RE: STUDY SUGGESTIONS -- WHERE AND WHEN IS BEST?

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My first two gmats didn't go exactly as planned. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to study my next go around. I'm taking a week off right now as I'm fried from last week's test experience. I know I have to work on timing; it's just way off right now. I go in thinking in order to get a good score I need to get all of the first 10 questions correct, leaving me guessing on the the final 6-7 questions and even leaving some questions unanswered (1-2).
My concern is my study habits; I study during the week at my desk for an hour at lunch, have the guys coming by my desk and talk to me causing me to lose focus on what question i was working on and having to start over again. Does my studying on the train do more harm than good?
Same thing happens on my train ride home. People are snoring and are on top of me, i can't get comfortable, and now that I'm writing all this I see this may be a problem. When i get home during the week i'm tired from running around all day at work and from studying, but i put an extra hour or two in and call it quits.
On the weekend I spend my Saturdays in the library from 9-5 and Sunday I just relax.
Should I skip studying during my lunch break and on the train ride home and study when I'm in a more comfortable, quiet area where i can fully concentrate, like in the library on Sundays? Is studying in a loud, uncomfortable environment not similar to the gmat a good thing?
If anyone works full time and is also studying for the gmat, please share any study tips/ experiences you may have.
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by rishi raj » Thu Mar 17, 2011 5:45 pm
Yeah, you shouldn't studying during lunch breaks. You seem to be studying more than what is suggested and believe me it is going to have a detrimental effect on your perfromance but you will not actually *love* preparing for the GMAT .You'll rather start getting fed up with that and that''s what you don't want because you have to ensure that by the time you take the GMAT, you are in the right frame of mind and you're psychologiically at your best.
So on the weekdays, you should study only when you come home .Even if you're able to take out 2 hours after you come home, I think you should be great. On the weekends, you shouldn't be studying for more than 5-6 hours a day. Again, the way you're currently studying ie. sitting in the library at a stretch from morning till evening is a bad idea. That method of studying is good if you're studying for your school or college exams because all you have to do is learn/mug up answers as you know that on the tests, you'll be asked the very same questions , but on the GMAT, you should avoid doing that. You should study in blocks of 2 hours. So instead of studying for 6 hours at a stretch , you may wanna spread these blocks over the day
While commuting ,instead of studying for the GMAT, read books which will help you indirectly for the GMAT. Books like Naseem Taleb's "Fooled by Randomness" will give you glimpses of critical reasoning questions. All throughout the book, you'll read about causality, inappropriate analogy, assumptions etc.
Hope that helps!