I see a lot of people have commented, but just in case my experience helps I wanted to leave one as well.
I currently work full-time as a 911 dispatcher, either 48 hours (4 days) or 56 hours (5 days) per week. I am also a full-time university student and have classes on my days off of work. As you can imagine, this is not the easiest schedule to jam some LSAT prep in, but what must be done simply must be done. I, unfortunately, am not in a position where I could only take classes and not worry about finances, so I must work. and I must also study for the LSAT to prepare for the future and look beyond the present. Also, I am more than just a student or employee or an LSAT prepper, I also have to find time for close relationships (family, friends, etc), caring for myself (exercising, eating well, self-care), running errands, university assignments, additional work trainings, and so much more!
So, I have to REALLY stretch my study schedule hours.
On the days when I work, I exclusively drill for my study time. Because of my nearly 45-minute commute each way to work and my 12-hour shift, there is maybe 2 entire hours of free-time in my work days. I typically prefer to spend that time getting up early to workout and stretch and making a decent dinner and preparing for bed when I get home.
My typical work-day: wake up at 3:00 am, work out for about an hour (at-home calisthenics, usually), stretch for about 15 minutes, eat a quick breakfast (oatmeal is my absolute FAVORITE), get in the shower and get ready for work by about 4:30 am, and leave around 5:15 am for shift.
During my shift, I drill. I normally don't do drill "sets" since those require longer periods of time commitment which is not possible in my career (I frequently have to be available to 911 callers or radio units at a moment's notice, at least once per minute but usually much more frequently). I take the time to do one question at a time and review it to evaluate myself. In a perfect world, I do this for a total of about 1-3 hours throughout the low-activity periods throughout the day.
When I get home (usually around 7:00 pm) I make myself dinner (or reheat a prepped meal), and enjoy my time to myself before heading to bed between 8:00-8:30.
When I am on campus, in between my classes, I either do timed sections (35 minutes) or continue with the core curriculum. This semester, I took a lighter course load (12 hours--I normally have 15-18) to allow me to fit in more LSAT studying (January tester)!
My typical class day doesn't start until MUCH later than my shifts do (first class at 10:30 am), thank goodness! So I loveeee to sleep in on these days as a slight treat to myself.
I haven't quite finished the core curriculum so I am not on the stage of practice tests, but I plan on doing those before I actually leave to campus for classes. Unfortunately, this WILL require me to wake up much earlier (RIP to treating myself to sleeping in), but it is the only full time-block that I have free because, while I do have time in-between my classes, it isn't enough for a full timed test. Once I reach this stage, I plan on spending the time I currently use for drilling/sections/core curriculum for blind review.
Sorry for the long, very drawn-out comment. Apparently this wasn't as straight forward of a comment as I initially thought; nevertheless, I hope that my schedule and insight can help at least one person scrolling through! If any of y'all have some other questions, please don't hesitate to respond or message me!
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I see a lot of people have commented, but just in case my experience helps I wanted to leave one as well.
I currently work full-time as a 911 dispatcher, either 48 hours (4 days) or 56 hours (5 days) per week. I am also a full-time university student and have classes on my days off of work. As you can imagine, this is not the easiest schedule to jam some LSAT prep in, but what must be done simply must be done. I, unfortunately, am not in a position where I could only take classes and not worry about finances, so I must work. and I must also study for the LSAT to prepare for the future and look beyond the present. Also, I am more than just a student or employee or an LSAT prepper, I also have to find time for close relationships (family, friends, etc), caring for myself (exercising, eating well, self-care), running errands, university assignments, additional work trainings, and so much more!
So, I have to REALLY stretch my study schedule hours.
On the days when I work, I exclusively drill for my study time. Because of my nearly 45-minute commute each way to work and my 12-hour shift, there is maybe 2 entire hours of free-time in my work days. I typically prefer to spend that time getting up early to workout and stretch and making a decent dinner and preparing for bed when I get home.
My typical work-day: wake up at 3:00 am, work out for about an hour (at-home calisthenics, usually), stretch for about 15 minutes, eat a quick breakfast (oatmeal is my absolute FAVORITE), get in the shower and get ready for work by about 4:30 am, and leave around 5:15 am for shift.
During my shift, I drill. I normally don't do drill "sets" since those require longer periods of time commitment which is not possible in my career (I frequently have to be available to 911 callers or radio units at a moment's notice, at least once per minute but usually much more frequently). I take the time to do one question at a time and review it to evaluate myself. In a perfect world, I do this for a total of about 1-3 hours throughout the low-activity periods throughout the day.
When I get home (usually around 7:00 pm) I make myself dinner (or reheat a prepped meal), and enjoy my time to myself before heading to bed between 8:00-8:30.
When I am on campus, in between my classes, I either do timed sections (35 minutes) or continue with the core curriculum. This semester, I took a lighter course load (12 hours--I normally have 15-18) to allow me to fit in more LSAT studying (January tester)!
My typical class day doesn't start until MUCH later than my shifts do (first class at 10:30 am), thank goodness! So I loveeee to sleep in on these days as a slight treat to myself.
I haven't quite finished the core curriculum so I am not on the stage of practice tests, but I plan on doing those before I actually leave to campus for classes. Unfortunately, this WILL require me to wake up much earlier (RIP to treating myself to sleeping in), but it is the only full time-block that I have free because, while I do have time in-between my classes, it isn't enough for a full timed test. Once I reach this stage, I plan on spending the time I currently use for drilling/sections/core curriculum for blind review.
Sorry for the long, very drawn-out comment. Apparently this wasn't as straight forward of a comment as I initially thought; nevertheless, I hope that my schedule and insight can help at least one person scrolling through! If any of y'all have some other questions, please don't hesitate to respond or message me!