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7 Likes
Emotional Burn-out after Prepping for so Long
lawschoolstuff16
Alum Member
So I've been prepping for the LSAT for quite some time now and the process has been very emotionally draining. I know I've spoken to many others who, like me, miss being able to do things without having to worry about LSAT in the back of their minds or even about how they're going to plan the next steps in their prep without messing it up, etc. Most days, I just feel sick and tired of this test. I'm drained. It's just feeling *done* with this exam and the ways its really started to effect the structure in my life.
I've seen a lot of others posting on this discussion board who by now have been working and simultaneously studying for several months (if not 1+ years) and I wonder: how do you do it? What motivates you to keep going? I've always been really good at doing well in school and having a great resume and performing well at work. I usually have a lot of endurance, but I can't help but sometimes feel like this test is really just something that keeps bringing me down.
I don't always feel like this, but there are some days where I can't even get myself to look at LSAT material. I can't get myself to feel happy about having to plan every element of my life around LSAT prep. I do it anyways, because I know that my score will pay off, but lately it's becoming an uphill battle. I do let myself occasionally have fun when I want/need to. But I think that because I had been studying for the LSAT incorrectly for so long, that finally redirecting myself and trying to get into the PT stage is really draining me emotionally.
I don't know that I'm looking for people to motivate me (thinking about how I sometimes do enjoy the LSAT, seeing improvements, and knowing that I want to be a lawyer more than anything else usually does that). But I need a different perspective: how do other people approach emotional-burn out? I'd like to learn from you!
I've seen a lot of others posting on this discussion board who by now have been working and simultaneously studying for several months (if not 1+ years) and I wonder: how do you do it? What motivates you to keep going? I've always been really good at doing well in school and having a great resume and performing well at work. I usually have a lot of endurance, but I can't help but sometimes feel like this test is really just something that keeps bringing me down.
I don't always feel like this, but there are some days where I can't even get myself to look at LSAT material. I can't get myself to feel happy about having to plan every element of my life around LSAT prep. I do it anyways, because I know that my score will pay off, but lately it's becoming an uphill battle. I do let myself occasionally have fun when I want/need to. But I think that because I had been studying for the LSAT incorrectly for so long, that finally redirecting myself and trying to get into the PT stage is really draining me emotionally.
I don't know that I'm looking for people to motivate me (thinking about how I sometimes do enjoy the LSAT, seeing improvements, and knowing that I want to be a lawyer more than anything else usually does that). But I need a different perspective: how do other people approach emotional-burn out? I'd like to learn from you!
Comments
I basically look at it this way: I have the GPA I need, the softs, and everything else. All that is between me and my dream school(s) are a bunch of studying and work I need to put into this test.
Sometimes the test brings me down a bit too, but that usually just means you need a break.
I'm also not really a fan of motivation. I tend to subscribe to the school of thought that says motivation is a fleeting feeling and the real answer to conquering long-term goals is discipline. That is something that if you cultivate you'll never lose! It is what I attribute to my ability to fight through the burnout.
Also, sometimes we just need to put this into perspective. It is just a test. Yes, it is one of the most important tests if you want to be a lawyer, but I am confident we will figure it out and kill this test like the millions of lawyers before us.
Lastly, believe in yourself!
I haven't experienced much burnout. The two things which keep the ball rolling for me are faith, and passion. When I say faith, I'm not talking about a religion, as I reject all religions in accordance with my individual beliefs. (I don't reject the possibility of an infinite intelligence / being, because hey, like the wisest man in Athens said "I know what I know, and I know what I don't know). Faith is a state of mind. You must have faith in yourself. Have faith in knowing you are going to reach the score which you desire. I know you want it, but do you truly 'believe' it? Do you truly 'believe' you are going to reach the score you are seeking? Faith is the basis of all 'miracles' which cannot be explained by rule of science. Hell, I just read a post about some guy who had a 40 point increase from his 130 diagnostic to a 171 score on test day. Talk about miracles.
Have faith in knowing that, whatever your circumstances, you are going to reach the score you truly desire. The reason I hardly experience burnout, in my opinion, is because I have faith. This faith allows me to put the LSAT books down on days which I'm fed up or exhausted from some other outside circumstances. This same faith is what allows me to smile when I check over my RC answers, and see I went -6 - -8, (hell, even -10 a few times). I smile because I know I'm going to do whatever it takes to overcome the problems I'm facing. I smile because I know I have a lot to learn. I smile because we are lucky enough to be taking the only standardized test which the answers can all be found on the page directly in front of you. You cannot get mad when you stumble upon tough problems, and you cannot give in when self doubt creeps up into the mind. The subconscious mind cannot distinguish between constructive, or destructive thought processes. The subconscious mind works with the thoughts we feed it. The subconscious mind can lead you to prosperity, or it can lead you to failure. You must feed the subconscious mind with your faith.
