One of the major reasons for a slower-than-desirable Speed in AIRCATs/Mock CATs is the slow start at the beginning of each section.
We humans have a tendency to be less cautious about any resource that we have in abundance – be it water, money or time. It is when we begin running out of that resource (and we typically realize that pretty late) that we start showing urgency, and often panic or simply resign to our fate.
So, with 60 minutes in hand at the beginning of any section, you don’t feel the need to be quick. It is after 45 minutes of slower-than-desirable speed that you try and make up for it in the last 15 minutes.
A good way to overcome this for many of you could be:
1. Enter every section with a small mental warm-up. Do anything that gets your mind going. Those few seconds would help you get more from the beginning. And each minute is worth the same value regardless of whether it is the first or the last minute of a section.
2. See every section as multiple sub-sections. Try and approach each section as 2/3 smaller sub-sections of 30/20 minutes each respectively rather than one 60 minute session. That will not only ensure that you have more time to correct slower-than-desirable starts but also increase the probability of you seeing all questions.
Try and see what works for you. This is the time to experiment and adapt your CAT preparation strategy – not the time to worry about scores, play safe and not learn.
And do share what worked for you.
About the author: Deekshant has sleep-walked through several 100 and 99.9 %iles in practically every section of the CAT. That he is a cricket fan and he writes okay is evident from most of his posts. 1000s of our students swear that he can motivate almost anyone to double his/her percentile through very simple yet powerful inputs. And that’s why every MBAGuru student has direct access to him via mail and Telegram. Oddly, he somehow also finds the time to write songs professionally. And yes … almost missed this … he is an alumnus of IIT Delhi & IIM Cal 
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