuff, my body’s efforts were diverted from generating energy, building immunity, fighting viruses to absorbing and getting rid of the “junk.”  I just had this image of my body getting “anxious” and “tired” after I ate candies or processed food and feeling “light” and “active” after I ate fruits and vegetables. That sensation made me think twice before grabbing a bad snack.

How do you integrate new knowledge into your way of life?         

How do you deal with fear?

Whether we like it or not, fear is part of our life, and it is often part of the learning process.  When we learn new things, we challenge ourselves, we venture outside our comfort zone, we grow, change, and redefine who we are.  That’s when we become scared.  What if I am not smart and capable enough to do it?  What would others think of me if I fail?  What would they say if I follow my gut instinct and not what everybody else says I should do?  How will I handle rejection?  Can I be financially secure?  How we respond to those fears has a huge impact on our success in life, happiness, and peace of mind.  So how do you deal with fear?

Do you feel that you must overcome your fear?  Is it stopping you from achieving more in life?  If so, read 5 life-changing keys to overcoming your fear at the Positivity Blog. 

“Can We Control Our Fears?”  Sevil Duvarci and Denis Paré tackle this question from the neuroscientists’ perspective. A recently published study suggests that “the expression of learned fear is flexible and subject to modulation by the prelimbic cortex, depending on the circumstances; our expression of learned fears is less rigid and less automatic than the expression of innate fears, which are beyond the reach of the cortex.”

Perhaps, you welcome fear.  You may even believe that if you don’t feel fear, you are not doing enough.  Fear may propel you to action.  Is Fear Actually An Asset?  It may well be according to Success from the Nest.  Get to know your fear and learn from it.    

Do you share your fear with others or do you hide it?  Executive Coach Doug Sundheim believes that revealing our vulnerabilities to others may strengthen our relationships and generate good energy.   He shares his 5-step approach at Fast Company Expert Blogs.  Interestingly, neuroscientists also tell us that social contact reduces the brain response to threat. 

Would you agree that fear is in the fabric of the law practice?  Lawyers work with people’s fears.  Sometimes, they alleviate fears, for example, when they do  a title search for the clients who want to purchase a home.  Other times, they seem to generate more fears:  just read the "default" language in a promissory note.  And then, there are circumstances when they have to say to their clients that it’s OK to be afraid and help them through their fears.   Do you acknowledge your clients’ fears?  Or would you rather shun the emotions and stick to business only?  What role does fear play in your practice?

Willful thinking: the “Gotta’ Get Goals” project

I was tagged by Stephanie West Allen of Idealawg to participate in Alex Shalman's "Gotta' Get Goals" project:

In a new blog post, list and write about the top 5 to 10 goals that you gotta’ get so that you can truly say you have achieved your wildest dreams in life. These have to be your best, most exclusive, and over-the-top goals that you can pick off your goals list.

Stephanie’s email created a chain of serendipity as the night before I was reviewing my list of 100 goals that I made after reading The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Leslie Hewitt.  The review, in turn, was prompted by the talk by Dax Moy on the Anatomy of a goal that I recently listened to.   He reminded me of the importance of identifying why I wanted to achieve my goals and the price I was willing to pay for it because goals come with a price tag.   

I like the idea of letting my goals “age” like Champaign concealed from the world in dark cellars so that when the time is right, they can come to life with a celebratory pop and a splash of energy.  That’s why I have taken liberty to cloak my goals in the quotations I like, instead of revealing them outright.  Being indicative of my goals, these quotations inspire me and remind me why I do what I do.  They are part of my vision board.  I had fun selecting them and I hope you enjoy reading them.

1. “We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.”
   - Peter Drucker
2. “There are three ingredients to the good life: learning, earning, and yearning.”
   - Christopher Morley
3. “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
   - Frederick Buechner
4. “Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee and just as hard to sleep after.”
   - Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift From the Sea
5. "The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating – in work, in play, in love." - Anne Morriss
6. “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
   - Anaïs Nin
7. “Each day comes bearing its own gifts.  Untie the ribbons.”
   - Ruth Ann Schabacker
8. “You have been given 86,400 seconds today.  Have you used one to say ‘thank you?’"
   - William A. Ward
9. “If we want to simplify and deepen our lives, we must simplify and deepen our minds. When we become more centered, clear, spacious, caring, and open, there is suddenly much more room in our frenetic lives for both others and ourselves.”
   - Lama Surya Das
10. The Law of Least Effort..."Today, accept people, situations, circumstances, and events as they occur. Take responsibility for your situation and for all those events seen as problems. Relinquish the need to defend your point of view."
    - Deepak Chopra, Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

If you want to share your goals with us, consider yourself tagged!

Tip Bit #13: On reflective learning

People like to be in control of what they do.  It applies to learning as  well.  One way to make your learning experience more meaningful to you is to take time to reflect on the learning process itself.  Imagine that you want to go to Paris for vacation.  To see the city, you can either choose to go on a group tour with a guide or you can create your individual sightseeing agenda.  If it’s your first time in Paris, you don’t know anybody there and you don't speak French, a guided tour may be your best option:  you will be shown all the main points of interest and receive the basic information about the places.   However, if you are familiar with the city enough to decide what to see and how to organize your trip, you can create much more personal and meaningful experiences in Paris. 

How does it apply to learning?  Law school is in many ways like a guided tour with a busy schedule.  But when you get off the bus and have some free time, consider a few questions to orient yourself towards better learning experience.  What kinds of questions should you be asking?  Here are some examples for a weekly review:

1. What confused you most in class this week?
2. What is the best way to resolve your confusion?
3. What key ideas and information did you learn?
4. What was the most important idea you learned this week?
5. What surprised, dismayed, delighted you most in class this week?
6. How does your learning relate to the larger context of your life and work goals?
7. Have you learned any practical skills, ideas, tools, techniques that you can easily apply to real-life situations?
8. Have you learned anything new about yourself, your interests, feelings, values?
9. What helped your learning?
10. What interfered with your learning?
11. What should you do more of?  What should you do less of?
12. What is one thing (skill, habit, activity) you want to focus on next week?

Psychology of color

What colors do you like?  How do different colors make you feel?  Colors affect us emotionally, mentally and physically.  If we pay attention to how we relate to different colors, we could use them for our benefit.  Here are some tidbits about colors and their meanings. 
 
Red is associated with energy, passion, strength, danger, power.  It represents “emergency” in the field of medicine, “hot” and “danger” in engineering, and “loss” in finance.  Red has a great emotional impact.  Use it when you need to energize yourself and prepare for action.   Red is often used for “Buy Now” and “Click Here” buttons in web ads to prompt people to make quick decisions.    

