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How do you handle distractions and stay focused during bar prep?
Video Transcript:
Hey guys, Michael here, co-founder of Studicata. Today we have a question, how do you handle distractions and stay focused during preparation for the bar exam? This question actually highlights one of the major difficulties of test preparation in general, whether you’re studying for the SAT, the LSAT, the GMAT, the GRE, or the bar exam. Whatever it is you commonly hear this thought process pop up: how do I get off social media, how do I remove this distraction, or how do I stay focused?
What’s interesting about this line of reasoning is you don’t usually think about these things when it comes to your employment. Right? If an employer has assigned you a task, you usually get that done without having to worry about staying focused or deal with distractions because you know if you don’t get this task done you could be fired. Right? Imagine that you work for a big law firm and your partner at that firm has assigned you a really important task, maybe that’s drafting a motion or a client letter or a brief, something important and gives you a specific due date, this is due on Monday. You know, you’re going to do everything in your power whether you have to work 20 hours on Saturday and Sunday to get that task done to the best of your ability because if you don’t there’s immediate foreseeable consequences, you’re going to be fired or reprimanded – something that’s very not fun, something that’s not going to be enjoyable for you is going to be in your immediate future if you don’t get this done so you get the job done. Right?
You don’t have distractions or lose focus like you do for test preparation because if you’re preparing for the bar exam and your big prep company assigns you a daily task there’s no immediate consequence to not getting that task done. Right? You’re not going to lose your job, you’re not going to lose any money, you’re not going to be reprimanded by anyone, you’re just maybe going to feel a little bit bad about yourself but that’s usually not enough of a motivator to get your tasks done. What you have to do to stay focused and deal with distractions is build an accountability system. What this usually requires and what I’ve seen to work is basically step one you need to come up with a daily goal, a daily task that you have to complete every single day. Usually a really good daily goal would be completing a certain number of practice questions, I would usually say a minimum probably about 32 practice multiple choice questions and at least one essay a day.
You have this goal, you’re going to complete X amount of practice questions and review those every single day no matter what, that is your threshold goal. Doing more than that is great, but that’s the bare minimum. Basically what you say is you pick something that you love to do, and everybody has something that they enjoy whether that’s watching Netflix of playing a video game or playing an instrument or going to the gym, working out, everybody has something that they really enjoy doing and only you can know what your thing is but I promise you everybody has a thing. You have to identify that one thing that you can’t live without, that you love doing almost every day, and basically what you say is, I am not going to allow myself to do this thing that I love until this goal is completed every day. That is a way that you can hold yourself accountable.
So, until I complete 32 practice multiple choice questions and review those and get at least one essay done I am not going to watch Netflix, I am not going to go on Facebook, I am not going to go to the gym, I’m not going to play my instrument, I’m not going to do the thing that I love to do until this task is completed. You have to stick to that every single day, you can’t cheat. Right? That’s all about willpower and staying motivated and respecting yourself really, but if you have an accountability system like that it’s going to force you to complete tasks similar to how you would for employment. Now it’s not easy, you’re never going to have the motivation that you are at like a job if you work for a big law firm, because you can’t force yourself to think that you’re going to be fired or there’s going to be extreme negative consequences for not getting tasks completed. Most likely you’re going to have to use rewards and that’s why you have to pick that thing that you love more than anything else and you can’t do that until you complete that task.
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