This post originally appeared on MSS in April, 2016.

Now that it’s April, the June LSAT is fast approaching. The next test after that in September seems pretty far off. Some students may want to start preparing early, though. Trying to cram all of the material on the LSAT into a few weeks of studying can be very overwhelming. Some prefer to space the process out. For those folks, here is a template to help guide your studying over a six month period.

Month 1

In the first month of your plan, you should focus on fundamentals and establish a study routine. If you’re taking the Blueprint online course, aim to do about one lesson per week, four lessons in the first month. Additionally, start doing daily readings to boost your reading comprehension skills. Browse for articles on thebrowser.com and, as always, read with an eye toward argument. Try to be consistent. Seek out articles about science on, say, Mondays and Thursdays, humanities on Tuesday, social science on Wednesday, and law over the weekend. Set aside two nights a week one day on the weekend to study. Find a quiet corner in a quiet coffee shop and leave the baristas big tips.

Month 2

Continue progressing through your Blueprint lessons, 5-8, along with Workshops 1 (if you’re taking the online course). By the end of of the second month, you should try to finish about half of your main curriculum. Keep up the daily readings and take your first practice test at the end of the month. Score it, have a brief panic attack, and eat some ice cream. Don’t study for 24 hours. Find an alternate coffee shop to provide a change of scenery, but don’t turn your back on your main spot.

Month 3

In month three, you should start to ramp things up a bit. Complete lessons 9 through 12 and Workshop 2 and keep your reading routine going. Add another night of studying to your schedule. Aim to get through the first third of each. These books will cover some of the same territory you’ve already worked through in your lessons (or whatever your main curriculum is), but repetition will reinforce key concepts and allow you to move quickly. Take another practice test at the end of Month 3 and simulate real test conditions. Make a playlist with pump up music and use it pump yourself up.

Month 4

Spend this month finishing the remaining lessons and workshops (or completing whatever main curriculum you’re working with). You can pare down your outside readings and start keeping a journal for LSAT questions you get wrong or struggle with. Increasingly, you should do all LSAT questions under timed conditions and start tracking and working on your time management. Take two practice tests in Month 4 and review each test thoroughly.

Month 5

Review your error journal to identify areas of weakness and put together question sets on your MyBlueprint account that focus on your deficiencies. Take one practice test per week, and spend at least as much time reviewing them as you spend taking them. Try not to let a healthy diet and exercise fall by the wayside. As the test date approaches, the stress increases, so ways of maintaining balance. Consider kickboxes, and then think better of it.

Month 6

Oh man. Don’t spend all your time reading message boards and thinking about your score. Do take between 4 and 10 final practice tests, but be mindful not to burn yourself out by doing too much. Keep your error journal with you at all times and read it over and over again until the pages are worn and torn. Keep exercising and eating well and take it easy the day before your test.

There you have it! If you can afford to start studying now for the September test, use this template as the basis for a personalized schedule. And maybe take a day off in May to see that dumb superhero movie or two.