How to balance social life and the LSAT Forum

[mac35352]

I decided to post this here since people ask about breast feeding, having babies while in law school and sex while studying for the LSAT.
I have been studying since the end of January and enjoy doing it, I actually find the motivation to get up early during the week to study and even a few hours at night after work sometimes. I also turned off the TV for good until test day becuase it was a waste of time at night. However, once Thursday night comes around, it becomes difficult for me to say no to all the social events going on around me and even if I do study it is not as enthusiastically or as a priority.
During February I let it go because I thought I will eventually give up the weekends in March, and I only did it last weekend. This week I got talked into a Mardi Gras parade on Tuesday, a day trip to NYC on Thursday and a long night of drinking last night. Of course I studied all day Saturday but Sundays is my preptest day and I went down 8 points on my raw score because I was tired and hangover.

Obviously the way to solve the problem is to sacrifice myself and cut down on the social life but I have a hard time getting people in my life (family and friends) to understand how much work I need to put into the LSAT if I want a high score and I stupidly let them talk me into doing thing with/for them.

I made my mom read some of the threads in here so she would understand that it's not just a few hours of study and that's it. That was the only way she would stop thinking I was crazy or obsessing over the test. I'm live by myself and I'm totally independet but she was seriously concern that I was stressing out or getting some sort of anxiety attacks.

My friends are getting on my case all the time saying the test is in June and I should be fine. Even though some of them have taken the LSAT, the GMAT or the GRE they were content with just going to a class and doing their best on test day. They think is crazy that I study four hours a day and that is useless to take timed sections often. I usually help friends with papers and reaserch but they keep asking me for help all the time even when they know that I am committed to the LSAT.

Same story at work. If my boss ask me to stay late I say yes, if they ask me to come earlier I say yes. I even agree to work during my week off at another job. Ofcourse the extra money is an incentive but I could have used that week to study as much as I pleased.

I feel guilty when I go out because I know that I could be resting or studying but I do it anyways because I need to relieve stress somehow but this is not the right way to do it.

Any advice on how to just get away from people and decline all the invitations I get?
What did you do, or what are you doing to entertain yourself during the time you studied for the LSAT?
Any tips on how to handle your relationships while studying? I can't even imagine people with a family+job doing this.
Sorry for the long post!!

[NYCLSATTutor]

I decided to post this here since people ask about breast feeding, having babies while in law school and sex while studying for the LSAT.
I have been studying since the end of January and enjoy doing it, I actually find the motivation to get up early during the week to study and even a few hours at night after work sometimes. I also turned off the TV for good until test day becuase it was a waste of time at night. However, once Thursday night comes around, it becomes difficult for me to say no to all the social events going on around me and even if I do study it is not as enthusiastically or as a priority.
During February I let it go because I thought I will eventually give up the weekends in March, and I only did it last weekend. This week I got talked into a Mardi Gras parade on Tuesday, a day trip to NYC on Thursday and a long night of drinking last night. Of course I studied all day Saturday but Sundays is my preptest day and I went down 8 points on my raw score because I was tired and hangover.

Obviously the way to solve the problem is to sacrifice myself and cut down on the social life but I have a hard time getting people in my life (family and friends) to understand how much work I need to put into the LSAT if I want a high score and I stupidly let them talk me into doing thing with/for them.

I made my mom read some of the threads in here so she would understand that it's not just a few hours of study and that's it. That was the only way she would stop thinking I was crazy or obsessing over the test. I'm live by myself and I'm totally independet but she was seriously concern that I was stressing out or getting some sort of anxiety attacks.

My friends are getting on my case all the time saying the test is in June and I should be fine. Even though some of them have taken the LSAT, the GMAT or the GRE they were content with just going to a class and doing their best on test day. They think is crazy that I study four hours a day and that is useless to take timed sections often. I usually help friends with papers and reaserch but they keep asking me for help all the time even when they know that I am committed to the LSAT.

Same story at work. If my boss ask me to stay late I say yes, if they ask me to come earlier I say yes. I even agree to work during my week off at another job. Ofcourse the extra money is an incentive but I could have used that week to study as much as I pleased.

I feel guilty when I go out because I know that I could be resting or studying but I do it anyways because I need to relieve stress somehow but this is not the right way to do it.

Any advice on how to just get away from people and decline all the invitations I get?
What did you do, or what are you doing to entertain yourself during the time you studied for the LSAT?
Any tips on how to handle your relationships while studying? I can't even imagine people with a family+job doing this.
Sorry for the long post!!

