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Same. I took a semester off of school and went home to study. I was having a great time when I was in school but now im studying lsat 24/7. But in my opinion its worth it because I've seen a lot of people who end up studying for this test for 2 or 3 years. I can't imagine looking at this crap for that long. I wanna get this over with as soon as possible so I can start enjoying life again. So whatever I have to do to get my target score in a couple of months, im gonna do it.
When I studied I never had a ton of of time for social stuff. What I did do was make plans to do something fun almost every weekend. Often, this just meant grabbing a quick dinner with my GF or meeting up for a drink with my buddies. An hour here, another hour there type of thing. I generally wasn’t staying out until 2am at the club or going on any weekend trips though.
I took Sundays off from prep and that allowed me to have Saturday nights and all of Sunday to have fun.
Having a social life outside of the test is something I found to be important. It made studying a whole lot more manageable knowing I had something to look forward to.
I moved to my parents' due to a family situation, so my job right now is studying.
Let's be honest, the LSAT is a grueling test to take and to study for. I'm not sure if either of you are athletes, runners, weightlifters or anything like that but let me present an analogy:
Distance runners don't race every day, or even run hard every day. Weightlifters don't max out every day or work the same muscle group every day. Rest is crucial for these groups, along with people studying for the LSAT.
A crucial part of rest has to do with hormones, notably the stress hormone cortisol. I'm a distance runner. Some of the best distance coaches talk about how after workouts, they engage with their athletes, try cracking jokes. It's not just about being social, but it's about bringing those stress levels down so the athletes can recover and be ready for the next hard session. High cortisol levels impair recovery and socializing lowers cortisol levels.
I've found this to be the case with the LSAT. Sometimes my PTs don't go well because of non-stress related things. But it is undoubtable that my retention, productivity, and efficiency are best when I have properly recovered from the last PT (a hard workout or race in the analogy) and that usually includes some social time to help bring the cortisol levels down.
So, think of social time not as something getting in the way of your goal but as something helping your reach your goals.
I will also say that it is worth taking another month or three if you need it instead of stressing to hit the June test. I was trying to be ready for March, and was stressing when that wasn't coming together. I pushed it back to June and it was a great decision. I used my PTs far more efficiently in the process.
Well, I'm currently very guilty of this very thing. However, I've been doing my best to budget my time productively. Starting May 1st I bought two notebooks... one tracks the time I sit down to start studying and the other tracks the specific productive study hours.
So basically it looks like this
May 11| Start: 6:50pm
Finish: 11:00pm
^This is how I format my sit down time...
My actual productive time starts with a 10minute meditation to get me focused... and after my meditation is over I count that as the beginning of my actual study time. For example, if i sat down at 6:50 but didnt start my meditation until 7:00 ... i track this as "meditation 7:00-7:10"
Then if i stop for a break I mark down the time I stop at... and mark the time I start back up at.
However, I also imposed fairly strict rules on myself... such as .. all breaks are manditory 5minutes.. breaks will end with a brief stretch/walk around... Checking social media invokes a necessary break.. checking phone invokes necessary break etc,.
I'm hoping by finding my optimal study amounts that I can learn to budget my time effectively. So if im sitting down for 10 hours and studying for 3 hours.. i'm hoping i can find the 3 hour window where i am most productive and utilize that and not isolate myself from the world.
I'm lucky that most of my friends had already moved away across the country to various schools so i don't feel any necessary pull to interact with them in person. I'm also very lucky I have a very encouraging girlfriend who understands that I need to sit down and study and understands how important this is to me. For that reason, especially that reason... I want to learn to budget my time for those around me.. and not be so selfish with my time if I don't need to be... if that makes sense
I think it’s definitely important to budget time away from the LSAT to maintain your mental health. I studied while working full time. So I made sure to set aside 1 week night per week that I would not do anything LSAT related, and schedule something fun with friends, like catching up over happy hour or dinner and a movie. Then on the weekends, I would take a PT Saturday morning and then set things aside and not do anything else LSAT related. Sunday’s I would BR the PT I took the day before. If BR took more than about 4-5 hours, I’d stop and finish on Monday after work. So that gave me 1 week night plus like half a day on Saturday and Sunday. I also realized after a while that studying the LSAT was such an isolating experience that I badly needed social time in order to balance that out and keep me happy. So I was very intentional about scheduling things with friends during my off time. I really think that made a huge impact for me and allowed me to study for much longer without losing my mind, which allowed me to achieve my best possible LSAT score.
I highly recommend making sure to schedule some time that you’re not working on the LSAT but doing something fun that leaves you feeling refreshed and happy. I think it’s a valuable skill to learn how to balance this now, since law school and beginning a law career are both of course very stressful situations. It’s a good exercise in recognizing what you need and finding a way to make it happen, even during a very busy season.
Thank you guys so much, all of your comments are extremely helpful. I over stress myself so anytime I have free time I feel guilty if I am not studying for the LSAT( I am sure some of you have felt this way). I definitely need to work on better balancing my work and social life.
