how to increase your duration Forum

[tracy77]

I found I can at most intensively concentrating on two consecutive sections during practice every day. Beyond that I'm just difficult to keep my mind sharp. Any advice how to improve your duration while keeping alert? Or how many hours do you think is the maximum one can take/is better for intensive study?

[goldeneye]

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[rinkrat19]

Be glad you aren't an engineering student and you don't have to take the EIGHT HOUR Fundamentals of Engineering exam, and man up, buttercup.

Also realize that law school exams are multiple hours long and the bar exam will be absolutely brutal.

[dkb17xzx]

misleading title brah

[laxbrah420]

misleading title brah

[emkay625]

I was expecting this thread to be much more entertaining.

[bdeebs]

I found I can at most intensively concentrating on two consecutive sections during practice every day. Beyond that I'm just difficult to keep my mind sharp. Any advice how to improve your duration while keeping alert? Or how many hours do you think is the maximum one can take/is better for intensive study?

It might just be that you don't have the proper sense of urgency yet. When I was 5 months out, I was studying a little, but it was tough to really commit. My mind would wander, I'd check facebook frequently...it was just really inefficient. I actually stopped studying until I felt that I could respect the test enough to give it my full attention. After that, 4-6 hours of quality studying was nothing. I'd imagine the maximum for intensive study is probably 6-8 hours. I've done ~10 hour days (infrequently), but the intensity waned in parts.

[TheRainMan]

Spank the monkey. Helps with concentration

[giantwhale3798]

One way is to take in more nutrition, like some omega oils and multivitamins.
Another way is to do more exercise, with moderate to high intensity for at least 20 minutes a day.

[dkb17xzx]

I was expecting this thread to be much more entertaining.

I know what you mean.

--ImageRemoved--

[Jeffort]

Also realize that law school exams are multiple hours long and the bar exam will be absolutely brutal.

In law school, depending on your classes, schedule and school, you can end up having two 3-4 hour finals back to back on the same day and then the same thing a few more times over a week or two.

If you take the CA or NY bar exam (as well as in some other states), it's three days long, six hours of testing time per day plus all the administration stuff.

In comparison, taking the LSAT is a walk in the park.

[dkb17xzx]

OP - I'll try and be helpful this once:

1. Practice, practice, practice. Don't try and do all five sections on a row. Move up gradually. But make sure you practice enough. Start with PT1 and work your way through. Also, when you start incorporating PT's in your regimen, start with 4 sections, then 5, 6, 7, and 8. This will help build stamina.

2. Read for longer duration. This could be anything but it'll build up concentration capacity

3. Run - This is a personal preference but I feel like running longer distances improves my ability to concentrate.

4. Meditation, mayhaps?

5. Remember this test holds you by your balls and fucking it up will ruin the next 2-3 years (and possibly more). This is fantastic motivation.

[sabanist]

I had a similar problem. Especially on RC on PTs, my mind would wander, and I'd have a lot of trouble focusing. In the end, it didn't hurt my scores terribly, but there were always one or two dumb mistakes on LR. It was frustrating.
I found that getting out of the house helped. When I was at home, I was too tempted to turn on the tv or make a snack between sections. PTing/studying at the library helped by removing those internal distractions and adding in external ones like noise that you need to be prepared for on test day.

In the end, I think feeling distracted while I studied and practiced helped me. I was really worried about not being able to focus on test day, but I got 2 RCs first and flew through them without once feeling my mind wander (thank you adrenaline!). Practicing through distraction may benefit you in the long run - I think it did for me.

Even if you feel like you can't focus while practicing, finish the practice test or the chapter in your LGB or whatever book you're studying with and see how you did. Mark the questions/passages you feel like you can't focus on as you take the test, and come back to them afterward. See which ones you got wrong, or maybe got right just by guessing, and study those closely. Look for commonalities between them. I know I always had the biggest trouble with scientific RC passages, so later I'd devote extra energy and attention to those. It improved my score and my confidence in my ability to focus a lot.

Finally, some non-LSAT things helped me... PTing earlier in the day (morning person), eating protein beforehand and carbs at the section 3 break, and reading a dense novel for at least an hour a day.

TL;DR: You're not alone, practice through the distraction, and it can get better

[T00L]

Picture Rene Zellweger in a bucket of ice water.

[Glaucon]

I had the same problem when i first tried my hand on the LSAT 3 yrs ago. However, after turning 22 my mental stamina increased EXPONENTIALLY with a factor of every year that had passed since I last took it; now, i can write all 5 sections without a break and practice-score in the high 160s. The LSAT is slightly different from other very long tests because the other tests test knowledge (memory work or regurgitating prepared answers isn't as taxing as thinking on the fly) and aren't as strict in its timing for every section.