Honestly it sounds like you are studying enough for now. Remember there are 3 months until the exam, if you go into crazy study mode you will burn out.

Can you give me an idea of your original diagnostic/where you are now/what you are doing to study as well? That will give me more of an idea of how much work you need to put into it.

[mac35352]

I decided to post this here since people ask about breast feeding, having babies while in law school and sex while studying for the LSAT.
I have been studying since the end of January and enjoy doing it, I actually find the motivation to get up early during the week to study and even a few hours at night after work sometimes. I also turned off the TV for good until test day becuase it was a waste of time at night. However, once Thursday night comes around, it becomes difficult for me to say no to all the social events going on around me and even if I do study it is not as enthusiastically or as a priority.
During February I let it go because I thought I will eventually give up the weekends in March, and I only did it last weekend. This week I got talked into a Mardi Gras parade on Tuesday, a day trip to NYC on Thursday and a long night of drinking last night. Of course I studied all day Saturday but Sundays is my preptest day and I went down 8 points on my raw score because I was tired and hangover.

Obviously the way to solve the problem is to sacrifice myself and cut down on the social life but I have a hard time getting people in my life (family and friends) to understand how much work I need to put into the LSAT if I want a high score and I stupidly let them talk me into doing thing with/for them.

I made my mom read some of the threads in here so she would understand that it's not just a few hours of study and that's it. That was the only way she would stop thinking I was crazy or obsessing over the test. I'm live by myself and I'm totally independet but she was seriously concern that I was stressing out or getting some sort of anxiety attacks.

My friends are getting on my case all the time saying the test is in June and I should be fine. Even though some of them have taken the LSAT, the GMAT or the GRE they were content with just going to a class and doing their best on test day. They think is crazy that I study four hours a day and that is useless to take timed sections often. I usually help friends with papers and reaserch but they keep asking me for help all the time even when they know that I am committed to the LSAT.

Same story at work. If my boss ask me to stay late I say yes, if they ask me to come earlier I say yes. I even agree to work during my week off at another job. Ofcourse the extra money is an incentive but I could have used that week to study as much as I pleased.

I feel guilty when I go out because I know that I could be resting or studying but I do it anyways because I need to relieve stress somehow but this is not the right way to do it.

Any advice on how to just get away from people and decline all the invitations I get?
What did you do, or what are you doing to entertain yourself during the time you studied for the LSAT?
Any tips on how to handle your relationships while studying? I can't even imagine people with a family+job doing this.
Sorry for the long post!!

Honestly it sounds like you are studying enough for now. Remember there are 3 months until the exam, if you go into crazy study mode you will burn out.

Can you give me an idea of your original diagnostic/where you are now/what you are doing to study as well? That will give me more of an idea of how much work you need to put into it.

Thanks for the response.
My cold diagnostic with simulated test conditions I got a 148. 3 weeks later I was scoring 156 or so. Last 3 weeks 162, 164, 162. Today I got a 158 (71 raw) but I couldn't finish LG or RC. My goal is a 170 but if by May I'm not Pting 168+ I will cancel and do October.
I'm using the bibles LG and LR which I already went over once and I'm doing it again. I am drilling sections from the 3 10-actual books and doing intensive studying and correction of wrong answers. I take one time Preptest with an experimental on Sundays but I use the more recent tests.
LG is my strongest section, I usually get -2/-4 timed and -0 untimed.
I have seen improvement in RC just by practicing. Except today I couldn't even finish it.
LR is umpredictable but I usually get the same type of answers wrong.

[FloridaCoastalorbust]

OP I've had similar problems with close friends, family, and my girlfriend. They all think I study way too much and usually perceive my studying as choosing a standardized test over my relationships. Honestly though, I've just had to grin and bear it. Think about the enormous gains from the score you'll receive in June. The time to study is now. That means (virtually) no crazy weekends or time with other people for now

[amols]

I think since it sounds like your social life is very important you have to find a way to balance it (unlike me. I told my friends to get the heck away for a few months. They understand ).

You mentioned studying for 4 hours a day or so. For me, studying 2-2.5 hours per day during the week has been a great schedule (and it still leaves time for happy hour after work/chatting with friends/lurking on TLS). Then I do more on the weekends, maybe 4 hours each day on the weekends. Maybe try hanging out with your friends for shorter periods (so they can't say they haven't seen you), and at better times. There's no point in spending the whole night with buddies and drinking if the next day you can't study at your peak performance--it's like wasting 2 days of studying!

