Tips for timed practice, get anxious, lose focus. Forum

[4PfeifferP]

Hello out there. Here's my situation. I'm on week 5 of prep'ing for the June test and started adding time trials. When I study regularly I can get on a roll and feel like I'm doing good. When I incorporate time sessions though I get stressed and anxious about the clock and lose concentration and focus. Of course this forces me to re-read sentences I should have gotten the first time, and while I'm reading it again all I can think about is the time slipping away. It crushing me. Any tips for overcoming this problem?

[Mikey]

At first I was the same. I would get very anxious about the fact I put myself under timed conditions but what helped me feel a bit as ease was the fact that I KNEW that I could get the section done in a timely manner. I would just forget that I was under timed conditions and usually I would finish the section a minute or two early, but sometimes I've had 1 or 2 questions left after the 35 mins are up. It just takes timed practice, and you will eventually realize that being timed is inescapable and you have to work with what you have.

[jfiaff]

What are you using as a timer? I get stressed out when I have my phone/laptop on the table in front of me with a timer going. I've found that using the kitchen timer on my oven helps because I can't see the seconds ticking away.

[Blueprint Mithun]

Hello out there. Here's my situation. I'm on week 5 of prep'ing for the June test and started adding time trials. When I study regularly I can get on a roll and feel like I'm doing good. When I incorporate time sessions though I get stressed and anxious about the clock and lose concentration and focus. Of course this forces me to re-read sentences I should have gotten the first time, and while I'm reading it again all I can think about is the time slipping away. It crushing me. Any tips for overcoming this problem?

Next time you try a timed section, don't set your timer to 35 minutes. Let it run for an indefinite period of time. If timing is making you that nervous, you'll want to acclimate yourself to the feeling of being timed, without putting yourself under the LSAT's stringent limits just yet.

The point of timing yourself during practice, especially at first, is to help yourself develop a sense of the pace needed to get through an LSAT section. It's hard to have a sense of how long you're taking during a section, when the pressure's on and your adrenaline is (or isn't) running. I think it's better to approach this gradually, rather than throwing yourself into the abyss and hoping it makes you stronger.

Compare the amount of time you took on a section to the 35 minute limit you will have on the real test. Are you more than 5 minutes off? If so, your pace should ideally be a lot faster. The tricky thing is balancing working faster with answering questions accurately. Some students will be able to eventually be able to answer all the questions within the time limit, but others will be better off keeping to a slower pace and accurately answering most of the questions they do get to.

In any case, your mastery of the material will determine how quickly you'll be able to work while remaining accurate, as well as how well you'll be able to handle stress. You may hit a wall at a certain point, and the only way to get over it will be to go back and drill question types until you are more skilled and confident. For example, if you get nervous every time you see a particular q.type, like Parallel or Necessary Assumption, that's a sign to drill that question type. Turn your weaknesses into strengths (or at the very least, into non-weaknesses).

Lastly, serious timing practice shouldn't come until you're very comfortable with the material, otherwise it may be counterproductive. 5 weeks doesn't sound like enough time to have gained mastery of much of the content. I do understand that everyone has a different schedule of prepping for the exams, but you should be aware that you're going into timing practice early.

Hope that helps!

[carasrook]

What are you using as a timer? I get stressed out when I have my phone/laptop on the table in front of me with a timer going. I've found that using the kitchen timer on my oven helps because I can't see the seconds ticking away.

Seconded - when I would use a countdown on my phone it made me anxious and rather than focusing on finishing quickly towards the end, I would just be acutely aware of the timer counting down to 0 and I couldn't focus at all. Using an analog watch with a rotating bezel (which I bought specifically for the LSAT - you can get one on Amazon for pretty cheap) doesn't make me as anxious, and it's good practice since you'll have to use an analog watch on test day anyway.

[jrass]

Google systematic desensitization, and employ what you learn.

[4PfeifferP]

Thanks all for the feedback. It's good to know you're out there.