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Advice for Studying with a Full-Time Job?
ambermarex
Member
I have tried different methods for studying for the LSAT while having a full-time job. I was wondering for those who are on the same boat as me, what is/was your study schedule like?
Comments
I understand what you are going through! For a while, I had to get used to my work schedule and got overwhelmed because I felt I was neglecting my main goal - the LSAT. But now that I have settled, I try to study for at least two hours per day - maybe three.
I drill questions for about an hour. After drilling, I strictly go over the questions I missed for about 30-45 minutes (BR is OK, but I tend to second-guess myself, so I avoid using that strategy - especially for LR). For the questions I answered correctly, I write down my thought process.
For the remaining amount of time, I review concepts either from Powerscore, Brad Barbay, and of course 7Sage.
Be sure to take notes. It's all about the small victories; trust the process.
For me, working a full-time 40+ hours per week job, successful LSAT studying is all about preparation and prioritization.
Each Saturday or Sunday I dedicate a large portion of my studying to preparing my materials for the upcoming week. Making list of things to review, new things that will be covered, how many hours I want to study in total and per day, and then I place those things on a dynamic calendar. Meaning, the only thing rigid on the calendar is my work schedule. The study time is floating even though it usually covers a specific quantity of hours of dedication. What I have found, however, is that a routine generally settles itself in and becomes rather repeatable each week. For instance, on most days during the work week I study from 7 AM to 9 AM; an hour over lunch; and then about two to three hours in the evening. There are days, when I study more and days that I study less. If on Tuesday I manage to study ten hours, I force myself to only study the morning session on Wednesday. If I fall behind one day, I see how much I can make up that week, but I don't force it. Studying is about quality, not quantity. I just work anything I didn't get to into the next week's plan.
Solidarity, friend! In a similar situation.... a high-stress job and switching gears in the evening to review LSAT. I try to spend 2-3hrs every day... there may be a rest day here and there, but that's been my routine.
I'm not the best at learning on my own and just started with lessons from Powerscore per recommendation from a friend. Hopefully it pans out, but it's not easy. Especially on tough days you start studying and then just get owned in drills. It's a grind. But, from folks who've shared their advice with me that are - 1) currently in law school AND 2) current lawyers - the LSAT isn't what makes a good lawyer. It's these words I have to tell myself constantly because this isn't easy, at least for me, especially when you hear stuff in these comments threads like 'OMG I GOT A 183 CAN I STILL GO TO HARVARD?'
One foot in front of the other. We're going to get through this. You are killing it and I wish you the best of luck in your journey. Digital hug/high-five/battle cry.
Hi! I have a full time job and am taking the LSAT in September. I do a timed drill each day after work and review. I also try to fit two logic games in a day. On two days, one weekend and one weekday, I take a full PT. Make sure to blind review, I actually do Camo review through the loophole website, since I don't have all the time to blind review. I've also been studying for almost two years, so I'm at the tail end of my journey where I've got the core concepts down. It is hard at first, but make sure to also schedule in time for you. I like to do yoga each day or just go for a long walk. It's all about sticking to a schedule and being realistic with yourself. Best of luck!
My advice is not for everyone but if you are serious about the LSAT and need a big improvement I am proof that intensive studying with a full-time job is possible. For context I have been studying for just over 3 months with a full time job. Becasue of my low diagnostic of 142 and my goal of taking the LSAT in august and september I decided I would treat the LSAT like another full-time job. From monday to friday I have been studying from 5-10 PM with a 30 minute break in the middle. On Saturday I take a PT and BR and on sunday I typically study for 2 hours and decide what my focus will be for the next week. After i'm done studying for the day I go for a 20 minute run to clear my head (balance really helps). For reference 3 months later I am scoring in the low 170's. If you need to improve 30 points in 3 months it is defenitely a possibility. Just stay disciplined. A month or so from now it should become a fun easy game! One last tip to save some time is do not waste time on the core curriculum; I have forgotten nearly everything and have re-learnt to do the test intuitively. Reading the question stem first on LR is terrible advice as there is no time to parse out question types and apply strategies. If you manage to keep your head clear of these time wasting strategies you will reach you goal score a lot faster and have less to worry about after a day of work.