Orange is associated with enthusiasm, stimulation, creativity, joy, warmth.  Orange is an attention-getter.  Use it to stimulate your mental activity and appetite.

Yellow is associated with sunlight, happiness, intellect, inspiration, energy.   Use yellow to cheer up or stimulate your curiosity.  It excites the brain and aids perception and memory, so it is good for learning.   

Green is a color of nature.  It symbolizes freshness, renewal, growth, safety, tranquility.  Green represents “money” and “profit” in finance and “safety” in engineering.  Green will help you relax.  It promotes the feeling of peace and harmony.

Violet is associated with luxury, mystery, creativity, independence, nobility, spirituality.  Use violet if you want to feel inspired and creative. 

Blue is associated with stability, calmness, trust, confidence, security, order.  It represents “reliability” in the business world.  Blue is a soothing color, it promotes mental relaxation.  Use it if you seek clarity and better ways to communicate something.  It is also known to slow down metabolism and decrease appetite.   

White is associated with coolness, purity, lightness, innocence, cleanliness.  Use it if you want serenity and simplicity. 

Black is associated with power, formality, elegance, sophistication, mystery.  Use black when you want to create the impression of strength and authority. 

Some believe that your preferred color can tell something about your personality.  Do you agree? 

How about taking ColorQuiz, a free five-minute personality test based on color psychology?

Finally, visit this site if you want to know more about color therapy. 

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? 

Tip Bit #12: Three easy ways to recharge yourself

One thing I am learning to do as I work is to recognize the point when I begin feeling fatigued and take a quick step to recharge.   If you spend long hours studying or working, watch for the following signs:

• You begin yawning.
• It becomes hard to concentrate.
• You space out for a few seconds.
• You rub your eyes.
• You body feels stiff.

Aren’t you getting tired just after reading these symptoms?  When you start feeling this way, try the following easy steps to break the cycle of fatigue. 

1. Take 10 deep breaths.  We are all guilty of shallow breathing.  When you are hunched over a book or the keyboard, you can’t fully expand the lungs.  Also, when people feel stressed, they tend to take short, rapid breaths.  When you feel tired, take deep, relaxing breaths to bring more oxygen to your body.  Are you feeling better already?
2. Now it is time to stretch.  I like the Yoga Triangle Pose because it gives a good stretch to my whole body and releases the tension from the lower back.  Because it is a standing posture, I don’t even need a mat.  You can find the instructions and tutorial animation at the ABC-of-Yoga website.  As with any stretch, go slow and stop if you feel any pain.  The website describes many other poses, so you can choose the ones that you are comfortable with.  The tiredness starts to melt away.
3. Finally, drink a glass of iced water with lemon.  Thirst causes fatigue.  The cold water wakes me up (and burns a few calories, as a bonus).   The fresh smell of lemon is invigorating.

These little interventions are easy to do and don’t take much time.  If you can’t take a nap or get to the gym, they can be your next best thing and a healthy alternative to reaching for more coffee and a cookie (I am writing this for myself and I should tape this to my coffee-maker).  What do you think?  Do you have any tips for a quick energy boost?  Please share them with the rest of us! 

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 cards.  How do you think you would do?  It turns out that best competitors in the world can memorize a deck of cards in less than a minute.  Joshua Foer describes these exciting memory battles in Forget Me Not: How to Win the U.S. Memory Championship.

Some of the methods used by the competitors originated in the ancient Greece.  In his historic overview of the "science of memory" in Mappa.Mundi Magazine, Carl Malamud tells the story of the poet Simonides of Ceos, who witnessed the destruction of the banquet hall where he sang his poem just minutes before the collapse.   Simonides was able to reconstruct the guest list by visualizing the exact location of every guest at the table.  This visualization technique became known as 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 the 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.  You can use this technique to memorize a presentation or a legal argument, for example. 

What if you have trouble memorizing people’s names?  Play The Name Game and learn 8 tips on how to remember people’s names from memory expert Frank Felberbaum.  Then test his advice at the next networking event. 

What memory techniques do you like to use? 

The leftovers guide to productivity

As I was cleaning out my refrigerator yesterday, I couldn’t help but wonder about the similarities in the ways we deal with the leftovers and the ways we approach our projects.  What do you do with your leftovers?

• Do you finish them even though the food may have lost its initial appeal?
• Do you re-work them into something new and delicious?
• Do you put them into the fridge and forget about them until a rather peculiar smell reminds you to check on your biological experiment?
• Do you throw out the leftovers right away because you know that you won’t be eating them again?

Now, it’s time to see how you handle your projects.

1. Do you always finish what you have started even if you are not as excited about the project as you were at the beginning?   If so, you certainly have the self-discipline and good planning skills.  And you probably accomplish a lot.  As long as you choose your projects wisely and don’t compromise on your taste, you are in good shape.  One thing for you to remember is that some projects, just like the leftovers, have an expiration date:  if a project goes bad, don’t be afraid to toss it. 
2. Are you one of those lucky people who know how to breathe life into an old project?  You know where to look for inspiration to keep your projects alive and exciting.  You are flexible and you are not afraid to make changes as you go.  The only word of caution for you is not to lose the essence of your projects.  There is only so much you can do with the leftovers.  Sometimes, it is better to start from scratch.   
3. Do you tend to start projects and then put them “on hold” when something better or more important comes along?  Do you have a long to-do list that keeps running through your mind?  Then, your head is probably full of mental “leftovers.”  Schedule regular times to clear you head by deciding what to toss, what to work on right away, and what to “freeze” till sometime in the future.  Planning and prioritizing will save your energy and make you more productive.
4. Do you have trouble completing your projects?  Maybe, you have many interests and you are very enthusiastic to try out new things, but you get bored easily.   As a result, you struggle to stay focused.  Try “freezing” some of you "leftover" projects for future use and re-working the others.  Find sources of motivation to stick with the project at hand.  Circulate several projects so that you can easily switch from one to another when you get frustrated.  Revisit your inventory of "frozen leftovers" periodically to see when it is a good time to thaw them.  While variety is good, you don’t want to be wasteful. 

How to develop your emotional intelligence

Learning has the potential to change people.   As people change, so do their relationships with others.  Sometimes these relationships change for the better and sometimes for the worse.  Today’s round-up is about the emotional intelligence and people skills that we all need to master our relationships. 

The first people to notice the changes in you are the people closest to you:  your spouse, significant other, your kids, your close friends.  Even if they want to be supportive, the change can be hard for them to accept.  Pamela Slim of Escape from Cubicle Nation offers great insights about relationship transitions in the article When you change, all your relationships change.   One of her tips is to “communicate clearly and frequently with those around you about the changes that are going on in your life.” 

