How often do you check the time?

lsatblitz

I found out today that I was significantly less anxious during my LR sections because I decided beforehand that I would check the time after the 10th question, the 15th, and at 20. Obviously if I felt I spent a long time on a section I might check how much time has passed by, but I feel like constantly looking back and forth between my watch and the questions ruined my train of thought on many occasions. I had to turn my watch over so I wouldn't be tempted to keep looking.

For reading comp though, I'm not sure when to be checking my time. It would be ideal to only check after each passage, but I don't want to lose track of time after spending a good deal of time on a tough passage or question. I'd love to hear what top scorers have put into habit.

Pacifico

For RC it tends to vary with each passage since you're looking at 5-8 questions usually. The general approach I take is that I glance after reading the passage, again after finishing the questions on that same page, then if there are more than four questions on the next page I check after I finish the first column and again when I finish the page. This only takes me 5 seconds total and it helps me keep pace.

pritisharma

timekeeping makes me more anxious too ... for LR I just follow a simple rule I use my internal timer (sense of time) to forgo a question if it seems to take longer than 1:45, in fact somewhere between 1:30 - 1:45 I think. For RC I really do not have a good strategy and am not able to finish in time. For LG , if i think I have not made some important inferences for the problem (I generally discover this during 2-3 question of the problem) I skip the problem and come back to it. Generally works.I effect I do not use the watch at all. Keeps me less stressed and more focused on the problems. I use the 5 min timer announcement to keep marking all the answers as I do the questions so to make sure when time is announce i have no questions solved but unmarked. I am not sure if this is the best strategy but I am sticking to it as of now :-) until something more promising shows up.

c.janson35

For LR I would recommend only checking the clock two or three times, if that. After 10, 15, and 20 questions. While it doesn't take much time, I think it uses mental energy that's unnecessary. Of course, I already know how fast I need to work to finish a section so for me it seems unnecessary to continue checking over and over. I think it's best to try to get to this point so that you don't have to keep checking. Ideally you should already be working in the most efficient manner so that there's no need to artificially speed up your process, but this comes with practice. For RC and LG I would check after each passage/game just for the peace of mind that I'm on track.

lsatblitz

@c.janson35 so you basically developed a sort of internal clock for RC so you didn't really need to check except after each passage?

lsatblitz

For reasoning I find it easier to not check, maybe it's my internal clock/working speed telling me when I've spent too much time on a question

allergic

@Pacifico's approach to RC timing sounds right to me, although I might check a bit more frequently during the last passage to make sure I didn't run out of time.

nicole.hopkins

@lsatblitz said:
maybe it's my internal clock/working speed telling me when I've spent too much time on a question

For RC I am looking at the clock more regularly if I'm not able to knock out the Q's with laser-like efficiency. I can tell when I'm dragging my feet a bit. My policy is to get out of there after about 8 minutes, pretty much no matter what. I find that RC is the section most susceptible to a catastrophic time sink.

nicole.hopkins

Here's how to train your internal clock.

Grab your phone. Got a stopwatch app? Grab it. Or get one. And get three highlighters: pink, yellow, green.

LR:
Do a timed section. At every single Q for LR, hit lap. At the end of the section, go back through the Q's and write down what your 'lap' time was for each Q.

For Q's where you spent more than 1.20, pink. 1 minute–1.19, yellow. Under 1 minute, green.

RC:
Do a timed section. Hit lap after each read and for each of the Q's.

For Q's where you spent more than 1 minute, pink. 31 seconds–59 seconds, yellow. Under 30 seconds, green. (This is assuming your read is 3.30-4 minutes)

LG:
Do a timed section. Hit lap after each diagram and for each of the Q's.

For Q's where you spent more than 1 minute, pink. 45 seconds–59 seconds, yellow. Under 45 seconds, green. (This is assuming your setup is around 3 minutes)

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Do that for 3-5 sections per subject area. You'll get a feel for one minute/one minute 20.

lsatblitz

@nicole.hopkins this is awesome! Thank you so much, I'm definitely trying it

sean.marz

Wow @nicole.hopkins thank you very much! Great job

twssmith

great advice from @"Nicole Hopkins" to train your internal clock

lx621146

@nicole.hopkins said:
RC is the section most susceptible to a catastrophic time sink.

YES

riveras.jonathan

I just recently began using a watch. I've had the opposite problem where I speed through a section as quickly as possible, only to realize I had 5mins left to spare (clearly I wasn't utilizing my time as efficiently as I could have and that was reflected on my raw score).

For LR I've typically started to glance at my wrist after question 10 to make sure I'm either at or below 10mins. Since the questions get a little more difficult between 10-20, I check back at 20 after having to deal with a couple of curve breaker questions and I'm expecting at least two more between 20-25. I also want to give myself ample time to go back in case I circled a question. I like to be at or closely around 25mins in when I hit question 20. This has turned out to be the most efficient way for me and I never run out of time during any given LR section.

For RC I only check my watch after I complete the second passage (& questions). I make sure I'm either at or below 20mins, depending on where the 5 question passage lands, either the first or second half. If it's in the first half I usually finish the first two passages in 16-18mins leaving me with more time to tackle the longer passages in the second half.

Lastly LG, I simply check my watch after completing every game. I usually try to finish games within 7-8mins each (unless it's game 3 from PT77, then I just put down my pencil and cry a little before skipping it).

I think the key to timing is finding your sweet spot for each question type and sticking to it. As long as you create and practice a specific system (whether internalized or externalized, or both) you'll be able to complete each section and have a minute or two to check back on any ones you circled.

Hope this helped!