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Setting your internal clock

Julia LJulia L Alum Member
edited April 2015 in June 2015 LSAT 354 karma
The June LSAT is at 12:30 pm; does anyone have suggestions for how to optimally set your internal clock?

Since January, I have been waking up around 5 am in order to get focused study time in before work. I'm a natural night owl, so these days I am drifting back into a later bedtime. Does anyone have thoughts on how your internal clock affects your alertness/ energy? Should I continue to discipline myself to wake up super early for this final stretch (as opposed to suddenly starting to study at night)?

Thanks!
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  • emli1000emli1000 Alum Member Inactive ⭐
    3462 karma
    I say it varies, for instance I don't wake up as early as you do but when I take a PT I try to take it between 12:30-1pm and seeing that I have been up for a couple of hours at first I noticed that I feltl more drained instead of the 8:30-9am LSAT that I prepped for before. I feel that the earlier the better for me to get this over with. But over the months I've slowly been able to adapt to taking later PTs and not feel as drained as before. I also do a LG section of 4 games that I've mastered and re-read over my notes just to prepare myself before taking a PT. I feel that I will do the same on test day.
  • Julia LJulia L Alum Member
    354 karma
    That's good to know that you have been able to adapt. I am definitely still working on building my endurance, especially for the afternoon. Hmm maybe it would be good to shift my clock back to what feels normal to me, and have the energy to take later tests. Just means I have to study at night though :/
  • nicole.hopkinsnicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    7965 karma
    @"Julia L" Everyone's rhythms are different. I get up at 6 to do BR for 2 hours because my brain is extra extra perky at that time. After 10pm it's useless. It depends on a number of factors, but ultimately it's about what's best for you. If you're better off sleeping til 9 on test day because you're wired to go to bed at 1, so be it. If you end up groggy by 12:30 after waking up that late, then don't do it. Experiment in the weeks to come and find what is best for you.
  • blah170blahblah170blah Alum Inactive ⭐
    3545 karma
    @"Julia L" I also think the answer to your question is contingent on where you are in your studies. If you're at a point where you're PTing every other day, you really have nailed the fundamentals, and now need to work on mental endurance, by ALL means experiment away with what times work for you, what foods work best for you, and your pre-test routine.

    If, however, you are still in the learning process where you're going through the 7sage or whatever curriculum you're following, don't mess drastically with your sleep schedule. Speaking from personal experience, I wasted so many weeks of unproductive studying while trying to set the "perfect schedule" months before I took the test in February and it did not pay off. I should have stuck to my normal schedule to maximize and efficiently utilize my studying time and then messed around the week before.
  • nicole.hopkinsnicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    7965 karma
    @"Julia L" What's your day to day schedule like? Wake up/work sched/after work/other stuff?
  • Julia LJulia L Alum Member
    354 karma
    Thanks for the responses! Like I said, I'm a natural night owl. But from January until now, I made myself wake up at 5 am, and got really good focused studying time. It was good up until the last few weeks, I'm having a hard time waking up and I want to sleep later.

    I finished the 7sage core curriculum I think a month ago, and I'm finishing up the LSAT Trainer book by Mike Kim (I'm in the last set of logical reasoning and reading lessons). I'm still in a plateau (low to mid 160s for actual tests, around 170 for blind review). I feel like I'm learning so much when I study, but then I don't perform well for the actual tests. And my blind review score actually hasn't improved either. I'm really hoping I can break through this plateau. I think my fundamentals are still shaky, or the skills are still not second nature yet. I'm worried... but all I can do is practice, identifying weaknesses & better ways of thinking, and... practice. If you have any thoughts, would gladly appreciate it.

    My weekly schedule up until now: Wake up at 5 am, study for 2 ish hours, go to work from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. After work, I pretty much just chill and rest. I take a PT test every Saturday, and blind review on Saturday/Sunday. Throughout the week in addition to the Trainer, I have been reviewing tough logic games, and reviewing logical reasoning questions I missed. I also have other commitments, but I think I've balanced everything fairly well up until now. The last 2 months will be focused LSAT time, so I will cut down my other commitments even more. Any suggestions on how I can optimize my schedule and studying time to break through the plateau?

    I guess this thread morphed into other concerns... :) Thanks so much for all of your advice!
  • pseudonymouspseudonymous Alum Member Inactive ⭐
    edited April 2015 521 karma
    Hey @"Julia L" if you take PTs on Saturday, our group BR schedule may work pretty well -- we're doing both Saturday and Monday evenings now. (If you aren't joined already, that is, I missed some weeks in March...)
    Gosh, I don't mean to turn the boards into a giant group BR promo, but it is for sure helpful!
  • Julia LJulia L Alum Member
    edited April 2015 354 karma
    Cool! Which PT are you on? Also, I'm on the West Coast :)
  • pseudonymouspseudonymous Alum Member Inactive ⭐
    521 karma
    47 for Saturday (4pm PST), and 52 for Monday (5pm PST)
    There was also talk of reviewing 60+ in May for the June testers.
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