As you progress in your bar prep, you are bound to hit the proverbial wall. Usually, it happens around T-3 weeks. That's when the big freak out happens. You feel as though there isn't enough time left before the exam.  You're convinced you've done nothing productive this whole time.  You won't learn everything before the exam (spoiler alert: you WON'T learn everything).  And of course, there's always an assurance that you WILL FAIL THE EXAM, and there's nothing you can do at this point to change it, so you might as well give up.

Try not to think of the wall as a prediction of your future.  Really, all it is is a rash of symptoms that can tell you what your underlying problem is if you pay attention closely enough.  You are overwhelmed, exhausted, anxious and stressed.  You are burned out!

The problem with being burned out while also having such an enormous amount of pressure and stress is that the cure is hard to swallow.  What you really need is to do something that could send you into greater panic if you're not careful.  You need a break.  It doesn't have to be huge, but it does need to be a break.  It could be anything: watching a game, getting a mani/pedi, going to a movie, take a nap, whatever!  But the catch is this:  whatever you choose to do, you must do it without thinking about the bar exam.  You cannot feel guilty that you are watching the game and not studying.  You can't convince yourself that you will fail the exam if you take off 2 hours but will pass if you study instead.

I have a friend who absolutely loves the show The Golden Girls.  She would feel so guilty about watching the show and not studying for the bar exam that she convinced herself if she failed the exam it would be because she watched a 30 minute episode.  She passed.

Having a reasonable break from study and the stress of the exam will never cause you to fail.  What would add to your chances of failing is if you are so burned out and stressed that you can't find a way to recuperate.  If you are not able to discipline your mind to refuse thinking or worrying about the exam when you're not studying, then you are in real danger of doing worse on the exam.  Why?  Because you have gotten into such a worked-up state that you will not be able to do any type of meaningful study.  And your performance on the actual exam will be affected poorly, as well.

We all know this to be true intrinsically.  We know that if we're stressed we don't absorb information.  We don't perform well.  We don't sleep or rest well, which further exasperates the problem.  So give yourself a break and stop thinking that a break is harmful.  If you start to think of breaks as an important study strategy, then you will find that the guilt associated with them dwindles.

And for the guilt that remains, take control mentally.  Whether you know it or not, you have the ability to choose what you think.  As you exercise that power, you will find that your emotions fall into step.  When you hear yourself beating yourself down because you're watching Glee after studying for 8 hours, stop that thought right away.  Replace that lie with the truth.  Remind yourself that you have put in a good day's work, that you are mentally exhausted and can't do any more productive work today anyway.  Remind yourself that watching the show is good for your mental and emotional health, which in turn is good for passing the bar exam.

We all know that there is a law of diminishing returns when it comes to anything.  We know that once we've hit our limit at the library that no matter what else we do we will not be jamming any more data into our brain.  So why make yourself sit there for a couple more hours trying?  Get out of there, do something else.  You might be surprised to find that you can find another hour or so of good study time before bed that night.  Those are hours you would never have gotten if you didn't take a break.

I love listening to Zig Ziglar. It may be a little unorthodox to regularly listen to him on podcast (I don't know anyone else who does), but being different has never stopped me from doing anything before. I recently heard him talk about positive thinking. As a natural born pessimist (I used to refer to it as being a realist, so you can get a glimpse of just how pessimistic I was), I never used to buy in to all that positive thinking nonsense. As the years passed, especially these last few years, quite a few positive people have come to be a part of my life. You know what they say: you become just like those people you spend the most time with. To make a long story short, I got sold on the whole positive thinking idea after watching their lives over a period of time. I learned that any idiot can point out the obvious - i.e., why something can't be done. It turns out I wasn't nearly as clever as I thought I had been all those years I went around pointing out every imperfection I could find.

The smarter people are those who choose to be positive. It takes more courage, more creativity, and a big-spirited person to look for the positive and then choose to focus on that. As Zig says: "Positive thinking won't let you do anything, but it will let you do everything better than negative thinking will." I love this statement because it is so true. Positive thinking isn't about losing your grip on reality. No 60 year old is going to get into the NFL, no matter how positive they are. But if there is something you can achieve through hard work and dedication, positive thinking is only going to help you in your pursuit.

In the same respect, positive thinking can be a wonderful tool in your bar exam success kit. The magnitude of the bar exam, the hundreds of hours of hard work you put in to preparing for it, the effect it has on your future - it is all too great to dismiss the potential power that positive thinking can have. Positive thinking, specifically, visualizing your success and anticipating positive bar results, will help keep you energized as you prepare. When you hit a wall or feel like you will never master the material in time, you need to prevent yourself from taking the downward spiral of negative thinking. Don't be defeated by the bar exam before you even take it! Choose to place your focus elsewhere.

