The last lap strategy for CAT is very important – with less than 45 days to go for CAT this is the right time to iron out those flaws, and get “battle ready” in a way. Most of the things mentioned below would seem peripheral to the actual exam prep, but affect your performance nonetheless.
Get your ‘bio clock’/’body clock’ right
You might have been a night person burning the midnight oil, or you might have been the early riser – putting in those extra hours before you go for your office/college, now is the time to tune your mind to be in ‘CAT mode’ right at the time when you would be giving your exam 45 days from now. This essentially means that if you have a morning slot, then you should start pushing yourself to be most active during that time period – every day beginning now, till the day of the exam. If you are used to taking an afternoon nap, and you are planning to give your CAT exam during the afternoon slot, then you are courting trouble.
Your body should be in tune with the requirements of the exam and you need to start right away since it takes time to accomplish the same. This is especially true for people who study late into the night – they face a lot of problems if they do not tune their body clocks according to their exam slots well in advance.
Create that test environment
Create that test environment every time you study – absolute silence, no water breaks, no extra sheets available and limited stationary at your disposal etc. Remember that the performance on the actual exam day would be at least 5-10% lower than your current performance (because your performance will dip under exam pressure). So, this is the time to push yourself, and get your performance to peak in actual test environment.
Work on your eating habits
Cut out the excess calories and extra carbs from your diet – all of this makes you feel drowsy and reduces your mental activity. Start taking lots of water and eat fruits. Remember – eat light and eat less.
Start exercising for 15 minutes every day – improving on your physical activity is a great way to enhance mental activity and to improve your attention span. Meditation is also a great way to refresh and rejuvenate your mind while pushing up your attention span by a few notches.
(Deepak Nanwani is the co-founder of One52.com, an online adaptive solution for GMAT, MBA and UG exams. An alumnus of IIT Guwahati and IIM Bangalore, he is a master strategist for all competitive exams.)