Shamelessly Requesting a Confidence Boost

macklynking

I'm a full time high school teacher and graduate student. I'm taking the July LSAT because the other dates just really aren't plausible for me, so I either kill it on July 23 or I don't. I'm exhausted. My first practice test was my highest score (158) and the more I study, the worse I do on PTs. I've been studying as best I can since April but after a day of teaching, I'm depleted and can barely keep my eyes open for the drive home, let alone an entire PT (and yes, I have studied in the morning prior to work but the July test is proctored at 12:30, so I need to make sure my brain works in the afternoon). I know I have it in me to do better, and I have the week prior to the test off, so I'm hoping to gain some energy and study time back then. But I'll be 30 by the time I apply to law school and question if I have the same stamina as undergraduates applying at the same time. My questions for this community, are:

1) What do you do to boost your confidence?
2) How do you find energy to keep moving forward? (I generally eat really well and exercise (CrossFit/Olympic weightlifting) most days).

Thank you in advance!

lizpil

I'm in a similar boat.

For confidence, I celebrate every morsel of progress. Every morsel I treat it like I just won a gold metal.

For stamina, I watch this:

and

Redentore3337

The law of attraction!

Everyday I remind myself what I want, what score I want, and what school/schools I'd like to get into. Then I go on google and look up pictures of the schools, read up about them, try to envision myself there. And then I reason with myself that all of that is dependent on me and I can accomplish it if I put my mind to it and put in the work.

A lot of the test takers that got 170's said they pretty much knew they were gonna get 170s before they took the test. They had the PT's to back it up but they also had the mentality that got them to those high scoring PT's in the first place. So think it into existence! (but also put in the work, that goes without saying).

kflor028

I get it. When I took my first official test, I was working two jobs and I was a full-time student. I didn't do well obviously because that's just crazy. Now I wake up at 5 AM to beat traffic and work from 8-4:30 in an office dealing with clients in child support cases as a case analyst and it's exhausting. I come home at 5:45 and I gotta rush to cook and make coffee in an hour so I can study from 7pm - 10:30 or 11 pm. Then go to sleep for like 5 hours and do it again. Weekends I have all day to study and that's fine, but I needed more. So I did a weird thing and now when I come home I go to sleep immediately. I go to sleep at 6 pm and I wake up at 12 am or 1 am and study until I have to go to work. I first wake up, stretch and yoga for 15 minutes after drinking ice-cold water (to jolt myself awake). I then eat a quick breakfast (oatmeal and eggs) that takes me 15 min to prep. I go and start studying while drinking coffee. I start with either reviews or a logic game drill (it's my best section and requires the least brain power for me, do your best section). After I wake up more and I'm more able to concentrate, I get on it and might even do a practice exam (4 sections only tho, no breaks). Then I do this until 5:20 AM and get ready and leave for work. Because traffic is so awful, I leave earlier than I would like to and get at work an hour early (I get there at 7) and then I do a drill or review.

It's so much better. Because I get you, you feel so depleted and tired once you get home from work that you can't concentrate. Before, I would often fall asleep at my desk and would have to be carried by my bf to bed. He wouldn't set the alarm and I would wake up rushing to work and would get my extra hour of study before work. And I wasted so much time. Now, I feel so much better studying and I give myself a weekday free of studying every week so I don't burn out. I feel so much more rested too. Instead of sleeping late so I can increase study time and sleeping for only 5 hours. I now sleep from 6-7 hours and study at my leisure. Also I live in a house that's kinda hectic, so it's noisy in the evenings (roommates and stuff). So when I study in the middle of the night, it's so quiet and I can concentrate. It's great. You'll fuck up your sleeping schedule for a few months/weeks, but for the LSAT it's worth it.

macklynking

@lizpil - My boyfriend and I just sat down and watched both those videos. That Rocky montage gets me every time, lol.

@Redentore3337 - Indeed! What you believe becomes reality. Great reminder.

@kflor028 - Daaaaang! You're readjustment of your schedule is inspiring. I would do that but at this point, I need to shift my sleep schedule so that my mind is at its peak in the afternoons since that's when the July LSAT is proctored. But your adjustment pushes me to think about how I can hack at my own schedule/routine to enhance energy. Thanks for the advice!

AudaciousRed

1. I started having a mantra of the score I'm shooting for. Something reasonable. "I will get xxx". Every day waking up, every day going to sleep. At the test, it was all morning before I took it. That number. Over and over again in my head. Will I get it? Maybe not this time.
   Also, I look in the media and realize how many politicians are lawyers and how many folks getting in trouble for stupid things got through law school. Surely, I am smarter than that, so I should do just fine.
2. You just... do. It's like before and after having children. You didn't have time before, and after, you wonder what the hell kept you so busy! You just find a way. Any way. I snuck in LSAT training when it was slow at work. I skipped meals. I spent my free time working sections. Weekends, holidays, etc. Got 10 minutes? You have time to work on something LSAT related.
   Look at it this way: your testing date is your ticket for "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?". Except instead of millions, you're winning thousands. Maybe $100,000 or more. You'd still be excited right? You'd find time to study for that shot! Who doesn't want to win something so awesome?? Well, a good LSAT is like that. It's you vs the questions, and you can win $100,000 or more in tuition waivers. If you look at it from that perspective, it keeps it interesting.

Best of luck to you!

_oshun1_

@kflor028 said:
So I did a weird thing and now when I come home I go to sleep immediately. I go to sleep at 6 pm and I wake up at 12 am or 1 am and study until I have to go to work.

slow claps you're a baller that's awesome. I could totally pass out as soon as I get home from work. I wish I thought to do something like this earlier in my studies but now I think it's too late to try to hack my sleep sched.

to OP - maybe try viewing your LSAT timeline a little bit more broadly. I know it sucks to think about it but if July is really the only time of year you can take the LSAT...there's always next year. Don't put so much pressure on yourself. It's good to stay inspired and motivated and focused, but viewing one date as the end-all-be-all is just going to hurt your pscyhe. You should aim to be ready for the test, not aim to take it at a certain date.

A 158 is a great starting point, what are you aiming for? How many PTs do you take a week? It sounds like you're taking multiple a week since you mentioned taking a PT after work...just cut down to one on weekends and spend the week slowly getting through BR and drilling. My PT score has also dropped (and plateaued) since my first PT after the curriculum. I attribute it to bad study habits and I just found a tutor to fix me bc idk how exactly I should be studying to get out of my plateau. Check out the 7sage tutors.

If there's a lot of traffic and a long commute, just study at a Starbucks near your work. It sucks but you really cant take time for yourself to unwind after work anymore. I try not to take more than 45 min to eat dinner and chill after work. I pretty much just stay in work mode all day. I'm really tired and my study sched keeps tapering off as time goes by bc I'm like god I've been studying for months shouldn't I be better at this yet and I work full time I dont have the time and resilience to keep doing this. But then I remind myself why I'm doing this and how much I want it and I'm like ok yeah I actually can make the time and I do have the resilience to get what I want.

Also, do you work out every day? I used to work out every day and had to make a physically painful adjustment to only working out like 4-5 days a week but that actually does give me a lot more energy as it's enough to keep my body healthy but not so much that i'm exhausted and dont have the energy to study.