Studying for the bar exam is no easy feat regardless of your situation. It takes a lot of time, energy, and focus to make it happen. But when you’re juggling a full-time job on top of all that studying, it can feel even more overwhelming.
Preparing for the bar exam is costly not just in time but also financially (and mentally, and emotionally, and…). If no one else is supporting you or your family, then you’re probably working and cramming your studies, if you even have the energy left.
But other bar takers have done it. And they were able to blow the exam out of the water.
How did they balance work and studying for the bar exam? It’s not impossible to do both at the same time, but it does require some creativity and discipline.
The first thing to keep in mind is that constraints force you to get creative and focus on what moves the needle. You’re not going to have time or attention to waste on stuff like sitting still like a statue while the lecturer rambles for 4 hours. So you gotta make efficient use of your time.
This can be a blessing in disguise because you won’t be wasting time. Let me share some tactics for studying efficiently while working full time, with examples.
1. Set priorities around prep, and boundaries with work
Pay yourself first. By that, I mean, make studying your priority. Don’t give studying leftover change after selling your time to your employer.
Schedule your work day around when you need to study (not the other way around).
For example, ask yourself: If you want to squeeze in 1 hour in the morning and 3 hours at night, what steps do you need to take to make that happen?
“No time” to study? Don’t just say, “Oh well.” This is your future we’re talking about! Streamline your time to be efficient. Examples:
Mornings
- If you have to pick out an outfit every morning for work, set up a “lookbook” of go-to combinations of clothes (or even the same outfit) so you don’t think about it in the morning.
- If you eat breakfast, pick an easy one like toast and deli meat.
- Then spend those extra 30 minutes you just freed up doing and reviewing 10 MBE questions.
Why waste your morning alertness on your boss, when you could instead spend that mental energy toward your future and goal of passing the bar?
Lunch
- Spend less time at the water cooler.
- Try to solve an essay and review it. Or take a walk with an audiobook or flashcards.
- Treat yourself to lunch and refuel.
Afternoons
- Picking up your kid from school? Bring outlines to review while waiting.
- Ask for help during this time. Your family, partner, or friends may be able to help pick up the slack.
Also, don’t take on any more work at your job than you already have. If your employer already knows or can know that you’re preparing for the bar exam, this part can be easier to manage. If you’re leading a double life where they don’t know, then try these scripts when they try to give you more work:
- “I should be good for the next X weeks or so.”
- “I have enough work for the next X months or so.”
- “I feel pretty good at the moment but could take on a couple more items in the future. I’ll be sure to let you know when my bandwidth opens up.”
= “DON’T BOTHER ME RIGHT NOW”
2. Make a study schedule
You drew boundaries at work. Now what?
Same thing I recommend for every bar taker…
You need a study plan. Without it, you may end up doing random things, falling behind after you procrastinate from exhaustion, and then thinking, “Oh well, I have next time. I have a job, so I’ll be fine for now.”
No! Don’t let yourself slip into a status quo dream. You see the name of this website? You’re here to Make This Your Last Time.
Start here with some ideas on how to make your own study schedule. If you have a stock schedule from your bar review course (which assumes you have all the time in the world and live in your parents’ basement), you can and should tweak it to your needs.
Passer’s Playbook comes with example study plans that I crafted for paying clients, sample schedules that span 10 weeks to 1 week, and schedules made by other bar takers.
3. Draw motivation from yourself
One of the three things you really need for bar prep is the ability to self-motivate. Without it, you’ve already lost. You’ll get pulled by the tides of work, and bar prep will become a secondary priority.
Remember your reason for doing this. Do you want to leave your employer and find a better job eventually? Maybe start your own law firm?
Keep your WHY in mind as motivation to put this bar exam behind you once and for all.
Sure, motivational speeches might make you say, “Yeah! I needed this today!!” Well, you better use that burst of motivation today while it’s there, then. Otherwise, you’ll go back to the same cycle of telling people again, “I’m so unmotivated.” External boosts don’t last very long.
Ultimately, the best motivation is to SEE and FEEL results. This means you must actually attempt practice questions and watch yourself improve. Enjoying the process is key to sustainable motivation and momentum.
Put another way, do things BEFORE you feel like doing it. No one wants to GO to the gym, but they never regret having gone.
