I feel like it's all starting to crumble!

tanes256

Hey, guys! Has anyone ever felt like everything is starting to crumble for them? LG has always been my best section but now I can go -6! I get life and all that but OMG! I've been at this for far too long and it's time to pull the trigger already! It's not burnout. I take breaks whenever necessary. I was doing LG yesterday and actually had to go back to the curriculum to clarify a rule using group 3 and 4 indicators, smh. Thats 101! I know we have highs and lows but this is crazy and scary for me. Thoughts??

LSATcantwin

I think...it's burnout. Sorry to literally counter one of your premises but I can't shake the feeling of this being burnout.

Burnout is not just something that goes away with one or two breaks. Burnout is the accumulation of stress in your life to the point where simple tasks and "easy" things become difficult. This doesn't all have to be LSAT related. It can build up from work, school, relationships, chores etc. they all work together in conjunction to stress us out. If you replace the LSAT with other stressful things the burnout will not go away. You need a true break. Like a sit in bed all day and watch the office type break. Where your mind is off, worry is gone and you can just recharge.

I am in a very similar position right now. I had to step away from PT's and timed sections. I went back to the basics of LR and worked slowly through each type of question. I only do a couple a day, to refresh my fundamentals. I'm letting stress role off my shoulders. It's more likely that your brain is exhausted than that you forgot or got worse at the material.

Just my two cents.

Alex

@tanes256 said:
Hey, guys! Has anyone ever felt like everything is starting to crumble for them? LG has always been my best section but now I can go -6! I get life and all that but OMG! I've been at this for far too long and it's time to pull the trigger already! It's not burnout. I take breaks whenever necessary. I was doing LG yesterday and actually had to go back to the curriculum to clarify a rule using group 3 and 4 indicators, smh. Thats 101! I know we have highs and lows but this is crazy and scary for me. Thoughts??

It happens ... We all have off days, even on our strongest sections. Sometimes it's not burnout and we are just having an off day. It's really as simple as that.

Perhaps the reason for your -6 is due to the LG on the newer tests? If so, you will get better if you just keep fool proofing after each and every PT. As far as just forgetting a simple rule, it could be that the game on which you missed points contained challenging language and your brain was overloaded such that the simple stuff you know was forgotten.

Remember to stay calm on each and every LG section. Follow the same process every. single. time.

Hope this helps

Maddie D.

Hey there! So for one, you're definitely not alone. I, for example, had a week where for some reason, reading comp (which is typically on par with LR as my strongest suit) was just not clicking. It's totally maddening to see something you view as a strong point slipping through the cracks. My main advice is to really parse out what's going on if you can. For my reading comp issue, I just had to get used to the grammar and difficulty level on newer tests. Once that happened, I went back to normal.

Are the LG sections you've been struggling with putting heavier emphasis on a certain type of game? Are they from newer or older tests? Is there overlap in the type of questions you're getting wrong (MBT, CBT, new conditions, etc)? As for reviewing the CC, I do that regularly! Don't feel bad about doing it. It's a lot of material for your brain to hold and regular refreshers are great. This test truly rewires your brain, so be patient with it. I've been studying for a year now and just this morning, I re-watched the flaw section in CC because I noticed my flaw skills slipping in recent weeks. I've found that going back to CC has actually been the second most useful thing for me after BR. I know we all put immense pressure on ourselves, but just remember that you're doing a great job and your dedication will pay off. You got this!

BinghamtonDave

I personally would not be terribly concerned. Getting a -0/-1 on LG is only a portion of the battle. Sustaining a -0/-1 across lets say 2 dozen LG sections is harder. I think of an analogy whenever I have to go back and drill something into my approach that might seem fundamental to one's success in games: there is a school of thought in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu that says that all black belt level skills are the perfection of white belt level fundamentals (black belt is what one acquires only after years of training whereas a white belt is what one is given day one of their journey.) A few weeks ago the world's best heavyweight black belt got beat by another black belt coming out of retirement by a rather ordinary set up of a choke that white belts learn. The translation of rules is fundamental and something we learn when starting our studies (as white belts) but is still something that needs periodic reinforcement. That black belt that got beat a few weeks ago isn't any less of a black belt: in fact he is one of the world's finest, he simply had a weakness in his approach that was exploited: he can still beat nearly everyone in the world.

