burnout v. thorough preparation

Like you, I read a lot of stories about people who were afraid of burnout, and how they tried to avoid it. I am sure burnout is a very real issue for a lot of people, and I thought it would be for me. But after studying GMAT constantly for almost 3 months, I can tell you that I am probably able to do many more. Given my lack of foundation in grammar and long time away from math, anything less than the amount of time I am spending on GMAT would most certainly result with an unsatisfied score.

In my opinion, the bottom line is that you should do what you think is necessary and learn to adapt to how you are taking in the information as time progress.

Best of luck to your journey!

Hey Aleph,

Great question - one of my bigger concerns when I read on this (highly-motivated) site is the sheer duration of time that many people plan to spend studying. Burnout and procrastination are the two things I worry about most when people set up a 4+ month study timeframe.

That said, high scores are positively correlated with the length of time that people spend studying (to a point), and many examinees are rewarded for their hard work. If you do plan to embark on a longer study regimen, I'd highly recommend:

1) Be specific with your time. Your plan sounds great - work on math fundamentals for a few weeks before you start digging into the question types and advanced skills/strategies. If you have specific emphases for each time period or study session, then it's much less likely that you'll burn out, as you'll have purpose each time out and not simply be spinning your wheels "doing problems". Build out a calendar and stick to it.

2) Similarly, if you do plan to move back an existing test date or push back your study schedule, do so with a reason. Just saying "I'd feel better with another month" may only give you time to procrastinate and move your current study plan back. If you want to take another few weeks, do so specifically to "improve on ____________".

3) Build in milestones and progress checks. One of my favorite new additions to the Veritas curriculum is our Midterm Diagnostic quizzes, designed to act like midterm progress reports in college so that people can gauge their progress in particular subjects (Arithmetic, Algebra, etc.). Find a way to do that for yourself, whether it's checking your percentage on a math drill, your timing for a set of 20 questions, or even a practice exam, if you can build in milestones to get up for, that will help you stay focused and motivated.

4) Analyze your progress and results. As you complete practice problems and tests, keep a journal of the types of mistakes you're making, the strategies you've learned, etc. Most examinees want to "do more problems", but if you're simply repeating the same mistakes or just letting yourself go through problem sets aimlessly, you'll burn out and mentally tune out...you just won't get much value out of each additional hour. If you're monitoring your progress with things like "Feel great with word problems, but still need to improve timing" or "Need to be careful with conclusions on CR", you'll have places to focus your attention moving forward and some fodder for progress checks and test-day reminders.

I definitely commend you on noting that your previous study regimen wasn't clicking for you, and for the thought you've put into a newer, better plan! It sounds like you're on the right track, and we're all looking forward to tracking your progress along with you.