FOCUS ⚖️. Every minute and every second matters. Avoid any and all deviations from your study schedule and PLANNED breaks. If that means making a temporary move to a new home, ignoring phone calls, and missing social outings...so be it. This is your chance to practice maximizing EVERY moment of your day. After all, managing your day with precision is exactly what you’ll have to do as a licensed attorney with billable hours. Strategically plan walks in the park, trips to the grocery store, etc. If they are not talking about the bar exam or the subjects covered by the exam, it does not, and should not, concern you!
STICK TO A SET BEDTIME. Bedtimes are not just for kids. Don’t take for granted how important a night of adequate rest is to your success. ROUTINE is key to optimizing your studies. Treat yourself by allowing your brain to rest and refresh each day at a SCHEDULED TIME.
EAT WITH PURPOSE. “You are what you eat” and blah, blah, blah. Sure, you’ve heard it all before. But have you considered how your diet impacts your brain’s activity? The key to studying for the bar exam is nurturing your brain and body to optimal performance for game day. Simply put, heavy, greasy, and starchy foods that don’t feed your brain and body will cost you TIME and ENERGY. And time is more precious than gold when you’re studying. Without a purposeful diet, you can plan on losing hours of productivity each day. Poor diet + brain busting studying = fatigue, brain fog, and inopportune naps. Add these foods to your bar exam diet:
•Salmon
•Peanut/Almond Butter & Crackers (or apples)
•Peanut/Almond Butter & Honey Sandwiches (oddly good and feeling)
•Tuna
•Green tea
•Nuts •Sweet potato, kale, and brown rice stir fry (top w/egg for breakfast)
•Mixed Greens Salads
•Dried Fruit
•Green Smoothies (include spinach and berries)
•Avocado Toast (add tomato or roasted eggplant)
•Greek Yogurt & Granola
•Hummus & Pita chips
RECITE IN THE MIRROR. That’s right! Talk to yourself. Recite major concepts and detailed nuances in the mirror. This practice will build your confidence and cement facts in your mind, as you see yourself perform and hear your voice carry the words. Have fun with it and pretend to field questions from your imaginary audience. Review your notes and correct your mistakes by re-reciting concepts in the mirror. This practice will infinitely boost your ability to recall the “mirror” content.
LET YOUR COMPUTER HELP YOU. More likely than not, your computer has a “Read Out Loud” function that will read what’s on your screen. If your computer does not have this function, Adobe Acrobat PDF certainly does. How is this helpful? Well, if you have a hard time getting through the dense outlines, the “Read Out Loud” function is a great way to stay on pace as you read along with the computer. If you’re an auditory learner, this may be the magic touch that you’ve been seeking. This is a great way to speed your reading when there’s more pages to read then time left in the day.
MIND MAPPING. The BIG tip for success on the bar exam is here:⚖️MIND MAPPING. Mind mapping is a way to organize information by mapping out the relationship between related concepts. It’s all about relationship and mind mapping is the best way to master the relatedness of associated concepts. For example, under Crim Law for the Sixth Amendment, you’d write “Sixth Amendment” in the center of the paper and draw lines out to subtitles that relate to the Sixth Amendment, like: right to counsel, right to speedy trial, right to public trial, etc. From there, you’d expand on each concept by drawing lines from the parent concept to the related sub-concepts. Most importantly, you can use stickers, graphics, pictures, etc. to create associated representations of key concepts. This is great for drawing connections between different bodies of law also. For example, you may find it helpful to mind map touch points between Real Property x Trusts, Wills and Estates.
Happy Studying, Lawyer Bae! Believe. Affirm. Execute.
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