In much the same way if you are competent in games and you happen to need a reinforcement in a white belt level fundamental: you aren't any less competent in games, you just have to go back and drill a fundamental to hopefully be better tomorrow than you were today. We should be striving to perfect the fundamentals.

In summation, I consider myself competent in games. Games and RC are the two sections of the exam I set out to score a -0/-1 in each. Last week I just could not get into gear on PT 3 game 4: I just couldn't read the game "right." I ended up bombing the game. Does that negate the fact that I have done over 2,000 games previously? Does that failure negate that fact that 98% of the time I know what I am talking about when it comes to games? No, it simply points to the fact that the wording of a specific game prevented me from effectively attacking that game with a strategy and this is a weakness I must address, but not allow to define the totality of my approach.

Remember, if we are to define mastery of games as a black belt level understanding of their underpinnings and the fundamentals: occasionally, even the very good are going to need a reinforcement of the fundamentals. My recommendation would be to drill the rules in the CC for some reinforcement of those concepts and then consciously apply what you have drilled over your next 5 timed LG sections. I believe this should do the trick my friend.

I hope the above analogy is helpful
David

TheMikey

Everyone has off days, even the best of the best. Don't sweat it, if you slip up then just review what you messed up on, make note of it, learn from it, and make sure you don't do it again.

And it's alright to return to the CC, it's what it is there for and lots of people do it.

May be burn out, may not be. I feel like you can tell if it truly is burn out or not so just be honest with yourself and make sure not to further worsen it if it is.

Good luck!

vanessa fisher

I return to CC all the time, for what it is worth. I love the martial arts metaphor @BinghamtonDave (I practice Muay Thai). No shame in sharpening fundamentals. I remember being 8 months into prep and realizing I had to review how to find conclusions (easiest thing ever!). I think we sometimes lose track of the fundamentals in all the complexity we are learning, and it is normal to have to sharpen them again to strengthen our base of understanding

tanes256

@BinghamtonDave that martial arts metaphor was bomb! Totally makes sense.
@"vanessa fisher" agreed
@"Maddie Distasio" not a certain type of game. See below.
@"Alex Divine" I know you're right. I admittedly do not foolproof as I should.
@LSATcantwin burnout from life is so true! Don't know why I didn't see that. Just because you put down the LSAT doesn't mean it'll go away because, life. Bingo!

I love posting discussions because you guys always help see a different perspective.I know for a fact that some of my issues are from "chemo brain." Long story short, think of PTSD. Yesterday I missed two simply because I read "are not assigned" when the rule said "are assigned." And two more due to the same type of issue. At the moment there's nothing I can do about it but slow down. I'll looking into rehab but it's too much for now. I have everything together to apply for accommodations so hopefully I'll get it. These type errors can be sporadic and come and go. I haven't been able to go one PT without noticing that my error was due to chemo brain but it's not always so many. So in comes the anxiety. Because LG is my best section, I've kinda neglected it as far as strictly following the curriculum. For example, I don't diagram and split boards as I should because I've been skating with brute force so I've been trying to force myself to stop relying on brute force. I know this too has affected my performance and it's not really one of my concerns. I'm just trying to figure out what's going on. I honestly don't think it's burnout. I'm coming off a 2 week break because I knew I needed it. I noticed all the errors and just couldn't seem to get it together so I decided to push everything aside. Now I'm back and it's the same thing, but then again nothing else in my life changed so... I always jump back in with LG because it's what I'm most comfortable with but now I'm scared to even touch LR! I almost feel like I need to go back through the curriculum. I'm not afraid to revisit the curriculum but now I'm almost spinning my wheels because I'm not exactly sure where to go from here. I thought about doing LG untimed just to get back in the groove but this isn't helping me with my brute force issues. Anybody can complete LG untimed! Ugh!