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Related Discussions
How to force your brain to rest?
Paul Pederson
Member
Quick question. I am a natural worry wart. I worry constantly about anything and everything, even when I'm asleep. It seems like every night I toss and turn dreaming about LR, LG, and logic in general. I can't explain or remember the structure and details of the dreams, but I know they have something to do with a puzzle I must figure out before I wake up.
So, I end up waking up feeling more tired than when I went to sleep.
Any ideas or advice on how anyone else has dealt with this problem?
Comments
You need to put things in perspective. I found that I was having similar problems when my life was just too boring and routine. Every new day felt like more of the same and allowed me to trick myself into thinking minor things were worth worrying about. It took a lot of patience and practice, but eventually I was able to gain some perspective about what really matters.
The LSAT is definitely worth its fair share of worry. But you need to come to terms with a few things that are important. First, you can retake. Second, it's just a paper test and not like fighting a lion where you could actually die! lol. So it doesn't need to be at that level of what to worry about. Last, you can only do so much to help your score and unfortunately worrying all night and getting poor sleep isn't one of those things.
Exercise is also pretty important. If you don't get all that negative energy out, it will keep your brain going all night.
Yea, I agree exercise is important, I used to be a fit and trim grunt, now I sit at work all day, then go home to sit and do LSAT all night. My only problem is I feel extremely guilty if Im not at work or studying.
Yeah between working 8-6 every day and coming home to prep, I have the same issues. I honestly started trying to walk everywhere possible and try to fit in what I can, when I can. Sometimes that means doing 100 push ups and 100 sit ups on my bed room floor. Other times I can fit in a late night jog after I'm done prepping and other times if I'm feeling really crazy, I hit the gym. It's just as important as the actual studying and once I saw the results that prove that eating right/taking care of yourself is important for success on this test, I started taking it as serious as I take my prep. The guilty feeling subsided!
My wife and I are beginning a new diet tomorrow. I've read that Mediterranean diet is extremely good for the brain. Along with overall health.
I can attest to this, I eat paleo, which is similar, and it's great.
I've found exercising a couple hours before sleeping in the evening helpful when my brain is too worried about the test to sleep. It simply tires you out physically so that you're more easily forced to sleep. The fact that I'm tired after exercising at the end of the day instead of earlier in the day also means even if I were unproductive after exercising, it'll be only a few hours of rest as opposed to being tired the entire day. Just thought to provide my two cents because I totally understand the frustration of not being able to sleep because I'm too worried about LSAT. You're not alone
Ambien @10pm.
Listen to Thinking about the LSAT podcast.
The guilt of not studying is the real issue here. You probably understand rationally that you can not study with every waking moment, but you don't feel it emotionally which leads to guilt. This will burn you out faster than anything and, as is the case with you, quite literally keep you up at night. Schedule in LSAT free times and force yourself to step away--both mentally and emotionally. Sleep time should certainly be a part of this, but having breaks forced in throughout the day is really necessary to develop the habit. Relax and allow yourself to enjoy your down time. You need it to stay fresh and recharge.
Thanks, I think we are or were in the same boat with regards to age. I'm 33 and feel like if I don't hurry up and get into law school I will never see my goal of being an attorney come to fruition.
booze.
Really?
@"Paul Pederson" Don't forget to watch some Daily Wire while relaxing and enjoy some Ben Shapiro
@"Alex Divine" I watch game of thrones or suits that does it every time.. rachel zayne and her 172 lsat.. will force my brain to relax everytime
I did that yesterday! Relaxed for 3 hours and cleaned, while watching him on JRE.
Who is Rachel Zayne?
Disregard, I just googled her.
Awesome -- I watched the entire thing myself!
Man, I experienced some terrible, anxiety-inducing LSAT dreams a few months ago. Can't Get Right is totally correct about the guilt of not studying. This rang especially true for me when I was working full time and trying to accommodate studying during every free moment I had. You gotta try and relax brother. The only way I was able to do that was by reducing my alcohol intake throughout the week, working out, and allowing myself at least 1.5 hrs of chill time before sleep. I cannot stress working out enough. It helped me tremendously. You'll get through this.
Rachel Zayne .. is my paralegal in a perfect world where im harvey specter
I am so glad you posted this question as I too have struggled with this! I've had many family and friends tell me not to stress and worry too much but I just didn't think they really understood the complexity of the LSAT and how important your score is. It has been very difficult and overwhelming for me to try and schedule working full time and studying along with fitting other things in such as working out, walking my 4 dogs, cleaning, laundry, mowing the yard, etc., nonetheless having any sort of social life. It makes me feel much better to see that I am not the only one worrying about it all. I am still learning how to schedule everything without being overwhelmed and trying to reduce my stress levels. Which is already something I battle with in many other aspects of my life. Lately I’ve decided that instead of using my 30 min lunch to study as much as I can, I’ve started to take a breather and read books with subjects similar to the “struggles of our Juvenile system” that fuel my passion and in turn becomes motivation to go home and study. I’ve also just tried to take it day by day while still having goals to get about 2hrs of studying a day and 4-6hrs a day on the weekends.
This post along with @tringo335 post about paying for law school has really helped put things into perspective for me. Especially @"Alex Divine" comment about not settling for anything less than a full ride. This has been something that I’ve struggled with because I’m 27 and also feel the pressure of needing to hurry up and get into law school. Especially because this was something I originally wanted to do right after college but had become very discouraged after hearing multiple times about there being too many attorneys and not enough jobs. 5 years later after working in the real world I’ve learned that my passion for wanting to be an attorney tremendously outweighs my fears of ending up with a ton of debt and not many job prospects. Which is why I constantly feel like I need to be studying 24/7 to not only get a good enough score to get a good scholarship but to also make up for the horrendous scores I made on my first 2 practice tests. Thanks to 7sage however, I have been able to understand those scores do not dictate any sort of limitation on my ability to increase them. I am able to realize they were low not only because of my ADD, which made it extremely difficult under the timed conditions and resulted in me guessing on some questions to finish a section (which I now know is a mistake), but also because of my lack of understanding of the test as a whole as well as each section. My initial approach was focused too much on common sense and general understanding of the subject of each passage rather than the argument.
Pardon my long comment but I just wanted to express my gratitude for this discussion forum and even more so the honesty and understanding from everyone experiencing the same obstacles and concerns. I usually don’t comment (although I would do this more often if the app didn’t freeze my comments anytime I try to edit or pause to gather my thoughts), but I am sure I am not the only one that would like to thank all those who take time out their own hectic schedules to ask and/or answer questions that we all have.