Self-study
I want to hear peeps here share their way of balancing working full-time and preparing for the LSAT
8
I want to hear peeps here share their way of balancing working full-time and preparing for the LSAT
21 comments
I am in a similar situation, working M-F 8.30-5 as an EA. My best hack is to take a short nap as soon as I get home and meal prep on the weekends. I eliminated most of my gym time and social events during the week and study 2-3 hours every day during the week. I try to have a day off on the weekends and one day of the weekend fully dedicated to practice exams. Especially if you are looking to study after work, taking a 15-20min nap can take you a long way and ensure a more productive study session. You got this!
Here is my routine (I try to commit to this, but it is not perfect every time):
6pm - 6.30pm come home & feed cat/walk dog, etc.
6.30pm -7pm nap time
7pm - 8pm dinner+caffeine
8pm - 11pm- Lock in to study for LSAT
PS: Some other random things that I am not sure if help or not, but I do anyway are:
Taking 10mg of creatine during the day for energy, Vitamin D and Omega-3 supplements at the right doses, I do not recommend taking melatonin for sleep as it makes me really sleepy the day after. Less screen time and meditation before bed or once I wake up really help to stay positive :)
Do people recommend studying in the morning or evening? I find that when I get home after work I still have responsibilities like dog park/gym/cooking but am also mentally tired from working ion the office. I'm thinking the morning is best but does anyone have tips on waking up earlier? It's so tempting to go back to bed when it is dark out
After work, I do 1-2 hours. If I miss a day, I try and make up those study hours over the weekend. I think 7SAGE's study plan is really great because you can adjust the settings to suit you. I feel motivated by the fact that while it's hard, it's not forever. Once the LSAT is over, that time will be free. Short-term sacrifice for long-term gains. I still prioritize working out and eating healthy, which I think helps.
I work two jobs- salesman and sales manager, I just study in the evening.
The only realistic thing I can imagine is either early morning or evening
I'm a Costco Supervisor, and I study 6 days a week. Usually only for an Hour and 30.. more if I have the brain power. I do my absolute best to give myself off at least one day a week. I usually prefer Saturdays. I work in retail, so my hours are irregular. I, too, have an almost an hour commute to and from work every day. Some days are really harder than others to study because my role at work is so overstimulating, and a lot of brain power is required to manage so many people. I definitely understand the frustration. Studying for this test is already challenging, but it's even more of a challenge when you have other responsibilities. Still doable! May we all perform exceptionally well on this exam and achieve the scores we've been working so hard for.
I work for big tech; FAANG type. Its IMPOSSIBLE to manage, and i'm burnt out. But doing my best to make it to the exam Saturday.
I took the LSAT in September. I work a full-time job with commute M-F and cycle a weekend shift with coworkers. I usually work a weekend once a month. I preferred to drill questions during my hour lunch break. For deeper studying, I would make time before or after work when necessary. I'd PT on weekends only. I limited myself to one PT a month. Other weekends I would take a PT section instead of a full test, dependent on which section I felt I needed to work on. I think it's equally important to rest or take breaks from study. So, I'd also go to the gym 3 nights a week and allow myself 1 day of no LSAT-related work, just hanging out with friends and leisure time. I jumped from a 146 diagnostic to breaking 160 with these habits.
Hi! Understand this question and struggle, but I promise it is doable and you've got this. I work full-time M-F with an hour ish commute, so generally my 6:30 AM - 6:30 PM are working and traveling. I study every evening for ~2 hours, more if I'm awake enough, otherwise I'll take an hour to go to the gym or do something else, which in and of itself is conducive to building the discipline this test requires! I PT on the weekends and also study as much time as I can on the weekends. It has unfortunately meant saying no to a lot of social plans, but in the end it is all worth it. As others have said in this thread, there are positives to balancing the test with working FT, and you can get into a rhythm. We've all got it! <3
Wishing you all the best for your studies! I have been studying for the LSAT for a year now and am getting ready to take it this month. I work full time (albeit 4/5 days a week remotely) and have additional commitments- i.e., a dog, a husband :D and church. I structured my studying by gradually increasing over the course of the year. I started out with studying 1-2 hours a couple times a week. Then, increased to studying 2 hours 3-4 days a week and progressed from there. Right now, I took two weeks off work and am studying 4-6 hours a day. The gradual increase over 12 months allowed me to stay focused and present with my job, family, and friends while also slowly preparing people for being less available and spending more time studying. I think it also helped prevent burnout from trying to follow that schedule for the entire year. I am on track to score at least a 160 (hoping for a 163-165). When I began studying last year, I got pretty much every LR question wrong but was able to learn what I needed with my study plan. All that to say- you can do it! Review your schedule and commitments and come up with a plan that works best for you. The key to success is to evaluate the plan regularly, stick to it diligently, and increase gradually as you can.