Maybe, you sense that something is amiss in your relationship, but you can’t quite figure out what is going on with the other person.  Would you like to learn how to read people?  Life Training – Online offers the series on How to Read People.  It will show you how to develop the mental mindset of the “effective people reader,” how to master the techniques and how to determine if somebody is lying to you. 

You can’t read people unless you listen actively to what they are saying.  Inside Practice offers the excerpt on how to “Connect with Your Client through Active Listening” from The Successful Lawyer: Powerful Strategies for Transforming Your Practice by Gerald A. Riskin.  You must be able to hear not only the facts, but the emotions as well.

What if you hear anger? Can you deal with it?  Here’s a piece of advice from a Buddhist monk at ProBlogger. 

What do you do if somebody tries to put up barriers to your progress?  Listen to John H. Johnson’s lesson of success:  “Don’t Get Mad, Get Even.”   Belief in yourself and perseverance are the best answers to those who doubt you. 

There comes a time in our career and personal life when we need to apologize to others.  It may not be an easy thing to do for a lawyer.  We are trained to assign blame, not to accept it.  Cheryl Stephens of Building Rapport shares the results of her research on the subject of apology in Apology – the Unknown Universe.  Brad Shorr of Word Sell offers tips About Writing Letters of Apology.   

Finally, Dr. Tammy Lenski talks about a neat mood-visualization tool – MoodJam.  It is a free service provided by the MoodJam Research Group in the Human Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.  It allows you to visualize your moods in color strips.  You can then share your moods with those around you to let them know when you are safe to approach and when they should stay away.

On rejuvenation

I just got back from Nashville, Tennessee; it was 70°F there and it made me realize how much I was looking forward to Spring.  I want to shake off the heavy coats and winter slumber.  I like Spring’s vigor, freshness, and the sunny disposition.  It is easier to get up early, there seems to be more hours in the day, and the air is full of good energy.   

Students enjoy their Spring Break around this time.  It may be a good opportunity to rejuvenate your spirit.  Do you feel tired and sluggish after long winter months?  What will it take to bring your life forces back?  As you celebrate the arrival of Spring, choose a few ways to nurture and nourish your body and mind:

• Get out in the sun (don’t forget the sunscreen) and take longer walks to breathe in fresh air, smell the early flowers, and clear your head. 
• Release emotional toxicity with the 7-step process from Deepak Chopra.
• Get a massage.
• Drink green or white tea to flush the toxins out of your body.  I recently bought this new LIPTON White Tea with Island Mango and Peach, and I love it.
• Set a goal of eating a minimum of two pieces of fresh fruit every day.  Joe’s goals will help you to stay on track.
• Find time to call your friend with whom you haven’t spoken for a while.
• Incorporate at least some of these 52 Proven Stress Reducers into your life.
• Find an art exhibition that you would like to visit in your area and go. 
• Create a Spring reading list that includes books that you don’t have to read but really want to. 
• Find time to appreciate what you have in life by recording your thoughts in a gratitude journal. 
• Bid farewell to snow by making a snowman with your kids, classmates or co-workers, like these lawyers from a federal agency in Washington, D.C. did as part of their humor training.  Sounds silly?  That’s the point!  Lighten up and laugh!
• Get inspired with 10 Timeless Lessons From Dalai Lama, discussed by the Ririan Project.
• Start recording your favorite quotations.  I like this one by Anaïs Nin:  “There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”   

What do you need to blossom?

Tip Bit # 10: Do Your Words Speak Louder Than Actions?

We’ve all heard the saying:  “Actions speak louder than words.”  I wonder if sometimes, the opposite is true:  can the words we speak reveal more about ourselves than we care to admit?  Sometimes, the choice of words signals inner beliefs that may be holding you back.  Does the way you talk about money reveal a conscience of abundance or limitation?  Does your language support the image you want to project or takes away from it?   Do you appear confident in front of others, but insult yourself privately with negative self-talk?  Becoming fully aware of your own word choices is not easy.  I’d like to cut down on the use of the verb “try,” but I am sure, it slips in more often than I notice.  Asking a person close to you to listen to how you say things and give you feedback may be a good way to start.  What words do you want to eliminate from your vocabulary?  What would your Best Self say?   

Think before you think

Neuroscience tells us now that the human brain can change and new neurons can be created.  I've just finished listening to an interview with science writer Sharon Begley in which she talks about her new book, Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain.  (Thanks to SharpBrains for featuring this interview.)  Brain neuroplasticity hints at exciting possibilities as neuroscientists discover the factors that affect the brain development.  One of these factors is exercise, which promotes the growth of neurons and the strength of their connection, according to the article "Buff and Brainy" by Christen Brownlee.  Meditation is another practice that builds awareness and attention, which appear to be a prerequisite for the shift in brain patterns.  Even lawyers are willing to dedicate some of their precious time to meditation.   

If you want to know how law practice can benefit from brain research, read Idealawg by Stephanie West Allen.  Stephanie and Dr. Jeffrey M. Schwartz co-authored the article "Brain Management: Law Firm Leadership on the Neuro Frontier" which appeared in the February, 2007 edition of Of Counsel: The Legal Practice and Management Report (Not available online, but Idealawg has the beginning of the article.) 

Another great resource for brain-based business advice is the Brain Based Business blog by Dr. Ellen Weber who teaches businesses how to capitalize on the brain power for maximum results.

Are you taking a good care of your brain? 

Learn to fall forward

I saw a TV commercial yesterday that used the phrase to “fall forward” as a metaphor for learning from your experiences.  I liked the association.  When you deal with your share of disappointments in law school, it helps to keep in mind that you are learning to fall forward.  If you play it safe, you eliminate opportunities for learning.  It can be scary to fall, you can get injured.  Lawyers may even be more risk-averse than the general population because the nature of their profession demands caution.  But since some falls are inevitable, you may as well learn how to fall forward in law school, which is a safer environment than the real-world legal practice.  So, how do you learn to fall forward?

