Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. More importantly, tomorrow begins your last week to study for the December LSAT (next Friday is a strict no study day). And so you may find yourself torn in opposing directions tomorrow – should you celebrate with your family, feasting until you slip into a turkey-induced coma, or should you lock yourself away in your room taking LSAT practice exams until you’ve scored a 175?

As usual, the answer lies somewhere in-between (did someone say exclusivity?). This last week of study is incredibly important. How you prepare will determine whether you’ll enter the December LSAT confident in your abilities or unsure of yourself and overly anxious, or, even worse, burned out and desiring “just to be done with this stupid test.” Your goal this last week should be to channel your inner Goldilocks to find the amount of studying that is just right for you.

And that just right amount lies in-between the extremes. Boycotting Thanksgiving to study is certainly going overboard, and, frankly, is unpatriotic. On the other hand, celebrating completely, washing your LSAT woes away with turkey and wine, is equally silly and will likely lead to a panic attack Friday morning (and possibly a hangover). Thankfully you can have the best of both worlds.

Here are two better plans for incorporating LSAT study with your Thanksgiving festivities:

Plan A: Take a practice exam first thing Thanksgiving morning, review it after a short break, and then use the rest of the afternoon and evening to celebrate and stuff yourself with as much Turducken as humanly possible. This plan works best for people who don’t have to help with Thanksgiving preparations, or for those who don’t want to let an LSAT practice exam interrupt their Black Friday shopping spree.

Plan B: Take a practice exam and break it into four individual sections, take each section timed, spread throughout the day, using Thanksgiving preparations and festivities as breaks in-between sections, finishing the last section right before dinner. This plan works best for people stuck with cooking and/or cleaning responsibilities for Thanksgiving, or for people who simply want an excuse to avoid cleaning up or socializing with distant relatives.

And so with a little proper planning, this Thanksgiving you can have your turkey and study too. And if you play your cards just right, you may even be able to use the LSAT as an excuse to avoid doing the dishes, and that’s something we can all be thankful for.

Happy Turkey Day!