I realized this week that I've started feeling like a human being again.
I defended and filed my dissertation in July, but I think I've only just now recovered. I slept through the night every night this week. I did academic reading as reading (appreciating the complete picture, rereading as necessary, taking good long-form notes, sitting in a comfy chair and away from my computer), rather than as frantic skimming and data-mining. I didn't put my supper in the oven and sit back down at the computer to try to write three more sentences while it heated up. It's not that I'm not working for very many hours a day; it's that I'm not cramming work into every single waking moment of every single day. It's been a sort of long, slow decompression. I'm surprised at how long it took, and I'm also surprised at how long it's been. I barely recognize this sensation. (And all this before signing up for yoga for people who need to chill out.)
My dissertation was a marathon run at a sprint pace. This next leg is a double marathon, and I fully intend to pace myself accordingly. I don't think it could work otherwise.
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