Quick Tip: Try your sections in opposite order.
One way to alleviate the anxiety caused by the timer is to try your sections in opposite order. If you are like me, you spend way too much time on the first game, passage, or questions because you are being overly cautious. If you start with the most difficult game, passage, or question, you spend more energy on the questions that need it the most! Try out this strategy and see if attempting the sections in opposite order eases your time anxieties.
The Value of Skipping Questions
Many of my students will think about LSAT preparation only in terms of content. These students dedicate most of their time to understanding their content trends but don’t adequately consider how to improve their test-taking and timing tendencies. Paying attention to what questions take you the most time, or which questions you know you are most likely to miss, can help optimize your time.
The next time you take a practice test, consider what question types would be better for you to skip entirely or leave until the end. If you find yourself always using 3+ minutes on Parallel Reasoning questions, try skipping those questions and only revisiting them if you have time at the end of the section. It doesn't feel good to skip a question even if we plan on coming back to it, but saving time on questions you are less likely to get correct anyway is a highly effective timing strategy.
Whatever your individual strengths and weaknesses, identifying them can add incredible value to your study process. Understanding what you are not good at will help you prioritize what questions will translate to more points on test day.