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Anyone have weird methods to keeping themselves engaged beyond the norm of caffeine, standing, taking breaks, taking notes, etc.?

lost129 wrote:Anyone have weird methods to keeping themselves engaged beyond the norm of caffeine, standing, taking breaks, taking notes, etc.?

No, but I do say that it gets easier. Sorry I don't know if you are in law school or not, but for me it just got a lot easier to read large quantities of boring shit after 1L. I never really could in undergrad, but after having the fear of god instilled in me for a year I found myself able to do it. Now as a rising 3L I feel like I can read tons of boring shit with an eye for detail. Hell I never even really read before law school. I'd just watch TV instead unless the book was harry potter.

Haha, well I'm an incoming 1L and am trying to get used to reading more than what I did in UG (engineering, i.e. no reading whatsoever). I do not want to get to LS and be totally shell shocked by the amount of reading you're loaded with. I enjoy reading very much, however I am not used to the amount of dry material I'm sure I'll encounter.

I figured I'd pose the question on here for insight to any tips/tricks people do to stay engaged beyond the typical overdosing of caffeine and hammering through the material.

It's not necessarily the sheer amount of pages. It's that the pages are written in a quasi-foreign language. You start reading much faster once you start to get proficient and eventually fluent, so to speak. So learn the difference is between an appellant and appellee, learn what a writ of certiorari is, learn what a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action is, etc. Then you will start reading your casebook faster.

lost129 wrote:Haha, well I'm an incoming 1L and am trying to get used to reading more than what I did in UG (engineering, i.e. no reading whatsoever). I do not want to get to LS and be totally shell shocked by the amount of reading you're loaded with. I enjoy reading very much, however I am not used to the amount of dry material I'm sure I'll encounter.

I figured I'd pose the question on here for insight to any tips/tricks people do to stay engaged beyond the typical overdosing of caffeine and hammering through the material.

Yeah you will be fine. After the 6th or 7th week it definitely was easier to get through the material. The only thing reading cases 1L did for me honestly was to prepare me to do it full time. I read for like 6 hours str8 at my summer job, got to a meeting, then read for another 3 hours. If you would have told me in undergrad this would be my job, I would have said that you are full of shit. Also, my good friend did really well, is an engineer, and he really didn't have much trouble adjusting. I just think you kind of get used to whatever is necessary to do especially if you are a smart person, which you most likely are. I am sure that if I had a job where I was required to learn high level math and do it every day I could eventually figure it out and do it every day ya know.

lost129 wrote:Haha, well I'm an incoming 1L and am trying to get used to reading more than what I did in UG (engineering, i.e. no reading whatsoever). I do not want to get to LS and be totally shell shocked by the amount of reading you're loaded with. I enjoy reading very much, however I am not used to the amount of dry material I'm sure I'll encounter.

I figured I'd pose the question on here for insight to any tips/tricks people do to stay engaged beyond the typical overdosing of caffeine and hammering through the material.

It's actually writing that you need to worry about.

Being able to quickly write a law exam that is thorough, clear, and well organized is the key to law school success. Non-stem people tend to get a lot more exposure to writing in their education than STEM people, so they have the advantage coming in.

I do a week's worth of reading on the weekends so I don't have to do any reading during the week. I read on Sat/Sun: 7am-2pm. The combination of reading in the morning, when your mind is fresh, coupled with morning coffee/breakfast is my recipe for success. There are days where I have gone from 7am-6pm. I also take a break around noon and eat a small lunch (500ish calories). It's difficult to read for hours on an empty stomach--lack of caloric intake leads to a lack of energy, thus falling asleep while reading.

I also drink a lot of water--usually 24 oz between cups of coffee. I usually spread about 5 or 6 cups of coffee over that period of 7am-2pm. The water is important because even minor dehydration leads to side effects that reduce mental stamina. (I also run 5 miles in the evenings so I have to keep up my water intake regardless, otherwise I will dearly suffer during the run)

I don't take notes or brief cases when I read; I only highlight. I have a good memory (due to a healthy diet and daily exercise), and after your first semester you should have a solid grasp on what techniques work best for you. I finished 1L with a 3.95 GPA and ranked in the top 2%.

Thanks everyone for your responses! I appreciate the advice and insight!

it's really about trying to translate stuff like this into something intelligible that you can speak about and understanding why that case is important. For 1L Fall will probably have at least one case per week that you'll read and kind of feel like it might have just been a random word generator that filled out the case. In some cases (like the one linked) I think it might come down to the professors/case book authors feeling like they had to suffer through it so now you do to, your basic right of passage.

I'll echo the sentiments here, it really does get a lot easier with practice and eventually you can read that garbage and actually pull something meaningful out of it. Good luck

It's really all about getting what is critical out of the cases and learning to disregard the rest. It takes time to learn, and there's no way to teach someone how to do it really. So just know that you'll get a LOT better and faster at it.

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CounselorNebby wrote:I do a week's worth of reading on the weekends so I don't have to do any reading during the week. I read on Sat/Sun: 7am-2pm. The combination of reading in the morning, when your mind is fresh, coupled with morning coffee/breakfast is my recipe for success. There are days where I have gone from 7am-6pm. I also take a break around noon and eat a small lunch (500ish calories). It's difficult to read for hours on an empty stomach--lack of caloric intake leads to a lack of energy, thus falling asleep while reading.

I also drink a lot of water--usually 24 oz between cups of coffee. I usually spread about 5 or 6 cups of coffee over that period of 7am-2pm. The water is important because even minor dehydration leads to side effects that reduce mental stamina. (I also run 5 miles in the evenings so I have to keep up my water intake regardless, otherwise I will dearly suffer during the run)

I don't take notes or brief cases when I read; I only highlight. I have a good memory (due to a healthy diet and daily exercise), and after your first semester you should have a solid grasp on what techniques work best for you. I finished 1L with a 3.95 GPA and ranked in the top 2%.

Another member of the "crush all reading on the weekend" camp. I think I got the idea from a TLS success post. It takes a lot of stress out of the game. You'll never be up late reading for class the next day. Plus, you can focus on supplements during the week. Yea, it sucks not having it fresh in your head for a class where the professor cold calls in an erratic manner (no pattern), but that's nothing a little pre-class review can't fix. Also did well 1L year (around top 15% at a T14).

I smoke a cig every hour or two, and I drink really ice cold lemonade while I'm studying. Kinda helped me stay focused... the little comforts will matter to you.

Giving yourself something to look forward to, both in the short-term, the mid-term, and the long-term, are all very important.

I usually watched dumb TV (not like Game of Thrones) while reading supplements. I almost never read cases so I can't speak to that.

This was one of the tougher adjustments for me. I just made sure to stop reading and take a break when I wasn't focusing anymore. Some people can just knock all of their reading out in a 4 hour block. For me, I had to do it in 30-60 minute blocks.

banjo wrote:I usually watched dumb TV (not like Game of Thrones) while reading supplements. I almost never read cases so I can't speak to that.

^^^^^ This is one good approach.

Don't actually read large quantities. Read small quantities/skim and ignore the rest. Synthesize at the end using exams, class notes, old outlines and supplements. They assign lots of pages to haze you, not for learning purposes. The exception is if you have a really bad professor who doesn't offer anything in class. Sports are also a nice background to studying.

Reading ahead also helps a lot. You will suck in cold calls but that means very little in the long run.