The demands of law school become less and less consistent over time. I had a pretty regular schedule during 1L fall, but after that it became more sporadic. Sometimes I average 4 hours of sleep a night over the course of a week. Some months I get 6 or 7+ almost every night. I probably average 5 hours of a sleep during the two weeks leading up to finals, and I try to sleep 7 or 8 hours a night before my actual tests.
You're not alone (both in law school and after), yet Morten and Sheshe's notes deserve even more stressing. (Is that possible?) Not only is it good to set good habits, but THE most important aspect in law school, mental acuity, is deeply affected by poor sleep habits. We seem to be a sleep-deprived society, and proud of it. We can certainly pull the all-nighter when the situation (and client) demand it, but when one night becomes a series, even an hour less than needed builds up to a fog very much like intoxication. (No kidding. Sleep deprivation has been shown to have effects very much like drunkenness . . . without the fun of getting there.)
Would you believe that some need more than 8 hours? And would you believe that some of those who need 9 or 10 might be the ones--after they wake up--to ace the exams? (They might not be headed for biglaw jobs, granted. Far better to teach night school.)
As much as it cuts against the operational grain, sleep is more important than study. And study is pretty important.*
Thane.
* "Study" does not mean "a lot of study." It doesn't even really mean "study" in the sense that that's used in college and before. These are two rather common and rather falsely comforting traps for law students.