• Don’t be afraid to take calculated risks when you can get a high potential pay-off.  It may be worthwhile to join a law review or a moot court competition even if it means that you will have less time to prepare for your classes.  The pay-off is the skills you develop participating in those activities that make you more desirable to the employers.
• Take challenging classes in the areas that are new to you. Stepping outside your comfort zone will increase you learning opportunities. Consider taking classes in other programs that are relevant to the area of practice you want to pursue.
• Make sure you expose yourself to the teaching styles of different professors.
• Ask questions in class if you don’t understand something. 
• Get as much feedback as you can by voicing your opinions and comments in class and talking to the professors during office hours.   
• Look for internship opportunities.  Practice your job interviewing skills.
• Ask people whose opinions you respect to become your mentors.  If they say they can’t for some reason, ask them to refer you to somebody else who may be in a position to mentor you.
• Participate in study-abroad programs to learn more about the legal systems of other countries and enhance your cross-cultural communication skills.
• Learn to network by attending conferences, bar association functions and reaching out to others.
• Hone your people skills by enrolling in a legal clinic or volunteering.  Learn how to deal with difficult people.
• Don’t be afraid to negotiate better deals for yourself. 
• Don’t try to hide mistakes.  Acknowledge them and take responsibility for correcting them.    
• Treat mistakes as learning opportunities.  Determine what went wrong, what you should do to avoid the same pitfall in the future, incorporate the changes and move forward.   

Learning takes courage.  What else can you do right now that may look risky and uncomfortable but has a potential to bring a large pay-off for your future?   

Tip Bit #8: How Your Past Successes Can Cause You To Fail

"Things happen according to the ordinary course of nature and the ordinary habits of life."
California Civil Code, Maxims of Jurisprudence

“It may look like a crisis, but it’s only the end of an illusion.”
Gerald M. Weinberg, The Secrets of Consulting

People don’t like to change, but circumstances do.  Our current behavior is conditioned by our past successes:  we adopted what worked for us before.  The danger is that our past successes can become foundations of our future failures.  How so?  Past successes create the illusions of certainty, stability, continuity.  When the circumstances change, as they often do, we fail to adapt.  It’s like going to law school with a bag of undergraduate tricks.  We use familiar patterns of behavior in unfamiliar territories when, instead, we need a paradigm shift. 

Why not step back and ask yourself:  Is there a different way to think about this?  Am I moving forward or running in circles?  Are any of my habits holing me back?  What should I be doing differently?  It’s especially useful to do such review when you face changes in your life, like deciding on a career path, starting law school, or getting a job.  Open your mind to new ways of thinking and succeeding.  Are you ready for a paradigm shift? 

Take a nap

Continuous self-improvement requires discipline and sacrifice.  At least, that’s what performance gurus and self-help books tell us.  Is there a lazy way to perfection?  The answer may be a surprising “yes,” according to Dr. Sara Mednick.  Dr. Mednick studies how napping can improve human performance.  In our busy, sleep-deprived world, taking a nap in the middle of the day sounds like a luxury we don’t have time for.   But Dr. Mednick says that in reality, it is wasteful not to nap because we rob ourselves of such essential elements of productivity as endurance, alertness, attention, energy, creativity.  I first heard an interview with Dr. Mednick through The Theater of the Mind podcast, in which she described her research and her recent book Take a Nap! Change you life.  Her studies show that you can target different aspects of performance by varying the time and duration of your naps.  Morning naps can boost creativity, while afternoon naps help to absorb large quantities of information and improve memory.  You can learn more about the power of napping and read sample chapters at Dr. Mednick’s website.  A Nap Wheel on the website will help you design your customized nap schedule for optimum results.  Mine is showing that it’s time for my nap.  Efficient napping requires practice, so I better go.  Wouldn’t you like to be good at napping?   

Learning on the go

Do you find it easier to concentrate and learn when movement is involved?  Is it hard for you to sit still?  Do you do well in sports or performing arts?  Do you have hobbies that require working with your hands?  If so, you may be a kinesthetic learner who would benefit from incorporating movement into the learning process.  The Law School Academic Support Blog  has great tips for kinesthetic learners on how to improve their performance. 

Roger von Oech of Creative Think offers a neat product to boost creativity – The Ball of Whacks, which consists of 30 magnetic blocks that can be used to create a variety of designs.  You can work with your hands and improve your creative thinking at the same time – a win-win combination for kinesthetic learners and a great fun for everybody else. 

While movement is a necessity for some learners, all of us can benefit from kinesthetic intelligence.  Our brain consumes a third of all the oxygen that our body receives.  Physical exercise helps to increase the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain, improving its function.  I’ve found that certain types of physical activities work better for my mind. 

Walking is one of them.  It calms my nerves and clears my head.  Read Walk for Focus by Brain Based Business to find out how walking can benefit your brain.  If you want to listen to cases while taking a walk, go to http://www.audiocasefiles.com where you can download the digital audio recordings of legal opinions for 0.99 cents a piece.   

Spinning is another one of my favorites.  It is a much more vigorous exercise.  I liked the setting of a spinning class I attended a few years ago:  it had dim lights, good music, and effective but not overbearing coaching.  I felt like I was in the zone.   

At the time I was studying for the bar, I lived in an apartment in a Chicago high-rise with a swimming pool on the roof.   I took my books up there and did laps during my study breaks.  I don’t claim it will work for everybody, but it worked for me.   The additional benefit was that I didn’t feel like I had to miss out on all the summer fun because of studying.  And as I already wrote in the five-things-you-may-not-know-about-me meme, Latin ballroom dancing was my escape from law school.  Who knows… it may have helped me more than I am willing to admit. 

You don’t always need a big chunk of time to gain exercise benefits.  These days, I often do 15-minute yoga sessions to stretch and breathe.  And I am learning to juggle because juggling improves the brain function.  It also makes my baby daughter laugh, especially when I drop a ball.  Sometimes, simply being mindful of your posture and remembering to relax your shoulders can boost your energy according to The Happiness Project.  I’d add a few shoulder rolls to that.  Little steps can make a big difference. 

Are you ready to use your kinesthetic intelligence?  What’s your move?   

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

It’s cold here.  The wind sends chills right through my bones.   Normally, I enjoy walking, I try to walk to places whenever I can, but on a day like this, I would not venture outside but for my two dogs that need to be walked.  The dogs don’t care about the weather, they want their walks, so it must be done.  This brings me to a question I have for you today:  What would it take for you to move a task from the “may-be” category to the “must-be-done” category?  If the syllabus says you have to read Chapter 8 by tomorrow, does it make it a must?  What about a gut feeling that you may be called on in class?  Or do you have enough self-discipline so that if you decide that something is important, you will do it no matter what? 

