Energy saving mode. Not the same as being asleep. Still ticking along but not doing a great deal. Ready to wake up if called upon.

Computers have energy saving mode. So do new cars. So why not us?

How handy it would be to have energy saving mode when you’re doing one of those academic tasks which can easily spiral out of control. The tasks you still need to be awake for but where it’d be helpful to conserve your focus and effort until it’s needed. Like reviewing literatures.

One of the tasks that can easily take huge amounts of energy for not much return is reading and reviewing literatures. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of reading. Reading and writing are pretty well inseparable in my view. And I do like having a bit of an aimless browse around the journals just to see what I…