When stress powers and motivates you, it can be a most effective tool for bar exam preparation. But feeling paralyzed from stress can hurt, a lot. How to avoid that?
-Talk it through. Remind yourself you are just taking practice tests. The scores are not a referendum on your ability to pass on the real exam; they are exercise, training, opportunities to learn.
-Keep doing practice tests.
MBEs- If facing a large set of practice MBEs freaks you, do smaller sets of MBEs. Think of how more frequent, smaller meals are said to increase your metabolism more than fewer large meals. For some folks, they can face the nerves of doing 30 minutes of MBEs every day, but any more than that feels too daunting. So just keep at the smaller amounts, consistently, completed under timed conditions.
-If even doing a few MBEs feels too overwhelming now, read the first few out loud. That may calm you and get you in the flow. Another tip is to start with a subject you are more comfortable with. On the real Bar Exam, it may not be wise to go out of order generally, but, even there, if you are frozen, better to skip one or two questions and move on to one you can start in effectively with. CAVEAT: If you go out of order, mark any question you skip so you are certain to go back and answer them before ending. (More posts to come on going out of order, on MBEs and Essays.)
ESSAYS --If facing a full essay question flips you out right now, try simply outlining a few. After you have done that and you are in a less stressed mode, then write one out in full. Note: If you are totally blocked, just read and outline a question and read the model answer; do one like that and you may be able to relax then and go on to write a question without a block.
--If you start essays but get paralyzed when you hit an issue that don't know how to handle, maybe you forgot the rule or have some other block, try skipping that issue, write the rest of your answer, and come back to the finishing the rest of the question once you have completed the remaining issues. (Sometimes, it's just getting the "flow" going, then you'll see "Oh Yeh," that's how that issue I didn't know how to handle when I first saw it should go. Rules you think you "forgot" also tend to come back to you when you relax and start writing other rule statements in that same area of law.)
--Read the facts out loud, two or three times, before pressing yourself to write your outline or answer. Sometimes, the "pressure" you put on yourself to "see it all" on a first read, freaks you out. But, calming down and just letting yourself read a few times before having to act, can help you see more clearly how to proceed.
PTs --Some of the same suggestions made above with respect to essays will also help with PTs (reading aloud, outlining a few, reading some model answers). Another idea --go ahead and re-do a PT you have already completed, maybe a month of two back. It will likely seem a lot easier the second time, and you may feel more empowered in your analysis and writing. (Maybe give yourself a bit less time than you would have for one you have never seen before.)
-Do an MPT as practice. They are 90 minutes long, and may be easier for you to jump into than a CA PT. Do an MPT, to get the flow going, then go back to doing CA PTs.
The suggestions above are just a few of my ideas on how to move through stress paralysis. What helps you when you are stuck? Readers, please write in and tell us!!!
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