Of All Nighters and Coffee Breaks

My practice has picked up quite a bit. I haven't been paid substantial retainers but I find fulfillment in knowing that I am helping someone. A mere "thank you" makes up for much of the virtual "pro bono" work that I find myself doing.

With an increased workload and a looming deadline to file documents at the Federal Court, I find myself pulling all-nighters. Reminiscent of my college and law school days, I find myself sitting at my desk in our home office, the light from the desk lamp providing heat on a very cold winter night. I'm clad in very unsexy but comfortable pyjamas, a cup of increasingly cool coffee in my hands. While most people balk at the thought of pulling an all-nighter, I have found that I do my best work during the early morning hours, when everyone else is fast asleep in bed. My intellectual juices flow freely, undoubtedly assisted by my caffeine intake, and I am less distracted by well-meaning loved ones who come into my home office to ask me questions ranging from whether I have eaten to where my daughter's favourite cup was last seen. I can work without worrying that neither my daughter nor my husband require my attention. I can sit here and not worry that my daughter will ask me to play with her or ask me why it gets dark at night.

In college, I actually looked forward to doing all-nighters. I usually managed to get actual work done but my friends did jokingly refer to my "studying" all night as "sleeping, mouth agape, with an open book on my lap."

I guess part of me enjoys doing all-nighters now because they remind me of my college days. And I smile every time I think of those days, when life was much simpler and care-free.