I know during my LSAT prep tips we've talked about sleep a ton, but it's super important so I thought why not go one more round of my badgering about it to you. A recent study came out showing that when mice sleep, the brain gets rid of the gunk that builds up while they are awake. Scientists believe that this same effect could occur in humans. If this is true, sleep can actually prove to be even more important in slowing the progression of mental illnesses.
It's been proven that people who do not get enough sleep have trouble learning and making decisions. As an LSAT prep student, this should be quite disconcerting to you.
The latest sleep work, led by scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center, adds further evidence to the notion that sleeping allows our brain to go on a cleaning spree. These scientists found that brain cells tend to shrink during sleep, creating channels that dead cells can flow through and be purged from. When you lack sleep, the dead cells stay trapped and may contribute to mental fatigue and difficulty retaining information. Have you ever found yourself reading a long Reading Comprehension passage only to get to the end and ask yourself what you just read? That could be remedied with more sleep!
Another big thing to remember is to get on an adequate sleep cycle for the entirety of your LSAT prep . Sleep catches up with you. This means only getting enough sleep the week before your exam won't be enough. All those previous weeks where you had a dearth of sleep will creep up on you in your final week.
That's why it's imperative that alongside your LSAT prep, you are sleeping a full seven to eight hours every night. This is the time you can let your mind rest and rejuvenate. If you don't rest enough you will hit a wall in your studying. Why would you want to waste your precious hours forcing yourself to study when you're at a point of little to no retention? After a certain point of fatigue, it's actually detrimental for you to continue studying. Take a breather, get to bed at a decent hour and get an early start on your next day!
Remember, breaks and sleep are really important not only to your LSAT score, but also to your LSAT well-being. So if it's getting to be that time of wilting mental attention, open up your non-LSAT prep Reading Comprehension material, possibly your free copy of The Economist if you're an LSATMax student (remember reading denser articles from scientific journals and magazines during your LSAT prep down-time will help your Reading Comprehension score), and get some productive leisure reading time before bed.
Happy Studying!