A study partner or group can also be a way to have ongoing accountability and build trauma bonds.
4. Take advantage of resources, tools, and supplements for bar prep
The thing you’re lacking right now is not just time but also ENERGY.
Mental cognitive resources are in shorter supply when you have a job.
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel yourself and do everything on your own. There are resources out there streamlined already to assist with rapid learning. There’s the MBE Frequency Chart as well and other resources on MTYLT to help you study smarter.
Use these tools to get that extra boost in study efficiency.
But don’t get mired in them either. Be conscious and deliberate about how you’re using them. If you’re using a bar review course, know how to use them effectively.
If you’re using outlines, courses, or other supplements, don’t hide behind them thinking you’ll be all set if you “just know the information.” You also have to know how to USE the information. There’s a huge difference.
With less time to spare, wrestling with past exam questions can be the most time-efficient (and effective anyway) way to develop your knowledge, skills, and an intuition of what’s important (since important topics will come up more frequently than others). Practicing and active learning will help you memorize and retain the material, too!
5. Don’t procrastinate
You’re juggling a job and bar prep. I get it. It can be tough to manage work, studying for the bar exam, and all the other commitments in your life.
I’ve been there too. I worked part-time while studying for the bar exam. I’ve had demanding full-time attorney jobs while growing MTYLT, so I know the effort and sacrifices it takes to succeed in two things at the same time.
But remember that constraints force you to get creative and focus on what moves the needle. And it only takes a moment of strength for the lifetime privilege of calling yourself an attorney.
If you let the temptation of comfort wash over you for too many days, it’s back to la-la land for you. Back to the status quo.
I’ve seen people continue to keep their status quo identity as a repeater for YEARS. Never let yourself end up in that situation because it’s VERY difficult to get out of that perpetual dream state. Keep a solid grip over your vision of becoming an attorney.
This is where the schedule you made above will come in handy as a reminder of the time you have left. Even though your schedule is a living document, it can help you stick to a general timeline and keep you on track. The bar exam isn’t going to budge, so you’ll have to fit your studies before then.
6. Get enough sleep
Bar prep is mentally demanding. Again, it’s not just an issue of time—but of ENERGY. After work, you’re probably drained.
Sleep is the #1 predictor of energy, so make sure to get sleep. 6+ hours of sleep is non-negotiable, like a meeting on your calendar.
One way to help with a proper sleeping rhythm is to use sleepyti.me to set when to sleep and when to wake up in increments of 90 minutes (approximately between REM cycles).
7. You still need breaks from bar prep
Even though you have a tight timetable, you still need to give your brain a break every once in a while. I don’t mean taking a week-long vacation, though that’s up to you. It’s your life.
There are two types of breaks I’d like you to try: buffer days and intraday breaks.
I recommend building in one or more buffer days in your schedule. These are free days you can use to catch up, get ahead, or simply clock out. If you pack every day with tasks, you’ll probably fall behind with no way to catch up, and now you’re asking me to rehaul your schedule again.
And if you’re like many people, it’s hard to keep focused for long stretches of time, especially when you have other things going on. It’s natural to switch tasks in a given workday, even before or after work.
Try a cycle like the Pomodoro Technique, a popular time-management method for short bursts of focus to stay fresh which prescribes 25 minutes of work and 5 minutes of rest. Or what I used, the 20/10 cycle where I went between 20 minutes of work and 10 minutes of rest and dicking around online. This can give your mind a break and help you keep focused consistently.
Taking regular breaks can help you be productive. But no need to force it. If you’re in the flow and can keep studying, great!
Studying for the bar exam efficiently while working full time
Here’s how you can be strategic about how you manage your bar studies while you have a job:
- Set priorities and boundaries with your employer
- Make a study schedule
- Draw motivation from yourself
- Take advantage of resources, tools, and supplements for bar prep
- Don’t procrastinate
- Get enough sleep
- You still need breaks from bar prep
Studying for the bar exam while working is possible with the right approach. Craft a realistic study schedule and use practice questions to ensure that you’re making the most of your time while still working. Taking these steps will help you pass the bar exam and achieve your goal of becoming an attorney and working without the bar exam looming over your head.
The last thing to keep in mind is that you CAN do hard things. Are you the type who can do hard things?