Surviving Law School Stress

I thought I would do a post on my top 10 tips on how I manage stress in law school. I think one of the the hardest part of law school is attempting to stay calm when everyone else around you is freaking out. This especially happens towards the end of the semester when everyone starts going crazy because finals are approaching. This list is geared towards finals, but these things apply everyday too!

1. Take time for yourself everyday. You need to do something that you love to do for at least 30 - 60 minutes of your day that has nothing to do with law school. Watch that terrible but amazing reality TV show that makes your brain go numb. Surf the internet. Bake. Plan a vacation you want to take somewhere someday. During finals, I would watch one of my favorite TV shows every night before bed to attempt to silence my mind before I went to sleep (sometimes it worked, sometimes not).

Fiction books > case books 

2. Exercise: The best way to handle everything is to get your heart rate up and you will feel so much better afterwards. If you don't like going to the gym or are not a runner, just go on a brisk walk! It's a perfect study break and keeps you from going crazy.

Taking advantage the year round sun in LA by hiking

3. Always have something non-law school to look forward to on the weekend: Before finals started looming (i.e. November/April), I would make sure that I dedicated either a full day of my weekend or at least half of the day to do something fun. I usually used my time do explore LA, watch football, or de-stress on the beach with a good book. But you need that large portion of time to unwind. And something to look forward to during the week!

My boyfriend and I went on a brewery tour of LA

4. Keep your non-law school friends close: I love the people I've met in law school so far. I know that they will be close friends forever. However, sometimes you just need to vent to people who do not know what you are talking about to make you realize that your problems are much smaller than you think they are. A good vent session with my best friends back home or my boyfriend does wonders for my stress level.

My best friend from high school visiting

5. Remind yourself of the big picture: During 1L, you will be bogged down in reading appellate cases upon cases and you can forget what it actually means to be a lawyer. Volunteer with a clinic, go watch a professional talk at lunch, do something to remind yourself that you will (probably) not be spending the remainder of your life reading cases from 1902.

6. Remind yourself why YOU came to law school: If you go to school that really stresses OCI (on campus interviews for large, private law firms), it can be easy to forget why you came to school in the first place and get caught up in what the school seems to be throwing at you. If you want to do criminal law, public interest, government work, don't give up on that because you feel forced into the private sector.

7. Reward yourself: I usually choose chocolate to reward myself! Food always makes me happy. And during finals, do whatever it takes to make yourself happy.

The best gelato 

8. Once you take a test, move on: I think that one of the worst things that you can do is talk about an exam with your friends afterwards. Every administrator and professor will probably tell you this. You will probably ignore it and as soon as you exit your first final, you will run up to your friends and talk about what you were unsure of. Then your friends will mention something that you did not write about and you will start freaking out because you think you are wrong. It's a never-ending cycle and so pointless because the test is over and there is nothing else you can do about it!

9. During finals, consider finding a different study location away from the library: During finals, that place can just be swarming with extra stress. Sometimes, I feel like the minute I walk in the door I am 10x more stressed than I was before. Coffee shops or public libraries are good alternatives!

10. Do what feels right for you, not what everyone else is doing! What may work for everyone else (and me) might not work for you.