Current mood:	awake
Entry tags:	law school, lists

My New Routine
I’ve discovered that law school has started me on a deadly routine:

(An ordinary law school weekday)

• 6:00AM: My first alarm rings. My first alarm is usually a party song. Currently, it’s Freeze by Chris Brown and T-Pain. I wake up. Fighting the urge to lie back down, I pray, get up and go to the bathroom. I turn my laptop on and read the emails I missed last night.


• 7:00AM: My second alarm rings at 7AM. It’s usually a mellow, sunny song. Currently, it’s Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles. It just somehow cheers me up. If I’m still sleepy sometime during these hours (practically everytime), I ask for coffee. Then, I just study non-stop. I do have occasional Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds break. I’m very productive in the morning. Focus and concentration is usually in the zone. My brain actually works like a sponge until I get distracted by the internet.


• 10:30AM: I eat my breakfast/lunch (aka brunch). It’s usually pretty heavy or most of the time fattening because I really mix breakfast food with lunch. Haha. Like fruit, all sorts of bread and ulam. Yeah. I won’t be eating till after class, so I need brain food. Most of the time, I’ll be craving for food by this hour.


• 10:50AM: I continue studying. I always finish just somewhere in between this time.


• 11:30AM: I take a bath, dress-up, fix myself and my things. Sometimes, I even recite all the articles/sections or provisions in the shower for recall. I really don’t like hurrying up to do all these things. I usually enjoy taking my time, relaxing for a bit while watching CNN. I love World News. I leave for school as soon I finish.


• 12:45PM: I arrive in school and head to our room. Most of the time, everyone’s just studying or discussing. I prefer going there for the discussions. It really feels like High School all over again. Only a million times harder.


• 1:00PM: Class time. It’s either 1:00PM – 4:00PM or 2:00PM – 5:00PM. Really not bad at all. We’re usually just battling so many readings and consecutive recitations. The tiny break in between classes (that’s like 5 minutes), we quickly get our books and cases out and scan through them. It’s quite a sight if you’re not too preoccupied with knowing you still don’t know the issues of the 3rd case. You can smell fear, anxiety and panic in the room. Riveting, I tell you.


• 5:30PM: Once I arrive home, I freshen up, meditate and prepare everything for the night ahead. I’m one of those people who starts studying immediately so as I can end early. I usually read my emails, feeds, Twitter/Facebook. Studying at night takes me a longer time because I’m usually quite tired already and indulge in my breaks more often. I start with the hardest readings or subjects. I prefer reading cases at night so as to have time to actually create case briefs after. It also allows me to be more relaxed and do more research. I fix my notes, type them all up and go crazy with my highlighters. I have a mental check-list and time-table, so that I can control and limit myself when ever I go awry.


• 10:30: I take a break and watch TV. It’s more like a 30-minute break, wherein I watch Sex and The City and relax for a bit. After the show, I continue my reading. This is usually wherein I start reading at least 10% of the reading I intend to continue and finish the day after.


• 12:30: I SLEEP. I NEED TO SLEEP. I make sure that I get to sleep at least 3 hours. Fortunately, our readings have been manageable enough that I still get to sleep at least 6 hours. It’s just the first week. I shall just wait for the all-nighters that will come later.

This is law school life. My blockmates and I experience this. They probably have different study habits and lifestyles as I do, but we basically have to study, read and memorize everyday. This routine makes weekends quite a luxury. I feel compelled to indulge and get my social life back. For the most part, you really get used to it.