Five Tips To Avoid Law School Burnout

Five Tips To Avoid Law School Burnout

As a law student, it’s important to treat yourself well so that you don’t experience burnout as you move through your studies.  In order to keep you from experiencing law school burnout, we’ve put together this list of preventative advice. Taking this advice to heart can help you better navigate the pressure, stress, and constant demands that law school provides. So, without further ado, here are five tips to avoid law school burnout.

Five Tips To Avoid Law School Burnout

1. It’s A Marathon, Not A Sprint

Law school is a marathon, which means you need to pace yourself accordingly. After all, you don’t see marathon runners using all of their energy at one point in the race. Instead, you see them carefully pick and choose when to use energy and when to store energy. Much in the same way, law school is a three year experience.  If you start pacing yourself during your first year, you’ll likely have more energy to tackle whatever comes your way during years two and three.

2. Know What’s Important

Understanding what is worth your time (and what isn’t worth your time!) is a great way to avoid law school burnout. As we mentioned above, law students could fill every minute of every day with something to do (not recommended). However, just because there’s an endless number of things to do, organizations to participate in, and subjects to study doesn’t mean each one deserves your time and attention. For example, imagine you regularly attend class and take notes (which you should be doing). If your professor uploads his or her lecturers online, that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to watch them. You’ve already gone to class and taken notes. Unless there’s something you didn’t understand, you probably don’t need to watch old lectures.

3. Time Management

The amount of time you spend doing something is equally as important as knowing what to spend your time on. An easy way to avoid law school burnout is by properly managing your time. For example, imagine it’s taking you five hours per night to complete the assigned reading for one course. This is probably a sign that you need some extra help (or need to take a break!) and that your time would be better spent elsewhere. Similarly, if it’s taking two hours after class to clean up lecture notes, look for ways to take better notes. Efficiency is key in law school, and it can prevent burnout caused by needlessly pouring time into certain tasks. Outlining, class notes, reading, and studying for final exams can all be streamlined in a way that allows you with the time you need to not only complete tasks but also time to focus on yourself and activities you enjoy doing.

4. Don’t Forget About Fun

While law school can certainly take up a lot of any student’s time, it doesn’t take up all of their time. Sure, between attending class, completing assignments, and everything else law school dishes out, it can be hard to let loose. However, having a social life and making time for the things you enjoy can help to prevent law school burnout. Be sure to build breaks into your study schedule.  Some students regularly take a day off each week which helps them recharge and stay focused!

5. Stay Motivated

Our last tip to avoid law school burnout is to stay motivated, even when it’s difficult to do so. You’ve come a long way and have worked hard to get to where you are. If law school was easy, everyone would do it. Remember what you’re working towards, how many people are cheering you on, and the great things you have planned. If you’re finding it hard to stay motivated, don’t hesitate to lean on your support system for some extra help.

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