Hi Prasannathawait,
Procrastinating in your GMAT prep is quite common among test-takers. Certainly, the idea of diving into the unknown can be frightening, especially when you don’t have a clear picture of how long the study process may take or where your starting point should be. After all, how intimidating would it be to start a race with no clear picture of the finish line?
For now, let’s focus on achieving one goal at a time, OK? Your first mini-goal needs to be
familiarizing yourself with the GMAT and then taking an
official GMAT practice exam. Once you take that practice exam, you will get a better sense of your starting point as well as the finish line.
That being said, to be successful with your GMAT prep, you will need to keep up a sustained level of motivation. As with anything in life, if you are not motivated, you probably won’t succeed. How set on going to business school are you? If you don’t end up getting into an MBA program, is that a game changer for you, or is an MBA just “nice to have”? If your answer is that getting an MBA could significantly change your life for the better, then what is more important than getting off the couch and studying?? Yes, it’s not necessarily fun to study for the GMAT, but this situation is just a microcosm for life. You will encounter many things in the future that you would rather not do; however, part of your success will be defined by how you handle those challenges.
Now, I realize that “get motivated” is easier said than done, and reaching out here for advice is a great first step. Additionally, it might be helpful to learn from others how to “flip the switch” so you can stop procrastinating. There are
many books you can read and
videos you can watch that can help drive you to stay motivated, not just in your GMAT prep but in everyday life.
Additionally, there are things you can do right now to reduce distractions and get motivated to prepare for the GMAT. For instance, beyond considering your goals, look at what you are doing instead, whether it be hanging out with friends (too often), binge-watching Netflix, or getting sucked into a social media hole. The point is, when we are unmotivated to complete a task, we grasp onto anything and everything but that task. To get yourself to train for the GMAT instead, catch yourself when you start getting even a little bored of doing those other things. You can say to yourself, “OK, I’ve messed around enough. Time to make some progress in my life.” The moment you feel even halfway motivated to do some prepping, go at it.
Another trick to get yourself to train for the GMAT is to find something about the test that gets you going. For instance, if there is a type of question that you feel intimidated by, go directly to working on that type of question. This move works really well because any GMAT-related skill that you build will drive up your score. So, you can always make progress by finding something GMAT-related that you are at least a little curious about or interested in and becoming an expert in that thing. If, for example, the fact that you are not so good at answering probability questions is bugging you, go straight to that topic and deal with what is bugging you. Then, find another topic that is bugging you and work on it. This way, your own curiosity, rather than a book, will direct you, and so things may flow better.
Overall, there are many moves that you can make to prioritize your GMAT prep. You can consider the outcome of getting a high GMAT score and be motivated by that prospect, you can learn how to motivate yourself by reading about doing so, you can decide to live life to the fullest and go after what you want rather than doing things that will eat up your time and derail your progress.
You also may find it helpful to read this article about
how to score a 700+ on the GMAT.
I’ve got your back, my friend! If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out.
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01 Nov 2018, 08:28