When I took the exam for the second time, I came across someone who had posted a screenshot of bar results on a blog. (I have since been unable to re-locate that blog post.) I decided to copy that image and edit my info into it. I changed the year, the name, the applicant number, everything. I made it look like what I wanted to see when it came time for results. At first I felt ridiculous. It seemed too corny, and I thought I would die of embarrassment if anyone were to find it. I put it with my study materials, but wouldn't even look at it for a while. But then I got used to having it. When I was at the library, exhausted and not wanting to study, I would pull it out and look at it. It reminded me why I needed to keep going. I thought, if putting in another couple of hours will get me this, then I can do it. Just looking at that paper and thinking it could be WOULD BE real, got me excited and helped me push through the rough times.

When it came time to check bar results, and that little made-up piece of paper became a reality, I couldn't wait to print it out. I was so proud to replace my fake results with the real one. I'm not going to tell you that I wouldn't have been able to pass if I never made that piece of paper and visualized a positive outcome. But as Zig says, it helped me do it better than negative thinking would have.

In that spirit, I took a picture of the real bar results that I printed out that fateful night. I edited it to say 2011, and took out my personal information. Put your own information in there. Print it out. Look at it as often as you find it helpful. Visualize your success.

Because the bar exam is such an important and difficult test - and with all likelihood the hardest written exam of your lifetime - it becomes a behemoth in your mind. It quickly becomes what you think about almost every waking hour, and quite a few of your non-waking hours as well. It can feel like you are in a bar exam bubble where you eat it, drink it, and sleep it. This creates a serious imbalance and can severely distort your ability to approach the bar exam and the remaining parts of your life with a healthy perspective.

If you're studying for the bar exam, you're stressed. No matter how perfect your study schedule is and how disciplined you are about making progress, you are still going to be under a high level of stress because of the mere fact the bar exam is such a big deal. I don't need to explain to you how this works - everyone who's done it just knows.

But that said, there is a truly unhealthy level of bar exam stress that you can easily fall into. Many, many bar students do this and it really isn't their fault. The exam just tends to get overwhelming if not kept in check. And that is what you must do. You must make a concerted effort to protect any semblance of balance that you have left in your life. This is important because you truly will perform better during study hours and the exam itself if you keep your stress level as low as possible.

There have been many studies done on the effects of stress. I don't even feel the need to cite any here because by now it is just a commonly understood scientific fact. Stress has a negative effect on performance. It causes our brains to be more sluggish, it diminishes comprehension, it decreases memorization, and it increases test anxiety.

Stress is the enemy, and to combat it you have to take preventative measures. Here are a number of practical things you can do to alleviate some stress, gain more energy and rest, become more effective with your study program, and gain an overall better sense of wellbeing during this challenging time.

1. When you are going to study, get right to. Quit the procrastination and just get down to business. At the end of your study day, you will have such a great sense of accomplishment because you were effective with your study time. This will make you feel satisfied with yourself and proud of your effort for that day. This sense of having done a good job will allow you to enjoy any "treats" or relaxation you plan for yourself - such as time at the gym, watching a movie, etc. Furthermore, if you have done your best each and every day, this cuts down on test anxiety because you know deep down that you did your best to prepare. You won't be haunted with gnawing thoughts and regrets.
2. Keep a healthy lifestyle. This means food & exercise. Don't go overboard and try to implement a raw diet all of a sudden, or hire a personal trainer so you can get a beach body. Just avoid the big no-no's - sugar, caffeine, overly processed or fast food. Get at least some form of exercise every day, even if it's only walking. Your brain is part of your physical body and as such it is directly affected by your overall physical health. Give it a simple multi-vitamin at the very least.
3. Get adequate rest. It is amazing to me how poor the average American's sleeping habits are. Here are the basic tenets of bedroom law if you want to get good sleep. (1) go to bed and get up at the same time every day (2) no TV in the bedroom - this includes on your laptop or smart phone (3) don't fall asleep on the sofa watching TV then go to your bed in the middle of the night - fall asleep in your bed (4) don't take work or your laptop to bed with you - no studying, bills, etc while you are in bed. The bed is for sleeping and sex. (5) for some of you, it is going to be important that you give yourself enough decompression time at the end of the day before you go to bed. In other words, you are not able to study or do work 5 minutes before you go to bed. You will need to relax by reading, watching TV, or doing something else to wind down your brain.
4. Keep some semblance of a social life. If you stay home to study on Christmas day instead of being your family, it is going to backfire. You are going to feel neglected and resentful that you can't participate in the important holiday with your loved ones. Don't miss your sister's wedding. Go to that guy's night that's only once a month. You NEED to have relationships and activities outside of the bar exam. Those few hours are not going to cause you to fail the exam. Rather, they are going to re-energize you to study better the following day. Of course you are going to have to cut back a lot - but don't cut it all out. Keep a balance that will help you still feel connected to important relationships in your life so that they can nourish you during this stressful time.

