brainwork

[ breyn-wurk ]

/ ˈbreɪnˌwɜrk /

work or effort consisting principally or largely of mental activity, thought, imagination, etc., as opposed to physical or manual work.

the effort of thought, reasoning, planning, or the like; ordered or directed thinking: Solving problems is a form of brainwork.

Origin of brainwork

First recorded in 1835–45; brain + work

Beauty can't amuse you, but brainwork—reading, writing, thinking—can.

13 Classic Helen Gurley Brown Quotes |Jesse Ellison |August 13, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
Extremely clever at any form of brainwork, she was gauche and brusque in her manners, and totally lacking in perception.

The Girls of St. Cyprian's |Angela Brazil
I may have brainwork to do, or something important to think about There is no comparison.

The Beth Book |Sarah Grand
No amount of brainwork has conjured any sense from Iffley, and the etymology has been placed on the shelf as “unknown”.

Archaic England |Harold Bayley

And even then he will sometimes say, "How about the brainwork?"

The Impossibilities of Anarchism |George Bernard Shaw
Get Dilly to make you that boiled rice every night after your brainwork.

Ulysses |James Joyce