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What are some good ways to maximize my focus when studying? I can be really ADD and lose focus easily. Wondering what works best for everyone else and see if I could apply some of it to my own habits.

thoughts of unemployment usually act very quickly. i'm srsly

If you're a 1L, every single person you beat in your class increases your chance at employment.

Your classmates are most likely just as smart as you are, so if they're also working harder I don't really know what your gameplan is for beating them. Come finals time you won't be saying to yourself, "Damn, I really wish I wasted more time on the internet this semester."

You need that stress, that fear of failure.

thegrayman wrote:If you're a 1L, every single person you beat in your class increases your chance at employment.

Your classmates are most likely just as smart as you are, so if they're also working harder I don't really know what your gameplan is for beating them. Come finals time you won't be saying to yourself, "Damn, I really wish I wasted more time on the internet this semester."

You need that stress, that fear of failure.

This was 100% my approach. I remember being a 2L and speaking at a 1L finals prep / tip session and saying something like, "Just remember that every moment you aren't studying, somebody somewhere is." (Murmur from the crowd, looks of consternation on the faces of some of my law review peers also there to give advice, and me, smiling.) I also said something like "Getting good grades your first semester 1L is very important to ultimate law school success." Some of the other law review people I was doing the session with seemed perturbed, as if I shouldn't scare them like that, as if I shouldn't freak them out and remind them of the curve, as if I was there to give reassurance and hold their hands. I didn't care. I wasn't there to be comforting. Law school is cut-throat, the curve makes it that way, there is no way around it. (And don't misinterpret this, oh TLS over-reacters of everywhere. I only mean you're on your own. I'm not saying "hide the good treatises in the library" or "don't share your notes" or "be a dick to anyone.")

Be afraid. There are only so many As available, and if you don't get one, you're sorta fucked.

I was terrified as a 1L, and I channeled that into hard work.

If your question is "how do I stay focused," these aren't trite answers - you probably aren't afraid enough. You should be. Acing shit isn't easy, and everyone you see in class hopes you fail whether they admit it or not. As far as I'm concerned, you either ace 1L year and get a good job, or you are in the same boat as the other 85% of your class who didn't. And that boat is like when you hear about an overloaded ferry capsizing in Pakistan. Tragic, yes, but eveyone wonders - why were there so many people on that boat? Didn't the passengers know it was overloaded?

bdm261 wrote:What are some good ways to maximize my focus when studying? I can be really ADD and lose focus easily. Wondering what works best for everyone else and see if I could apply some of it to my own habits.

Cop dat addy bro

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Actively taking written notes into a Word doc while you read.

The pomodoro technique can be good. I don't find it as helpful when you have a really big project you just need to plow through (because I lose momentum), but It helped keep me on track through garden-variety studying.

NotMyRealName09 wrote:"Just remember that every moment you aren't studying, somebody somewhere is."

that's a good thought for when I'm doing nothing

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