Lifestyle is an important factor affecting your success on the bar exam.  And for many would-be lawyers, this is a big challenge.  It is no secret that law school is a highly competitive and extremely stressful sub-culture.  The coping mechanisms that many law students develop during those 3 or 4 years may be effective in the short-term, but deadly in the long-term.

Smoking, drinking, poor eating habits, lack of exercise, cynicism, and sometimes even drug use, often become the bedfellows of law students across the nation.  In turn, these become the crutches of bar examinees, first-year associates, solo practitioners, partners, and even some judges.

Although these poor lifestyle choices may be effective to help get you through a week of finals in law school, or a big project at work, they are destructive in the long-term.  Studying for the bar exam, because of its sheer magnitude, is not a short-term endeavor as you well know.  The bar exam is the quintessential “marathon,” and thus you need a different approach to getting yourself through it successfully.

There are only a few lifestyle factors that are truly important enough to be mentioned here as an integral part of a successful study plan.  No, you don’t have to quit smoking or give up the bottle.  In fact, like almost everyone else, I would advise against a major change like that while you are preparing for the bar.  There are 6 basic lifestyle changes you can make, however, that will help you get through this period in your life and make your bar prep more successful.

Change #1 - Eat Better

If you have poor eating habits, you don’t need to overhaul your entire diet and go raw.  However, you can make a few small changes that will make a big difference for you.  Make small changes like switching out soda and so-called “energy” drinks for water, pack your lunches and skip the drive-thru, and eat fresh fruit or trail mix instead of a candy bar as a snack.  All of these will go a long way to providing your body with nutrition and increasing sustained energy. Just getting rid of some of that toxic sugar will help your energy and mental clarity improve.  Additionally, taking a daily supplement is the least you can do to help your body get what it needs.

There are many ways in which you can make better choices about what you eat and drink. These are just a few simple suggestions about how to substitute poor eating habits that drain your body of nutrients & energy for ones that provide nutrition and fuel for your demanding lifestyle. If you know that your eating habits need an overhaul and are a major obstacle to your success in studying, then spend some time looking into what you need to do to make positive changes.


{Did you find this post helpful? It came straight out of my book, The Goat’s Guide: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Preparing for the California Bar Exam on Your Own}  

Change #2 - Sleep Better

Getting adequte sleep sounds so easy.  Who doesn’t want to sleep in another 30 minutes?  But getting enough sleep isn’t possible when you’re sabotaging it by your bad habits.  Even if you only get 6 hours a night, the quality will be better if you get the basics down.

1. Have a regular sleep schedule - i.e., go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. This includes weekends! Your body thrives when it has sleep regularity.
2. Don’t have a TV in your room or fall asleep on the couch watching TV.
3. Don’t end your evening watching the news, reading horror stories about the bar exam, or putting any other disturbing thoughts in your brain.  Fill your mind with peaceful and uplifting thoughts that won’t torment you as you sleep.
4. Put aside your worries somehow - whether you need to jot down a to-do list for tomorrow, pray, journal, meditate, or call your mom - just get them off your chest so you can sleep as stress-free as possible.
5. Make your bedroom conducive to sleeping. Keep your room cool and get fresh air flow for ventilation. Have good window coverings to keep it dark during sleeping hours. Use a fan or a sleep machine if you like to have "white noise" in the background. Get rid of the jarring light emanating from your clock by turning it away from you or putting it face down.
6. Don't work on your laptop or pay your bills while sitting in bed, especially right before sleep! You should equate bed with peace, rest, and *ahem* you-know-what.

