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Thursday, Mar 02 2017

Drained brain?

Any ideas on how to manage mental sharpness? I'm always trying to push through when I hit a wall... Otherwise, I exercise, rigorously practice cello, play games, meditate, or drink coffee... My mental capacity seems to be declining every time I tackle the study. Help.

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6 comments

  • Sunday, Mar 05 2017

    I would recommend taking breaks, for sure. I've taken many breaks in my 6 months, and I always came back to my studies more confident and achieving better section scores. The human brain can be fickle and mysterious, but there's no doubt it needs reprieves from intensive study from time to time. There is a reason you have month long breaks in college and law school. Stamina is not unlimited.

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  • Friday, Mar 03 2017

    Thanks guys! I think taking a break from the course material is definitely necessary... I was getting wrecked by the last few problem sets for the LR section. I was getting mostly perfect scores with 100% certainty on both right/wrong answers but the aforementioned sections were really really difficult. Took the advice of @mheannarino27 and been reading a few articles on The Economist and The New York Times today. @jhaldy10325 Yeah, I suspected that was the case lol.

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  • Friday, Mar 03 2017

    More sleep? I wouldn't recommend taking breaks. Maybe a day at the most.

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  • Friday, Mar 03 2017

    I recommend at least 3 days off if not 4 or 5. When I get to this point, I veg a little, and try to do some active mental rest like a quality, make you think podcast or chess.

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  • Friday, Mar 03 2017

    Sounds like you're burnt out to me. I'd recommend taking a week off and relaxing. When you come back, healthy diet, exercise, sleep, and mentality are all huge components. I had a student the other day who really just needed to have eaten a sandwich before taking the section we were reviewing, lol. In all seriousness, it cost her at least three points on the one section.

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  • Thursday, Mar 02 2017

    The material on the exam can be quite dense and therefore requires a pretty intense focus. What has helped for me is to spend whatever downtime I have reading complex and dense material. Another thing that has been invaluable to me is a good night sleep.

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