The biggest thing for me has been getting at least 2 hours in in the morning, usually from 7-9 before I start work (obviously easier if you work remotely and don't have any commute time). That way even if something comes up in the evening or I need to work late or am just too tired, I feel good about having gotten a few solid hours in!
In a similar boat here. High stress job that has me working overtime most weeks. Do you all recommend studying in the morning before work? for me it would be 6-8am and I need to know if this is worth it and any tips for getting myself up in the morning to do it...
I studied while working a demanding full time job and my biggest recommendation is to give yourself an extended study schedule. The typical three month study plan is difficult to stick to while working full time. I gave myself a full year to study for the LSAT, knowing that work would often get in the way of studying. Each Sunday, I would plan my study schedule for the following week, with at least one PT on the weekend. What worked best for me was telling myself that no matter what, I had to study at least 1 hour per day. I often studied more, but on those crazy 80 + hour work weeks, 1 hour felt like an accomplishment and a bench mark that I could stick to! I also recommend adding time blocks to your calendar to block out study time (if this is an option for you). I would block out 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. every night so that my supervisor/coworkers knew not to reach out with any work requests during that hour. This schedule helped me get from the 150s to the mid-170s.
I see a lot of people have commented, but just in case my experience helps I wanted to leave one as well.
I currently work full-time as a 911 dispatcher, either 48 hours (4 days) or 56 hours (5 days) per week. I am also a full-time university student and have classes on my days off of work. As you can imagine, this is not the easiest schedule to jam some LSAT prep in, but what must be done simply must be done. I, unfortunately, am not in a position where I could only take classes and not worry about finances, so I must work. and I must also study for the LSAT to prepare for the future and look beyond the present. Also, I am more than just a student or employee or an LSAT prepper, I also have to find time for close relationships (family, friends, etc), caring for myself (exercising, eating well, self-care), running errands, university assignments, additional work trainings, and so much more!
So, I have to REALLY stretch my study schedule hours.
On the days when I work, I exclusively drill for my study time. Because of my nearly 45-minute commute each way to work and my 12-hour shift, there is maybe 2 entire hours of free-time in my work days. I typically prefer to spend that time getting up early to workout and stretch and making a decent dinner and preparing for bed when I get home.
My typical work-day: wake up at 3:00 am, work out for about an hour (at-home calisthenics, usually), stretch for about 15 minutes, eat a quick breakfast (oatmeal is my absolute FAVORITE), get in the shower and get ready for work by about 4:30 am, and leave around 5:15 am for shift.
During my shift, I drill. I normally don't do drill "sets" since those require longer periods of time commitment which is not possible in my career (I frequently have to be available to 911 callers or radio units at a moment's notice, at least once per minute but usually much more frequently). I take the time to do one question at a time and review it to evaluate myself. In a perfect world, I do this for a total of about 1-3 hours throughout the low-activity periods throughout the day.
When I get home (usually around 7:00 pm) I make myself dinner (or reheat a prepped meal), and enjoy my time to myself before heading to bed between 8:00-8:30.
When I am on campus, in between my classes, I either do timed sections (35 minutes) or continue with the core curriculum. This semester, I took a lighter course load (12 hours--I normally have 15-18) to allow me to fit in more LSAT studying (January tester)!
My typical class day doesn't start until MUCH later than my shifts do (first class at 10:30 am), thank goodness! So I loveeee to sleep in on these days as a slight treat to myself.