P.S @alumivacui I started recording my start and stop times as well after reading your comment.
You have to consider how this will increase your risk for LSAT burnout. If every waking moment of your time is spent thinking about/doing LSAT stuff, you're going to burnout and need to take a substantial amount of time off to recover (at least that was my experience)
I sorta took a gym schedule approach to my studying. 3 on 1 off or 2 on 1 off. Sometimes my "off" days were spent watching videos of JY doing problems but me not doing them - but this was rare.
I think of the LSAT community as a component of social life.
@lsatplaylist not gonna lie, the 7sage discussion forum is the only social media I am allowing myself to use until i am done taking the test. 😅
@"Freddie Mercurys Mustache" when you did 3on 1 off, what was your daily schedule on study days?
One thing that has helped retain some semblance of balance is that I am now teaching my partner how to take the LSAT (she is going to med school so it’s strictly for fun). It helps to both go over material with someone/explaining your reasoning out loud, and also allows me to maintain both some contact with her whilst being productive. Just an idea, but try to find a friend who might be interested in some LSAT fun time and do that together!
Well, I work full time and have a wife and kid so it's not typical in any sense. I'd put in my 8 hours at work, have dinner with the fam and then I was off to my ungrad's library.
I really only put in MAYBE 4-5 hours a day on study days and it was all late at night. And since I had such a set schedule for this, I would do something like, RC, LG, LR, off, RC, LG, LR. Most days i was drilling old old tests and then watching videos. The next week I would throw in a full test. But this is just what worked for me. I felt comfortable with this schedule and the amount of time I was spending on each topic and how I was doing it.
Thank you for this. It's only now after taking the test for the second time yesterday that I'm realizing just how hyper-focused I've been and how hard it's been on my husband. It truly can be an isolating experience - to the point where sometimes I was physically in my home but mentally not there at all. It's a powerful thing that must be treated with care and it takes effort to achieve a life balance. Heavy stuff.
Absolutely. It’s a high stakes entrance exam so expect that studying for it brings out both the best and worst in people.
For simply the purpose of camaraderie, you are not alone. Here in month seven of this battle. Cheers to you for continuing on.
YES!
Yes, we will not give up!
Couldn't agree more
I agree with you.
P.S @"Leah M B" 's comments are always very helpful.
I had very little social life before studying for the test, now I have a nice excuse
I just quit my job as an admin clerk at a large law firm and have distanced myself somewhat from friends who party on the weekends, etc. I’ve done it all for the LSAT and wanting to get into the best law school I can. Studying for the LSAT with a dense job in a busy practice area was too much for me to handle. However, I still make time after I study, to hangout with friends, play sports and video games. So, I still try to balance social life/hobbies with this test. Best of luck studying!
I study from 8/9am everyday to about 3pm. And then after 3pm, I workout, play sports, see friends through golf, and video games. If I keep studying all day over my 6-hour threshold, I feel like I don’t gain much from those extra hours studying. But that is just me
I study from about 10am to roughly 2pm or 3 pm daily. After study time I hang out with my gf or family, sometimes watch a movie or read a book. In the end it'll all be worth it! It's not too difficult rekindling a relationship with a friend after a few months of hard studying. If they're actually you're friend and care for you, they'll understand. I think of it as a way of weeding out those who may not necessarily be a real friend or companion, same goes for bf's and gf's.
I know this might not seem like an option but you can always start making nerdier friends...on the Internet.
@JuandaSheep haha that's why 7sage is a great place but if you've got any other suggestions on where I can make nerdier friends, I am open to giving it a chance.
@foxtrot720 I agree and I am pretty I've lost some friends along the way but hopefully it will be worth it.
Time management is your friend. Perhaps push your study time a little earlier in the morning so that you can make time to live?
I am putting in at least 4 hours each day studying for 5x a week and then going out on either Friday or Saturday to reward myself. But it is so HARD, some times i literally have no motivation. I also give myself breaks to use my phone, because if I dont put my phone away, I will literally use Snapchat.
Lol @"Lucas Carter"
@ebby_luna sounds like you are doing the pomodoro technique( studying for 25 mins and taking a 5 min break). I switched it up a bit by studying for 45 mins and giving myself 10-15 min breaks.
Just piggybacking off of this - burnout is VERY REAL. It's not worth it. I worked 90 days straight once, one full time job, one part time job, while having a girlfriend and working out. But when the burnout hit, I literally had to resign from my second job. I just couldn't bring myself to work, and my brain was in a complete fog. I actually feel like it made it hard to focus on anything else in my life for a while. Any type of work seemed way more difficult. Something just breaks in your brain when burnout strikes, and it definitely won't be good for your overall LSAT score and your mental health for that matter. Just my 2 cents.
I agree that you need to take a progressive overload approach to studying, similar to working out, as it will prevent burnout and it will allow your mind to adjust to the high stress levels provoked by the difficult problem solving the LSAT will require of you.
I am actually gonna try that today