GMAT Strategy

Folks,

these days I am finding it hard to put myself to sleep. What ever that I study the previous day, seem to linger around in my mind. Yesterday I studied coordinate geometry and all night I was only seeing coordinates, x & y-intercepts running in every quadrant of my brain )

Frustrated, I couldnot put myself till 4:00 am, I woke up and studied number properties for about 3 hours. Rest of the day, I slept for about 2-3 hrs. It has not been a productive day for me at all

Does anybody face similar problem???? How do u cope??

I did not face any such problems, but unfortunately my little brother did, before one of his most important exams. The result: he had a nervous breakdown and spent about three weeks in a mental institution, missing his undergrad admissions as well.

I'm not trying to put pressure on you, but here's what I've learned: don't underestimate insomnia! It's one of the most important signs that you're waaay yo stressed. You're probably putting too much pressure on yourself... Remember, the GMAT is just another test and you can take it as many times as you feel comfortable.

I myself suffered from insomnia in my high school, but after exercising, drinking warm milk and honey in the evening and taking a long shower just before going to bed I was able to "cure" myself.

All the best and I hope you can unwind soon!

The easiest way is to use Tynenol PM or sth like that. Or one of the many short-term insomnia drugs e.g. Ambien... but watch for side effects.

Of course the most fun way to battle insomnia is to get totally and irretriveably drunk and pass out... but then again you'd have to deal with the hangover which i'm guessing just might affect your next day's performance.

What I would suggest in all seriousness is to go to a gym like at 8pm and work out like a fiend for 2 hours (1 hour weights 45 mins cardio; 15 mins sauna)... and then eat dinner at 10pm... By 11pm you will be so exahausted you will be out like a light as soon as your head hits the pillow. And you will wake up refreshed. This is MUCH healthier than becoming an alcoholic or a sleeping pill junkie.

I meant to get sleep the night before the test but just couldn't- I was too nervous. But things worked out ok.

I must have needed to wake up at 5am to get to the test centre (I was very early, but wanted to make sure I had a buffer in the case the subway broke down or something).

I am not recommending sleep medication, but they might be something you want to consider to get you back onto a sleep cycle.

Also, I think even if you are tossing around in bed and not actually asleep, at least your body is not doing anything so it is somewhat recuperating. Some light music might help you get the thoughts of DS, CR, SC etc out of your head.

Ok seriously, your test is around the corner, don't try any of these pills or new routine things - i know it would wreck my focus for sure!

I can completely understand your problem, not getting enough sleep can be a big issue especially if you need to focus on details in a gruelling test.

I have been an insomniac pretty much all my life and I know that taking a pill can completely throw you off balance if you're not used to it. Artificial drug induced sleep is of no help anyways. But you may want to try a mild anti-anxiety drug (only if your doc says recommends it). Please NOT the night before your exam.

Here's what works for me - reading. Please take boring RC passages to bed, it works wonders. I find quant too stimulating and it's been keeping me awake at nights too.

Don't let it get to you. It's all in your mind, try to relax. Take a little break... I'm sure the adrenaline will kick in at the exam and you wont care about how much sleep you got the night before!

I think you need to address the inner game issue here more than applying a patch. Become outcome independent. Come what may and I will brace it should be your frame of mind. I used to feel nervous on all occasions. GRE, exams, interviews, asking a hot girl out. Little did I realize that I was giving external factors power and let them dictate my emotions instead of me being objective to the outcome. I was putting unnecessary value on those without realising how high value I was!!!!
And even If I bomb a test then that is not the end of the world, I can take one more. Time is of the essence for only the ones who care about time. I don't as time is man made. So If I bomb my GMAT there will be another time when I might decimate it. GMAT is not the end of the world!!! Internalize this frame and all your sleep problems will go away and you will sleep like a baby.

Thanks a lot for all those responses. I think I was putting lot of stress on myself thinking of 700+ score .. I am not going to bother too much on the score I will get..I will keep pluging away and make most of the time left.

@moonshine, that was good suggestion to do RC @ sleep time. Quant has been quite stimulating and keeps your mind quite charged up..

I am not gonna take any pills, I will do some excercises and Yoga and watcha movie and will get myself relaxed.

DanaJ wrote:Itaking a long shower just before going to bed I was able to "cure" myself.

The shower (cold) in the evening freshens me enough to do 2 RC passages, and a few CRs and if you are up for it a few SCs too. This is for only 2 hours, then I sleep and then 5am-8am I am in a different world, where there is no GMAT.

then from 9-10am I do as many quants problems as I can. Seriously, as many as I can .. sometimes its 40 questions.

Hi Bara, why is the night before the night before test is more important?

Bara wrote:You guys are all superstars!!

I hope more people add to this topic. It's really important stuff.

Keep in mind, too, that the night before the night before a test is more important than the night before a test.

The night before the night. I never thought of that... but it makes intuitive sense. I read somewhere that the body and mind can perform at a high level with little or no sleep for a max of about 40 hours and then no matter who you are or what drug you are on, your performance falls and without sleep your system WILL shut down on you... otherwise it would be impossible to pull all nighters and still Ace a 2.5 hour exam the following afternoon (a feat many college kids perform during finals).

So for me, who uses physical exercise to get fantastic rest should do my heavy gym routine two nights before the exam...

Great advice! Thanks!