But I Studied This – I Should Know How to Do It!
When was the last time you thought that? For me, it was sometime within the past week. I knew that this problem was not beyond my reach! Meanwhile, the clock was ticking away and all I could focus on was the fact that I couldnt remember something that I should have been able to remember.
That horrible, sinking feeling is universal: weve all felt it before and unfortunately were all going to feel it again. How can we deal with this?
Recognize the But! feeling
You almost certainly already know what this feels like, but heres a longer list of the ways in which this manifests. When was the last time you thought any of these things?
- But I studied this
- But I should know how to do this
- If I just had a little more time, Im sure I could figure it out
- Ive already invested so much time, I dont want to give up now
- Ive been struggling with this for 2 minutes but I really did finally figure out now what I need to do; its just going to take me another 1.5 minutes
Then, of course, Im sitting there staring at the problem and stressing over it which makes it even harder to think clearly.
These feelings all have one crucial thing in common: I dont actually know how to do the problem right now. If I did, I wouldnt feel any of the But! feelings. Id just do the problem.
What does that But! feeling really mean?
I dont know how to do the problem right now and the clock is ticking. Well, I could sit on the problem for the next five or ten minutes but I still probably wont figure it out right now. Meanwhile, my stress levels are skyrocketing and Im at risk of using up time that I should be spending on other questions. Thats not a desirable outcome. :)
Practically speaking, then, this is equivalent to a problem that I really dont know how to do at all because, on a test like the GMAT, its now or never.
Our brains arent perfect. Sometimes, were going to forget or stumble over something that we really do know. (Also, sometimes, were going to think we should know something that we really dont know as well as we thought we did.) By the way, Im using we here, and not you, for a very good reason: this happens to me, too! The experts are not immune; this phenomenon really is universal.
Change your response
Were never going to get rid of the But! feeling so the remedy here is not to try to train ourselves to lose it. Rather, the remedy is to realize what this feeling really means and react accordingly: I dont know how to do this problem right now, which is the same thing as not knowing how to do it at all.
So, when you feel the But! feeling, start treating the problem like one that you know you dont know how to do. Dont give into the feeling; its trying to distract you and cause you to waste time. From now on, But but but = I dont know what Im doing.
Its a lot easier to cut ourselves off when we know that we dont know. Oh well! They got me on that one. If Ive already used up all my time, I guess randomly and move on. If I still have some time left, and I have some ideas about how I might make an educated guess, then I try to do that for about 30 seconds or so. Then, I pick and move on.
Either way, Im radically changing my natural reaction to the But! feeling. Ive trained myself to know that that feeling really indicates that I dont know what Im doing, and so I can take my next steps accordingly.
Next steps
Still struggling with the idea of cutting yourself off like this? Read my mindset article In It To Win It to understand why its really not a big deal to let go on a few problems here and there. Heres another resource for Time Management. (Probably 97% of people currently studying have timing problems though many of them are unaware of it! So if your initial thought was that you dont have a timing problem, think again. I talk to students every day who tell me they dont have timing problems, but the data says otherwise.)
Key Takeaways for the But I should know how to do this! feeling
(1) If you knew what you were doing, you wouldnt be having any of the But! feelings. Therefore, you dont really know not right now, which is all that matters.
(2) Change your response. Acknowledge that you dont know what to do and switch to educated guessing instead (if you still have time left). Train yourself on this until you can switch tracks almost immediately when the But! feelings start.
(3) If you think youve already used all of your time, dont waste a single second longer on anything, even guessing. Just pick randomly and move on.