President's Page, 0115 ALBJ, 76 The Alabama Lawyer 9 (2015)

• Author: Richard J.R. Raleigh, Jr., J.

PRESIDENT'S PAGE

Vol. 76 No. 1 Pg. 9

Alabama Bar Lawyer

January 2015

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0 Richard J.R. Raleigh, Jr., J.

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0What You Need to Do This Year-R.E.S.T.

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0I hope you're having a happy and productive new year. If your "to-do" list looks like mine, maybe you think that resting is not how you need to start your new year, but please allow me to explain. A speaker at the first Alabama State Bar Leadership Forum Alumni Section reunion, Gen. George Casey, Jr. (USA, ret.), gave this advice: "Each day you need to R.E.S.T. That is, you need to Read, Exercise, Sleep and Think."

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Read

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Each day, you should try to read something that is of interest to you, but is not work-related. Our speaker was not suggesting that we all read deposition transcripts when we get home at night. If you enjoy reading biographies, read biographies. If you enjoy reading crime novels, do that. Forget social media. Pick up a book. It stimulates your mind, reduces stress, increases your knowledge, expands your vocabulary and improves your memory. There are many other benefits as well. Plus, if you get a book from the local library, it is free entertainment!

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Exercise

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Next, each day, do your best to exercise. The physical benefits of exercise are clear, and most people know there are mental health benefits as well. They include reducing stress, alleviating anxiety and preventing cognitive decline, among others. We're all busy, and this takes time, but every time I hit the gym, I come back recharged!

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Sleep

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0You need to get a good night's sleep. Experts say that an adult should get about seven to eight hours of sleep per night.¹ The military has long studied the effect of poor sleep quality and inadequate quantity. We all know that with less sleep, we are not as alert. Recently the Army's surgeon general stated, "If you have less than six hours of sleep for six days in a row you have a cognitive impairment of 20 percent-that you are cognitively impaired as if you had a.08 percent alcohol level."² She continued, "We never will allow a soldier in our formation with a .08 percent alcohol level, but we allow it every day to make those complex decisions." Id. Poor...