does anyone else have a mon-fri 9-5? How do you balance studying and working? Especially for the PT's, how do you find a time to get a direct LSAT model 4 hour duration to do one when you're always working? Any advice is appreciated.
I do. It's pretty taxing, but it can be done. I've been studying for a year and a half, so I have had different phases of studying. In my lighter phases, I'll do 1 PT a week, usually on saturday, and BR it on sunday (and monday depending on how long it takes me), and possibly 1 section or 2 as drills during the week + BR.
In the "heavier" phases, I'll listen to 1-2 webinars a week and do 1 PT on saturday with as much BR as my brain/endurance allows for, and another on Sunday with BR for it (plus the saturday test if i have time left).
It is generally advised to finish BRing 1 PT before you take another, but Sat. and Sun. are the only days I could feasibly fit in two PTs during the workweek. The key here is two-fold:
1. Quality over quantity. Make sure you could do every single problem in your sleep from the PTs you do take, even if it's just 1 per week; and
2. Don't force yourself to make your brain do things that it's just too burnt out to do. Some weeks, you are going to be fried - completely brain dead - listen to your body. You will *not* get anything productive done trying to force yourself to do things that you just literally cannot do. Take a walk, go on a run, get dinner with someone. Don't get yourself in work work work work mode, because it's going to make you start to resent the LSAT, and that's the last thing you want/need.
This is something I have struggled with as well. On a non-PT week I typically do 1 hr of studying during my lunch break and 2 hrs at night 4 days a week and 10-ish hours total on the weekend. For PTs, I can reliably do 1 with a BR on the weekend and then a PT after work one night with BRing on subsequent nights. It is definitely a challenge managing studying and working full time, but I'm finding that I actually look forward to LSAT work while I'm stuck at real work (maybe Stockholm Syndrome). Good luck!
@BruiserWoods said: 1. Quality over quantity. Make sure you could do every single problem in your sleep from the PTs you do take, even if it's just 1 per week; and
2. Don't force yourself to make your brain do things that it's just too burnt out to do. Some weeks, you are going to be fried - completely brain dead - listen to your body. You will *not* get anything productive done trying to force yourself to do things that you just literally cannot do. Take a walk, go on a run, get dinner with someone. Don't get yourself in work work work work mode, because it's going to make you start to resent the LSAT, and that's the last thing you want/need.
Yes. All of this.
I think a good way to execute this is by finding your minimum weekly study time. This is the number of hours you can sustain indefinitely every single week. If you can do 10 hours a week every week without ever getting burnt out, that’s great. If you can only really commit to saying 5 hours is all you can consistently promise yourself, just as good. Don’t get ambitious with this, get brutally honest and realistic. Once you find a good minimum, require yourself to hit it each week (unless you’re on a break). Once you hit your minimum though, whatever it is, don’t force yourself to go over. You’ve met your obligation for the week. If you are feeling energetic and want to go over, excellent. If you’re exhausted, then catch up on some Netflix or reread Harry Potter or whatever it is you do to relax.
Energy management is a big part of preparing for this test. It’s a resource and you must create more than you expend.
And don’t focus on mental energy to the exclusion of physical energy. Good diet and exercise do wonders.
I work from 10:30 am to 9:30 pm Mon-Fri and Sundays 10 am to 3 pm, so I try to wake up at 7-8 am to get some type of study session in. I would also *try* to attempt some studying after work but by then I'm mostly exhausted. My advice is to sleep early, so one could wake up super early to get some studying in during/after a super nutritional breakfast, basic, but it works.
Comments
In the "heavier" phases, I'll listen to 1-2 webinars a week and do 1 PT on saturday with as much BR as my brain/endurance allows for, and another on Sunday with BR for it (plus the saturday test if i have time left).
It is generally advised to finish BRing 1 PT before you take another, but Sat. and Sun. are the only days I could feasibly fit in two PTs during the workweek. The key here is two-fold:
1. Quality over quantity. Make sure you could do every single problem in your sleep from the PTs you do take, even if it's just 1 per week; and
2. Don't force yourself to make your brain do things that it's just too burnt out to do. Some weeks, you are going to be fried - completely brain dead - listen to your body. You will *not* get anything productive done trying to force yourself to do things that you just literally cannot do. Take a walk, go on a run, get dinner with someone. Don't get yourself in work work work work mode, because it's going to make you start to resent the LSAT, and that's the last thing you want/need.
I think a good way to execute this is by finding your minimum weekly study time. This is the number of hours you can sustain indefinitely every single week. If you can do 10 hours a week every week without ever getting burnt out, that’s great. If you can only really commit to saying 5 hours is all you can consistently promise yourself, just as good. Don’t get ambitious with this, get brutally honest and realistic. Once you find a good minimum, require yourself to hit it each week (unless you’re on a break). Once you hit your minimum though, whatever it is, don’t force yourself to go over. You’ve met your obligation for the week. If you are feeling energetic and want to go over, excellent. If you’re exhausted, then catch up on some Netflix or reread Harry Potter or whatever it is you do to relax.
Energy management is a big part of preparing for this test. It’s a resource and you must create more than you expend.
And don’t focus on mental energy to the exclusion of physical energy. Good diet and exercise do wonders.