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Working Full Time, Working Out, and Studying

lawschoolstuff16lawschoolstuff16 Alum Member
in General 328 karma
Ok, so I'm having a little difficulty with something. I'm currently aiming for the June 2017 administration, and I've covered a lot of the fundamentals in my studying so far. However, I do have one issue that I'm struggling with and it's "balancing my schedule".

I work full time in the litigation department of a large firm. I also work out a few times a week with my significant other other (who is a professional and is not studying for the LSAT, though accompanies me to the library to study). I'm having a hard time fitting all of my studying in while balancing work and working out. I typically tutor the LSAT throughout the week as well.

On a typical day my schedule looks like this:

Wake up at 4am (usually at 5am), study until 8am, get ready as fast as humanly possible in 20-30 minutes and be at my desk by 9am. Work from 9-5, sometimes later depending on what my work day looks like, I typically tutor the LSAT for about 3 hours after work, and then I try to fit in a work out, but most days I don't get to it. I get home, and I'm exhausted. I shower and sleep and then repeat it all the next day.

I've tried in the past two weeks pushing my workouts to the weekend, which has helped some. But I'm starting to feel like maybe just cutting out tutoring altogether might also be helpful. If I just stick to studying + work + light exercises on the weekends, how should I best structure my schedule?

One idea I had was that I wanted to start PTing on Saturday mornings, and then spend every morning before work (that 4am-8am time period) doing the blind review. Maybe taking Friday to relax.

If others have done something similar to what I'm doing now I'd love to hear it. Or, if you see something I'm doing wrong please point it out. I'm aiming for a 170+ but certainly want to hit the 174+ range. I'm in the 160s at this point.
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Comments

  • camcam Alum Member
    349 karma
    Your schedule sounds incredibly packed.

    Do you have the ability to either workout or study LSAT during your lunch break?

    Be careful with burnout. I went a few months jamming in as much as possible and hit that wall.

    Could you reduce the amount of time you spend tutoring? Could you focus on HIIT (high intensity interval training) for the workouts to shorten the time commitment?

    Here are a few sample schedules that I use. I think with a little bit of adapting, they could work for you. For a point of reference, I'm a military musician, so on non-gig days, it is essentially an office job. Conversion for military time (24hr clock) to regular time (12hr clock), anything over 12, subtract 12 and add PM. E.g. 1300=1PM, 1800=6PM. It is easier for me to think in military time.

    Non-gig workout day schedule for me when I'm hitting LSAT hard (and don't have course work to do).

    Wake up: 0530
    Shower, Caffeine, Get dressed: 0530-0545
    0545-0800: LSAT study-typically drilling of some sort (question type, section, etc)
    0900-1045/1100: Work Day pt 1
    1045/1100-1215: Lunch/Study session 2
    1230-1600(4PM): Work Day pt 3
    1615-1800 (6PM): Study Session 3 and/or dinner
    1800-1915 (715PM): Workout
    1930-2030 (830PM): Study Session 4
    2030-2100 (9PM): Post workout/pre-bed snack

    A non-workout non-gig day
    would be the same until 1800 then it would look like
    1800-1830: Dinner/brain break
    1830-2000: Study
    2000: brain break/plan next day.
  • Cant Get RightCant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor
    27902 karma
    One thing I did for awhile--which was a little crazy--was to completely shift my sleep block. My typical day was to get up, go to work, study LSAT that evening, and then go to sleep for the night. Work was exhausting though, and it was very difficult to study effectively because I was mentally and physically drained before I even started. So, I switched around my sleep and study time. I'd get off work and sleep from 5pm to midnight, then study from midnight until work. By flipping it around, I was able to do my studying while I was still fresh.
  • rogue_800rogue_800 Member
    10 karma
    Hi! I'm 30, working full time professional, training for marathons, and am also studying for the LSAT. Looking at your schedule I think you're doing everything right EXCEPT for the LSAT tutoring. How badly do you need the money? Is it actually helping you get a better score? Given that your time is so limited, I would give up the tutoring and hold that extra time for yourself. I think it's ok to be selfish with your time until you take your test and get the score you want. Don't give up your workouts. If you're anything like me, they keep me sane through this process.
    Also, I recommend eating lunch at your desk (if you have an office door), or going to a coffee shop because that's 50 minutes of precious study time you can have. I rely on that time greatly. Good luck!
  • Q.E.DQ.E.D Alum Member
    556 karma
    Cut the tutoring. Exercising more than once a week is probably a bad use of time for now. Replace dinner with food shakes and pre-cooked crockpot meals. I always do that with the food bc dinner is such a waste of time anyway. And you can trigger serious illnesses by stressing too much for extended periods. Just try to do one thing at a time.
  • texvd1988texvd1988 Member
    605 karma
    Holy crap. You make me look like a rookie. I get up at 6 to get to work at 6:30. I get off at 2:30 and go to the gym. I get home at 5 and study from 6 to 10:30 or 11.

    I am lucky for two reasons: my boss never gets me out of work later than I have to be, and I am able to workout anytime I need to.

    However, because of my schedule, the BR test taking process has been a difficult one to pull off. I think I may have to begin waking up at an earlier time.

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