I agree with the people on here saying that working full-time makes it easier to study than being, for example, a college student. The structure of having the same hours every day really helps establish a solid study routine. As soon as I get home, I go straight to studying for two hours before I do anything else. Having a rigid routine and a predictable schedule makes studying feel less like an impending chore that I want to avoid and more like just another part of my day. (For those with variable work schedules and odd hours, I've got nothing. Sorry, that must be very difficult.)
Hi! I work from 8:30-4:30 in-person M-F as a legal secretary. I do my best to wake up around 6am every day to give myself time to be active in the morning, spend some time devoted to my faith, and get ready for my day ahead. If I have down time at work then I will drill and go through the curriculum. I am very lucky to have a library right next to my job, so after work, if I have not hit my studying goal for the day at work (it honestly depends on my workload each day), then I will book a study room to study for an hour or two.
I try to keep my lunches free from studying. I don't like to mix eating and work and I enjoy talking to my coworkers during lunch.
Some personal pointers: meal prepping for your week helps free up some time, being physically active in the morning give me more energy (pilates, stretching, weight lifting), my faith keeps me grounded and gives me the strength when I feel like I don't, and I drink herbal teas to help with any imbalances (to help me sleep, digestion, inflammation, etc).
This is what works best for me. It's been a lot of trial and error, but I found something that is helping me stay routine, consistent, and still healthy for me!
I work full-time and commute an hour and a half each way (3 hours total), luckily no longer every day. However, I try to do a few drills during my lunch break. I would go into my car when I worked in a cubicle so I would have some privacy. Other times, I would stay a bit later in the office and study a bit there to help bypass rush hour traffic. Now that I can partially work from home, I scheduled most of my study time on those days, but I try my best to study on the weekends. On Saturday, a few hours in the morning, and then a break in the afternoon, and I will study again in the evening, and on Sunday, just a few hours in the afternoon. I am not a super big fan of study podcasts but if you have a longer commute like me, that could be helpful. I prefer audiobooks and TedTalks to keep me engaged. Hope this helps!
I work full-time in a demanding job so I feel your pain. I try to get up super early so I can work out, feed the animals, and get ready and get to work at least an hour before work starts and study/drill then. I also try to use my weekends (i.e., days off) wisely and do any preptests/blind review then. I also try to find live classes that fit within my schedule (even if it means taking a lunch break at my desk to attend a class) as much as possible, but that is harder, given my sleep schedule. I've found that I sometimes have to take days off when I feel I should be studying/drilling just due to exhaustion and usually when I pick it back up again (sometimes a week later), I am sharper because of the rest. You really have to listen to your body and try to find a balance - good luck!
This might actually sound strange but I think I study better when I work full time. I started studying in my final year of undergrad where I took classes and worked part-time. I had more time during the week in general, but every day looked a little different depending on college assignments I had due, my work schedule, etc. Now that I'm graduated and work full time, every week more or less looks the same. I study every weekday before and after work (~2-3 hrs combined) and then take a PT on the weekends or every other weekend. I have less time, but I use the time wisely and make the best of the consistency my schedule currently holds. It took like a month for it to click for me, but once it did I began to enjoy my lsat study schedule.
The program I am trying to get into told me they take this into consideration. Not that they don’t take the score seriously, they do lol, but when the package coming from a prospective student comes in they take the full package not just the score. So, at least this school seems, to expect that full time employees have less time to study for this test. This stands to reason that the lsat actually uncovers, for these students, raw talent for reasoning and comprehension and versatility. So I just do as much as I can with this in mind while tailoring my package to show everything else I bring to the table, I drill LR questions on the app on long rides have dedicated study days where I spend like a full Sunday doing prep tests and drills, I’m making sure even in weird settings, tiredness levels, distraction levels, I’m hitting my goals. Instead of doom scrolling before bed I’m drilling.
It's so hard tbh. I also am balancing volunteer work, family, and gym. I get up at 6am when my partner gets up and spend an hour studying before work, and that's all I have. I also work from home 3x a week which is a BLESSING. My job is very demanding and I don't get much time off, so I feel like such a slacker :( good luck!