254: Quick Tips -- Best Habits for Studying for the Bar Exam While Working

We’re the co-creators of the Law School Toolbox, the Bar Exam Toolbox, and the career-related website CareerDicta. Alison also runs The Girl’s Guide to Law School. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on your favorite listening app, and check out our sister podcast, the Law School Toolbox podcast. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. You can reach us via the contact form on BarExamToolbox.com, and we’d love to hear from you. And with that, let’s get started.

Welcome back! Today, we’re talking about best habits for studying for the bar exam and specifically about studying for the bar exam while working full or part-time. While it is generally preferable to study for the bar full-time, so that you are able to devote eight to ten hours per day to study for the exam, we know that studying for the bar exam full-time just isn’t an option for many people.

And some people have to balance studying for the bar exam with working a full or part-time job at the same time. In today’s episode, we will give some quick tips for effectively studying for the bar exam while working. Let’s begin. The first and most important tip for studying for the bar exam while working is to make a specific and concrete study schedule.

Studying for the bar exam is a big commitment and a very time intensive task, so it is best to make a specific schedule for yourself where you block out a specific amount of time each day outside of your work schedule that you will devote to studying for the bar exam. These blocks of time should be very specific: for example, committing to studying for the bar exam every weekday from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. These specific blocks of time can be in the early morning, evening, or at night.

We know not everyone is a morning person, but out of those three options, we really recommend trying to block out time in the early morning for studying. Studying in the early morning can be a powerful tool when studying for the bar exam while working. You generally are much fresher and have more energy at the start of your day than at the end of the day. In addition, there are often much fewer distractions in the early morning than in the evening or at night.

Also, when making your study schedule, make sure to leverage weekends. Weekends are a place where you can set aside large chunks of time to devote to studying for the bar. For more information on making an effective study schedule for yourself while studying for the bar and working, we have links to many great resources on that subject on the Bar Exam Toolbox website. Those links can be found in the show notes for this episode of the podcast. Our next tip is to be strategic about your studying.

Because you will likely be pressed for time to learn a tremendous amount of material for the bar exam, it is a good idea to take a lay of the land and determine what topics get tested the most frequently in the jurisdiction where you are taking your bar exam. In addition, you should do a self-evaluation and determine which topics you are stronger on and which ones you are weaker on.

Taking the time to perform these evaluations will allow you to make better use of your study time by: [1] focusing on the subjects that are most frequently tested in your jurisdiction; and [2] focusing on the subjects where you are weaker. The next tip is to start early.

Again, properly studying for the bar exam takes a lot of time, and if you have to balance your studies with your work responsibilities, you will have less time overall to devote to bar studies than someone who is studying full-time. One way you can make up for this lack of time is by starting earlier than the traditional time for beginning bar preparation. For example, most people that are studying full-time for the bar exam begin to study about eight weeks before the exam date.

If you are only able to study for the bar exam for about 20 to 30 hours per week due to your work responsibilities, then eight weeks probably won’t be a sufficient amount of time to effectively study and prepare for the bar exam. In this situation, it would be a good idea to start studying about thirteen weeks before the bar exam. Those additional weeks of studying will allow you to spread your study schedule out over a longer period of time and cover more material.

In determining how early to begin studying for the bar, be sure to first determine how many hours each week you are able to study for the bar. Then determine how many weeks you would need to reach the equivalent amount of time that a person studying full-time for eight weeks would have, which is approximately 320 hours of studying.

Studying for the bar exam does involve a lot of memorization, but you can still start your bar examination preparation earlier than the traditional eight weeks timeframe by being strategic about the materials you study early on. For example, if you are in a jurisdiction that has a performance test component of the exam, that is a subject that you can work on early because performance tests don’t require any memorization of specific areas of law.

In addition, especially if you work with a tutor, you can spend time working on and sharpening your essay writing skills early on in your studies. Good essay writing skills will help your overall exam scores, and essay writing is something that can be worked on even without extensive memorization of the law. Additionally, people can get access to AdaptiBar or UWorld immediately after one bar exam ends. This means that you can start using it early and for longer at no additional cost.

While on the subject of bar review providers, our next tip is to find a bar review provider with flexible options that will work for you and your work schedule. It is important that you find a bar review provider that will support you on your schedule. This means that you may want to select a provider that has substantive lectures that you can listen to remotely in the car, office, or at home after work.

Or you may find that you should hire a tutor to help you target your weak areas and study effectively based on your needs. The next tip is to take some time off from work for the actual exam. It is generally a good idea to take at least a week off before your bar exam, so that you can cram and keep all the topics fresh in your memory during the final push before your exam.

Taking time off before the exam will also ensure that you are free from any potential distractions or stress created by your job, allowing you to focus 100 percent on your exam. Our next tip is to leverage your network and seek support from friends and family during your study time. Even small things like some help with chores or having someone to go to for emotional support can go a long way in helping you during times of stress. Our final tip is about burn out.

Studying for the bar while working can be very intense, especially if you are working full-time, so you have to be mindful about your mental health to ensure that you don’t suffer from burn out, which can affect your performance during the final stretch of your studying and during the exam. A great way to combat burn out is to make sure that you carve out some time each week away from both work and bar study to devote to yourself.

This time should be used on something you enjoy, like hiking, doing yoga, going to the gym, or watching a movie. In addition, make sure to get the proper amount of sleep while studying for the bar. A poor sleep schedule will affect your performance come exam day, so it is crucial to make sure that you are getting a sufficient amount of sleep each night while studying for the bar exam and working.

Also , be sure to take good care of your body by drinking lots of water and eating healthy foods during your studies. Finally, we have many great additional resources on the Bar Exam Toolbox website related to the subject of studying for the bar exam while working. Those resources will be linked in the show notes. Thanks so much for joining us today. We hope this episode has shed some light on studying for the bar exam while working.

If you enjoyed this episode of the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast, please take a second to leave a review and rating on your favorite listening app. We’d really appreciate it. And be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss anything. If you’re still in law school, you might also like to check out our popular Law School Toolbox podcast as well. If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to myself or Alison at [email protected] or [email protected].

Or you can always contact us via our website contact form at BarExamToolbox.com. Thanks for listening, and we’ll talk soon!