When I walk the dogs on a nice day, I am motivated by pleasure.  I truly enjoy the process:  I like the outdoors, my eyes appreciate the beauty and variety in nature, I have time to think without interruptions.  This is an example of intrinsic motivation.  On the other hand, when it is too cold to enjoy the outdoors, my motivation becomes extrinsic, and it’s not as much fun anymore.  Understanding the interaction between your extrinsic and intrinsic motivation is important if you want to develop good habits and achieve results.  Intrinsic motivation is usually more powerful because it is driven by your goals, desires, personality.  Here are a few steps that can help you create intrinsic motivation:

• Set goals and rewards that are meaningful to you.
• Understand how a particular task contributes to a valuable outcome.
• Engage your imagination and emotions when you think about what you want to accomplish.  Re-create the image of success in your mind every time you need extra motivation to do a task.
• Approach each task with curiosity and the beginner’s mind.  Look for new things to learn even when you engage in a familiar activity.
• Try changing a perspective if you feel bored.  Ask the question: “What would _______ think or do about it?”  Insert a person, organization, profession in the blank.
• If you have a role model, ask yourself how your role model would approach the situation you are in.  Get into their mind.
• Embrace the uncertainty.  Do you ever wonder how people can spend hours pulling a lever of a slot machine?  It is the uncertainty of the outcome that keeps them interested.  The uncertainty increases the production of the neuromodulator dopamine, which is responsible for a focused attention and more pleasurable experience.  Imagine what would happen if you were to get a regular salary for pulling the same lever but no chance of a random win. You’d be bored to death very soon.  Uncertainty keeps the excitement alive. 

To find out more about different types of motivation, check out What’s the Motivation by Daily PlanIt. 

And I am off walking the dogs.

Related post:
What is your motivation direction?

What can you learn from people?

Some things we learn from books, by going to classes, watching presentations, listening to lectures.  Other things we learn from people by observing, analyzing, imitating, practicing.  For example, we can learn from people:

• how to communicate well,
• how to engage your audience,
• how to appear professional,
• how to explain complex things in a simple way,
• how to ask good questions,
• how to network,
• how to make people feel valued and respected,
• how to motivate others,
• how to make a joke and when it is appropriate,
• how to defuse intense emotions.

So how do you learn from people?  Here are a few questions and suggestions to guide you:

• What skills do you want to learn? What results do you want to achieve?
• Who will be your model?  Do you know a person who is good at what you are trying to learn?  If you personally know them, enlist their support, ask them questions.  But don't forget that you can also learn from public figures by observing their actions, listening to their speeches, reading their works.
• In what situations do you need to observe that person?  In other words, what is the context that triggers the desired behavior?
• While observing your model in action, decide what the important differences are that make the behavior effective.  What does this person do that others don’t?  In contrast, is there anything that the person you are modeling avoids doing that others tend to do?  What clues should you pay attention to?
• Can you recognize any patterns in the desired behavior?
• Are there specific steps or procedures that the person is following?
• Is there anything unique about the way that person interacts with others?
• Can you tell anything about the person’s assumptions, values, attitudes from his or her behavior?
• Now it is time to create your model of the effective performance.  Can you come up with a strategic list of behaviors that you can imitate?
• Try out your model in the relevant situations to see if you can achieve the desired result.  If not, how can you revise your model?
• Keep trying it out, fine-tune your strategy as necessary.

You need to be mindful and reflective when you learn from others.  It also takes discipline and patience to follow through with your plan.  The benefit is that you can improve your performance by being observant and willing to try something different.  I encourage you to keep your eyes open for other people’s talents.  Ask them questions, learn from them, and you might just add a few gifts to your own bag of tricks.   Who are the people you'd love to learn from?

Find your learning rhythm

Lately, I have been experimenting with various patterns of work/rest/chores/childcare/ other tasks throughout my day.  I have found the challenge to be not so much about scheduling all those activities, but rather about establishing routines that give a healthy rhythm to my day without disrupting its natural flow.   I don't think it is just kids and dogs who need routines.  Adults can benefit from them too.  I can explain it better with a cooking example.  Making lasagna is a multi-step process:  I need to brown ground beef, make the sauce, prepare the ricotta mixture, boil lasagna noodles, assemble the lasagna and then bake it in the oven.  Some of those steps require a certain order:  I cannot assemble the lasagna until I have all the components ready. At the same time, I can choose to make it in several sessions:  I could assemble the lasagna in advance and put it in the refrigerator to bake at some later point.  To use the time efficiently, it makes sense to prepare several things at the same time, for instance, I could mix the ricotta cheese and eggs while browning the meat.  I need to remember to preheat the oven so that I don’t have to wait for it.  With practice, you are able to get into the swing of things so that the whole process goes smoothly and efficiently.  You have found your rhythm. 

Human beings are very rhythmic.  Our hearts pump blood through our bodies rhythmically.  We breathe, walk, talk in a rhythmic fashion.  Kathy Sierra of Creating Passionate Users describes it well in Rhythm Method: “Life runs on a pulse…”.  It is not a stretch to say that learning has its rhythm too.  How can you find your learning rhythm?  There are a few questions you may want to consider:

• Is there a certain order in which you prefer to do your tasks when you study?  Do you like to complete all your reading assignments first and then outline?  Or do you prefer to start with reviewing and outlining, and then get to reading?  What are the trade-offs of each approach?
• Do you first complete the easy tasks or the difficult ones?  Why?
• Do you like to focus on one subject matter and do everything related to it during the whole study period or do you switch between subjects and tasks?
• When do you review your notes:  right after class, before the next class, or at the end of the week? (I hope it’s not one day before the exam.) Do you know what works best for your memory?
• How often do you take breaks when you study?  Many believe that 50-minute sessions with 10-minute breaks are optimal. 
• How well is your studying schedule coordinated with the rest of your daily routines?  Do you feel rushed all the time?  Are you exhausted by the end of the day?
• What are your best working hours?  Do you take advantage of your natural energy peaks throughout the day when you study?  What tasks should you be doing when you energy is high?  Which ones do you reserve for your low points?   

I am sure there are more questions to ask.  Send them in!  I encourage you to experiment with your daily routines to see if you can find your rhythm and flow.  It makes a difference.

Music to your brain

How does music affect you?  Do you have a favorite CD that lifts your mood whenever you play it?  Do you have special tunes that energize you or help you sleep?  When I was an expecting mom, I read all sorts of articles on the effect of music on the baby’s development and we played music a lot in our house, but I still was amazed to discover how enthusiastically my child responded to music early on.  She started swaying and ‘dancing’ when she heard her favorite songs even before she could walk.  And she exhibited preferences for upbeat tunes.
 
So why are so many of us deeply touched by music?  Daniel Levitin, a professional musician and neuroscientist sheds some light on the mystery of music in his book This Is Your Brain on Music:  The Science of a Human Obsession.   Brain imaging done on people as they listened to music showed that music activated various parts of the brain related to planning, expectation, language, motivation, pleasure.  Music elevates dopamine levels, much like narcotics and antidepressants do.  Levitin also believes that music promotes cognitive development. 

