Is there such a thing as studying too much?

AvianLawExpert

I have a tendency to value quantity over quality when it comes to...most things. When I started gearing up for the November test about a month ago I thought 40 hours a week should be my standard, but I work a full-time job too. So I've been going to sleep and waking up outrageously early (7PM-3AM). Would I be better served by just studying less and giving myself a social life again? Or is this weakness creeping in?

How many hours in a day can you truly study effectively? I'd love to know what your sweet-spot is

bread_and_water

@AvianLawExpert said:
I have a tendency to value quantity over quality when it comes to...most things. When I started gearing up for the November test about a month ago I thought 40 hours a week should be my standard, but I work a full-time job too. So I've been going to sleep and waking up outrageously early (7PM-3AM). Would I be better served by just studying less and giving myself a social life again? Or is this weakness creeping in?

How many hours in a day can you truly study effectively? I'd love to know what your sweet-spot is

most people that i speak, talk, and listen to (which is a lot) tell me that i should, at least, treat it like a part time job... so about 20-25 hours per week. but also youre taking into account how much time you gave yourself, before your lsat, to learn this material, so it might be more or even less, if you give yourself a whole year to go through everything (for example). BUT to answer your question about, is there such a thing as too much studying?, one hundred percent yes their is and it might leave you burned out which is very very bad.

jk3he

Yes you can study too much! I'm the same way. I tend to set impossible goals and burn myself out super fast. I'm trying think of LSAT prep of a marathon, not a sprint. I took this entire summer off to do nothing by study for the Aug. test thinking just like you that this would be like a full time job worth of time. Now a month in, I've realized that I still need to slow down an preserve my sanity.

Also, quality is very important. There are a limited amount of questions and prep tests out there and you only get to see each one once for the first time, so you are actively hurting yourself by doing them when you are tired and your head is not in the game. You are essentially throwing those questions away. Of course, you shouldn't just sit back and not study out of fear of wasting questions, but can absolutely over study now and hurt yourself in the long-run.

Long story short, yes you can over study. It probably is not "weakness" telling you to take it easy as much as it is your mind getting burned out. You know yourself best, and it feels like a non-answer, but only you can decide where your sweet-spot is. Honestly, the uncertainty is one of the hardest parts about studying, but I'm right there without in that haha

Cynthia-2

I don't agree, I think there's no such thing as studying too much. You want something, you set whatever goal it is that you feel you need to reach said goal. If you're aiming for a high score than there's no corers to cut, you need to focus and study, study, study.