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A Lack of Concentration/Focus

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A Lack of Concentration/Focus

by mriiidula » Wed Jul 13, 2011 4:27 am
Is anyone else having concentration issues?

I don't know whether I'm easily distracted or whether studying for the GMAT just zaps you of energy, but after 10 pages or so I'm just not able to take in any more information. I have to take a 15-20 minute break before I can even think of going back to the books. And reading 10 pages doesn't take me more than 45 mins to 1 hr (for MGMAT SC).

Is this something everyone goes through or am I just strange in that way?
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by vineeshp » Wed Jul 13, 2011 5:13 am
:)

I guess taking a few tests will solve that. Even at the test, the maximum you need to sit continuously is for 75 minutes. So chill!
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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:22 am
Thanks for bringing this up - you know, I think there's a lot to be taken from the way that you phrased:
after 10 pages or so I'm just not able to take in any more information.
The bad news here - I think you're going about this the wrong way - is the good news, too: the GMAT is a test that must be practiced much more than it must be "studied for".

And if you're "doing" rather than "absorbing", you should find that time moves more quickly and it's easier to stay engaged and focused. You really shouldn't be poring over 10 pages of a prep book all at once - you should find a few strategies and then see how they work in on real questions, using practice questions from your prep books or the OG. You should pay attention to the incorrect answers and how they're created to try to trap you; you should propose your own tweaks to questions to see if you can think like the testmaker to make them more difficult (what if it was "less than" and not "greater than"? What if the word "only" was in the conclusion?).

The GMAT is absolutely not a content-based test; it is not testing what you know. It's a reasoning test - it tests how you think. So to study effectively you need to employ practice questions and self-analysis of how you did. You need to think about the logic behind the problems; you mentioned you're studying a Sentence Correction book - when you see an incorrect verb tense used, don't simply think "present tense - past-progressive tense...this is wrong", but ask yourself "why is this an illogical meaning? Why don't these verbs give a valid timeline?". You'll find that these questions almost always test logic before they test hard-core mechanical knowledge, and logic is stickier in the mind...you can train yourself much easier to think logically and critically than you can to master all kinds of obscure grammatical subtleties.

So if you're struggling with concentration, I'd just recenter your focus on DOING more than on READING. Think a lot more, memorize a lot less, and try to embrace the logical challenge within each problem and you'll find that it's much more fun and memorable to study that way.
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by Bara » Thu Jul 14, 2011 12:20 pm
Bravo Brian! You've hit one of the major issues that this test taker needs to deal with. Another is the sheer reality that the test is timed, and that practice may seem to some (especially the way he's describing it) tedious.

One way to solve this? Pattern Interrupt.

Pattern Interrupt is a term which (quite literally) means that you cause one habitual emotional/physical/psychological/intellectual, etc., pattern to stop in it's tracks.

Examples:

You are walking down the street daydreaming, and then suddenly a car blasts it's horn.
You are at the movies and in the darkened space suddenly there is glaring light emanating from the screen.
You are in a casual, relaxing conversation with someone, and suddenly they grab your wrist.

The list goes on.

The bottom line is stopping what you're doing and being forced to become present to something INTERRUPTING you acts as a reset.It can be something that you respond to, or it can be self induced. Go for a walk, splash water on your face, do some crossword puzzles...the list goes on.

Just do what you can to get out of your own head a little, and interrupt the patterns that aren't serving you.

Good Luck!
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by mriiidula » Fri Jul 15, 2011 7:49 am
@Brian

There is a lot of contradicting information on this site actually. Some people claim that practice makes perfect, while others claim that you need to spend more time reviewing your answers than actually doing more problems.

What I'm trying to do at the moment is to get through all the content in the verbal section of the GMAT. I've already reviewed strategies for RC and CR, so when I'm done with SC, I can then begin to work solely on answering questions and reviewing where I went wrong. Content first, then accuracy, then speed. Right?
Brian@VeritasPrep wrote: You should pay attention to the incorrect answers and how they're created to try to trap you; you should propose your own tweaks to questions to see if you can think like the testmaker to make them more difficult (what if it was "less than" and not "greater than"? What if the word "only" was in the conclusion?).
Thank you, I didn't think about this. It's most helpful, and you're right, I would think more instead is just focusing on answering the question.

@Bara

That's what I've been doing! =]
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by Bara » Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:26 am
Awesome: then you should be getting into more advanced forms of concentration and focus - - check out NLP, hypnosis and biofeedback. These three when focused on GMAT goals are life savers!
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