So you can study for an hour right after work. Hang out with your friends 7:00-10:00. Go to bed early. Wake up early. Study 4 hours. Hang out for 4 hours. Also, don't forget to maximize your lunch hour by studying then! If you study for half an hour before work and an hour during work, you can hang out til 8 or so and still get another 1.5 hours before bed.

[amols]

OP I've had similar problems with close friends, family, and my girlfriend. They all think I study way too much and usually perceive my studying as choosing a standardized test over my relationships. Honestly though, I've just had to grin and bear it. Think about the enormous gains from the score you'll receive in June. The time to study is now. That means (virtually) no crazy weekends or time with other people for now

I agree with the above: the time to buckle down is now. You have less than three months left!

[NYCLSATTutor]

I decided to post this here since people ask about breast feeding, having babies while in law school and sex while studying for the LSAT.
I have been studying since the end of January and enjoy doing it, I actually find the motivation to get up early during the week to study and even a few hours at night after work sometimes. I also turned off the TV for good until test day becuase it was a waste of time at night. However, once Thursday night comes around, it becomes difficult for me to say no to all the social events going on around me and even if I do study it is not as enthusiastically or as a priority.
During February I let it go because I thought I will eventually give up the weekends in March, and I only did it last weekend. This week I got talked into a Mardi Gras parade on Tuesday, a day trip to NYC on Thursday and a long night of drinking last night. Of course I studied all day Saturday but Sundays is my preptest day and I went down 8 points on my raw score because I was tired and hangover.

Obviously the way to solve the problem is to sacrifice myself and cut down on the social life but I have a hard time getting people in my life (family and friends) to understand how much work I need to put into the LSAT if I want a high score and I stupidly let them talk me into doing thing with/for them.

I made my mom read some of the threads in here so she would understand that it's not just a few hours of study and that's it. That was the only way she would stop thinking I was crazy or obsessing over the test. I'm live by myself and I'm totally independet but she was seriously concern that I was stressing out or getting some sort of anxiety attacks.

My friends are getting on my case all the time saying the test is in June and I should be fine. Even though some of them have taken the LSAT, the GMAT or the GRE they were content with just going to a class and doing their best on test day. They think is crazy that I study four hours a day and that is useless to take timed sections often. I usually help friends with papers and reaserch but they keep asking me for help all the time even when they know that I am committed to the LSAT.

Same story at work. If my boss ask me to stay late I say yes, if they ask me to come earlier I say yes. I even agree to work during my week off at another job. Ofcourse the extra money is an incentive but I could have used that week to study as much as I pleased.

I feel guilty when I go out because I know that I could be resting or studying but I do it anyways because I need to relieve stress somehow but this is not the right way to do it.

Any advice on how to just get away from people and decline all the invitations I get?
What did you do, or what are you doing to entertain yourself during the time you studied for the LSAT?
Any tips on how to handle your relationships while studying? I can't even imagine people with a family+job doing this.
Sorry for the long post!!

Honestly it sounds like you are studying enough for now. Remember there are 3 months until the exam, if you go into crazy study mode you will burn out.

Can you give me an idea of your original diagnostic/where you are now/what you are doing to study as well? That will give me more of an idea of how much work you need to put into it.

Thanks for the response.
My cold diagnostic with simulated test conditions I got a 148. 3 weeks later I was scoring 156 or so. Last 3 weeks 162, 164, 162. Today I got a 158 (71 raw) but I couldn't finish LG or RC. My goal is a 170 but if by May I'm not Pting 168+ I will cancel and do October.
I'm using the bibles LG and LR which I already went over once and I'm doing it again. I am drilling sections from the 3 10-actual books and doing intensive studying and correction of wrong answers. I take one time Preptest with an experimental on Sundays but I use the more recent tests.
LG is my strongest section, I usually get -2/-4 timed and -0 untimed.
I have seen improvement in RC just by practicing. Except today I couldn't even finish it.
LR is umpredictable but I usually get the same type of answers wrong.

Ok, look. You need to spend a lot of time studying for the test. Yes. But studying for the LSAT is incredibly energy/mind intensive. You MUST do other activities during your study time or you will go insane. If you are putting a ton of work into it during the week, then when you are distracted then go enjoy yourself. Have fun. Burn out is an incredibly real and common problem with this test and it is something you should be very careful of.

That being said, I have a few words of advice about your test prep strategy.

1) Timed tests are largely useless until you need to deal with timing issues and/or are getting the large majority of questions right (95% or more) Nobody has trouble with time. What they have trouble with is their knowledge/skills of the test and struggling with questions...which then takes time. Doing it timed means you are rushing through it and not learning it as well as you would if you took it slowly.

