It's probably painfully obvious to you readers, but my brain doesn't work anymore. Since I came here, I've noticed my mind wanders at the slightest provocation, often into reminiscence land. This is a bit of a problem during the daily listening schoolwork. Also of late, I ran a few games of D&D and noticed that my brain could not recall ongoing conditions of the game (for which the players were not happy). Also, my simple subtraction speed is down; maybe I need to get a hold of Brain Training DS again.
As for my job, I've noticed my odd tendency to write the end of a word's letters before they are supposed to come has only gotten worse. This is quite annoying, as I am constantly erasing what I wrote a second before while the students look at me and probably roll their eyes. Do we pay this guy? Oddly enough, this writing problem doesn't extend to when I am typing, but in any case I think it is related to my concentration problem. I am not living in the now when I write; I am living in the future of the words and sentences.
The only thing I do seem to remember is Japanese (perhaps my brain has shifted all of its priorities to language acquisition), but like I said, those listening tests are worrying me. I think my mind may wander during the actual JLPT.
I'm going to try to find some ginkgo biloba and see if that helps my concentration and memory. Also, I have to give meditation a more serious try. I do it occasionally on the train when I have nothing else to do, but I think I need to make a point to do it each morning. For that matter, I need to bite the bullet and wake up around and hour earlier than I have been. The world is never going to adjust to my circadian rhythms.
Speaking of the brain and sleep, I recently heard on the Sixty Second Science podcast that our brains shut down in stages, and neuron clusters give up when they have worked hard. This may explain why reading Japanese makes me so sleepy. It may also explain why I am so groggy in the mornings; only part of me is awake, and begrudgingly at that. This morning, I tried something to wake up. I started counting to wake up a few extra brain cells. Then I started singing to wake up another section. Oddly enough, I chose the The Sound of Music song.
You know, I can't remember what comes after "Tea, a drink with jam and bread..." But I did wake up.
Singing and counting really helps to wake up? Maybe I should try that one out too.. I'm always so sleepy in the morning...
ReplyDeleteHey hey,
ReplyDeleteI think we've met once or twice-- I'm a Saga City ALT-- and I just found your site entirely by accident. I think I goggled "Anki JLPT decks" or something and vaguely recognized the header image on your blog as Saga and then figured the rest out.
Anyway, I'm working away at nikyu at the moment and am finding it increasingly hard to concentrate too. I've tried the energy drinks, but I'm pretty sure all they really are are sugar and vitamins, so probably better for getting over a cold than waking myself up. When I was still a uni student, I listened to loud techno while pulling all-nighters, but I think the best thing to do is get a bit of exercise as study breaks. I noticed my handwriting is becoming vaguely dyslexic too... don't know about that one.
Oh, and also, there's other research done that suggests that sleep may aid in memory formation, so if you're about to fall asleep while tired, it's not a terrible idea to give in to temptation and take a 15 minute nap.
Do - A deer, a female deer
ReplyDeleteRe - A drop of golden sun
Mi - A name I call myself
Fa - A long, long way to run
So - A needle pulling thread
La - ...a note to follow "so"
Ti - A drink with jam and bread
That will bring us back to Do (La Fa Re Do)
When you know the notes to sing, you can sing most anything!
Do Mi Mi, Mi So So, Re Fa Fa, La Ti Ti (Repeat in double time!)
When you know the notes to sing, you can sing most anything!
So DO!
Good luck with getting your brain to function properly, doll. With love from the music major. ^-~
Clay, When you have too much stress in your life, your brain will start saying "enough". Just get balance, good food (sugars can be a stressor on your system so don't eat many food with white sugars), good rest and meditation probably would help as well as prayer and a daily form of exercise to get your heart rate going. These will all work better than ginko biloba, but you can try that too.
ReplyDeleteLove, Auntie Nan
I was wondering, do you do any socializing with native English speakers these days? I mean in person, not on the internet or anything. For some reason that strikes me as something that might be a factor, especially if you're having trouble with simple spelling and living in the past. If all your interactions are effortful and in Japanese, your natural English voice is relegated strictly to your internal life, which causes you to go off on nostalgic tangents to yourself or on the internet.
ReplyDeleteIt also might just be from too much Japanese study. By the way, I saw one of your videos that you did in Japanese, and you said it was crappier than you thought, but it seemed to me like your Japanese has improved a lot. So good work.
My Japanese and dyslexical writing have both been bad for years. I still speak tons of English all the time.
ReplyDelete