Strategies Archives | Page 11 of 17 | Make This Your Last Time

July 2, 2020January 11, 2022 - 8 Comments

How should you really practice for the bar exam? “I keep practicing, but I’m not improving”

So you want to pass the bar. You’re super serious about it.

You pore over your outlines, trying to make sure you have a grasp of all the rules. There are still other subjects to review. You don’t think practice will be productive unless you “get” the theory.

It’s all so overwhelming.

But you did it. You can focus on practice now that you’ve had a good solid review of the core subjects first. You’ve been doing a few MBE questions and looked at a few essays already, but now it’s time to buckle down and get to writing those essays (you’ll get to the PTs… later).

After all, they said to “practice practice practice.”

But something’s wrong…

No matter how many times you do it, every essay is a mystery.

The blank-page syndrome is giving you irregular heartbeats and making you break out into a cold sweat.

You keep picking the incorrect answer choice on your MBE questions.

The prospect of grading your work makes you want to lie down on your bed instead.

Here’s why you’re stuck and what to do to get unstuck:

Observe the “10-40-40-10 rule” of bar preparation.

May 22, 2020July 11, 2020 - 2 Comments

How to Focus on Bar Studies While Stuck at Home in Quarantine

It’s hard enough to focus when there isn’t a cloud of coronavirus covering the planet. Or all the hubbub about what the exam will be like. Or wondering when it’s even going to be.

The stress of adjusting to “the new reality.” Dealing with uncertainty about the bar exam. Running out of yeast for your new bread machine.

You’re at the brink of feeling burned out before the exam is even happening.

First of all, if we’re quarantining, we should be thankful to have a place to stay and a refuge from everything going on outside (even if we’re forced to coexist with our housemates).

But it may be frustrating to not have a quiet place to focus if your go-to study place is suddenly gone. We’re stuck at home. Libraries are closed. Daycares are closed. Coffee shops don’t let you linger around.

Being productive in your bar preparation has become more challenging than it’s ever been.

How do you get into that flow if where you live is the only place left to study?

The two biggest killers of focus and concentration are external distractions and your energy.

Address each by designing your environment and optimizing your sleep as follows:

April 4, 2020December 19, 2025 - 2 Comments

Should You Take the California Attorneys’ Exam or the General California Bar Exam?

So you’re a licensed attorney. You have a blossoming life outside of California. And for some reason, you want to join an overcrowded state and tackle the hardest bar exam in the country (debate me, New Yorkers).

No judgment here! But the question on your mind is whether to take the one-day Attorneys’ Examination (essays and PT only)… or the two-day General Bar Exam (essays, PT, and MBE) like the rest of them.

Is it smarter to take the full exam because of the higher pass rate? What about the possibility of boosting your score with the MBE questions?

It seems crazy that you would choose to take a longer test, but could it be easier to study for it?

How are other non-California attorneys making this decision?

February 29, 2020April 25, 2026 - 22 Comments

Passing the Bar Exam with the Tripod Approach (Just Triage These Areas)

Let’s say you have an overwhelming amount of material to learn for the bar exam with limited time. (Who doesn’t?)

Or when one door opens, another door closes. You’re not consistently scoring well on the essays. Or you just need a little push to get to a passing score on the MBE, but then you feel like you’re sacrificing the written portion.

It might make sense to focus on a few key areas (rather than spreading yourself thin) that could get you enough points without stressing about marginal gains.

This is the basis for the Tripod Approach, which is a minimally effective approach to get the largest return for your efforts in preparing for the California Bar Exam or the Uniform Bar Exam.

January 5, 2020February 23, 2025 - 4 Comments

3 Illusions You Might Be Trapped In When Preparing for the Bar Exam

I see some strange juxtapositions whenever I make the mistake of leaving the house:

Words: “Don’t drive even after a beer. It’s dangerous.”
Action: Drives with one eye on the phone and another eye on the road

Words: “Do your civic duty and go vote. Here’s a sticker!”
Action: Actively avoids making a direct impact on the community through jury duty

Words: “I’m never drinking again!”
One month later: “I’m never drinking again!”

(My quest to restore a six-pack taught me that bursts of “never” don’t last long and that sustainability and consistency are way more valuable.)

What are some other ones? Let me know in the comments what you’ve noticed.

And then we have bar takers. Souls wandering in limbo. Not yet a licensed attorney but not a regular person either.

We see some interesting behaviors with bar takers as well: