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5 Tips on Keeping Up With the Workload in Law School

By George Khoury, Esq. on August 28, 2017 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

For many law students, the size of the workload in law school can be crushing to the soul, spirit, and social life. When there are hundreds of pages of dense case law reading due every week, keeping up with school can be a real challenge.

However, law students can take comfort in the fact that they are not alone. Also, historically, just about every licensed lawyer living today has gone through law school, and if Rebel Wilson and Gerard Butler can do it, so can you.

Below, you'll find five tips to help you keep up with the workload.

1. Wake Up Early

Waking up early to study may sound awful, but studying before class can really help when it comes to making sure you're ready for class. Whether or not you've actually kept up, at least skimming the required reading before class will give you the confidence to not attempt to hide behind your laptop when your prof get's all Socratic on the classroom.

2. Buy a Nice Bed

This is an add-on tip to the last one, but it's important enough to stand alone. Get a good bed. Sleep is very important. And you're not going to have much time to waste, so the sleep you do get should be spectacular. Simply put, get the best mattress you can afford. The better you sleep, the better you'll study, and the easier it'll be to keep up.

3. Love it, Engage With It, Annoy Everyone With It

Don't just go to law school, or just go to class. Love every bit of it. Grapple with the material. Be as interested as humanly possible. You're going to have to read a lot of cases, so you better learn to enjoy it, otherwise you're going to be miserable. And don't worry if you annoy your non-law school friends by talking about cases non-stop. It's what you're into right now.

4. Your Study Group Is Your Social Life

Having a good study group that you can socialize with is great, especially if your group commits to holding each other accountable, and your non-law friends are sick of hearing about Palsgraf and the "zone of danger." Combining studying and socializing can be very helpfully. Having regular meetings over meals, or even around your favorite TV shows, can ground the group's studying in something social and fun. But, be very careful not to prioritize the social part over the studying part, and also watch out for the know-it-all, because they can often get it wrong.

5. Eat Right and Get the Flu Shot

If you have a lot of studying to do, it may seem like a good idea to make sure you're not hungry. But eating too much, or eating really heavy, sleep inducing, foods before studying is recipe for disaster. Avoiding processed sugars, eating a balanced diet and keeping hydrated will help you maintain your health, as will exercise. And while eating healthy and exercising is time consuming, if you get sick, school does not stop, and the reading will pile up (and you'll probably have to spend more on supplements than antibiotics). Protip: get a flu shot before flu season.

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