Do you want to explore what is music to your brain?  You don’t have to go far these days.  Pandora  of the Music Genome Project will create a personal radio station for you, playing tunes that you are likely to enjoy, when you indicate your favorite artists or songs.  You can also get free classical music recordings via podcast.  Interested in meditation music or brain wave therapy?  Brain Sync has a collection of CDs and audio programs for you.  It also offers a free 10-minute guided meditation if you want to take a little break from your computer. 

How to develop negotiation skills

Negotiation is an important part of legal practice and effective representation.  What do you need to know to be a skillful negotiator?  Can you communicate your client’s interests in such a way as to produce the best outcome for the client?  Here are a few resources to help you at the negotiation table.

Genuine Curiosity has great tips on how to prepare to negotiate.  Some of the questions you need to consider are:

• What do you know about the party you are negotiating with?
• Are you clear about the objectives and limits of your negotiation?
• How do you plan to rehearse your negotiation strategy?
• Where should you hold the negotiation sessions?
• How can you remain clam and focused during negotiations?

The article Win-Win Negotiation Skills for Lawyers:  The Art of Getting What You Both Want by Janet Ellen Raasch will tell you if you are a carp, shark or dolphin in negotiations.  Be a dolphin, and you won’t get grilled.

Brain Based Business offers 10 Surprisingly Simple Words that End Dysfunction and Add Profit. 

Are you good at interpreting body language?  Often, we don’t have enough time to reflect on nonverbal clues.  Maybe, we are too distracted by our own thoughts to even pay attention.  Not so for Dr. Hugo Heyrman.  His Body Language Sequences of short looped films will allow you to watch rhythmic patterns of body language in motion and appreciate its meaning.  Here’s how he describes his project:

"In the Body Language Sequences I walk through the streets of Antwerp City, to investigate how people differ from each other, how people are using 'silent language' and 'personal space'. I am interested in the temporality of speed, acceleration, slowness and pause. How 'sub-movements' are expressed. How motion precedes emotion. Up to 90% of all of our communication is nonverbal. The direct actions of the human nervous system are usually subconscious, instinctively meaningful and more honest than verbal communication. Bodies do not lie. The 'subliminal' messages of the body are playing a major role in how we relate to others and how they see us. Our bodies are the most public signals of our identities, and private reminders of who we are. We imagine by remembering, or vice versa. In the ritual quality of interpersonal actions there is a hidden code of behavioural patterns, through which hierarchical and social power structures emerge. The body language sequences of the human figure in motion, are a display of our motives in the flow of time."

Anticipation: getting ahead of the curve

"Skate to where the puck is going, not to where it is."  This famous saying by Wayne  Gretzky, “the greatest player of all time” according to The Official Encyclopedia of the National Hockey League, nicely sums up the skill of anticipation.  The ability to predict where things are going is very important not only for ice hockey players, but for lawyers as well.  Think of all the time lawyers spend anticipating the outcomes of the cases, the moves by the opposing party, witnesses’ responses,  negotiating tactics, and everything that can go wrong.   But what is anticipation?  Can we learn to anticipate better?  It certainly seems that experience has a lot to do with this ability.  Anticipation appears to be a complex skill, so I’ve decided to break it down to some more basic components.  Perhaps, if we work on those, we can get better at anticipation.  Here is my list:

• Asking the right questions.  When we anticipate something, aren’t we looking for an answer to some important question or problem that is on our mind?  If that’s the case, the practice of asking questions about future events should help us to get better at predicting the outcomes of those events.  Next time, before you read a case for your class, ask yourself some questions about it.  What do you think it is going to be about?  Was there anything in the last case you read that was left unanswered?  Why is it in the textbook?  What is it going to add to the legal doctrine you are studying?  When you try to answer those questions, look at the material you have covered so far, consult the table of contents and the syllabus for your class.  Get a bird’s view of the task, and you may see better what is to come.  After you read the case, try to predict the questions your professor is going to ask in class.   
• Recognizing patterns.  Patterns are predictable.  If you are good at recognizing patterns, you are good at anticipation.  Look for recurrent behaviors.  If you don’t review your notes or outline, you don’t do well on the test – that’s a pattern.   
• Prioritizing.  We are constantly bombareded with all sorts of information.  When we make a decision about something that may occur in the future, we need to determine what to take into consideration and what to ignore.  Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink is about learning what’s important and making snap judgments based on “thin slices” of information.  When you enter a law firm’s office, what can you tell about its culture?  What clues do you use to make that determination? 
• Mindfulness.  In order to anticipate, you need to be aware of what is going on around you.  You want to notice things, words, behaviors. Sometimes, anticipation is about paying enough attention to the present. 
• Empathy.  I think there is a connection between empathy and the ability to anticipate.  If you can share in someone’s feelings and emotions, you can understand that person better, and as a result, you are better at predicting behavior.   

Is there anything else I should add to the list?  Let me know. 

Ten tips for receiving feedback

Do you appreciate constructive criticism?  Does it make your angry?  Do you feel hurt?  All of the above?  Constructive feedback is essential for learning.  Feedback is a scarce commodity in law school.  Students often don’t know how well they are doing until they see their grades.   There is no homework to turn in so that the professor could evaluate your progress.  There is very little team work in law school.  In real life, you are going to hear criticism from partners, other associates, clients, opposing counsels, judges.  Not so in law school.   You need to be proactive in seeking feedback from your professors.  The sooner you learn how to receive and act on the constructive feedback, the better off you are going to be.  Here are ten tips for receiving feedback:

1. Develop the right mindset.  Law School Academic Support Blog has a great post on The First Year Five-Step Grade Acceptance Plan.  Feedback is information, and your brain must be receptive to take in the ideas that are offered.   If you are angry, emotional, defensive, you can’t think clearly.  Use stress-management techniques, such as taking deep breaths, to control your emotions.   
2. Schedule appropriate time and place for receiving feedback.  You don’t want to be rushed or disrupted.  It is probably not a good idea to seek feedback right after you see your grade even if you feel the urge to deal with it right away. 
3. Prepare for your feedback session.  Think of the questions you may want to ask your professor.  It should be a two-way conversation.  Focus on the solutions of the future rather than the mistakes of the past.
4. When you listen to your professor, your goal should be to understand, and not to judge what you hear.  You will have time later to decide if you agree or disagree with the professor’s opinions and recommendations. 
5. Repeat back what your professor has said to avoid misunderstandings.  You can offer your summary of the main points at the end of the session:  “Let me see, Professor, if I understood you correctly.  In your opinion, I should focus on …”. 
6. Ask clarifying questions, but don’t get into an argument.  Keep it professional.
7. Take notes so that you can review them later when you decide what to do about the feedback. 
8. Don’t feel that you have to accept each piece of advice.  You can sort the recommendations you received into three categories:  “cash,” “stash,“ and “trash.”  “Cash” is the “golden” advice that you should definitely follow. “Trash” is the advice you choose to ignore.  “Stash” is the advice that you need to think about in the future. 
9. Turn your feedback into a set of goals and actions to implement.  There is no use in feedback if you don’t plan to do anything about it.
10. Acknowledge your professor’s time and expertise and thank him or her for the feedback.