2) Pre-phrase, pre-phrase, pre-phrase. Pre-phrase everything you can. Always.

3) The powerscore books are good but they are NOT perfect. If you are doing this on your own just w/ the books you will, to an extent, have to re-invent the wheel. There are things that the powerscore books suck at. If you don't realize that the books are advice and that, in the end, you must rely on your natural intelligence, you will never get to the 170's.

4) The LR from the "10 actual" book should not be used if you are shooting for a 170. They are looser than newer problems are. Using old LG's are fine.

[mac35352]

I think since it sounds like your social life is very important you have to find a way to balance it (unlike me. I told my friends to get the heck away for a few months. They understand ).

You mentioned studying for 4 hours a day or so. For me, studying 2-2.5 hours per day during the week has been a great schedule (and it still leaves time for happy hour after work/chatting with friends/lurking on TLS). Then I do more on the weekends, maybe 4 hours each day on the weekends. Maybe try hanging out with your friends for shorter periods (so they can't say they haven't seen you), and at better times. There's no point in spending the whole night with buddies and drinking if the next day you can't study at your peak performance--it's like wasting 2 days of studying!

So you can study for an hour right after work. Hang out with your friends 7:00-10:00. Go to bed early. Wake up early. Study 4 hours. Hang out for 4 hours. Also, don't forget to maximize your lunch hour by studying then! If you study for half an hour before work and an hour during work, you can hang out til 8 or so and still get another 1.5 hours before bed.

Thanks for this. I tried hanging out for a few hours but it doesn't work...lol.
For example, last night I was scheduled to be home by midnight after a comedy show and a few beers. However, after the show I encounter my neighbor outside and friend after friend started showing up and I ended up getting home at 4.
I have to give it a rest. I have less than 3 months and I know that unless I say no I would just get sucked into staying out all night or going to NYC for a day. And it's not like I'm 19 years old in a crazy party mode, is more like I want to distract myself and it gets out of hand.

[mac35352]

I decided to post this here since people ask about breast feeding, having babies while in law school and sex while studying for the LSAT.
I have been studying since the end of January and enjoy doing it, I actually find the motivation to get up early during the week to study and even a few hours at night after work sometimes. I also turned off the TV for good until test day becuase it was a waste of time at night. However, once Thursday night comes around, it becomes difficult for me to say no to all the social events going on around me and even if I do study it is not as enthusiastically or as a priority.
During February I let it go because I thought I will eventually give up the weekends in March, and I only did it last weekend. This week I got talked into a Mardi Gras parade on Tuesday, a day trip to NYC on Thursday and a long night of drinking last night. Of course I studied all day Saturday but Sundays is my preptest day and I went down 8 points on my raw score because I was tired and hangover.

Obviously the way to solve the problem is to sacrifice myself and cut down on the social life but I have a hard time getting people in my life (family and friends) to understand how much work I need to put into the LSAT if I want a high score and I stupidly let them talk me into doing thing with/for them.

I made my mom read some of the threads in here so she would understand that it's not just a few hours of study and that's it. That was the only way she would stop thinking I was crazy or obsessing over the test. I'm live by myself and I'm totally independet but she was seriously concern that I was stressing out or getting some sort of anxiety attacks.

My friends are getting on my case all the time saying the test is in June and I should be fine. Even though some of them have taken the LSAT, the GMAT or the GRE they were content with just going to a class and doing their best on test day. They think is crazy that I study four hours a day and that is useless to take timed sections often. I usually help friends with papers and reaserch but they keep asking me for help all the time even when they know that I am committed to the LSAT.

Same story at work. If my boss ask me to stay late I say yes, if they ask me to come earlier I say yes. I even agree to work during my week off at another job. Ofcourse the extra money is an incentive but I could have used that week to study as much as I pleased.

I feel guilty when I go out because I know that I could be resting or studying but I do it anyways because I need to relieve stress somehow but this is not the right way to do it.

Any advice on how to just get away from people and decline all the invitations I get?
What did you do, or what are you doing to entertain yourself during the time you studied for the LSAT?
Any tips on how to handle your relationships while studying? I can't even imagine people with a family+job doing this.
Sorry for the long post!!

Honestly it sounds like you are studying enough for now. Remember there are 3 months until the exam, if you go into crazy study mode you will burn out.

Can you give me an idea of your original diagnostic/where you are now/what you are doing to study as well? That will give me more of an idea of how much work you need to put into it.

