Which way?

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lsatblitz

I'd go bananas if I studied for the LSAT for 12 hours

Alex

@Thoughtful said:
Which way is most effective and most likely to transform skills into intuition? I understand that the answer is relative to the individual. I hope someone with some insight into neuroscience could share.

Neuroscience studies show that more important the the number of hours is making sure you take breaks regularly. But you hit the nail on the head when you said that the answer is very relative. I know I am someone who can do 8 hours of prep fine. But others do better with 5 hours a day.

JustDoIt

I really think it depends on you. I prefer to study for 4-5 hours then play Overwatch or workout. It's not that those things take priority over my studies. But that it is very hard to come back to it after you spend more than half of your waking hours studying for a test. Plus, I feel like I go harder when I study for a shorter amount of time. You know that this is small dent in your day and if you give it all you can for those 4-5 hours, you can put your mind at ease sooner. I can't stress enough how important it is to have a healthy mind through this process and to not let the LSAT consume you.

Don't underestimate the power of burnout. It will sneak up on you when you least expect it.

Alex

@JustDoIt said:
Don't underestimate the power of burnout. It will sneak up on you when you least expect it.

Yeah, couldn't agree more with this!

cam

I agree with JustDolt and Alex Devine. Burn out can sneak up on you. On my heavy study days, I tend to not study for longer than 90mins at a stretch unless if I am doing a timed PT. For me, it helps to break the time into segments throughout the day. So, lets say I'm shooting for 9 hours on a day off. I'll do two 90-min chunks shortly after waking up (with a 15ish min break in the middle for breakfast, shower, etc), two more 90-min chunks (with a 30min break between for lunch), and then in the evening knock out two more 90-min chunks (with break in the middle for dinner). I set a cutoff of 8PM for studying unless if the information is clicking really well.

Alex

@cam I think you have a great system worked out there. OP, maybe you want to try something like this?

lawschoolstuff16

@cam is this straight studying? no distractions or working slow or anything like that? my problem is that I start to study and set up to study for 4 hours, but never get enough done in that time to feel like I was actually productive. What do you do and what helps you focus?

cam

@lawschoolstuff16 said:
is this straight studying?

During each of the 90min blocks, it is. I set a timer on my phone, and go to it until the timer goes off. Same deal for the breaks, but sometimes I will just use an episode (22-30ish mins) of something on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc as my timer. It doesn't matter to me what speed I am working as long as I am focused on the task at hand. If it feels like my eyes are going crossed when doing an RC passage, I shift to diagramming games. If my brain hurts from diagramming games, I might do LR question drill/review.

I know that I can maintain focus for at least 90mins. Within that 90min block it could be dedicated to doing one type of activity (drilling question types), or what is more common for me, is to review a video lesson on a specific aspect of testing, doing at least 20 questions related to that video, and then moving on to another aspect of testing.

I think the key thing for me is knowing that at the end of the 90mins, I will be doing something that doesn't require focus, concentration, or much thought.

Something to keep in mind about the sample schedules below, I do not have family commitments, get most of my social needs met by my job, and workout 3 days per week minimum.

To get a better idea of what I am saying, here is a sample plan for a day that I do not work, yet I manage to wake up at about my normal time. The assumed study plan is review and drilling. I used military time since it is easier for me to visualize. To go from military time (24hr clock) to normal time (12hr clock), subtract 12. So, 1300=1PM, 2000=8PM. 0545=5:45AM.
0545-0600: wake up, caffeine & nicotine (I vape), review study plan for the day.
0600-0730: 90min block 1
0730-0745 or 0800, shower.
0800-0930: 90min block 2
0930-1030: futz around, maybe some Xbox, potentially a snack
1030-1200: 90min Block 3
1200-1330: lunch w/Hulu or some sort of streaming video, run errands, do chores, etc
1330-1500: 90min Block 4
1500-1630: Streaming Video/Futzing around
1630-1800: 90min Block 5
1800-1830: Snack/early dinner, more futzing around
1830-2000: 90 Block 6
2000-end of night: relax, figure out a rough study plan for next day.
On workout days, block 6 is replaced by a workout.

Now, here is an example for a day that I do not work, yet I will be completing a PT.
0545-0600: Wake Up, Caffeine & Nicotine, make copies of whatever section of the test I plan on reusing (typically games)
0600-0900, if 4 section (or however long it takes) with Proctor App
0600-0945, if 5 section (or however long it takes) with Proctor App
End of test thru 3-4hrs later (so around 1300): futz around, do anything that isn't focus intensive.
1300-however long it takes, blind review. I assume at least 3hrs (broken up into 90min chunks) for BR.
1600-1630, grade test.
1630-1800: rewatch/reread course content for question types that I missed most frequently and drill those types.
1800-1930: Redo any games that I missed after watching 7sage video on that game thru the diagram setup stage ONLY (complete whole game, only watch video through the setup).
1930-end of night: relax.


Example for days that I do work. The times are not exact since some days I work 0730-1500, some are 0900-1700. Gig days are a whole other beast. This sample day shows how I can get 6hrs in even when working a full work day. Sometimes, I'll move dinner to BEFORE block 3, if I'm feeling brain fried from work. This is my crunch time schedule for work days.
0545-0615: wake up, shower, nicotine, caffeine.
0615-0745: 90min block 1
0745-0800: get ready for work.
LUNCH BREAK FROM WORK
1030-1200, 90min block 2
1200-1230: lunch
AFTERWORK
1600-1730: 90min block 3
1730-1800: dinner
1800-1930: 90min block 4
1930-end of day: relax.
If a workout day: block 4 is replaced by a workout but then 1945-2030 is a short block that is typically filled with review of what I covered earlier that day or more question drilling (sometimes mixed sets).

Edited in: There is another reason behind me keeping the blocks to 90mins. I'm on blood thinners since I had 2 clots in my right leg almost a year and a half ago at this point. The clots are mostly dissolved, but extended time sitting still raises my risk for additional clots. My medical team has recommended that I not sit still for longer than hour, but I can stretch that time frame a bit (with a hard limit of 3hrs) if I do calf/leg stretches every 45-50mins while seated. So, on the breaks, I get up and walk around my house, and try not to sit still for very long.

Cant Get Right

I think this is one of those things that is going to be a little different for everyone. For me, the answer was to study as long as I could stay sharp. Once I lose my edge, it's time to break. Sometimes that means 15 minutes, sometimes that means a week or two, lol. My advice is to find your limit and and try not to cross that threshold into diminishing returns on your study time. LSAT isn't like a lot of other things where you can just power through, not for me at least. In my experience, 4 quality hours always felt way more effective than 12 okay hours.

And be flexible. I did some 12 hour days at times, but more frequently 6 - 8 was all I could maintain. Some days I couldn't do more than 2. And sometimes I needed to set it aside entirely. If you wake up in beast mode, great! If your brain rebels at any thought of the LSAT, that's okay too, assuming that's not just how you view the test in general, lol.