GMAT Strategy

This may be a more unorthodox topic, but I have a hard time believing no one else is like me...

I took the GMAT for the first time about a month ago and scored a 590. This was after about 2 months of moderate study and scoring around 600 on practice tests (so I wasn't too surprised). It was good for a baseline, but I know I can do better.

What I'm struggling with most right now is focusing for long enough to make my study sessions worth while. I tap out after about an hour but I know I would benefit from studying longer and building up some mental stamina.

This is something I've struggled with since grade school. Not bad enough to be diagnosed with anything, but it is noticeable (just ask my wife...)

So my question is, what are some suggestions for improving my focus? How can I motivate myself to do longer study sessions? or maybe an alternate question, what is a good way to balance work/study?

This is definitely something I want to overcome, so thanks in advance for the help!

I am so glad that you asked this question. This is something that I think and write about very frequently.

Focus is one of the most underrated aspects of the exam.

Basically there are several things that you can do to improve your focus. I will address each of them in turn but let me just list them for you now.

1. Meditation/mindfulness training

2. Stop multitasking

3. Exercise

4. Proper Sleep

5. Nutrition

As you read the entries below try not to skim. Read them slowly and carefully. It will be a good practice of the ability to focus (and you will get much more out of them!)

#1 way to increase your ability to focus = Meditation and mindfulness practice.

When I mention "meditation" people think that I am talking about sitting in an uncomfortable position and meditating for hours at a time. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Meditation and mindfulness basically mean being present wherever you are and not letting your mind wander.

In the last several years I have read many books and articles on topics like the ability to focus and how to be more productive and happy - The crazy thing is that every author researching these topics has mentioned meditation and mindfulness. You cannot be focused, you cannot be productive, and it turns out that you cannot even be happy if you do not learn to pay attention to where you are and what you are doing.

How to practice mindfulness? The best-seller author Tich Naht Han talks about brushing your teeth as a chance to meditate on the ritual of brushing. Washing the dishes is a chance for you to be present and focus on the dishes - rather than basically ignoring the washing or brushing as your mind races everywhere (this is what we normally do)!

Mindfulness really just means that you are paying attention to where you are and what you are doing (yes, it does sound a little like Yoda from Star Wars). So if you are walking your dog that is what you are focused on, not the things at work you failed to complete today. And if you are at work then give your full attention there and do not worry about the fact that you need to walk the dog later!

"Meditation" simply means that you are taking mindfulness to another level. You are focusing on one thing and noticing when your mind wanders. It is a simple as that. You can meditate on the sunset and really notice the colors as they change. You can meditate on a song and really hear the notes. And as mentioned above you can meditate on your toothbrush or your dish scrubber, too.

One of the most common meditations is to sit quietly in a comfortable chair (or walk slowly if you prefer a walking meditation) and focus on your breathing. Simply say "IN" as you breathe in and "OUT" as you exhale. Do not try to prevent yourself from thinking about other things. Just notice when your mind does wander and bring it back to the breath again. So you are sitting in a chair and saying "IN" and "OUT" and suddenly a thought comes into your mind "I should be studying for the GMAT!" Just notice the thought and bring your focus back to the breathing. Then a thought pops up "I am wasting my time sitting here" again just acknowledge it and bring your attention back the breathing.

Do this for just 5 minutes and believe it or not you will probably have better focus throughout the rest of the day. In her ground-breaking work "The Willpower Instinct" Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D. writes of a student who had LOTS of trouble focusing. He was concerned that meditation would be impossible for him - this is because he thought that meditation required an empty mind for long periods of time. His meditation was really bad! He was constantly having thoughts pop up and had to keep bringing himself back to the breathing.

Yet this student found that just 5 minutes of what anyone would consider very bad meditation had great results for him. The rest of the day he was much more focused. You can try five minutes right? Maybe first thing in the morning?

The scientific research shows the impacts that small amounts of meditation actually have on the brain. From "The Willpower Instinct" page 25)

• Just 3 total hours of meditation (so 5 minutes a day for 6 weeks) led to scientifically significant improvements in attention and self-control!
  
  Just 8 weeks of daily meditation led to increased self-awareness and increased gray matter in the areas of the brain that control your ability to focus.
  
  Just 11 hours total of meditation led to changes in the brain that were visible on brain scans.

Meditation actually increases blood-flow to the areas of the brain that help us to focus and to have self-control!

And one more thing - your happiness depends on your ability to focus on what you are doing! A recent study by Harvard psychologists found that a wandering mind was correlated with unhappiness. In fact, the actual activity that a person was doing had less impact on their level of happiness than did their focus (or lack of focus) on the current activity. Lack of focus seems to lead to lack of contentment. Source Harvard Gazette https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2 ... appy-mind/

So this is important stuff! It is not just the GMAT or studying for the GMAT or even business school. The GMAT holds up a mirror to us and gives us a chance to change our lives for the better - and get a great GMAT score in the process.

#2 The second thing you can do is to stop multitasking!

This goes hand-in-hand with mindfulness, but definitely deserves its own discussion. I have written several articles about this subject that I will reference in a moment, but I want to first mention a new book called "The Organized Mind" by Daniel J. Levitin. This was a bestseller on Amazon before it was published and has gotten great reviews.

One of the most interesting thing that Levitin talks about in the book is what he calls HSPs - "Highly Successful People." HSPs are CEOs, successful musicians, actors and artists, powerful politicians, etc. Do you know the one trait that all HSPs have in common? They all live in the moment and are focused on the one thing that they are doing at that time.

