Mental Game / Reading Skills / Pressure Question

agorman22agorman22 Yearly Member
in General 8 karma

Wanted to see if anyone has advice for improving one's mental game on the LSAT. I'm working through the back end of the curriculum now and have consistently found that my head is not in the right place when I do problem sets. Specifically, I notice that I a) misread often (mistake a 'some' for a 'most' or think the stimulus asks for a sufficient assumption when it, in fact asks for a necessary assumption), b) refer back to the stimulus or game rules in an almost paranoid way which keeps me from actually reasoning and performing the task assigned by the stimulus, and c) have a pretty constant 'under the gun' feeling during problem sets. My brain is foggy and unfocused in a way that keeps me from doing the precise mental work of the LSAT.

Some of this is a reading skills issue. I've heard of ways to work on this specifically, like the basic translation drill from Loophole LR Prep and Powerscore's practice of memorizing all the game rules before beginning. If anyone has any feedback or ideas on implementing these, I would welcome suggestions.

I do think there's something going on below the technical level, here. Like every other 7Sager, I'm putting lots of pressure on myself to perform well. Pressure can be a good, motivating thing, but when my brain sends 'on the Titanic and the last lifeboat just left' signals while I'm attempting to click the correct buttons on a laptop screen, it's gone too far. A simple, if unhelpful, way to remedy this feeling is of course to perform better on the LSAT, but progress is slow for most people (myself included) and attaching worth to performance is generally an unsustainable practice.

Again, I welcome advice or thoughts on any of this. I'll add that I think these are typical struggles in this community, and I have it better than many other 7Sagers, so I'm not posting this as a woe-is-me thread. The hope is that this is a manageable, common problem worth systematically addressing. I couldn't link it but the thread below offers some great mindset advice for the LSAT. I read it as a warm-up for studying some days. If you haven't yet, do take a look.

https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/2895/the-most-important-lsat-prep-decision-you-will-make

Comments

  • ELPISTOLERO9ELPISTOLERO9 Alum Member
    285 karma

    First of all, you are in the right mindset as you're trying to improve. That's key.

    Try to relax or pump yourself up before studying. For example meditate, exercise, play music that gets you going, or anything to get you in the "zone". This will eliminate the nerves that may cause you to misread or keep reading the rules which is ultimately shooting yourself in the foot.

    Then, have a specified game plan/routine with the exam itself. For example, you may want to only circle 5 questions when you finish an LR section to go back to for round 2, others prefer 10, everyone got their styles and game plan that works for them. What I want you to do is to feel in control of the test by having a game plan.
    - This point is very important so I want to drill it more in your head with a real life example. If I tell you that you need to run an 8 minute mile on the track. With knowing that it's only 4 laps, how would you go on towards doing it? maybe if you're a beginner you will go on full sprinting the first two laps, exhausting yourself and maybe be able to finish the last two. But if have more experience you will have a game plan such as to have a pace of 2 minutes per lap and finish the mile like a walk in the park. You strive to be the second person, when you're in control you feel more relaxed towards achieving a goal you want and most likely will get rid of the nerves.

    Another point is to try different methods. You mention that you keep rereading the rules, is this because of lack of practice or is it because you're nervous. If you keep rereading because you don't understand how to interpret "or/not both rule" or a conditional chain then drop the ego and go back. Learn the lesson til you can explain it to someone else in a simple manner, then move on to the next lesson. If you have solid foundations but you are nervous, then set a game plan, trust yourself and see how it goes. If the game plan for LG needs some adjustment then adjust it, that's how you figure out what's best for you in order to perform well.

    I have found these to be useful for me and hopefully they will for you. Feeling in control of the test and properly doing BR is how you learn. When you learn, you understand, then you avoid making the same mistakes and then you improve.

  • agorman22agorman22 Yearly Member
    8 karma

    @ELPISTOLERO9 said:
    First of all, you are in the right mindset as you're trying to improve. That's key.

    Try to relax or pump yourself up before studying. For example meditate, exercise, play music that gets you going, or anything to get you in the "zone". This will eliminate the nerves that may cause you to misread or keep reading the rules which is ultimately shooting yourself in the foot.

    Then, have a specified game plan/routine with the exam itself. For example, you may want to only circle 5 questions when you finish an LR section to go back to for round 2, others prefer 10, everyone got their styles and game plan that works for them. What I want you to do is to feel in control of the test by having a game plan.
    - This point is very important so I want to drill it more in your head with a real life example. If I tell you that you need to run an 8 minute mile on the track. With knowing that it's only 4 laps, how would you go on towards doing it? maybe if you're a beginner you will go on full sprinting the first two laps, exhausting yourself and maybe be able to finish the last two. But if have more experience you will have a game plan such as to have a pace of 2 minutes per lap and finish the mile like a walk in the park. You strive to be the second person, when you're in control you feel more relaxed towards achieving a goal you want and most likely will get rid of the nerves.

    Another point is to try different methods. You mention that you keep rereading the rules, is this because of lack of practice or is it because you're nervous. If you keep rereading because you don't understand how to interpret "or/not both rule" or a conditional chain then drop the ego and go back. Learn the lesson til you can explain it to someone else in a simple manner, then move on to the next lesson. If you have solid foundations but you are nervous, then set a game plan, trust yourself and see how it goes. If the game plan for LG needs some adjustment then adjust it, that's how you figure out what's best for you in order to perform well.

    I have found these to be useful for me and hopefully they will for you. Feeling in control of the test and properly doing BR is how you learn. When you learn, you understand, then you avoid making the same mistakes and then you improve.

    Thanks for saying this, all good advice. I could especially use more concrete gameplan improvement, I think. That was especially helpful!

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