Thanks for the response.
My cold diagnostic with simulated test conditions I got a 148. 3 weeks later I was scoring 156 or so. Last 3 weeks 162, 164, 162. Today I got a 158 (71 raw) but I couldn't finish LG or RC. My goal is a 170 but if by May I'm not Pting 168+ I will cancel and do October.
I'm using the bibles LG and LR which I already went over once and I'm doing it again. I am drilling sections from the 3 10-actual books and doing intensive studying and correction of wrong answers. I take one time Preptest with an experimental on Sundays but I use the more recent tests.
LG is my strongest section, I usually get -2/-4 timed and -0 untimed.
I have seen improvement in RC just by practicing. Except today I couldn't even finish it.
LR is umpredictable but I usually get the same type of answers wrong.

Ok, look. You need to spend a lot of time studying for the test. Yes. But studying for the LSAT is incredibly energy/mind intensive. You MUST do other activities during your study time or you will go insane. If you are putting a ton of work into it during the week, then when you are distracted then go enjoy yourself. Have fun. Burn out is an incredibly real and common problem with this test and it is something you should be very careful of.

That being said, I have a few words of advice about your test prep strategy.

1) Timed tests are largely useless until you need to deal with timing issues and/or are getting the large majority of questions right (95% or more) Nobody has trouble with time. What they have trouble with is their knowledge/skills of the test and struggling with questions...which then takes time. Doing it timed means you are rushing through it and not learning it as well as you would if you took it slowly.

2) Pre-phrase, pre-phrase, pre-phrase. Pre-phrase everything you can. Always.

3) The powerscore books are good but they are NOT perfect. If you are doing this on your own just w/ the books you will, to an extent, have to re-invent the wheel. There are things that the powerscore books suck at. If you don't realize that the books are advice and that, in the end, you must rely on your natural intelligence, you will never get to the 170's.

4) The LR from the "10 actual" book should not be used if you are shooting for a 170. They are looser than newer problems are. Using old LG's are fine.

Thanks for the advise
I know they are not perfect and that I need to rely on my natural intelligence, familiarizing myself with the material, identify my strengths and weaknesses and practice. This is true of any method.
Regarding the "10 actual" I don't see why the earlier LR questions cannot be beneficial since they haven't changed that much. I think even for RC they can be good practice.

[FloridaCoastalorbust]

I think since it sounds like your social life is very important you have to find a way to balance it (unlike me. I told my friends to get the heck away for a few months. They understand ).

You mentioned studying for 4 hours a day or so. For me, studying 2-2.5 hours per day during the week has been a great schedule (and it still leaves time for happy hour after work/chatting with friends/lurking on TLS). Then I do more on the weekends, maybe 4 hours each day on the weekends. Maybe try hanging out with your friends for shorter periods (so they can't say they haven't seen you), and at better times. There's no point in spending the whole night with buddies and drinking if the next day you can't study at your peak performance--it's like wasting 2 days of studying!

So you can study for an hour right after work. Hang out with your friends 7:00-10:00. Go to bed early. Wake up early. Study 4 hours. Hang out for 4 hours. Also, don't forget to maximize your lunch hour by studying then! If you study for half an hour before work and an hour during work, you can hang out til 8 or so and still get another 1.5 hours before bed.

Thanks for this. I tried hanging out for a few hours but it doesn't work...lol.
For example, last night I was scheduled to be home by midnight after a comedy show and a few beers. However, after the show I encounter my neighbor outside and friend after friend started showing up and I ended up getting home at 4.
I have to give it a rest. I have less than 3 months and I know that unless I say no I would just get sucked into staying out all night or going to NYC for a day. And it's not like I'm 19 years old in a crazy party mode, is more like I want to distract myself and it gets out of hand.

Ha I know exactly what you mean planning on only having a few beers. The other night I was burning out hard and decided to play a few games of pool over a pitcher and ended up not being able to study at all the next day. There is virtually no intellectual environment at my TTT UG shithole, so people drink more 3-4 nights a week. Needless to say it's pretty distracting and my peers can't possibly understand why I would want to study more than thirty minutes/week (at least it seems that way) over drinking 15 beers. With that being said I really think it is vital to stay away from the booze

[mac35352]

I think since it sounds like your social life is very important you have to find a way to balance it (unlike me. I told my friends to get the heck away for a few months. They understand ).

You mentioned studying for 4 hours a day or so. For me, studying 2-2.5 hours per day during the week has been a great schedule (and it still leaves time for happy hour after work/chatting with friends/lurking on TLS). Then I do more on the weekends, maybe 4 hours each day on the weekends. Maybe try hanging out with your friends for shorter periods (so they can't say they haven't seen you), and at better times. There's no point in spending the whole night with buddies and drinking if the next day you can't study at your peak performance--it's like wasting 2 days of studying!