You will never find these people distracted, worried, or unfocused. The simple reason for this is that they have staff to help them. The politician can give you her full attention while speaking to you because she does not need to worry that there is somewhere else for her to be at that moment. HSPs have drivers who make sure they get where they are going, assistants who keep track of their schedules, and personal chefs and trainers who make sure that they eat right and exercise.

So it is not that these successful people are different from you. It is just that they are able to cultivate their ability to focus and it makes them happier, more relaxed, more productive, and yes more personable and charismatic.

The majority of Levitin's book discusses ways to use technology and some simple strategies to organize your life the way that HSPs do. In fact, the best way to become a Highly Successful Person is to begin TODAY to act like one. And the #1 you need to do is eliminate distractions and stop multitasking. Your success in life depends on your ability to treat each task like it is the only thing in the world that matters and to give each person your full attention as if you had nowhere else to be in the world. If you can do that you will become more personable and more successful.

So that is GOOD side of focusing on one task at a time. Now you can read about the damage that you do to your brain if you multitask. I will just give you this one quote from Levitin, "Multitasking is the enemy of a focused attentional system .

Here are my articles on multitasking:

Want to Beat the GMAT? Stop Multitasking Now
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2011/02/ ... asking-now

How Multitasking Can hurt your GMAT Score Part 1
https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2014/02 ... mat-score/

Part 2
https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2014/02 ... e-part-ii/

#3 - Exercise is a MUST!

Exercise is everything for the brain. Without exercise you cannot create new brain cells and you cannot protect the ones you already have. Exercise is crucial for your ability to focus and for you emotional control. The importance of regular exercise cannot be overstated.

Here are three articles that are a MUST READ!

Exercise and Brain Power: Do I need to run a 10K to Ace the GMAT?
https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2012/05/ ... e-the-gmat

How Exercise Can Increase Your GMAT Score
https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2013/12 ... mat-score/

How Physical Exercise can help control GMAT Test Anxiety
https://www.veritasprep.com/blog/2013/12 ... t-anxiety/

#4 Sleep

Sleep is essential to proper mental functioning for several reasons:

First, sleep helps gently wash away the cares and concerns from the previous day. If you don't believe me, try to remember what you had for lunch three days ago. Unless that lunch was a particularly memorable occasion for you, you probably have no idea. That's because during the intervening periods of sleep, slow waves in your brain came through and washed away all the trivial details of life so that you could wake up the next day ready for another heavy dose of daily details.

Second, sleep and exercise are the two ways the body has of dealing with stress hormones. So when you sleep, not only is your brain gently washing away the details that are causing you to worry, but your body is also dealing with the stress hormones. And that's why you can go to bed sad and angry and wake up ready for a new day.

Third, sleep is necessary to proper cell creation and function. When you do not get enough sleep, the proteins in your cells do not fold properly. This means that the cells themselves do not function properly. Sleep scientists attribute some of the negative aspects of lack of sleep-such as impaired brain function-to the presence of clusters of poorly functioning abnormal cells in your body. The only way to feel better? You guessed it: Get some extra sleep.

How do you know if you're not getting enough sleep? While it is normal to be a little less energetic in the afternoon, it's not OK to actually be tired, and if you're having trouble staying awake, that's a sign of sleep deprivation. No matter what those commercials tell you, an energy drink or shot will not help. Sure, caffeine and other stimulants can keep you awake for a short time, but they cannot repair your cells, deal with stress hormones, or help you learn (by washing away the trivial details). Only sleep can do these things.

If you feel like you might not be getting enough sleep, try this advice from Prevention magazine:

Take a week or so to experiment. Keep your rising time the same, but move your bedtime back an hour for three or four days-say, from midnight to 11 p.m. If you're still waking up tired and lurching to Starbucks in midafternoon, move your bedtime another 45 minutes to an hour earlier. Staring at the ceiling for 30 minutes before you drift off? Shift your new bedtime later in 15- minute increments until you hit your magic hour. How will you know if this works? You'll wake up refreshed, you'll feel in top form at work, and decaf will do.

The Bottom Line Exercise creates new adaptive brain cells and protects existing cells, while sleep makes the brain more flexible and is the key component in the learning process. If you are lacking in either area, you will not be able to focus as well during your practice or on the exam.

#5 - Nutrition

Nutrition is the most controversial topic because there is a lot of money in processed foods.

Some things to possibly avoid if you have focus problems:

1) MSG

2) Artificial Colors and flavors

3) Simple Carbohydrates (white bread, etc.)

4) Sugar

Let me say some more about sugar:

In general, carbohydrates can be useful to fuel your brain. But while your brain depends on glucose, the Franklin Institute warns: "Too much sugar or refined carbohydrates at one time, however, can actually deprive your brain of glucose-depleting its energy supply and compromising your brain's power to concentrate, remember, and learn. Mental activity requires a lot of energy."

"A sugary snack or soft drink that quickly raises your blood sugar level gives you a boost (and any caffeine adds to the lift), but it's short-lived. When you eat something with a high sugar content your pancreas starts to secrete insulin. Insulin triggers cells throughout your body to pull the excess glucose out of your bloodstream and store it for later use.

Soon, the glucose available to your brain has dropped. Neurons, unable to store glucose, experience an energy crisis. Hours later, you feel spaced-out, weak, confused, and/or nervous. Your ability to focus and think suffers."


What should you eat? Fresh Fruits and Vegetables as well as Proteins and Fats seem to be best for concentration. Nuts in particular have some evidence to support their consumption.

Basically the less processed it is the better.

Hope this gives you some ideas!

David