Questions to ask when you feel stalled out. Forum

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Blueprint LSAT
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Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2019 5:43 pm

Questions to ask when you feel stalled out.

Post by Blueprint LSAT » Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:06 pm

The most common question I see is some variation on "I'm stalled at X score, what do I do?"
Obviously the answer to that varies from person to person, but here are some questions to ask yourself.
1. Is my studying still helping me?
You can do the same thing over and over again forever and never improve if you don't think about what you are doing. My golf game is proof of that. Always be looking for patterns in what you are getting wrong. Go back and look for fundamental issues with your approach. These can be hard to spot on your own sometimes. If you can consult an expert or fellow students do it. If not, think about the places you are most frustrated or things feel the most uncomfortable, even if you don't see a direct connection to your score. If you feel like you are spinning your wheels you probably are. Seek out explanations and good fundamentals for those areas. Even if you aren't directly addressing an obvious pattern in your results you will probably learn something relevant. It is better to strike around blindly than to just keep doing the thing that isn't working. You will eventually hit something.
2. Have you given yourself enough time to apply what you have learned?
I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but you are learning a skill. This involves taking in new information, yes, but it also involves practicing the application. Since the LSAT has a pretty punishing time limit, you probably wont see the full score-increase you can expect from your studying until you have drilled hard enough that it starts to come naturally. I know this process is stressful but you need to have patience and put in the time.
3. Is burnout masking your progress?
If you are tired and your brain keeps going on autopilot you are going to miss questions you shouldn't. If you keep finishing PTs and beating yourself up for making simple mistakes it might be because you are losing focus. You might not even realize it. This stuff taxes your brain pretty hard and the difference between our most brilliant selves and an average day isn't usually something we notice. If you are the sort of person who does a lot of puzzles for fun, though, you will have noticed that there are some days where that expert sudoku comes easily and other days where you just bang your head against it. The LSAT is the same deal. You want to bring as much of your brilliance as you can and one way to do that is to make sure you are healthy, hydrated, nourished and rested. Be careful making changes to your approach and basing your self esteem on PT scores unless you know WHY you got those scores. Also, take breaks every so often so you can test yourself at your best.

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