You are in law school to learn, and your professor is there to teach you.  A feedback session can make the process easier for both of you.

Can we create the ‘Aha’ moments on demand?

Do you know the feeling when you have been struggling with a problem for a while and then suddenly all the pieces of the puzzle come together and you have the answer you have been looking for?  Do you remember what you did right before that ‘Aha’ moment?    I’ve recently read an article titled “The Eureka Moment” by Guenther Knoblich and Michael Oellinger in Scientific American Mind (need subscription).  They report on a number of experiments conducted by cognitive neuroscientists that suggest the right brain takes the leading role in generating the insights.  While we don’t know yet how to create those eureka moments on demand, there are some practical steps we can take to increase the likelihood of their occurrence.

1. First, you need to know your stuff.  You need sufficient knowledge and understanding of the issues to solve the problem.
2. Second, much like athletes train before a competition, you need to condition your brain by giving the problem your full effort and attention.  You are likely to get stuck at some point, and that’s OK.  There is a trick to overcome this phase. 
3. The trick it to get away from the problem for a while.  The downside of the knowledge and expertise is that we become too rigid in our approaches.  The brain needs some quiet time to restructure the problem and allow us to look at it from a different angle.  That’s when the insight is more likely to occur. Scientists believe that sleep helps to absorb and reorganize information, so naps often lead to the ‘Aha’ moments.  Here is an interesting account of the breakthrough moments experienced by famous musicians, artists and scientists.   It turns out that many of those moments happened in a somnambulistic state.  A positive attitude helps too, so take a break from the problem and do something fun.  The solution may come to you when you least expect it. 

Too often we associate gain with pain, and while some pain is inevitable, your brain does not want you to suffer continuously.  Treat your brain well, reward its hard work with sleep and pleasure, and it will do wonders for you.

21 days to a new habit: can you handle it?

“I do think New Year's resolutions can't technically be expected to begin on New Year's Day, don't you?  Since, because it's an extension of New Year's Eve, smokers are already on a smoking roll and cannot be expected to stop abruptly on the stroke of midnight with so much nicotine in the system.  Also dieting on New Year's Day isn't a good idea as you can't eat rationally but really need to be free to consume whatever is necessary, moment by moment, in order to ease your hangover.  I think it would be much more sensible if resolutions began generally on January the second.” 
Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones's Diary

It is January 2, and it’s time to start doing something different.  As far as good  learning habits are concerned, what is one thing that you are going to do differently this year?  My focus area is organization – from home to head.  Since we are what we do consistently, it is important to make this new thing a habit.  Often times, I initiate some good change, do it for a couple of days, or even a week, and then life interferes and I stop.  Does this scenario happen to you?  Research shows that it takes around 21 days to form a new habit.  Can the “Better You” last that long?  Here are a few ways to improve your chances:

• Clearly identify the benefit of the new habit.  Come up with a word that expresses this benefit for you.  Repeat that word when you need some extra motivation. A word works better than a sentence.  For example, I can say to myself: “I will be organized, and I will have more time for important projects.  I will be more focused.  I will have a clear mind.”  It all sounds good, but my subconscious says: “No, you won’t, so why bother?”   On the other hand, if I just use brief “punch” words “focus and clarity,” I have a better chance of avoiding the subconscious sabotage.   
• Strengthen your commitment by writing it down and putting it up somewhere in a high-traffic area of your home or office.  You can also exhibit it on your calendar or learning board.
• Tell your family and friends about your plan.  We have a higher sense of obligation, when we publicly acknowledge our commitments.
• Schedule the time to do your new routine every day of the 21-day period.  When you have a specific time allocated to it, it’s more likely that you are going to do it.
• Find a buddy who is also developing a new habit to keep each other accountable and celebrate the progress.
• Once you complete the desired task, reward yourself.  Couple your new behavior with something pleasant that you do every day.  Make sure you perform your new routine first.   
• If you feel too much pressure, pretend that you are just temporarily (for 21 days) playing a role of that “new and improved” individual to see how it fits you.   Generally, people don’t like change.  They may try to persuade themselves that they do, but their subconscious blocks the efforts.  The role-play may be a way around it.  Find an actor inside you.  It can be fun to walk in somebody else’s shoes for a bit.
• If you have a person in mind whose good habits you want to emulate, enlist him or her in your support group. Ask how they do it. One way to learn to do something is through modeling the behavior of those who do it really well.  You watch them in action, break down their performance into a set of learnable steps and imitate them.  It’s not easy to identify all the pieces that form a successful habit because people can’t always explain how they do things.  Nevertheless, it may be worth exploring.

What are you doing differently this year?  Do you have any tips on how to stick with a new routine?  Please write a comment.            

How to take exams with the champion’s mindset

No more time for whining and complaining.  The exams are here.  What do you  need to do your best?  You need the winning mindset.  And who knows more about winning than athletes?  Much like law students, athletes endure grueling schedules, successes and setbacks, the pressure to perform and manage expectations of their coaches, families, sponsors.  How do they mentally prepare for the competitions?  According to Dr. Aimee Kimball, director of mental training at UPMS Sports Medicine: “Mental training gives athletes the knowledge and ability to control their thinking and emotions, and in turn, their performance.”  Law students can also benefit from mental training techniques.

