Law Professors, Law Schools

Your Worst Enemy When You’re Studying is You

The thing that I continually struggle with, however, is patience.

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Teenage girl studyingWhen I was an undergrad, I learned to study the wrong way. I stayed up the night before exams, flash cards in hand, doing some serious cramming. I would often times stay up all night and walk into the exam in a zombie-like state I typically reserve for committee meetings. On those painful nights, I would be increasingly angry with myself, unable to comprehend even basic principles. I would walk into the final dejected with overwhelming feelings of imminent doom. I would swear that in the future, I would not do that last-minute, panic-stricken, cram session. Every semester, I would repeat this pattern.

While in retrospect I could say several things were missing (such as a study plan), the skill that seems lacking the most is the ability to be patient with myself and the rate at which I absorbed the material. In previous columns, I have written much advice about how to study, when to study, what to do when not studying and about the importance of sleep.

The thing that I continually struggle with, however, is patience.

Here’s why patience is the most important study tool: Without it, you become your own worst enemy. When you are impatient about how fast you are learning, you either lash out at the inanimate material (or inanimate professor), or you turn that anger and frustration inward and lash out at yourself. If you turn it against the professor, you aren’t studying, you aren’t calm, and you’re wasting time. If you turn it inward, you’re convincing yourself you aren’t smart, you’re going to fail, or a whole host of unhelpful things, each of which will hamper your performance and become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Practicing patience isn’t easy. It requires that you focus on what you are doing when your mind wanders. You have to consciously retool your mind. When you are frustrated at yourself and saying things like “I’m going to fail,” you have to step back, take a deep breath, and think “I can do this. I will do this.” Some call it the power of positive thinking. Some call it reframing. Regardless of what you call it, patience with yourself is a way to get that nagging self-doubt off your back. It is impossible to study if you’re on your own case.

Patience also clears your brain. When you’re studying and you become overwhelmed, your brain becomes clogged/flooded. Those of you who have or have had panic attacks know what I’m talking about: No amount of rational discussion is going to talk you down once your brain starts that cycle.

Practicing patience isn’t easy. But the best place to start is with yourself. Start by recognizing you are being impatient/frustrated/angry/panicked. Recognize that such feelings are going to transfer into some physical symptoms. You might have a headache, you might feel tense, you might be short of breath, you might be shaking or agitated. You might be randomly yelling at people.

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Next, alleviate those symptoms. If you are a fan of Jeena Cho (as I am), you can get all sorts of great advice about meditation and mindfulness. If that’s not for you, then think of other things to do. Go for a walk. Exercise.

The other thing you can do is to love yourself. (Not like that — get your mind out of the gutter). Self-affirmation and gratitude go a long way in promoting self-confidence and patience.  Keep a journal of things you accomplished and things for which you are grateful. People who hear this advice tend to scoff at it, but people who have done it feel better about themselves.  The best mood to have while studying is a positive one.

Once you get to this point, maybe you’re ready to be patient with others. People are very good at testing patience. They will deliberately seek to antagonize you, or, at the very least, through their thoughtlessness unintentionally antagonize you. They win to the extent they are able to do so.  Being patient is a great way to take power away from those who would seek to be your second worst enemy.  For example, colleagues can test your patience by trying to make you feel worse about yourself so they can feel better about themselves. You probably know how it feels to have one of these people on your back while you’re beating yourself up. The key to eliminating that downward spiral is to recognize it is happening and distancing yourself from it.

What reward is there to patience? If you get better at practicing it, you can sit through a traffic jam without being super annoyed. You can listen to colleagues explain in great detail how great they are with great amusement. You can sit in committee meetings without being frustrated. Okay, I’m still working on that last one.

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LawProfBlawg is an anonymous professor at a top 100 law school. You can see more of his musings here and on Twitter. Email him at [email protected].

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