So you can study for an hour right after work. Hang out with your friends 7:00-10:00. Go to bed early. Wake up early. Study 4 hours. Hang out for 4 hours. Also, don't forget to maximize your lunch hour by studying then! If you study for half an hour before work and an hour during work, you can hang out til 8 or so and still get another 1.5 hours before bed.

Thanks for this. I tried hanging out for a few hours but it doesn't work...lol.
For example, last night I was scheduled to be home by midnight after a comedy show and a few beers. However, after the show I encounter my neighbor outside and friend after friend started showing up and I ended up getting home at 4.
I have to give it a rest. I have less than 3 months and I know that unless I say no I would just get sucked into staying out all night or going to NYC for a day. And it's not like I'm 19 years old in a crazy party mode, is more like I want to distract myself and it gets out of hand.

Ha I know exactly what you mean planning on only having a few beers. The other night I was burning out hard and decided to play a few games of pool over a pitcher and ended up not being able to study at all the next day. There is virtually no intellectual environment at my TTT UG shithole, so people drink more 3-4 nights a week. Needless to say it's pretty distracting and my peers can't possibly understand why I would want to study more than thirty minutes/week (at least it seems that way) over drinking 15 beers. With that being said I really think it is vital to stay away from the booze

Ha, I know. Most of my friends are out of school and have time to do all this crazy drinking I can't realistically do. The deepest conversation we will have is about the latest TV show or the upcoming events.
We can do this...is only 3 moths.

[fltanglab]

The way I see it is you have to pick between saying yes to everything everyone is throwing in your direction versus saying no to some things. Seriously, just say no. If you can't stand up for yourself then how are you going to be an advocate for someone else? You have to pick. Hanging out might seem important to you now, but where will your friends be once you graduate? How many of them are going to hate you because you decided to study for the LSAT (....)? I don't know about your friends, but if I get a 180 on the June test they'll forgive me for any kind of harm I imposed upon them right now.

Maybe it's your UG institution that just parties too much, but stand alone for once and study because it will be worth it when you get a great score...

I'm not saying I shut myself in my room and study; in fact, I am currently studying where one of my best friends works just to show him appropriate support. But I get creative with it. I study with friends, at my friend's workplace. I also am not prepping for the LSAT right now so I can focus on my other schoolwork and my current presidential campaign (and you better believe I have to do a LOT of socializing for that). If you try and look past what's right in front of you, maybe you'll get the motivation. Maybe not...

[mac35352]

The way I see it is you have to pick between saying yes to everything everyone is throwing in your direction versus saying no to some things. Seriously, just say no. If you can't stand up for yourself then how are you going to be an advocate for someone else? You have to pick. Hanging out might seem important to you now, but where will your friends be once you graduate? How many of them are going to hate you because you decided to study for the LSAT (....)? I don't know about your friends, but if I get a 180 on the June test they'll forgive me for any kind of harm I imposed upon them right now.

Maybe it's your UG institution that just parties too much, but stand alone for once and study because it will be worth it when you get a great score...

I'm not saying I shut myself in my room and study; in fact, I am currently studying where one of my best friends works just to show him appropriate support. But I get creative with it. I study with friends, at my friend's workplace. I also am not prepping for the LSAT right now so I can focus on my other schoolwork and my current presidential campaign (and you better believe I have to do a LOT of socializing for that). If you try and look past what's right in front of you, maybe you'll get the motivation. Maybe not...

It's not your typical peer pressure. I don't feel like I have to say yes, I actually want to say yes but I know I have to say no. You are right, I need to learn to say no and get over it. Most of my friends are done with UG, on their way to grad school or just working, they have more time to socialize than I do and that is the reality of it.
Good luck with your campaign. Hope you win

[amols]

The way I see it is you have to pick between saying yes to everything everyone is throwing in your direction versus saying no to some things. Seriously, just say no. If you can't stand up for yourself then how are you going to be an advocate for someone else? You have to pick. Hanging out might seem important to you now, but where will your friends be once you graduate? How many of them are going to hate you because you decided to study for the LSAT (....)? I don't know about your friends, but if I get a 180 on the June test they'll forgive me for any kind of harm I imposed upon them right now.

Maybe it's your UG institution that just parties too much, but stand alone for once and study because it will be worth it when you get a great score...

