I planned on doing PT60 today and joining BR group tomorrow. However, I did really bad on the LG which is what I am good at and my mind was clouded when I was doing the third section. I literally could not think and had headache. I just could not take in any information at all. I gave it up and switched to problem sets. Same, I had headache again. Is this burn-out? Do I need to give myself a day off tomorrow? I've been studying for at least 8 hours per day since this summer because I am studying full-time. Any advice for avoiding burn-out? Thank you!!!
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Sorry to hear about the headaches @jyang72 . Maybe a good long sleep tonight will get you past them. Otherwise, perhaps a visit to the doctor is in order. You never can be too cautious when it comes to your health.
Get lots of sleep, eat well (cook if you like that), get some exercise, go get drunk with friends, watch TV. Just live your life for a couple days and treat it like vacation, and your motivation and focus levels will be back up.
100% take several days off and do not even think about LSAT. When LSAT thoughts come to mind, let them go away. Think 5-7 days no LSAT. Coming back from break prematurely will mean that you perpetuate the cycle and discourage yourself more and more with lowered scores. I experienced about a 5-7 point lag while going through the worst of it. It WILL get better but the only way to get better is to 100% walk away and rest.
If you still want to come on the forums, the rule is that you must not discuss LSAT subject matter ... just lyfe
Yes, trust the process ... It's going on in your mind even while you're not working on it. And I think our minds get to a certain point of critical mass where we peak and then require time to regroup, rebuild, and grow. We don't take that break time usually ... At least I don't. But I hit that peak score again on Tuesday and I'm on a study break until Tuesday of next week. I can already feel my confidence building. I'm allowing myself to process and enjoy success without interrupting the digestion and rebuilding. So I got some Paleo treats and a nice IPA (Gluten free oddly enough!) and am gonna watch a bunch of shows. And maybe play some FarmVille.
Here is something for you to watch that I found remarkable and without words seems to parallel our lsat study experience. Spoiler: Reminds me of JY's flowcharts.
Try studying using the Pomodoro method.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.phlam.android.clockworktomato&hl=en
It helps avoid burnout. I changed the work intervals to 35 minutes, the short breaks to 7 minutes, and the long breaks are 21 minutes.
@nicol.hopkins I hope you're not taking the first part of my post seriously. I take it from jyang72's haha that he took it appropriately. The intent would probably have been better conveyed through a meme but no body gots time for that.
Your second assumption is correct. I recommended he use it for studying, and did not recommend he use it for PT.
This one might have done the trick:
I think this is a great suggestion! I hadn't heard of Pomodoro before you posted it but I see great potential for using it as a tool in my own future studies.
I literally just wrote an exam on Monday and scored a 170 w/ BR of 180. Previously, I scored a 168 w/ BR of 175. Today... I wrote and scored a 161. I haven't BR yet.
The entire exam I felt like I couldn't even grasp what I was reading. My mind felt fuzzy the entire time, it was horrible. I felt like I was experiencing burn out last night, so I stopped studying and relaxed instead. I think I got back at it too quickly, and now I feel horrible about my exam mark. blah. #thestruggle.
I would say you should consider taking multiple days off. Like, I wouldn't even BR that test you just took. Just walk away. I was fortunate to get a 174 on the test I took on Tuesday and won't touch LSAT until Tuesday. Walking away after a high score is a much more encouraging situation to be in than walking away after a low outlier score, but please be assured that your score was that low because of burnout. That's what outliers are. They just don't represent the actual state of skills. They represent the effects of burnout. Those effects are very real and the effects on performance are sometimes shocking.
Since you're an athlete, you might relate to some articles on marathon running and burnout. The effects on performance are analogous.
I don't want to just jump in and say its burnout, but like I just did the LG during blindreview and got none wrong, whereas on the test I froze up, and in RC. Literally on the test I'm like, is this what burnout is? Is it because I didn't have my protein shake this morning? Or maybe cuz I'm wearing a tighter shirt...
So basically said fuck it, went boating for 5 hours today, and will BR that test like crazy tomorrow and then by Monday I have to get back to 3 PTs a week.
Conclusion: BURNOUT IS REAL
Realize BURN OUT---------> We BURN OUT.