09 Aug Time Management
Time management is a beg deal in online law school; but even more so in 1L when you are studying for the First Year Law Students exam (FYLSE). You have one year, 365 days, to cram enough Torts, Criminal Law, and Contracts into your head to be one of the 18-20% of people who pass the test.
Everyone’s goal is to pass on their first sitting; no one ever spends a year of their life preparing for something with the intention of failing. Although we all intend to pass only 18-20% do. Much of the failure rate can be chalked up to not enough studying, thinking it would be easy, shooting yourself in the foot, and overall poor time management.
Learn on Your Own Terms
Not all study methods work for everyone and with time being as limited as it is you have to ensure that the time you do spend studying is maximized for your performance. If you are not an auditory learner, then don’t spend your time listening to old lectures over and over. If your a tactile learner begin writing rule statements and essays over and over; but most importantly don’t waste your time.
Once you know what works for you then don’t let anyone tell you any different. It has been my experience that everyone believes “their way” is the “right way” and this just isn’t the case. Somewhere around a month to two before you sign up for the FYLSE you should know your learning style.
Take advantage of all the tools available to you on the internet, through your school, through website like this, and through your fellow students to help you maximize your time. Most of the most helpful learning tools I used during my 1L year I found online. I am a visual learner so I spent a lot of time searching youtube looking for videos about how to write essays, explanations of rule statements and elements, and listening to a lot of Law School Parody songs.
The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men always fail when you’re not prepared for sacrifice!
When I signed up for Law School Online they informed me I would have to spend a minimum of 30 hours a week studying; I don’t think I believed them at the time, and like all good law students meticulously planned out how I would achieve the 30 hours suggested each week. Need I say more than, “The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men?”
The suggested 30 hour study time was a joke but not the way I thought; it was more like 40 to 60 hours each week. This extensive demand on your time and constant studying lead many people to become “bored” or just plain sick of studying. This is where knowing yourself really comes in handy.
Play Phone Apps
It was about a month before taking my FYLSE that I was burnt out on writing and re-writing rule statements and essays. I felt like I had developed some type of allergic reaction, every time I would sit down to begin writing, I would begin to get VERY sleepy. This is when I decided I needed a break but I couldn’t justify a normal break, so I made a break. I began spending a lot of time looking for videos on the internet and actually started making flashcards on an online flashcard site which turned those flashcards into a phone game.
The flashcards turned into a Bejeweled type game where I would have to match the phrases up with the rules in order to match up the colors. Many people would think that this wasn’t studying; but at the time it was all I could manage. I would sit on the couch and spend hours playing on my phone, I would attend social events and play on my phone, I would go to appointments and play on my phone. But the entire time, although I wasn’t studying in a “traditional manner” I was still studying and ensuring that I was utilizing every moment immersing myself in 1L material.
I tell people, “I studied every day” and often I know in their heads they are thinking, “Yeah right”. But really, I did, every day. This does not mean that I sat down with a blank legal pad and wrote out rule statements over and over every day until my eyes bled, it just means that I spent every day working on, reading, listening to, or participating in something related to my 1L subjects.
I created huge poster boards of varying neon colors and placed them strategically throughout my house in places where I often stared, i.e. next to my TV, in the kitchen above the sink, behind my computer. On these poster boards I wrote out my outlines and added my rule statements. So even when I was sitting on the couch, attempting to spend on minute of my life avoiding law school, it would find me and subconsciously force me to stay involved.
I printed up the questions and model answers for all the FYLSE exams that were available on the CalBar website and placed them, along with blank paper, in a binder and put that binder in my car. While I was stuck in traffic, sitting at the drive through, or drug off to some horrible social situation I would always have something to do. I cant tell you how many obnoxious conversations I avoided by pulling out my binder and beginning to outline a criminal law essay. Other mothers at the park quit asking you what your doing after you begin to explain homicide a few times.
Know Your Enemy
Making the most of your time means knowing your enemy. Where are you in law school, what are you struggling with, what is your deadline? In order to best use your time you have to know where you need to spend your time the most. If your school runs all three 1L subject concurrently then you really need to be able to identify your weak points and make use more time to focus on these areas. If your school does not run the classes concurrently but instead does one at a time you could find yourself missing whole theories of law if you don’t time manage appropriately.
Sometimes this means skimming through the reading. If you are struggling with the concept of specific intent v. general intent crimes; don’t spend hours in your index looking for a chapter that will specifically explain the differences, don’t spend hours reading in your Contract book about the UCC perfect tender rule. Be quick, be efficient, use your time wisely. Reach out to other students for exact information on where to find the difference, email your professors, search the internet; but do not get behind or stuck because of a single theory.
I once spent three hours on a phone call with a fellow student during 1L in which we only discussed impossibility. The theory of impossibility was impossible for us to understand and instead of reaching out to another who already understood or asking for help, we just beat ourselves over the head with something we couldn’t understand. I didn’t do myself any favors and she didn’t do herself any favors. When we got off the phone neither of us were the wiser; but we were missing three hours of study and understanding we would never get back.
Remember, work smarter not harder and don’t reinvent the wheel.
Many 1L students have come before you and complied resources for you; take advantage of that. Here are some helpful links to sites that will make your studying more time effective!
These sites have not only essays from previous FYLSE’s but also model answers. Go to these sites, bookmark them in your computer, and then never waste another moment again searching for something so simple.
Create a Schedule
When your classes run concurrently you will want to decide early on how you will attack each new module. For me it was best to start with Torts, then Criminal Law, and finally Contracts. If your school has a Legal Writing and Test Taking class as well I would suggest leaving that subject for last. My school required we take Legal Writing in our 1L year and it was always the last module I would approach, this is because often times this class incorporates the learning from the other three subjects in its assignments. Therefore, its best to tackle this subject last so that you ensure a proper understanding of the subject matter before attempting assignments.
Just like an exercise schedule, once created, you have to stick to it!
- Make an appointment on your calendar for one day each week where you do nothing but review what you have learned so far
- Hold yourself accountable to your schedule; if you say your going to do it then do it
- Get a study partner, tutor, or upperclassmen to work with; this provides a second level of accountability
- Embrace your failures
Remember, just because your attending an online law school does not negate the fact it is LAW SCHOOL. This journey will require perseverance, hard work, sacrifice, blood and sweat; but it will also be the most fulfilling thing you have ever accomplished.
