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What are the signs of burnout?

In my case, I've been taking and reviewing 3 practice tests a week with Sundays off. I went from scoring 175s and 176s on tests (with that said, these were tests I had already taken several months ago) to scoring a 166 today.

I don't feel mentally fatigued, but I read an article earlier that made me think that I may have symptoms of burn out (rereading the stim multiple times, feeling guilty for not studying, big point drop, etc.).

My best advice would be to take a few days off. Sounds like you have been going at a pretty good pace, and I think some time away will only help

pittsburghpirates wrote:My best advice would be to take a few days off. Sounds like you have been going at a pretty good pace, and I think some time away will only help

Dope; thanks for the advice.

I think I'll go over yesterday's test today, see how I feel, and then make a call; with that said, I'll probably not test tomorrow, and wait till Sunday before hitting the books again (so 2 days of rest).

I'm running out of tests anyways (and the one I was planning on taking Friday would be a retake), so I should probably play a conservative strategy.

Even though those high scores were on retakes, I feel like I'm capable of scoring that high on a fresh test.

RamTitan wrote:

pittsburghpirates wrote:My best advice would be to take a few days off. Sounds like you have been going at a pretty good pace, and I think some time away will only help

Dope; thanks for the advice.

I think I'll go over yesterday's test today, see how I feel, and then make a call; with that said, I'll probably not test tomorrow, and wait till Sunday before hitting the books again (so 2 days of rest).

I'm running out of tests anyways (and the one I was planning on taking Friday would be a retake), so I should probably play a conservative strategy.

Even though those high scores were on retakes, I feel like I'm capable of scoring that high on a fresh test.

You're performing at a very high level, so I'm not surprised that you don't feel mentally fatigued. At this point, doing a preptest definitely causes less stress than it did before (not to suggest that it's less intense, because that's not the case, simply less exhausting).

The fact that you've been re-reading stimuli repeatedly is telling. You're having trouble concentrating - not because the material is difficult, but because you've been doing so much of it that your brain isn't treating it with the same urgency. The burnout here has more to do with your brain being overexposed to the same things.

Taking a few days won't set you back - it'll clear your head and make practicing LSAT a lot fresher when you come back to it. I suggest doing something fun and relaxing outdoors.

Only 2 days might be too conservative. You'd probably be fine to take off longer, like 5 days. And a mere 2 days might not even fight off a burnout that much. So, given the limited info I have about you, I'd say you should probably take off a little longer than 2 days.

Idk, I'm starting to feel better. I've taken two tests this week; 169 and 176 (retake). I did not study today as I had to be in the office all day, but I figured I'd take another practice test tomorrow. I think what I'll be doing more of is taking shorter breaks; one test, one BR, day off, rinse, wash, repeat.

However, I don't know if longer breaks are more likely to make you score higher?

Holy crap; scored a 166 again, and felt wiped during the test. I guess I should take a longer break...