Mental Health

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• 17 Likes

  Law and Yoda Alum Member ⭐

  July 2020 edited July 2020 4312 karma

  On the days that I feel burnt out or fatigued, I do something I call "active rest days" (a habit I also use in working out). I won't spend more than an hour and a half of studying that day and I'll only do 1 or 2 star level LR questions/logic games. That way I'm not forcing my brain to work extremely hard but also not feeling guilty about missing a study day. Its helped me a lot to do this because like you I too feel guilty not being productive or studying, but I also know I can't get a quality study day if I continue to go in exhausted. Hope this helps!
• 8 Likes

  randyyyy98 Member

  July 2020 61 karma

  I can relate to this a lot, on the days you struggle try to relax and get back into it. I find if I miss going outside it makes it harder to focus. I often will go on a 30 minute walk to try to put me in the right headspace to study. Take care of your mind and body that way you are in the right mindset to later study.
• 3 Likes

  ME_V_LSAT Member

  July 2020 edited July 2020 1538 karma

  I relate to this as well. A practice that has helped me tremendously when I'm mentally/emotionally/physically tired has been building the habit of exercising (just 20-30 minutes) before I start studying for the day. Studies have shown that just a little exercise improves your ability to learn and can help combat depression. A doctor compiled the research behind this in a book that I highly recommend - "Spark: The Revolutionary Science of Exercise and the Brain." PM me if you want to chat more; I hope this helps.
• 3 Likes

  EagerestBeaver Alum Member

  July 2020 703 karma

  @"Law and Yoda" has a great point talking about studying like working out. Working out 7 days a week? Counterproductive. Take either a day off, go easier on days to take mental breaks, or cut from 4 to 3 hours. Sticking with the body analogy, it takes about twelve weeks of intensive workout to see complete body change. While twelve weeks may or may not be enough to see complete LSAT change, the principle is that you are doing some major mental lifting, be patient in the process. Your desire is great, but the challenge is finding that balance of sheer force of mental effort and letting the zen part of letting it happen, happen.
• 2 Likes

  JessicaLeigh Core Member

  July 2020 78 karma

  I get where you're coming from. I am working full time 9 - 5 Monday - Friday and then I study evenings and I feel a lot of pressure. My job is already mentally draining but working out + meditating + eating healthy really helps to improve things. How I see it is you cannot expect your mind to work how its supposed to without taking care of your body, and doing things you enjoy throughout the day. When it comes to the LSAT, while i am aiming to reach a specific score, I am going to adjust if I don't reach that score at my goal time and I am going to adjust. The pressure on yourself only makes things worse; its all about balance.
• 6 Likes

  ALLCAA123 Alum Member

  July 2020 edited July 2020 125 karma

  Been there, done that. I also questioned my sanity after spending over a year to study for this exam.

  I finally got a score above the 90th percentile after 1.2 years of study, but in hindsight, I don't think it was worth so much trouble. I recommend taking a break and NOT studying 4+ hours a day. Take it easy. Learn the basic concepts (i.e. what's a sufficient condition, how you should diagram certain games, the different kinds of reasoning errors, and so on). At their core, the average middle school student could understand them. The trouble arises when LSAC hides these simple concepts behind difficult-to-read language, which is exactly what lawyers do in the real world. I'd recommend reading challenging material in your free time, but material you're interested in. Philosophy and science are fun to read, imo. Read books whenever you can on topics that you like. Get used to reading a lot of dense, complex language and extracting the meaning quickly (not just for lsat prep, but for law school as well).

  Here's another thing to consider- there's more to being a lawyer than what test score you get and what school you go to and what firm you work for. I've met plenty of attorneys who love their jobs, and none of them went to the "prestigious schools" (as defined arbitrarily by one magazine that uses one methodology, which has met plenty of criticism). Focus on cracking the 160 barrier, and I promise you, many good schools will give you great scholarship money, and you will be an attorney one day. Minimize your debt, and go to a school in the region where you want to practice for your first job. Use common sense as well- don't go to Cooley or Thomas Jefferson... those for-profit schools at the very bottom of the list with 20% bar passage rates. Everything else is fair game.

  Of course you should get the best score possible and you should study hard, but look at this as a process that prepares you for law school and for the legal profession. Have fun, and have faith

  Remember... take it easy.
• LawHokage Yearly Member

  July 2020 129 karma

  Hey everybody! Thanks so much for giving me the advice I needed to hear. I was so stressed out last week due to studying for a midterm, studying 4+ hours a day, and also going through a break - up with my girlfriend, that I finally reached my breaking point. I took the entire weekend off and just used it to refocus on what is important and allowed myself to just relax. I see the many flaws on what I'm doing and should lessen the stress & burden on myself. I'm going to focus on getting better day - by - day, but also at the same time taking care of my mental, physical, and emotional well - being.

  @"Law and Yoda" Thank you for your hint - "Active rest days" I will integrate it into my study routine, on the days where I am feeling extremely fatigued or drained.

  @ALLCAA123 Thank you for your valuable insight! I really appreciate the thoughtful message and you taking the time out to help someone struggling like myself.

  @randyyyy98 I have definitely lost touch when it comes to my exercise routine because of COVID. One of my biggest stress relief was going to the gym, but now that it's pretty unsafe, in Florida at least, I have to find a new outlet to let out my stress.
• 1 Like

  garbage.flood Member

  July 2020 edited July 2020 186 karma

  Another 7Sager mentioned this in passing above, but I'd like to second their suggestion: I am finding meditation and yoga to be very helpful as I prepare for this test. If you've never done "Yoga With Adriene" on YouTube, you should start today. Her videos range from 10 min. to 45 min. - whatever suits your needs. She's awesome. Unlike most of the western yoga I've been exposed to, Adriene's asana practices encourage attention to the breath (I liken yoga sans breath awareness to scuba-diving in shallow water). I find her more recent videos (those posted in the last 2 years) to have a more calming effect. I recommend starting off your day with a short morning session, doing a session before heading to bed, and/or taking 10 min. to rest your mind and do some yoga as a break from studying at some point during the day. And before you dismiss this suggestion as just some New Age, spiritual, hippy-dippy nonsense, know that there is a great deal of research suggesting that regular meditation can lower blood pressure, improve immune function, and help regulate the body's stress response.

  All I know is that once I began to practice yoga and meditation everyday, the testing experience completely changed for me. I was more able to focus on the task at hand and felt far less anxious about my score overall. I am less hard on myself and much more at peace. And with each PT, my score has begun to climb...

  Sounds like you could use some of the same medicine