Testing endurance

Bruna Pasqual

Hey guys!

Does anyone have any strategies for improving testing endurance? I tend to keep good accuracy throughout the drills and you try from the modules, but get gassed out mid-way through the actual PT sections, which negatively impacts my score.

Has anyone dealt with a similar issue and found a good approach to quickly fix this and score better? Such as taking more full-length tests or building up from individual sections, etc.

Any tips and advice are appreciated!

ccski

Hello! I have dealt with this, too. When I get gassed I find myself reading things over & over again; usually to no avail. There are a few ways I have found to mitigate this, which I've listed in order of how much they helped me (most helpful first).
First, I take my practice tests at my energy peak in the day, which for me is in the morning a couple hours after I get up and eat breakfast. I'd highly recommend reading about circadian rhythms and, if you don't already know, testing out different times to see what your optimum test time is.
Second, I have learned to skip questions as soon as my eyes start to glaze over. This does two things. One, it gives me a second chance to start the question off on a good foot. Two, it encourages my brain to take the next question more seriously. I do typically skip 2-5 questions every section, saving them for the end of my time, but I don't like doing this to too many questions, for obvious reasons. When I force myself to skip questions, it serves as a warning signal, and naturally helps me 'lock-in' more. Of course, I can see how this strategy might make other people too stressed, so I wouldn't start trying this out if you're really close to your test date.
Third, I realized I perform worse around others. Even if noise is minimal, like in a library where I usually test, I get distracted by others' sounds & movements, and I overthink about them getting distracted by my sounds & movements. Thankfully, everyone has the option to test remotely now, and so I will be opting for the flex test for this reason. It took me a while to realize I should do this because I was initially set on taking it in-person (to me, it seems more motivating and exciting). But I finally let myself change my mind. Changing your mind is often good!
Your mileage may vary, of course, but if any of this works for you too I'd love to hear about it. Good luck!