 
{Did you find this post helpful? It came straight out of my book, The Goat’s Guide: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Preparing for the California Bar Exam on Your Own}

Change #3 - Find Personal Time

Personal time is time that has no utility except to feel good.  It is time that is not spent taking care of responsibilities, helping other people, or doing anything else altruistic.  The truth is, you need some time every week that is completely selfish.  You should do something that is only aimed at making you happy.  I think everyone pretty much understands the value in this: if you get a chance to be selfish and do what makes you happy every once in a while, you will feel rejuvenated instead of deprived.  Then you will be able to go back and face your responsibilities with renewed energy and vigor.  Even if you’re not getting enough personal time to feel renewed, it might be just enough to keep you from going over the edge.


So whether you walk on the beach for 30 minutes, go dancing at a club, play tennis on the Wii, or play ball with the guys, get your body moving.  Everyone should be able to find something that not only gets their body moving, but is also something they enjoy and can look forward to.

In addition to finding a physical activity to engage in regularly, don't forget to get your body moving during little study breaks. Stand up from your chair and stretch your body once an hour. Sit outside for 5 minutes every couple hours and just breathe the fresh air deeply. Go for a 10 minute stroll during your lunch break. Small doses of physical movement while you study will help your concentration tremendously.

{Did you find this post helpful? It came straight out of my book, The Goat’s Guide: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Preparing for the California Bar Exam on Your Own}

Change #4 - Exercise

Just as with your eating habits, it is not necessary to make a drastic change to your physical activity level.  If you are already somewhat physically active, then that’s fine.  But if you are not physically active at all, it is really important you find something active that you can enjoy.  The goal is not to get bikini-body ready by the bar exam.  No, the goal is to release some stress and tension from your body.  Physical activity has the added benefit of improving your memory, among other things.

So whether you walk on the beach for 30 minutes, go dancing at a club, play tennis on the Wii, or play ball with the guys, get your body moving.  Everyone should be able to find something that not only gets their body moving, but is also something they enjoy and can look forward to.

In addition to finding a physical activity to engage in regularly, don't forget to get your body moving during little study breaks. Stand up from your chair and stretch your body once an hour. Sit outside for 5 minutes every couple hours and just breathe the fresh air deeply. Go for a 10 minute stroll during your lunch break. Small doses of physical movement while you study will help your concentration tremendously.

{Did you find this post helpful? It came straight out of my book, The Goat’s Guide: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Preparing for the California Bar Exam on Your Own}

Change #5 - Relationships

It is extremely important to maintain at least one relationship that nourishes you.  I know that almost all relationships are put on hold when you are preparing for the bar exam, especially if you have other commitments and responsibilities.  However, you need to have at least one relationship which you can lean on for support during this time.  This might even mean that the relationship is fairly one-sided for this period.  If it is a quality relationship, that person will probably understand your selfishness and be willing to give that support.

Your idea of a supportive relationship might be the one you have with your cat (since you can be utterly selfish), or even a bar exam forum where there are others who are able to commisurate with your struggles.  The important thing is that you share your frustrations, stress, fears, etc. with someone.  You need to express your challenges and receive understanding and encouragement in return.

{Did you find this post helpful? It came straight out of my book, The Goat’s Guide: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Preparing for the California Bar Exam on Your Own}

Change #6 - Mind Control

The last lifestyle change that you need to make is in the area of mind control.  In other words, you need to make a concerted effort to control what you feed your mind.  Whether you know it or not, what you think about, and the worldview that you have, has a massive impact on your life.  The saying “you are what you eat” is as true in the area of your thought life as it is for your physical body.  If you are constantly believing negative things are going to happen, or things are going to go wrong, I bet they often do!  If you see the positive in things and believe that good things are coming your way, I bet you’re right most of the time.

The bar exam is as much mental as it is anything else.  You can feel defeated before you even walk in, and not one good thing will come from that belief.  Do your best  to align your thoughts with the results you want.  If you are feeling frustrated and like you are going to fail, stop thinking those thoughts immediately!  Refuse to continue down that path, because absolutely nothing good will come of it.  If you have the self discipline to change every negative thought you have about the bar exam into a positive one, you will have the key to being successful in every area of your life.  And it really does come down to self discipline.  Don’t be fooled by thinking you are supposed to “feel” positive.  Change your mind, and your feelings will follow.

If you think this is all mumbo jumbo, answer these two questions: What is the benefit of having negative thoughts and beliefs (this includes worrying) about the bar exam?  What is the downside of having positive thoughts and beliefs about the bar exam, and refusing to worry about it?

For more reading on having a positive mindset, check out this post I wrote titled "Visualize Your Success"

{Did you find this post helpful? It came straight out of my book, The Goat’s Guide: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Preparing for the California Bar Exam on Your Own}