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I took my first LSAT in December 2015, which was my senior year of college. I studied here and there for about 2 months and took a Kaplan class, then intensely studied from early-ish October to test day with a tutor/self studying (PTs, drilling, etc). I was in school full time and still socializing. I scored 7-8 points below my PT average.

So now I feel like I'm back to square 1. I want to aim to take the June 2017 test, but I'm not ruling out September if I don't feel prepared. I'm working full time with 36-40 hours a week at a law firm. Starting today, I'm doing half days on Wednesday and Friday at work and going straight to the library. I'm making up the hours Mon, Tues, Thurs (8am-6pm most days probably, 30 minutes here and there). I have a study partner who I'm planning on meeting with on the weekends and taking practice tests.

Does anyone have any advice on how to even start back up with studying after a year long hiatus? So far, I've taken a timed section of each to see where I'm at and I'm definitely not where I was, partially because I'm not fresh on the games set-ups, types of LR questions, etc. I have the Powerscore Bibles, but I don't know if I'll be wasting my time reading those cover to cover. I have a ton of practice material for drilling, PTs, timed sections and a decent amount of notes. I just don't really know what the most efficient way to dive back in would be, so if anyone has advice I'd really appreciate it!

Obviously the goal is a 180, but aiming for at least a 165(+).

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I took a break between my first test and my first retake (not a whole year--only from June through November), but maybe my experience can help you a bit:

First of all, don't be discouraged that you aren't where you were when you stopped working last time. I only took a 5 month break, but when I took my first PT after deciding to get back to studying, my score was much lower than what I had scored in June. I was super upset, but only a few weeks later I was back to where I had left off. First I did a lot of drilling by question type to see where my weaknesses were. If I noticed I was doing really poorly on a certain type, I would read supplemental materials about those questions (LSAT Trainer was my preference) and drill extra questions. After I felt that I wasn't consistently making the same mistakes over and over, I started drilling sections as a whole (LR/RC/LG). I always timed my logic games because speed was always my issue there, but for RC and LR I never timed the sections. I focused on getting EVERY answer right (without time constraint) on the first try. Obviously, I rarely went -0, but taking the time to slow down and really think through every answer really helped me to improve my instincts and inferences about what kinds of answers are usually right vs. wrong. Also, ALWAYS go back over absolutely anything you get wrong and figure out why the correct answer was correct and even more importantly, why YOUR answer was wrong.

I also took one full, timed 5 section PT every Saturday morning until test day, so I could be tracking my overall progress. By the time I took the test last Saturday, my PTs were averaging 4-5 points up from my score in June (which was already admittedly pretty high).

Obviously, you might need different techniques or strategies, but I think consistency is the key, without burning out. Don't feel like you need to do 8 sections a day to make improvements. Be smarter about the drilling and studying that you do. If you know you are really good at a certain question type, you don't need to drill it every day. Do it once or twice a week to keep your skills up, but focus your energy more on your weaknesses. If you get to a point where you don't think any area is particularly weaker than the others, then focus your attention evenly on all the different sections/types of questions.