The next thing which drives me is passion. Really dig deep, and think about why you want to go to law school. Be truthful with yourself. Don't settle for some little cliche answer that a sophomore sociology student would give such as "I want to help people". Are your intentions pure? Or do you want to go to law school because you are some power/money hungry, egotistical sociopath? If it's the latter, I'm afraid my words forthcoming won't do much to motivate you. However, if it is the latter, then suck it up. Because if you are truly a sociopath you shouldn't be dealing with emotional burnout anyways, so stick to a very disciplined routine because my words on emotional motivation will do nothing for you.
Most pursuits cannot endure the rigors of LSAT studies nor law school unless built upon by a passion that is pure in truth, justice, or nobility. Now don't get me wrong, the paycheck of successful lawyers is alluring, but it's a bonus and not something a sustainable pursuit can be built on. Maybe you want to bring honor to your family, maybe you want to solve injustices in the world, or maybe you want to prove to that special someone in your life, that you are worthy of their love (love is definitely a powerful positive motivator, but seeing as I'm lacking in this category I will not write about it's fruitfulness). The heart of human excellence often begins to beat when you discover a pursuit that absorbs you, frees you, challenges you, and gives you a sense of meaning, joy and passion (not my quote).
Any passion which you persistently seek and hold in your mind will eventually seek out expression. Think to yourself, really, think to yourself, imagine yourself, as the person you want to become. As the person who has successfully carried out, and pursued their passion. Really sit and meditate on it. Do this for 10 minutes before deciding to close the books for the day. During this time, you should be reminded why you are taking persistent, and continuous action toward attaining and pursuing this passion. Some of this may sound corny, but you have to remember, this is freakin hard. Most of us are shooting for a top 3% score (170). To reach this score, you have to be willing to do what the lower 97% of test takers failed to do.
Something else which personally carries me is my competitiveness. Most of us are shooting for some really great schools. At these really great schools, we are all going to be competing against some very intelligent people. Hell, we are going to be competing against some of the greatest political, legal, and philosophical minds of our generation. I'm going to earn my place among these minds and you can to. It this a little egotistical? Yes, slightly. Is it wrong? No, not at all. As Steve Jobs said, "the ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do".
I'm going to leave you with a quote that popped up on my browser today off of an app that some really goofy people suggested to me ( @Sami @montaha.rizeq @Jessica_Kuba )
How many success stories do you have to hear before you write your own?
Good luck, and Merry Christmas.
btw you gentlemen gave some pretty thought provoking advice. I have nothing to add haha.
I used to do some freelance writing for a philosophy / psychology blog, so I had something to offer.
If I'm going to get rejected I at least need to look at myself in the mirror after that judgment and not regret my actions. Pumping through 10 more practice tests even when my last five test average is already 173 is what I need to do to reconcile a "no" on that regret question. I can work 6:30-5 and then study. In the grand scheme it's a small price to pay. It doesn't hurt that I won't have to play rocket target lottery ever again.
Where does my motivation come from? Well, I have spent my entire life standing up the "man". I was supposed to do "x", but did "y". I was supposed to act one way, but acted another.
My parents wanted one path, I chose one that makes me happier. From that, besides a natural motivation to pursue a form of law that will hopefully allow participation in the political process, comes a secondary drive to forge a path that is mine and mine only.
My motivation is sinister as well as hopeful. I pride myself in difference, and I want to come to this profession not for money, but for the intent to change something, anything, about how a person perceives this country and how we will go out of our way to help. Especially lawyers.
Motivation is always self inflicted. It's not a pump up video. It's a sense of self. What about law drives you? What drives you in general? Results shouldn't be the main driver. You have to be the main driver.
Find it in yourself, and it will come.
Yes, I know, it's embarrassing.
Not all test takers are created equal
This is true. I don't want to have to face a rejection knowing that I didn't put in full effort during my prep. I'll always be stuck wondering what I could have done differently. I definitely don't want to have to face that but somehow this is never really something that crosses my mind at this point in my study. All my application materials and essays are finished. I spent months writing them and perfecting every last syllable. I haven't yet taken the LSAT because I want to make sure that I get the score that I'm aiming for to have a good app, but somehow I'm always annoyed by the test.
