Perfectionism and Time Management on the LSAT

Many students worry about spending too much time on a single LSAT question. So they watch the clock, set time limits, and force themselves to move on when they’ve spent “too long.”

Bad idea.

Some questions take 30 seconds. Others might take five minutes. It doesn’t matter how much time you spend on a question so long as you get it right.

Slow Is Fine When You’re Making Progress

Spending five minutes on a question isn’t necessarily a problem.

Are you trying to understand the passage? Keep working. 

Are you eliminating wrong answers? Keep working. 

Are you stuck on the last two answers? Keep working.

The hardest questions require patience. And the more careful, hard thinking you do on a question, the better you’ll get at the test. 

In fact, the final decision between two tempting answers is often where the most important work happens. Don’t abandon a question just because it’s taking longer than usual.

How to Know When You’re Stuck

You will hit a question that just won’t click.

You’ve read it again. You’ve eliminated the bad answers. Maybe you’ve narrowed it down to two. You compare them again and again, but you’re no closer to deciding between them.

That’s when you move on.

It might happen after two minutes or six. The amount of time doesn’t matter. What matters is recognizing that you’ve given the question a serious attempt and you’re no longer making progress.

Plan to come back to it after you’re done with the test or section, or right away if you’re drilling. Questions like those are the most valuable to review.  

Persistence Isn’t Perfection

In a timed environment, you might reach a point of diminishing returns. 

This is the moment when you need to remember that accuracy is your priority, not perfection.

You need to be persistent. Resist the urge to choose an appealing answer before you fully understand the passage. 

But once you can’t go any further, pick an answer and move to the next question.

The clock doesn’t tell you when to move on. Your progress does.

You Don’t Need 100% Certainty

Certainty has a cost. 

Chasing 100% confidence on an answer you already understand is not a good use of time.

If an answer starts heading in the wrong direction, eliminate it. You don’t need to be sure that it’s wrong. Rely on your understanding of the passage and your prediction, and move to the next choice.

If you eliminate all five answers, go back and take a closer look. But don’t force yourself to be 100% certain about every answer during your first pass.

Have some swagger going into the answer choices. Expect them to be wrong. 

Pick One and Let It Go

When you’re truly stuck, make your best choice and move on.

Don’t flag the question and race through the rest of the section, hoping to come back to it. Don’t keep thinking about it while you work on the next question.

Let it go and give the next question your full attention.

Take as long as you need when you’re making progress. When you stop making progress, pick an answer and move on.

 

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