I'm not saying I shut myself in my room and study; in fact, I am currently studying where one of my best friends works just to show him appropriate support. But I get creative with it. I study with friends, at my friend's workplace. I also am not prepping for the LSAT right now so I can focus on my other schoolwork and my current presidential campaign (and you better believe I have to do a LOT of socializing for that). If you try and look past what's right in front of you, maybe you'll get the motivation. Maybe not...

It's not your typical peer pressure. I don't feel like I have to say yes, I actually want to say yes but I know I have to say no. You are right, I need to learn to say no and get over it. Most of my friends are done with UG, on their way to grad school or just working, they have more time to socialize than I do and that is the reality of it.
Good luck with your campaign. Hope you win

I would wean yourself off slowly since it does seem like for whatever reason you need/want to hang out a little bit. Instead of going cold turkey with the noes ("I can't hang out with you at all until June") or even almost cold turkey ("I can't hang out with you at all this week") try easing yourself into it by restricting the time you spend during the hang out. It seems much easier (to me) to tell yourself you have to leave after 3 hours than not go at all a few times. Be strict with yourself about when you're going to go. And avoid getting caught up in those looooong conversations. I had a lot of those with roommates where we would just keep talking and talking and talking. Break away!

And think more of the present. Instead of thinking, "I won't hang out with you at all this weekend" think about your goal for that day. Do you want to get studying done? Get it done! And think, "I won't hang out with you today but maybe tomorrow" or "I will only hang out with you for 1 hour/2 beers/etc."

Those are my thoughts. I definitely think it's better to spread yourself out now so you accomplish your 15-20 hours per week of studying to minimize burnout and maximize time with your friends. You don't want to be catching up two months from now. Especially if you just started studying, now is the time to really understand the basics. If you don't know those really, really well, everything else will fall apart no matter how hard you try to build on it later.

And I also agree with fltanglab: true, good friends will work with you and support you on this, not patronize you, make you feel guilty, or make your life more difficult.

Try working in an hour of studying each day no matter what (again thinking not of the long term but just the fact that you will do 1 hour today)! You'll be surprised at how much you can get done.

[thecilent]

Oh stop complaining. If you can't manage a social life while studying for the lsat, bigger problems to come.

[yngblkgifted]

Oh stop complaining. If you can't manage a social life while studying for the lsat, bigger problems to come.

Someone finally said it. How badly do you want to do well on this test? If the answer is "really badly" then this shouldn't even be an issue. Do now what others won't do so you can do later what others can't do. Tough love kid.

[fltanglab]

It's not your typical peer pressure. I don't feel like I have to say yes, I actually want to say yes but I know I have to say no. You are right, I need to learn to say no and get over it. Most of my friends are done with UG, on their way to grad school or just working, they have more time to socialize than I do and that is the reality of it.
Good luck with your campaign. Hope you win

Thanks. I agree with the poster below me, but I didn't want to say it quite like that.

[99.9luft]

Social life + LSAT = Retake

Don't do it, man.

[mac35352]

The way I see it is you have to pick between saying yes to everything everyone is throwing in your direction versus saying no to some things. Seriously, just say no. If you can't stand up for yourself then how are you going to be an advocate for someone else? You have to pick. Hanging out might seem important to you now, but where will your friends be once you graduate? How many of them are going to hate you because you decided to study for the LSAT (....)? I don't know about your friends, but if I get a 180 on the June test they'll forgive me for any kind of harm I imposed upon them right now.

Maybe it's your UG institution that just parties too much, but stand alone for once and study because it will be worth it when you get a great score...

I'm not saying I shut myself in my room and study; in fact, I am currently studying where one of my best friends works just to show him appropriate support. But I get creative with it. I study with friends, at my friend's workplace. I also am not prepping for the LSAT right now so I can focus on my other schoolwork and my current presidential campaign (and you better believe I have to do a LOT of socializing for that). If you try and look past what's right in front of you, maybe you'll get the motivation. Maybe not...

It's not your typical peer pressure. I don't feel like I have to say yes, I actually want to say yes but I know I have to say no. You are right, I need to learn to say no and get over it. Most of my friends are done with UG, on their way to grad school or just working, they have more time to socialize than I do and that is the reality of it.
Good luck with your campaign. Hope you win

I would wean yourself off slowly since it does seem like for whatever reason you need/want to hang out a little bit. Instead of going cold turkey with the noes ("I can't hang out with you at all until June") or even almost cold turkey ("I can't hang out with you at all this week") try easing yourself into it by restricting the time you spend during the hang out. It seems much easier (to me) to tell yourself you have to leave after 3 hours than not go at all a few times. Be strict with yourself about when you're going to go. And avoid getting caught up in those looooong conversations. I had a lot of those with roommates where we would just keep talking and talking and talking. Break away!