• Visualization is one of the main techniques used by the athletes to create a successful course of events in their minds.  According to the MIT research, it does not make much difference to the brain whether you see the real thing or imagine it:  the brain responds in a similar pattern.  Imagine how you want the day of the test to unfold.  Picture yourself entering the classroom, you are composed and confident. You read the questions and know how to approach them.  You are able to recall the information with ease.  You manage time well.  Imagine the sense of relief and satisfaction when the test is over.   Use as many senses as you can to make the image real in your mind.
• Remembering your previous best performance can help you to replicate the experience.  Remember the details of that peak performance.  How did you feel? How did you handle challenges?  The task is to recreate the mindset that led you to succeed.  Once you have it, come up with a trigger word to anchor your experience.  Use this trigger word to snap you back into the winning mentality when you need it.  Repeat it to overcome the negative self-talk.
• Creating a ritual can help you to focus and stay in control.  Exams are nerve-racking because we don’t know what to expect.  Simple routines, including some breathing exercises, meditation, listening to a favorite song, can calm your mind.
• Develop the right attitude.  Aligning your expectations with reality is an important step to avoid excessive stress and frustration.   You can’t expect perfection every time.  How you respond to what happens matters more than the happening itself.  Set personal and meaningful goals to measure your own progress and commit to them.  Control what you can and don’t stress about the uncontrollable.
• Increase your energy level.  You can’t have the focus and mental alertness that you need for the peak performance if you lack energy.   If you want to do well, you need to watch your diet, find time to exercise and get enough sleep.  Easier said than done, but those who manage to do it consistently will be higher on that curve.
• Increase your efforts.  Step it up a notch to build up some intensity before the test week.  Do practice questions with time constraints.  Set a schedule for review.  Get into the rhythm. It’s like flexing your brain before the important event.
• Make it through the test “one play at a time.”  Don’t let one difficult question throw you off for the rest of the test.  Stay focused on the task at hand.  Set a pace, and when the time allocated to the question is up, move on. 

Do you have any mental training tips to share?  Please leave a comment. 

New Year? Resolutions?

Do you have any professional habits that you are not quite pleased with?  Now is the time to take a closer look at your values, goals, projects and decide which ones you want to keep and which to toss in the upcoming year.  I know, it’s easier to make New Year’s resolutions than to follow through with them.  However, as the saying goes, if you don’t like the results, you better start doing something different. Do you share any of the dubious traits below that afflict the legal profession?  If so, how are they working for you?

• Over-commitment.   In the world where billable hours rule, what lawyer is not guilty of an extra-heavy work load? When does much work become too much?  Only you can tell, and it’s worth, at least, thinking about.
• Prolonged stress.   Stress is OK once in a while, but the long-term stress can damage your immune system, cause anxiety and depression and lead to a burn-out. Stress also affects you intellectual competence and learning.  To assess your stress level and find out about stress management techniques, check out the stress management resources from Mind Tools.
• Are you a control freak?  Do you have a need to be right all the time?  Do you feel you know what’s best for your family and friends?  Do you have to do all the important work yourself or check and re-check everybody else’s work?  If so, you may appear quite annoying to others, and it may affect your relationships. In addition, you probably have a hard time relaxing.  Try to be kind instead of being right.
• Combativeness.  Arguing and assigning blame is what lawyers do for a living.  Sometimes, it is difficult to suppress the urge to argue in other aspects of our lives.  A good start is to build awareness of our tendencies and notice the triggers.
• Negativity.  Lawyers are on the lookout for everything that can go wrong, that’s what makes them good lawyers.  What’s bad is when they are so focused on the negative beyond their jobs that they can’t see the bright side of life.  It turns out that happy people may even be more productive, according to Get Happy!! and Work Better from Productivity Goal.  A gratitude journal may help you to cultivate a more positive outlook (see my post on Gratitude).
• Communicating in Legalese.  Please be advised that the aforementioned habit can be hazardous to other people’s brains.  Hyperlinked please find a very helpful post entitled Unlearning bad habits from the (new) legal writer.  Plain English is en vogue.  

What habits do you want to unlearn? Comments are always welcome!

6 steps to eliminating distractions

Distractions have the power to zap our energy, steal time, disrupt our thoughts and make us unproductive.  But what is the source of their power? We most often use the verb “distract” in the passive construction, as in “I was distracted,” or “I get distracted easily,” suggesting that distractions are something that happens to us without our volition. The truth is what is a distraction to some may not be a distraction to others.  Distractions surface when our brain reacts to a stimulus in our environment and causes us to switch tasks (see my post Try focusing instead of multitasking).  This process can work to our advantage in some cases when, for example, we hear a fire alarm and react to it, but it can also make us inefficient.  This brings me to the first step to eliminating distractions:

1. Admit that you can choose to either react to the distracting stimulus by acting upon it or ignore the stimulus.  You are in control.  Build awareness of when and why you respond to distractions.
2. Plan and prioritize your activities.  If you know what you should be doing in a given moment and why, it is easier to stay focused on the task at hand. In his book Finding Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi talks about how to achieve the state of complete engagement, “being in the zone,” or “flow”.  It is a very joyful state when you are completely immersed in the experience and don’t want to get distracted. Do you have a favorite hobby that brings about this sensation of effortless achievement?  According to the author, the “flow” occurs most often when people set clear goals, receive immediate relevant feedback and when there is a fine match between the skills and the challenges they face.  When you consciously choose to put your energy into something that has meaning and value to you, the distractions will disappear.
3. Motivate yourself properly.  If you’ve read my post What is your motivation direction, you may know what works for you.  The truth is we like our distractions because they save us from routine, mundane tasks that we don’t want to do.  The solution is either to choose not to perform those tasks or to make them appealing because of the outcomes or benefits you receive once they are completed.  When you create your list of goals, write down the reasons why you should accomplish those goals.  Visualize the outcomes. The feelings and emotions you experience can be strong motivators.
4. Declutter and simplify.  Make your physical environment conducive to working without interruptions.  Turn off the new email notification, clean out your desk to avoid unnecessary visual stimulation, eliminate the sounds of TV or radio, turn off your cell phone.  You decide when you check your email, talk on the phone, watch TV, or chat with your friends or coworkers.  Schedule those activities and be disciplined about following your schedule.  To learn more about the tools that help to minimize the distractions, read Limiting Distractions from Productivity Goal.
5. Meditate.  Sometimes we get distracted by our own thoughts.  “Oops, I forgot to call my Mom.”  “When am I going to get to that report that is due in a week?”  “I need to go to the grocery store before it closes.”  You know those pesky thoughts that buzz around when you try to concentrate.  Meditation can be a great strategy to train your brain to quiet itself.  When you start feeling overwhelmed and hurried, take a few deep breaths, close your eyes and focus on breathing.  Let your thoughts come and go, if they linger, simply redirect your attention back to your breathing pattern.  Take it easy. Relax.  Make it a habit to meditate regularly.
6. Be consistent in your efforts to minimize the impact of distractions, but remember that you can’t avoid them completely.  Don’t get frustrated when distractions happen.  Instead, budget a bit more time for your main tasks to factor in the possibility that you may have to attend to something else.  It is especially important if you tend to underestimate the amount of time you need to get things done.

Additional resources: Managing Internal Distractions by Meg Edwards of the David Allen Company.

Do you have tips to minimize distractions?  Please leave a comment or email me.