For those of you who are counting (i.e. all of you), there’s exactly one month until the February LSAT. Some of you just registered for the test and think there’s plenty of time left. Others are freaking out, thinking that it’s almost here!

You’re both right.

One month will fly by if you don’t have a proper study plan. While the entire process should be governed by a schedule, it’s even more important to have one for the next four weeks to maximize your LSAT prep efforts.

First, clear off a bit of your schedule. You want to make sure that you have enough time to go over everything that you need to. You can always scale it back later if you plan for too much LSAT studying (which is definitely possible, and burn-out is a real concern), but it’s a lot harder to not do something you planned to do than it is to not make those plans in the first place.

Second, start waking up earlier. The LSAT is going to make you wake up at an ungodly hour and use your brain. Most of us aren’t used to using it at all, let alone at that hour (rimshot!). If you don’t start adapting your schedule now, you might find yourself still waking up tired on LSAT test day.

Third, figure out where you’re at in your study process and plan accordingly. If you’re in a course, just keep up with the homework and start taking practice tests when your instructor tells you to start. If you’re in our video course, make sure to schedule out the videos so that you finish them with time for review and some practice tests. If you’re studying by yourself, make sure that you’ve allotted enough time to get through whichever materials you’re using and several practice tests.

It’s easy to freak out with the LSAT looming. However, if you have a plan, you’ll feel a lot more in control of your future. And remember that those people who just registered for the LSAT are right – a month is still plenty of time (maybe not to start from scratch, but definitely to build up a good score). Four weeks, especially if you use that time to finish learning the concepts and to learn to use them on the actual exam, can lead to huge improvements.

I’d even say it’s the time of the biggest gains for the majority of our classes. Once you get the concepts and practice, you’ll start to see your score take off.

So don’t freak out, but do realize that it’s crunch time and you should have a plan to follow. If you do that, February 11 will come at just the right time.