One week into 1L

Here it is Saturday, and I guess that means I’ve survived my first week of law school. Even though I’d heard so much about the "drop into the deep end" that characterizes the 1L workload, I don’t think I was ready for just how much of a paradigm shift to expect. I’m not [just] talking about the work, either: I think my civil procedure professor characterized it best when he said, "In law, everything depends on everything." And one week in, I’ve got a handle on maybe two of those things.
So it’s a different world from undergrad. I think I’m getting the hang of it, though. Right now my routine every night looks like this:

• Crack the recommended hornbook to get a feel for where the night’s reading is headed
• Use this, combined with the syllabus’ headers, to create a small outline in OmniOutliner
• Skim the cases assigned
• Go back through each one, "briefing" the facts, issues, and holdings in the book with a highlighter

After class, I’ve been trying to consolidate my notes and my outline into a coherent, trim whole. We’ll see how this plan works out around exam time, but for now it’s helping me stay on top of things.