This is about – you guessed it – the LSAT. I just got back to New York. Here’s the progress I’ve made:
- Did the logic games section of the LSAT PrepTest 72
- Tried doing a blind review (where you go back and re-do questions you didn’t get to / weren’t confident on during the timed section and review them) but I circled a lot of the answers and didn’t feel like going back through them all. I checked my results and got 11/23 on the timed section (i.e., whatever I completed under 35 minutes). I did most of three games, but didn’t get to the fourth one
Lessons learned:
- I didn’t get any studying done on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. I was with family for most of those days, and was traveling on Mondays. For the future, I should consider any days with family, or any days spent traveling, as zero-work days
- I was able to sit down and do LSAT work (i.e., doing problems) for about 1 hour and 20 minutes before I needed to get up. I was able to work for about 40 minutes straight (35 minute section + 10 minutes of additional problems) before I lost focus and needed to take a break.
- I need more data points to extrapolate from, but my hypothesis is that 40 mins is around my upper bound for cognitively intensive work that’s already “prepped”, where I don’t need to think about what I need to work on next. After that I need a break.
- I could probably work for 2 hours straight without getting up, but I would probably have to switch to less cognitively intensive work after 90 minutes. For example, I left the coffee shop I was at today after 80 minutes, but I probably could have stayed for 40 more minutes and written blog posts, watched review videos, etc.
- 1 hour of studying is a lot more than I thought it would be. I only did 80 minutes of studying, but it felt like I did a lot more. That’s good and bad, because it means I can probably make a lot more progress on my other goals by working on them for an hour a day, especially if I’m better with my time
- I lost nearly 40 minutes (but probably an hour) trying to find a place to work. I went to Think Coffee near NYU, but forgot a pen. I walked around trying to find a place to buy a pen, and then thought about just coming home. I ended up returning to Think Coffee and asking a stranger for a pen. Once I got working, I was pretty productive
- I didn’t get started on LSAT study until 1 or 2pm. That just feels disappointing. I would rather wake up earlier and then get my studying done by noon, so I feel accomplished. I need to invest in re-establishing a sleep routine
Thoughts:
- I really should not have signed up for the LSAT without studying. Once again, this was a terrible idea and I regret it. I should have signed up for the October or November one at least
- It’s also kind of annoying because I can’t enjoy NYC as much since I feel like I should be studying
- I probably shouldn’t have extended my sublease in NYC and stayed home at my parents house for September. It would have cut down on a lot of the time I’m losing by trying to find a place to work and general transportation