And think more of the present. Instead of thinking, "I won't hang out with you at all this weekend" think about your goal for that day. Do you want to get studying done? Get it done! And think, "I won't hang out with you today but maybe tomorrow" or "I will only hang out with you for 1 hour/2 beers/etc."

Those are my thoughts. I definitely think it's better to spread yourself out now so you accomplish your 15-20 hours per week of studying to minimize burnout and maximize time with your friends. You don't want to be catching up two months from now. Especially if you just started studying, now is the time to really understand the basics. If you don't know those really, really well, everything else will fall apart no matter how hard you try to build on it later.

And I also agree with fltanglab: true, good friends will work with you and support you on this, not patronize you, make you feel guilty, or make your life more difficult.
Try working in an hour of studying each day no matter what (again thinking not of the long term but just the fact that you will do 1 hour today)! You'll be surprised at how much you can get done.

Thank you for the advise
This is not my biggest concern, it's more about finding moderation on the ammount of time I spend out or I commit to helping/doing something for someone.
I also tried saying we well only hang out for an hour and it turns into 5...because I want it, but then I'm tired the next day, etc.

[mac35352]

Oh stop complaining. If you can't manage a social life while studying for the lsat, bigger problems to come.

Someone finally said it. How badly do you want to do well on this test? If the answer is "really badly" then this shouldn't even be an issue. Do now what others won't do so you can do later what others can't do. Tough love kid.

This is a great way of seeing it. Thank you!

[mac35352]

Oh stop complaining. If you can't manage a social life while studying for the lsat, bigger problems to come.

I'm not complaining that I can't manage a social life while studying. I want to know if anyone had any advise on how to manage their studying/social life/ family.

[mac35352]

Social life + LSAT = Retake

Don't do it, man.

Absolutely right.

[TommyK]

y'all are nuts. Unless you're working 60+ hours / week right now or taking a ridiculously heavy class load, there should be no problem accommodating LSAT studying and a social life. As somebody said before, LSAT prep is mentally intensive. You may very well notice significant diminishing marginal returns after several hours, at which point it doesn't make sense to keep studying. Go out and make sure your life is livable. It will keep you refreshed, engaged, and burnout resistant. There will be many opportunities to ignore your friends, family, and significant other when you're over-preparing in law school.

[mac35352]

y'all are nuts. Unless you're working 60+ hours / week right now or taking a ridiculously heavy class load, there should be no problem accommodating LSAT studying and a social life. As somebody said before, LSAT prep is mentally intensive. You may very well notice significant diminishing marginal returns after several hours, at which point it doesn't make sense to keep studying. Go out and make sure your life is livable. It will keep you refreshed, engaged, and burnout resistant. There will be many opportunities to ignore your friends, family, and significant other when you're over-preparing in law school.

This might sound neurotic or crazy to you but as I explained above socializing is a little out of control for me. As well as the fact that I keep committing to helping my family, my friends and my boss on my free/rest time. It's not the amount of hours I spend with family and friends as much a the lack of mental sharpness and focus I can offer the LSAT when I'm sleep deprived, hangover or tired.
I do work 40+ hours a week plus classes so investing my time wisely is key.
To avoid burnout I can probably do daily activities with friends and catch up with with my netflix.

[Tabemaju]

There's a difference between "a social life" and going to parties / weekend events / getting drunk. Many people, unfortunately, don't know the difference between the two, but this is oftentimes an age factor. I say this because I'm able to manage 18 semester credits, 3-4 hours of LSAT studying a day, and spend time with my wife and daughter without too much juggling. I rarely drink the day prior to a day I'm planning on studying, but I'll give myself a day off per week. You don't need to "cut down on the social life," you just need to change your perception of what a social life looks like. I can't feel sad for someone that has difficulty studying because of a hangover, that just tells me you aren't responsible. If I can put 50 hours into school and 25 hours into LSAT per week and still manage my social life, I'm fairly certain anyone else can. Hell, on most days I'm able to spend 4-5 hours with my family / friends and still manage my rigorous schedule.

I don't want to preach, because I think that, in moderation, drinking is fine, but when I stopped getting drunk every weekend my productivity went through the roof. To me, it seems as though your problems aren't simply balancing studying and social life, but balancing your priorities. If there's any time in your life to buckle down and be responsible, it would be before law school.