Maintaining & Developing Focus

felizsusanna

Anyone have any tips on maintaining focus throughout the test? I have an issue were I sometimes reread lines in LR or RC and I think it's safe to say that it's causing me to waste time. I would just like to be able to read something once and not have to go back through.

LS-AT Walker

First, I wouldn't worry if you have to re-read some things. This is natural. The wording is sometimes confusing and takes two reads to gain understanding. It is really good that you are recognizing that you don't understand a passage and subsequently re-reading! This shows that you have the comprehension and focus to recognize your own understanding of the text!

In regards to maintaining focus I have several tips that helped me. Go slowly. Though this may seem counter-intuitive, if you go slow enough to garner understanding it will cut down on re-reading and increase understanding, ultimate leading to faster tests speeds. Deep breathing techniques also helped me to calm my nerves while testing. This resulted in less non-relevant and distracting thoughts during the exam, in turn, increasing my understanding, focus, speed, and accuracy.

felizsusanna

Thank you for this! I will take these tips into account!