How To Win The Time Management Game In Law School

...and be less stressed and more productive.

Despite popular belief, it is possible to succeed in law school — even during the first year —  and have some stress-free, free time. Through my own time management trials and tribulations, I have tried countless hacks to become more organized and productive. Spend some time answering the following questions for yourself to be on the path to law school time management success.

How much time do you have?

In the world of time management, knowledge truly is power. The first step in getting control over your time is to determine exactly how much of it you have. The best system I have found to do this starts with a simple printed or digital weekly calendar. Once you have decided on a calendaring tool, input all of your classes and any other “non-negotiable” things, such as doctor’s appointments, part-time jobs, or child care related activities, that happen at a fixed time each week.

Next, block off time for class preparation. As you implement this step, I highly suggest utilizing what I call the “two-day buffer.” To do this, you will block off 3-4 hour chunks of study time per class meeting on your calendar. The trick is to schedule your prep time at least 2 days before the class actually meets. In my experience, this greatly reduces stress for students as they are no longer staying up until 2:00 a.m. trying to finish the reading for their 8:30 a.m. class.

Finally, out of the remaining time, block off two distinct times for (1) extra curricular activities and (2) personal tasks. Personal tasks include doing chores, running errands, and other “life” stuff. All of the remaining time is your free time (that involves neither school work nor grocery shopping and laundry). I also suggest allocating about a half hour of time on Friday afternoons to plan for the upcoming week. It is so much easier to enjoy your free time during the weekend if you are not worrying that you are forgetting to do something.

What do you need to do with your time?

Now that you have a complete picture of exactly how much time you have available, you need to figure out the most productive way to spend it. First, set your goals. Spend a few minutes thinking about what “success” will look like to you at the end of this year or semester. It is much easier to reach a goal if you are intentional about achieving it.

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Next, create prioritized to-do lists to help you reach those goals. For law students, I suggest having three separate to-do lists: (1) Academic, (2) Extra Curricular (internships, student organizations, etc), and (3) Personal. The first step in creating a prioritized to-do list is to sit down and do what I call a “brain dump.” This entails getting out a blank sheet of paper or opening a blank document on your computer and getting everything that has been on your mind out of your head. In this step, don’t worry about what list it belongs on or how important the task is, if it comes to your head, then write it down.

Next, categorize all the tasks into one of the three lists mentioned above. Once you have all of the tasks categorized, you must prioritize them. Do this by determining which tasks are most important or most time-sensitive in helping you reach your goals, and write them in order in a list. By creating these prioritized to-do lists, you will know exactly what you need to do when you reach each of the particular time blocks you scheduled.

How can you be more productive with the time that you have?

The only way this new plan will work is if you actually implement it and stick to it. Here are three tips for increasing productivity and maximizing time:

1- Minimize distractions

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Let’s face it, social media is the enemy of time management. I consider myself to be pretty good with managing my time. But, every so often, I find myself saying “let me just check Facebook real fast,” and four hours later, I don’t even know what year it is.

However, technology is a double-edged sword, as there are also many apps available that can actually help keep you focused. For example, there are apps that completely block the internet from your phone or computer, block all social media, or allow you to set time limits on how long you can use certain apps or websites per day. Do some research to find the one that will best work with your phone, computer, and social media “needs”.

2- The 5 minute rule

The hardest part of any task is getting started. I recently said that if I spent half as much time doing things as I spend worrying about doing them, I would be the most productive person in the world. When I start to get overwhelmed with the number of things I have to do, I occasionally  do none of them. This is not an effective time management tactic at all! To prevent this from happening, I have implemented the “5 minute rule.” When I am starting to get filled up with dread about doing a certain task or activity, I commit to doing it for 5 minutes. If after 5 minutes, I still truly do not want to do it, I stop. However, 90% of the time after 5 minutes, I realize the task is not so bad, and I am happy to be working through it now instead of procrastinating until later.

3- Set up an accountability system

The easiest person in the world to disappoint is yourself. So, if you are the only person who knows about your goals, you are far less likely to reach them. I highly recommend sharing your goals and plans to reach them with an accountability partner. Ideally, the person you choose will be someone whose opinions and advice you respect as well as someone who will give you open and honest feedback. You don’t want someone who will completely tear you down if you come up short, but you also don’t want someone who will accept all of your excuses and dismiss your lack of effort.

There is no getting around the fact that law school is stressful, and there will always be more tasks than time complete them. However, implementing these strategies will help you stay on track, get more done, and still be able to enjoy your life every so often. Here’s to your most productive semester yet!


Kerriann Stout is a millennial law school professor and founder of Vinco (a bar exam coaching company) who is generationally trapped between her students and colleagues. Kerriann has helped hundreds of students survive law school and the bar exam with less stress and more confidence. She lives, works, and writes in the northeast. You can reach her by email at info@vincoprep.com.