Covid-19 and your Time

First, let me start by saying I believe our priority should be supporting everyone suffering and those on the front lines. The majority of us who must stay home are in a better place. Right now, for better or worse, time is what we have.

Staying home, of course, is not without its frustrations and problems. Many of us feel powerless about the ability to support family or miss out on work/wages and school. As in anything, we need to focus on what we can control.

For those of you studying, I can’t help but think about a time when I was laid off during my LSAT studies a few years ago. It was certainly frustrating. I had mounting bills that unemployment wouldn’t cover and family members I wasn’t in a financial position to support the way I wanted.

As frustrating as it was, I did, however, have time that I didn’t have before. While working a full-time job, I remember how I’d often lament the lack of extra time to study for the LSAT. After losing my job, there was little I could do besides use that extra time. I decided that while I was still looking for work, I would make a part-time job out of studying for the LSAT. In retrospect, that period was instrumental to my understanding of the LSAT and my massive score increase.

Here are some takeaways from my experience on how to use this time effectively.

Make it a part-time job.

Set up an actual schedule and put yourself on the clock. You don’t skip work, show up late, or spend your workday texting. You have a set time and you do your work. Otherwise, your boss won’t be very happy.

Take the same approach to your part-time job of studying for the LSAT. Have a set schedule. Sit at a proper desk. Take reasonable breaks for coffee or what not but limit them to a few minutes like you would at work.

An important benefit is that once you’ve put in those hours, the rest of your day is yours to do as you please, just like with a part-time job.

Limit those part time hours.

When I came up with this idea, I immediately texted my brother. He knew how frustrated I was about losing my job and I was happy to share my new idea about using this time for a positive purpose.

Ever supportive, My brother encouraged the idea of making this a job. “Put in eight hours a day just like you would at work. You’ll never get this time back.”

I had to change one part of that. Eight hours a day is not realistic for LSAT study. The material is just too abstract. I decided to limit my time to four hours per day. Depending on the day that could mean watching lesson videos (actively), doing practice sets or general studying. If I had a practice test or blind review, that would also count towards the four hours.

In my humble opinion, eight hours studying for something as abstract on the LSAT is just not realistic. Instead, my goal was to put in four hours per day, five days a week. Just like a part-time job. I made those four hours count rather than setting myself up for frustrations with eight hours.

This rightly gave me remaining hours in my new “workday” to meet other priorities: look for work, help family, work on other parts of my law school applications.

Self Correct

Like in any endeavor, this is an adjustment. Self correct to find what makes your work better.

At first, I made Starbucks my office. I liked the idea of coffee and getting to a space besides home. But a busy coffee shop had too many distractions.

I decided on a quiet library instead. I also eased up on the caffeine intake. Don’t get me wrong. Coffee is a part of my routine but there is too much of a good thing!

As in anything, experiment, self correct, find what works best for you.

Final thoughts

During a practice test or the real exam we must be aware of time. We either use time or lose it. This is also true of the hours and days we have to study. For those of us out of work and on lockdown, it is frustrating. But time doesn’t stop. We use it or lose it. We are limited in that time, especially now. But within those constraints we can use the time we have to support family, friends and people on the front lines. We can also use some of this time to take care of ourselves and invest in our future. We’ll never get this time back.