“I Don’t Have 90 Minutes to Do an MPT” (Spoiler Alert: You Do)

Every bar exam season, I hear some version of the same line:

“I just don’t have a spare 90 minutes during the week to complete a full MPT.”

Let’s be honest. That’s rarely true.

Photo by Maximalfocus on Unsplash

Most of the time, it’s not that students don’t have the time. It’s that they don’t want to spend that time doing something they find overwhelming, intimidating, or just plain annoying. And so, like all of us do when we want to avoid something, we rationalize.

But here’s the problem: avoiding the MPT doesn’t make it go away.It’s still 20% of your bar exam score. It's still 25% of your total testing time. And it’s still two 90-minute tasks on test day. That’s three full hours of your future law license riding on your ability to write clearly, quickly, and efficiently under pressure.

And the only way to get better at that? Practice.

Not once. Not just near the end of your bar preparation period.Instead, consistent, realistic, full-timed practice is necessary.

You don’t need to do a full MPT every day. But if you’re not finding 90 minutes at least once a week during your bar preparation period, then you're not training the way you need to for test day.

So if you’ve been telling yourself you “don’t have the time,” let’s challenge that. You do. Here’s how to find it—without quitting your job or sleeping less.

1. Batch Your Life Tasks

If you’re doing laundry on Monday, grocery shopping on Tuesday, meal prepping on Wednesday, and vacuuming on Thursday, you’re burning through your week in drips. These 30-45 minute tasks scattered across your schedule leave you feeling like you’ve been busy all week. But they rarely add up to true productivity.

Try this instead: Choose a designated “life admin” day (e.g., Sunday afternoon or Wednesday evening).Knock out laundry, cleaning, meal prep, and errands in one focused block.

By consolidating those scattered tasks into a single window, you’ll free up larger chunks of uninterrupted time later in the week—like the 90 minutes you need for an MPT.

2. Streamline Your Morning Decisions

Steve Jobs famously wore the same black turtleneck every day. Why? To eliminate decision fatigue and free up brainpower for more important tasks. Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg have said the same: fewer choices in the morning, more mental energy for the day.

Now, you don’t need to start dressing like a tech CEO or POTUS, but you can simplify.

Try this: Set out your clothes the night before. Plan your breakfast. Prep your coffee pot.

Every minute you save in the morning adds up—and you might even buy yourself 20-30 minutes a few times a week to sneak in some MPT review or writing practice.

3. Stop Taking Your Phone to the Bathroom

It’s funny until you realize how real this is.

A wellness-focused piece from CNN highlights a common modern habit: People often spend around 3 minutes using the bathroom itself, yet linger for up to 15 minutes scrolling on their phones. Depending on how many times you do Number 2, that alone nets you nearly 20-30 minutes a day, which can easily translate into 2-3 hours a week of unpaid screen time.

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

So yes—when students say, “I just don’t have 90 minutes,” they almost certainly do—they’re just perhaps spending it on the toilet instead of the bar.

Try this: Leave your phone outside the bathroom and just power through. Over the course of the week, you’ll recoup those 90 minutes—no sweat. (If you can't be idle on the toilet, bring a set of flashcards to review.)

4. Cut Out the Doomscrolling Before Bed

We’ve all said it: “Just five more minutes” turns into a lost hour of scrolling TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, or YouTube.Those late-night sessions are not only robbing you of precious sleep, but they’re also burning the exact kind of focused time you say you don’t have.

Try this:

• Set a screen cutoff time (e.g., no screens after 10:30 p.m.).

  
  

• Replace scrolling with 10 minutes of light review, or bank that time by going to bed earlier and waking up 30 minutes earlier one or two mornings during the week. By proactively reclaiming small pockets of time throughout the week, you can free up a full 90-minute block later for a focused MPT session.

  
  

• Use an app to track your screen time—you’ll be shocked at how much time you're losing.

  
  

• That “wind-down” hour could easily be transformed into a once-a-week MPT writing session.

5. Turn Off Notifications and Time Wasters

Every buzz, ding, or pop-up notification breaks your concentration. Even if you don’t respond, you’ve still lost focus.And then there’s the time you do respond—checking “just one email” turns into 25 minutes of inbox chaos.

Try this:

• Turn off notifications for non-urgent app.

  
  

• Use “Do Not Disturb” mode during your scheduled MPT time.

  
  

• Use website blockers if necessary.

Removing distractions during your general study time makes your sessions more efficient—and that efficiency can buy back valuable time. The time you save through focused, distraction-free studying can then be reallocated to a full 90-minute MPT later in the week.

6. Avoid Over-Planning and Under-Doing

Some students spend so much time planning their bar prep that they never actually start it. They create elaborate calendars, choose perfect highlighters, color-code their outlines, and then panic when real progress isn’t being made.

Try this:

• Block 90 minutes right now for the week ahead.

  
  

• Write it in your planner or calendar as an unmissable appointment.

  
  

• Don’t reschedule it unless there’s a true emergency.

  
  

When the time comes, don’t wait for the “perfect” energy—just start.

Final Thought: It’s Not About Time. It’s About Priorities.

You don’t need to quit your job. You don’t need to sacrifice every free moment of joy.But you do need to get serious about how you spend your time.

Because bar prep isn’t really about how smart you are—it’s about discipline, consistency, and your ability to execute under pressure.If you’re not making time for MPTs now, what do you think will happen on Day 1 of the bar exam when the pressure is real, and there’s no snooze button?

Make the time. Sit down. Do the work.