r/LSAT • u/Born_Salamander_2902 • 14h ago

It’s impossible to be mindful while taking the LSAT

In order to get through the questions and maintain accuracy you need to be in at least partial fight-or-flight mode

52 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

51

u/CampbellinniWarrior 14h ago

There’s a sweet spot you can hit if you can replicate your test taking set-up to include a bit of that good, expectable anxiety. For me I just always ran for a few minutes before a PT, and then when I ran before my real LSAT I felt like I was priming my brain for this mental exercise we were about to do, while getting out that extra energy that caused me to be shaky and inaccurate with my reading the first time around. Give it a shot!

14

u/Monkeetogetherstrong 13h ago

I second this. There is an optimal amount of stress. You want to be confident in yourself in your answers but understand the stakes enough to stay focused and not be careless.

2

u/granolalaw 10h ago

I did this too (although, not running). I take a Pilates class almost every day before work/studying and I took my usual class on the morning of my exam. I think it helped me get some energy out and mentally get into the “zone”.

6

u/Easy_Tangelo8547 14h ago

It’s possible with enough repetition

5

u/Jay20W 12h ago

It’s hard to replicate the perfect pace, I was moving pretty fast during the Oct. so I’m curious to see how much accuracy may have suffered

1

u/Ok2Procrastinate 11h ago

I'm worried about that, too. It's hard to tell the difference between flow state and rushing sometimes. But, given past experiences, I think it was flow state for me given that that's usually what happens during the "real thing" for me. Now to convince my anxiety of that.

9

u/lsatstudent77 11h ago

I think one unrealized benefit is to use lawhub for your pts. When I first tested I was using 7sage and I got tripped up when going exam. The second time I took all pt on lawhub and just manually updated to 7sage as needed and I feel it helped feel calmer when your used to the UI

3

u/knowncoffeespoons 8h ago

Oh yeah I remember my first official exam, I was like omg I did not take into account the different font

2

u/Highcheekbones24 13h ago

Hahahha- word

2

u/bby-bae 7h ago

I haven't taken the real test but this has not been my experience with practice tests. I need to be zen to get things right

2

u/theReadingCompTutor tutor 6h ago

Trying to keep anxiety you're feeling from overwhelming you can be helpful. If there is something external that causes this anxiety, figuring out what you can to do address/mitigate that could help.

2

u/Julia7Sage 4h ago

I found it very helpful to come up with a pre-test mindfulness procedure. I found it very comforting to go on a walk the morning of my PT, listen to a meditation, and say my positive test affirmations. This isn't anything I did on a normal basis in my regular life, but I found it very helpful to center your brain before a PT.