Self-study
I got 169 on the real test in April (PT scores in my profile were taken in the beginning of the prep. I usually work on sections and don't take PT). In the past month, I was consistently getting -1 (and sometimes -2) wrong per LR section. My blind review had long been -0. But several days ago, I suddenly got -6 in an LR section under the same circumstance, which is the score I got when I started prepping in February, and I've been getting a lot more questions wrong than before. I'm also no longer getting -0 in BR.
When I was getting consistently near perfect scores, wrong answers were from the questions I felt confident about and moved on. Upon doing a review, I'd find out that I neglected one but important word (e.g., "less," which makes a statement comparative), and it seems like I'm now making same errors four to six times per section. And I even make this error again during the BR, only to figure out what I was overlooking during the review of BR.
I'm thinking I must be burnt out. But I honestly don't know what to do about it. If I were a student, I'd take a week off, feel recovered, and come back, but I work full-time in the military. I consistently work 12 hours a day, often responds to the last minute request from the top, and I have no fanciness to study at work most of time. And the workplace drama wears me out. I also have a staff duty this weekend and needs to wake up at 3:30 am on Saturday to go to work. lol So I don't think I'd feel recovered at all even after getting rest from LSAT for a week or so.
Moreover, I barely have time to study during the week, so I just drill five or so questions before I go to bed. So I feel like I don't study enough, and I don't feel comfortable just not studying (especially when not studying doesn't help with recovering from a burnout, as I mentioned above).
If you're a non-trad full-time worker, how did you manage burnout that comes from work, not just an LSAT prep? It's not like I can take a break from work like I take a break from LSAT, and I have another LSAT coming up in August. I honestly don't know what to do.
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My score is lower than yours (164) lol but I guess I could share what I did? haha I also had a time when I felt stuck and burnt out like everybody else. I think it's normal. I work full-time with frequent business trips and I have two young boys, and my husband works on weekends. So I don't really have much time to study and I am usually exhausted by the time I sit in front of the computer at night lol There was a time when I just stopped studying for a full month because it was just too much.
Then, I started giving myself 30 mins a day, when I can do whatever I want for myself (drama, YouTube, mobile game, etc. you know) and not feel guilty about not using that time to work or study. I started not giving myself a hard time. Initially, I set up a light, doable goal (like one passage RC drill, 10-question LR drill) because then you can achieve your daily goal and feel good about yourself and enjoy that 30 minutes as a reward.
As I felt better, I increased the volume of study and pushed myself a little harder and harder each week. Whenever I felt overwhelmed, I reduced the daily goal. I am back to studying as I hope to gain a few more points (so jealous you have 169! hahaha) and I am dreading I have to do this again, but I'll do what I did before because it worked for me. I hope this works for you too!
@alicia-b Thanks. Yes, I think setting a realistic goal (like 10 questions a day) is important. I chugged along in the beginning, but I'm getting to a point where I can't read texts and getting 4 wrong because I read strengthen as MSS, strengthen as weaken, and flipping two subjects in a sentence. I only had one question I actually tripped, and I used to get consistent -1 before a burnout. I think I have a general direction of how to schedule my day without being burnt out, but I honestly don't know how to reset myself to start fresh. If I were a student on a summer break, it would've been as simple as not studying LSAT for a bit, but I'm burnt out from work even after stop studying for LSAT.
I work fulltime and I am in a similar boat. I have way less time than I used to at the start of my LSAT journey. When it comes to burnout what tends to help me is not necessarily a longer break but a switchup in activity. Rather than changing the actual schedule (because then coming back in is MUCH harder) the exact time where you would have studied pick something you really really enjoy and do that for either a week or a few days straight. This will give your mind a little bit of a break without destroying your schedule, which atleast for me trying to get back into a routine is always the hardest part so that atleast mitigates that a bit. In references to burnout during work. I try to just take as many walks as possible or reschedule my day but that is because my job allows it. Anywho I hope this helps. Good Luck!
@QAAA I have tried to do what I like once a week because I don't want to take a full weekend off, but I don't think that was sufficient. I also tried to experiment and take Monday evenings off and do something I like (so taking a break Sunday + Monday evening), but I didn't feel recovered because Monday is... Monday. Fortunately a four-day weekend is coming for me, so I'm trying to see how I'd feel after taking two days off and do what I actually enjoy. A harder part is not feeling anxious or guilty about taking a two-day break out of four-day weekend, which is a rare opportunity for me to spend much time on LSAT prep :\ Good luck to you as well, and thanks for the response!