Time Management During PTs

[Mmjd12]

Hi,

I am finishing LR sections just in the nick of time (like 8-10 seconds to spare, usually) During PTs, I do the section "backwards" starting at question 26 through to question 1. Since the more difficult and time consuming questions are usually tucked in the end of the section, I get those out of the way first, usually with no skips.(I don't need a ton of time on parallel reasoning/flaw, but if one requires an exceptional amount of diagramming I will skip it for the end.)

I am finishing on time, with accuracy, but 8-10 seconds really doesn't leave any room for error. If I get stalled even slightly, I risk not finishing the section in time. What would you recommend is a good time buffer I should work toward? Any feedback on my method is appreciated too.

Many thanks always

[Mmjd12]

Edit: it's worth mentioning I would sometimes run out of time when I would do the questions in regular order (from 1-26) but I found going backward has helped me get all the way through under timed conditions.

[Luke Haqq]

Hi Mmjd12!

If you want a suggestion of an ideal buffer, 1 to 3 minutes seems to be an ample amount of time. However, in the end, it's not clear that it matters too much that you have that much time. For example, if you're getting all the questions right, then it doesn't really matter if you have any time left over at the end. If you're getting them all right with 8 to 10 second left at the end, you should keep doing what you're doing. Moreover, if you put too much of an emphasis on getting through questions quicker, that could come at the cost of accuracy, leaving you to have to review questions a second time rather than taking the time you need the first time around to address the question adequately. It might be quicker to take the time you need the first time on each question.

Still, it's not an impossible task to add a small buffer. If you can get through each question just 2 or 3 seconds faster, that's enough to add a minute of time for you to review. That could be enough time to readdress a question or two.