The one thing I've realised and something I am incorporating now is close your ears to unnecessary criticism, as T1s can be brutal and can affect many many aspects of your life starting with your physical and mental health. 4PQE and given the hustle bustle I realised my basics were never in place. Put your ego aside, think of yourself as starting over again and start with the absolute basics, whether that's the definition of MOA/AOA, s.22 Comapnies Act and s.77, this seems miniscule, but read, analyse and read commentaries, make handwritten notes and go a few days doing this. You'll feel slightly more confident the next time you're asked to review a constitutional document or asked why a CHG form is to be filed in 30 days.

Only after this you move to things like private placement, debentures, s.179, s.180, s.185, s.186. Given each of this a couple of days. While its a pain staking process and you could still be bombarded with brutal comments, trust me you're making progress.

Once done with this, start with transaction documents, every day spend 15-20 mins on just one clause of a DTD/FA, as basic as the array of parties and recitals, why is the successor added, why do we have permitted assigns, why the interpretation clause, why the business day convention.

Once you get to the operative clauses, spend maybe half an hour daily on let's say covenant to pay, security clause, type of each security and the basics you've covered in the para above will all start making sense.

When it comes to drafting, something I've started recently is maintain an excel sheet with a clause bank of sorts. Add even the most horribly seen clause in the horribly drafted base drafts of banks and financial institutions. Gradually this will help you when you're marking up docs so identify the critical issues and the comments. Spend some time drafting and maybe rehearsing drafting when you see something of this world. You'll I'm sure notice that gradually, you start remembering the transaction documents because fundamentally every fucking B&F deal is the SAME.

Something that helped on the job is ChatGPT to break down concepts to you like a five year old using examples like candies and piggy banks etc. Easier to understand the building block and such the retention is a lot better and you can apply it using he financing parlance.

Most most UNDERRATED, and this goes unnoticed, eat proper meals, hydrate, look after yourself. If you're depleted, your absorbing nothing else other than the trauma at work. Even if it means having a slice of bread and coffee as breakfast, have it. If you run on zero, nothing you do is going to make you a better professional.

And friend, depending on the T1, its not the end of the world. There are just not enough B&F associates to do even the basic jobs, no gloating but they need you as much as you need them. Tattoo this to your head and your pressures outside of work will ease up so you can regain your focus.

Everything said above, please remember, give yourself 6 months at least. This is not a month long exercise. I'm seeing some progress in my work after about 3 months.

Hope this helps. All the best. And if your partners are mauling you outside the purview of professional boundaries, get up and fuck them up and leave. There is no amount of money in this world that would make parents happy if it comes at the cost of their child being hauled everyday. Parents can be surprisingly understanding.