Five Must-Know Study Tips for Law Students

Knowing effective study strategies is imperative to success in law school. You not only will be bombarded with larger quantities of material than you ever were as an undergraduate, but the complexity and difficulty of the material will be increased as well. Your best ammunition to meet the challenges of this new workload is to be armed with excellent study habits.

The following are five tips that you should consider as you enter law school or graduate school of any kind:

1. On a very basic level, learning good study habits is an exercise in self-reflection. Ask yourself the simple question, "What are the conditions under which I am likely to study the most efficiently and effectively?" Therein lies your first step towards developing effective study habits. Are you more effective in the morning? What type of lighting do you prefer? Do you like complete silence or do the sounds of people going about their business in the background help you to focus? Once you have these answers, set yourself up for success. If you are more effective in the evenings in complete silence, find a remote corner within the depths of the medical school library at 9 p.m. and get to work!
2. Once you find that perfect study location, use it only for studying. As you are trying to condition yourself to perform at your most efficient level when in this study spot, avoid emailing, letter writing, text messaging, and day dreaming when seated at this study location. With enough practice, your mind will automatically shift into study mode when sit down in your usual study spot.
3. In planning your study sessions, be very specific regarding what you intend to accomplish on a given day. A vague goal such as, "I am going to study all day on Sunday" will set you up for failure as it doesn't quantify the amount of work you're accomplishing. Concise goals such as "read pages 1 - 50"are much more practical and will lead to better results in any given study session. Just be sure that your goal is attainable in the amount of time set aside! If you reach that goal earlier than you thought, stop studying and go take a break.
4. When setting your study goal, it is often a good idea to assign it right when you sit down to study but before you actually begin working. You will feel better knowing exactly what needs to be accomplished at the onset of a study session.
5. This probably isn't news to most of us, but it's usually best to divide your work into several short assignments as opposed to trying to tackle huge amounts of material in one sitting. Plan ahead and stick to the plan as much as possible! There's nothing worse than feeling completely overwhelmed at the beginning of a study session.

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