Most review plans are written for someone with a free morning. Most candidates have an evening, after a day that has already used the attention they need.
The two-hour block is the unit that fits: long enough to do real work, short enough to attempt on a bad day, and structured so that even a mediocre evening produces something retrievable.
The shape
| Minutes | Work | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 0–10 | Retrieval, closed book — yesterday's topic, plus one from a fortnight ago | It is the compounding item; it goes first, when there is still fuel |
| 10–15 | Set the target for the block, in one sentence | "By the end I can state the requisites of X and apply them" |
| 15–60 | Learn: read the provision or the ruling, and take notes closed-book | The only block with new material |
| 60–70 | Break, no screens | A break that is a break |
| 70–95 | Apply: one past question, or one hypothetical, written | Conversion is a separate skill from knowledge |
| 95–110 | Test: state the block's target from memory; write the answer | The check that makes the block count |
| 110–120 | Close: add the misses to the flags list; name the next block's first task | Ten minutes now saves twenty later |
Two hours, and it does three things: retrieval, input, and conversion. A block with only the middle section is a reading session wearing a schedule.
Why this shape
Retrieval first. Attention is the scarce resource in the evening; the compounding task should not be the one that loses when the day runs late.
A single target. "Study Civil Law" is not a task. One sentence of intended output turns two hours into a finishable unit.
Application in the block. Reading produces knowledge of the rule; writing produces the ability to use it. Separating them by weeks is how candidates arrive in August unable to convert.
A closing ritual. The flags list and the next first task are what make the next block start quickly — the small overhead that compounds over two hundred blocks.
The variants
- The 45-minute version, for a bad day: retrieval ten, learn twenty, apply ten, close five. Still a block; still counts.
- The double block, on a free day: two blocks with a real hour between them, not one four-hour session.
- The paper block, once a week: four hours for a full sitting, replacing the learning section entirely — see how to use mock bars.
What the block is not for
- Passive input. A lecture played while cooking is a second pass, not a block.
- Note-beautifying. The closing ten minutes are for the flags list, not for reformatting.
- Perfection. A block that runs twenty minutes over is a block that made the next one harder.
Common failures, with repairs
The target is too big. "Finish Remedial Law" produces nothing. Cut to one topic and one application.
The retrieval section is skipped. It is the section that matters. If time is short, cut the learning section, not this one.
The application section is skipped. The second most common. Write the answer badly rather than not at all; a bad answer marked is worth more than a good intention.
The block is planned for 22:00. Attention is not available then. Move the block earlier, or make it the 45-minute version.
The arithmetic
Two hours a day, five days a week, plus one four-hour paper at the weekend: fourteen hours a week, and about 600 over a review year. That is a real year of work, and it is achievable by someone with a job.
The block is deliberately not bigger. A plan of three-hour evenings fails in the third week, and a failed plan costs more than a modest one kept — see handling review burnout.
For how the week fits together, see reviewing while working full time; for what to do with the blocks over a year, the twelve-month plan.