Timing Anxiety - Suggestions?

[lmaura429]

Hi all,

I'm struggling with issues related to timing anxiety. My problem is this (example): I'll finish question 10 on the test and check the clock. I see that I only have 50-52 minutes left for the remaining 27 questions instead of the 2 min per question 54 minutes, and my mind starts to freak. I don't even necessarily rush through the next questions, but it's like I feel so stressed by feeling behind time that I make mistakes in the next 3-4 questions, get them wrong in a row, and then I fall back into a stride until I finish question 20, check the time, and the same thing happens again. I find this happens with me in real life scenarios under time pressures, but I need to reel it in for the GMAT.

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for how to manage this, or if anyone else has the same issue. I think this psychological component is what's holding me back on the GMAT, so any advice would be helpful.

Thanks very much!

[StaceyKoprince]

You are definitely not the only one.

The reason that you need to check every 10 questions is precisely so that you can adjust. If you were exactly on time, you wouldn't need to check. :)

So when you see that you are 2 minutes behind - that's okay and don't change anything. You can be within 2 minutes of the target time (in either direction).

If you see that you are 4 minutes behind, the very next time a hard Q pops up (you know the ones, where you immediately think, "Ugh, why did they have to give me THIS one?"), guess immediately. Save the entire 2 minutes (well, 1m45s). Now you're within the acceptable window. If you see another crazy hard one, go ahead and guess immediately on that one too. Boom. Now you're back on time!

Think of it this way: you're running a marathon, and you're trying to keep to a steady pace. Every now and then, you discover that you've been going a little too fast or a little too slow, and so you adjust - get yourself back on track and then get back into your pacing plan.

Next, address the symptom. If you always find yourself 2-4 minutes behind at the pacing markers, then something's off. (If your timing is really "on," then you should sometimes be ahead and sometimes behind.) So that means you need to work harder on cutting yourself off on the too-hard problems.

Here's how:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... to-win-it/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... -to-do-it/
And:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... nt-part-1/

That mindset issues discussed in the first article will help as well. You're not actually trying to win every last point, so who cares when you have to sacrifice a couple of questions? In fact, I know I'm going to have to sacrifice something, so I might as well get to choose which ones for myself. (And, of course, I'm going to choose the hardest questions for me!)

Also, here are a couple of resources on stress management, just in case:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... mat-score/
http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/index ... anagement/

Good luck!

[lmaura429]

Stacey,

Thanks for the great reply! I'll take your advice and read these articles. I'll probably have to read them frequently to keep drilling the points across ;). I am definitely the "but I studied this!" type, and I probably did not even realize it until now! Thanks again :)

[StaceyKoprince]

you're welcome - let us know if you have any other questions! :)