I've never thought of this before! I always figured I'd just need discipline, but I think I not only need to discipline myself but think of myself and my work differently to achieve my goals without feeling so emotionally let down. Thank you for this
No worries. I'm that way when it comes to long distance running and I listen to trance music while doing that as well. It gives me such a rush.
Miracles are great like Jnauf says, but never consider anything to do with a test a miracle. The guy who went from 130-171 put in a lot of hard work and time to get there!
Well, right now my schedule in general has been a bit hectic due to work and other obligations. To be honest, I've just been following the customizable 7Sage study scheduler. (Usually has me doing about 20 hours of prep a week) I try to prep for 2ish-hours every morning before work and do a full day of study on Saturdays with Sundays as a rest day. I was trying to prep for a while after work, and my brain was too fried by the time I got home. Starting next month, however, I'm just going to be treating my prep as my full-time job. I'm hoping that's when I can begin PT'ing in earnest and seeing major gains!!
Keep this in mind: The LSAT isn't whats causing you to feel emotionally burned out. You have to recognize it's not to blame for dissatisfaction, your thoughts and feelings regarding the LSAT are what make you dissatisfied.
Good luck
Mind over matter. Forget burnout. Keep going. Relish this unique challenge in all its glory and pain. At the end of it all, you'll sit down once more for 3.5 - 4.0 hours, pencil and paper in hand, fill in some bubbles, and alter the trajectory of your life in a way that allows you to accomplish your dreams. Where else can you do that but the LSAT?
Emotional burnout, for example, is what results when you're in some type of long term abusive relationship, or your cat just died, or you are just sick and tired of prepping for a test because of how long the process is taking. In other words, fed up. Mental burnout is what results after a long day of tough cognitive tasks. Physical burnout is obviously the burnout you feel when you are spending to much time at the gym. You yourself control your emotions.
There is no one out there who is improving two points every prep test and is feeling emotionally burned out. The emotional burnout results from your thoughts and feelings towards yourself, and the test. Miracles are great! I'll say that now, because you just kind of added it to my words like you did above.
Make no mistake about it, everyone feels some type of burnout eventually because let's face it, we're all human. Hopefully? Hard work, discipline, and persistence are all required to do well on this test. The use of miracles in my words was to illustrate the theme of faith. The guy who went from a 130-171, must have had faith in himself. Otherwise, what would cause him to keep pushing forward?
I actually only know this because I took an interesting neurobiology class that looked at the burnout phenomenon from a psychological perspective. I learned that emotional, mental, and physical burnout are not actually distinct types of burnout. Rather, burnout is burnout, and there are physical, mental, and emotional symptoms one experiences as a result. In theory, one can very well be scoring 180 after 180, be 100% happy with their progress and study efficacy, but the mental exhaustion will eventually lead to burn out, regardless of how you feel about the task itself.
Burnout is actually much more complicated than described above, but, at the end of the day, vis-a-vis burnout, stress and mental exhaustion are the main culprits. Also, people don't always control their emotions. Depression, for example, is something we don't have control over; it is also a likely outcome from untreated burnout.
I also just want to add that I only felt it was important to highlight these distinctions not to argue, but because I know first hand how serious burnout can be. And I think the myth of attributing it to your feelings and saying you are in control of those feelings can be a dangerous notion.
If you or anyone else is interested in learning more about burnout and some possible ways to help mitigate its negative effects, check out Dr. Christina Maslach. She is a leading researcher on burnout and has a great book called "The Truth About Burnout" and I also still have the PowerPoints for the class I took and could email those to anyone who is interested as well.
Hm, interesting. So I guess we really need to look at what stress is. Stress or ‘stressors’ stem from something that disturbs our physical or mental equilibrium.
If I absolutely love doing logic games, will I become stressed doing logic games? No. While sure, logic games are mentally taxing, a stimulus being mentally taxing does not inevitably lead to mental exhaustion.
If I absolutely hate doing reading comprehension, will I become stressed during reading comp? Yes, why? Because 'the LSAT authors are stupid, nobody writes like this, why is this even a section on the lsat, etc'. My underlying thoughts and feelings towards reading comp are causing me to become stressed.
Regardless, believe it; do not believe it, to each their own. If it helps anyone to think the slightest bit more positively I’m glad I could help.
ETA: I definitely appreciate your optimistic view on things though, man. Positivity can go a long way with this test!