Today’s post is about learning how to pace yourself with time. I like to think of it as quarters in a game…
You will have 4 hours to answer 180 questions. You will want to make sure you aren’t going too fast though the exam or going too slow. Too fast increases the chances that you aren’t reading the question and all four options thoroughly. Too slow and you run out of time leaving some answers blank and counted as incorrect.
…So when you get to around question 45 (or think of in the 40’s) you are finishing the first quarter. This is a time to check in with the clock. Are you about an hour in, or even a little ahead of that?
For example, If you are only 20 minutes in then slow it down. If you are past the 1 hour mark then you need to increase your speed of reading questions.
…So when you get to the 90 area of question numbers, you are at half time! Are you a little ahead of 2 hours? This can give you another indication of how to continue accordingly.
…and so on…
Breaking it down into quarters helps you check in with the clock without getting obsessed with time, or having the time become a distractor itself. If you have some practice exams to work with then go on and mimic this before the real thing to see how you are doing with time.