I haven't quite finished the core curriculum so I am not on the stage of practice tests, but I plan on doing those before I actually leave to campus for classes. Unfortunately, this WILL require me to wake up much earlier (RIP to treating myself to sleeping in), but it is the only full time-block that I have free because, while I do have time in-between my classes, it isn't enough for a full timed test. Once I reach this stage, I plan on spending the time I currently use for drilling/sections/core curriculum for blind review.
Sorry for the long, very drawn-out comment. Apparently this wasn't as straight forward of a comment as I initially thought; nevertheless, I hope that my schedule and insight can help at least one person scrolling through! If any of y'all have some other questions, please don't hesitate to respond or message me!
I second the time management strategy. Find a window, whether in the morning before work begins, or breaks in between, while the mind is fresh and alert. If there's days you are feeling drained, review or foolproof. Something is better than nothing. Also, @CiaraUCLA congrats for keeping it alive for this long! I thought I was alone in this, but I have also been chipping away at it the past two years. It's encouraging to know there are others willing to embrace the long game!
See arguments, journals, articles, under a RC strategy lens. Think about the NA and SA in this vein, gather the inferences, look at the facts, and form your own opinion regarding material you read. If you can let the strategies here bleed into your existence, you've made tremendous progress, not just in preparation for the LSAT, but also re-wiring your brain!
Where ever you are, no matter how long it takes, keep at it, and don't get discouraged!
Even though it's been a year, your question is still relevant to many people facing the same challenge. Any advice?
Hi!
So I am somewhat in this situation. I started my lsat studying while i was in search for a job (i’m a post grad student and it’s been a struggle all year) and at that time i was a full time lsat student lol. i ended up getting a job that was high stress but had part time hours bc i knew i wanted to be able to take time to focus on the lsat and save my sanity. but i also know that’s not an option for a lot of people, especially professionals or older adults. But when i did start my new job i decided to take a couple weeks off to get adjusted to my work duties and schedule before i jumped into studying bc i knew i wouldn’t of been able to focus or retain any information. (this was good but also bad bc it was hard for me to get back into the grove of studying and in a pattern. and ended up having to work 2x as hard to get back at the scores i was getting before i started working) but once that was all settled, i created a routine that allows me 2-4 hours each night of studying and a practice test on the first day i have off so that i can see how im doing each week and adjust my studying time from that. It’s definitely a balance i believe negatively impacted me in the beginning but now im back in the groove and it works for me. That would be my advice, make sure your work schedule is balanced and structured and see what times you have outside of work where you think can be focused solely on studying and use those days to select how many hours you want to study each day !
I have a fairly low stress legal job working at a circuit court doing mostly decedent estates and trust litigation case management (and some other probate). However, since it is a large county, I thus have a large caseload and so it takes up 40-50 hours of my week. It can take a lot of time and energy away from my allotted study time if I am not careful. It took about 3 months for me to find my footing but now my schedule is as follows:
Weekdays I wake up at 5:30ish and get in a little over an hour of studying before going to work.
I do not work in the PM's because I found that I just end up burning out if I work+study more than 10 hours a day, I don't retain much after 7:30, and I am generally a morning person. I'd rather expend from a full battery after just waking up than push my limits after a long day and face the repercussions of being tired out the next day or by the weekend. I don't have as much energy as most people on this thread, and that's okay!
Saturday and Sunday I get in 6-7.5 hours each day (unless I am working on Saturday, in which case only 4 hours that day). Saturday I do drills to warm myself up to extended testing, and Sunday I do a PT and BR. I review and figure out all my wrong answers throughout the weekdays in addition to doing drills throughout the week based on my weak points.
This leaves me with about 17-20 study hours per week, which I've found to be sustainable. Unfortunately, I'm sure I'm not making the gains I could be if I really focused on LSAT studying, but I think my study plan leaves me pretty content with my life and able to fully enjoy my hobbies and make the most of my pre-law days. Although it's a little discouraging to potentially have to push out going to law school a year because I still may not reach my target score by this summer, I'm generally quite happy with my job and work/study/life balance. If anyone has any tips to improve my schedule please lmk!