Top scorers - one day study break per week, or not?

CinnamonTea

The title says it all. Thoughts, and why?

Sami

I don't at the moment. Possibly because I already work so I feel I don't have enough time to study. But whenever I realize I can't stand LSAT I take a long break. This ends up lasting a couple of days till I can feel excited about studying again.

CinnamonTea

Thanks @Sami!

tylerdschreur10

@CinnamonTea It depends on how long you have to study before you are sitting for the LSAT. If you have 3 or 4 months then I would recommend taking a day off every week to avoid burnout. If you are under more of a time crunch and/or working like myself and @Sami , then perhaps her method of only breaking when you feel it's urgently needed will be sufficient. I have been following a pretty loose study structure based on 7sage's syllabus schedule for the last 3 months: PTs on Sunday and Wednesday intense BR and study on Monday and Thursday and light studying on Tuesday and Saturday and I usually take friday completely off, go hit the bars or mountain bike or something.

tringo335

I agree with @tylerdschreur10 I plan on testing in June 2018. If I were to study every day for a year I would have a brain aneurysm. That being said I do 'touch base' with the LSAT daily. I study M-F but on weekends I also spend a couple hours on the discussion board or trying to answer questions from the lesson videos. It reinforces my learning if I can answer questions from others.

AllezAllez21

Based on your other thread, I am guessing you are taking in September; I am too.

At this point, I do not have a dedicated day off. Life intervenes enough that I usually get a day or two off every 7-10 days. Generally, I like Sami's method of just paying attention to your mindset and being willing to take a break before you burn out too much.

I have noticed that my best scores on PTs have come after returning from a break. I plan on taking roughly 2 PTs a week until September, so I am going to start implementing a day off before one of them. I will try to remember to report back on how that goes.

So, for overall studying, I think you just have to be mindful. For test performance, I think a day off before could be beneficial, but I'm sure it's highly individual.

Alex

I'm more an intuitive break taker. I usually know when I've been going too long and need to. Body just kind of starts to suck and I get frustrated.

After college and working 70 hour weeks for the better part of two years, I find LSAT burn out sort of ...idk... It's real. But It think sometimes we are just getting lazy.

I probably take about a day off every other week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. There's no magic formula. Good buddy of mine, strict Army dude, studied for 2 months straight. 8 hours a day. Powerscore Course. No breaks. Ended up doing very well. (For those of who who follow me on Intsa, you'll know because he just started working at Sidley LA.)

I always thought that was beast.

Cant Get Right

I'm all about breaks. Think of taking a day off like skipping an LR question. It's better to just move on rather than flounder when you're not making good progress anyway. Whatever you study won't be at a high level if you're not all there mentally. My best PTs ever came after taking breaks. I got a 180 once after an extended two week break. Accepting your limitations and doing your best to limit their effects will yield much better results than trying to just ignore them. If you can work seven days a week without losing energy and focus, more power to you. But I'm skeptical. I certainly can't do it, and I turned out fine.

AnthonyScalia

I'm studying daily and will continue to do so for the next couple of months, but twice a week I reduce and orient my studying in a fashion that provides similar benefits to a day off. Usually on a the first day of a Friday and Saturday, and a Monday and Tuesday, I'll wake up early and do four hours of studying from eight to noon. This departs from my normal 9 AM - 10 PM routine. The subsequent day, I sleep in, see friends during the day and work on LSAT from 7-12 or so. Front-loading and Back-loading in juxtaposition gives the feel of a day off (a consecutive morning and an afternoon/evening without studying) without compromising much study real estate.