It may still be October, but I’d like you to flash forward and imagine Sunday, November 30th. It’s the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so you’ll be stuffed with turkey, turducken, tofurkey, or some Frankenstein combination of the three. You’ll have had a few days off of school or work to spend with family and friends.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it? But what if I told you that the December LSAT will be six days away? And, if you’re in school, finals will be impending, too. Imagine feeling like you still have lots of LSAT studying you need to do. Plus, you have a bunch of schoolwork that needs to get done. Now. Or you’ll fail. And your law school applications are lurking in the background. Worst of all, your family is threatening to disown you because you barely even acknowledged them over your plate of tofurkey.

Not such a nice picture, is it?

To avoid this scenario of doom, you have to plan effectively. There are two sides to it: compartmentalize, and stay on top of things.

To compartmentalize, look ahead at your assignments. Which ones will you have to work on while you study, and which ones can wait until after the LSAT? Do you have anything big due the week before the LSAT? Is it something you can get done in advance, so you don’t have that added stress during LSAT week? What parts of your law school applications do you need to get started on, and which ones can wait until after LSAT test day? Banish the things that can wait from your mind until post-LSAT.

To stay on top of things, plan out your studying. Your goal is not to fall behind. You can’t cram for the LSAT. It just doesn’t work. And if you have to cram for other things, that’ll get in the way of your LSAT studying. Set a schedule. If going to a library or a coffee shop helps you keep to your schedule, then do that. Your schedule should have days off built in; sanity is important to a high LSAT score. Getting a good start now won’t make those last few weeks before the LSAT painless, but just think about how much worse they’ll be if you let things slide.

If you’re already behind, try to catch up now before things get too crazy. It’s better to wear yourself out a little bit now, when you’ll have time to recover. Your ultimate goal should be to walk into the LSAT prepared and well rested. The best way to achieve that is thinking ahead.