Self-study
Hi, everyone! I'm between jobs right now and am taking advantage of the situation by studying full time. It's been 3 weeks, and while I'm making progress, I'm starting to feel the burnout creeping in. It's getting harder to force myself through the drills--the days just feel so monotonous. In an attempt to help, I've been studying at different cafes each day and started volunteering at my local animal shelter, but I'm still having trouble. I'm taking the LSAT in September and still have a month or so before starting my new job, and I want to optimize this free time as best as I can.
Does anyone have any tips for overcoming burnout? Any thoughts are appreciated!š©·
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I completely understand where youāre coming from. I experienced a similar challenge while preparing for major standardized exams. I earned a 515 on the MCAT (approximately the 91st percentile) and a 170 on the LSAT (approximately the 97th percentile), and one of the biggest lessons I learned was that maximizing study time does not mean studying at maximum intensity every single day.
When I started feeling burnout, I focused on making my preparation more sustainable rather than simply adding more hours. A few things that helped me:
Build in intentional recovery time: I treated rest as part of my study plan rather than something I had to āearn.ā A consistent schedule with breaks helped me stay focused over the long term.
Prioritize quality over quantity: A few hours of deeply focused LSAT practice with thorough review was often more valuable than forcing myself through endless drills while mentally exhausted.
Track progress beyond scores: I paid attention to improvements in specific skillsālike recognizing patterns, reducing mistakes, and improving timingārather than only judging myself by practice test numbers.
Change the routine, but keep structure: Studying in different locations, volunteering, exercising, and maintaining hobbies can help prevent monotony, but having a predictable daily framework is what kept me consistent.
Review mistakes carefully: For the LSAT especially, improvement came less from doing more questions and more from understanding exactly why I missed questions and building better habits.
Since you still have about a month before starting your new job, I would try to view this period as a marathon rather than a sprint. The goal is to arrive at test day confident, mentally sharp, and consistentānot exhausted from trying to be perfect every day.
Youāre already doing a lot of the right things by recognizing burnout early and making adjustments. Keep protecting your energy while continuing deliberate practice, and youāll put yourself in a much stronger position for September.
Hey there! I can relate to your plight :) A couple things helped me:
Recognizing limits. If you hit that point in the day where you're having to re-read simple stimuli multiple times, check in with yourself about if you're still doing quality studying. For me, depending on the day, I would it that wall anywhere from 2-4 hours in. LSAT studying is all about quality over quantity. If you're not able to lock in, take a step back!
Being a person. Volunteering is excellent! So is hanging with your friends, going to a movie, taking a walk, whatever it is that gives you joy or makes you feel like yourself. You had an entire life before you started studying for the LSAT. There are people in your life who love you and could not care less where you're PTing. This test, though the stakes may be high, is a tiny fraction of a much larger, richer, and more interesting life.
As someone said below, reflecting on why you're doing this. Not even "I want to go to X school" or "I need a good scholarship." Why do you want a law degree? What good will ultimately, big-picture come of doing well on this test?
Staying off of reddit.
I hope that helps, and happy studying!
All best,
Phoebe
The universal solution to burnout is take a break and think about why you're doing what you're doing. Rest will always help.
The introspection can lead in different directions. What were your reasons for pursuing this in the first place? Do you still feel the same way about your original motivations, or have they changed? Upon reflection, are you burnt out because you are overworking yourself and you're sick of the grind? Or have you lost sight of what motivated you in the first place?
To use a little LSAT speak: One can spend their time successfully studying for the LSAT only if they are well rested and feel motivated to succeed. Burnout usually comes from failing one of these necessary conditions.
Also anecdotally, the compulsion to optimize is often my worst enemy. I spend more time worrying if what I'm doing is optimal and less time actually doing the thing. Taking a break feels especially scary because you're spending the time not studying, and studying feels like progress. But studying while burnt out is way less efficient than studying while you're rested and relaxed, and can lead to giving up if you're not careful and you try to push through too hard. I'm not a tutor or anything, but I'd recommend taking at least a couple of days off and doing things you enjoy. Maybe think a bit about your motivations, and hold on to those to help you get through the drills as well. Come back better.