Hi, cedric7!
I'm more or less in the same situation as you (started the "740+ study strategy" thread about two months ago) and wanted to know how to study. I knew many things about the GMAT and how it worked, but always got overwhelmed about how to tackle this entire thing! Well, I've been studying for a month or so and I want to share with you some of my insights.
1.
Don't try to copy a study strategy! Just try to find/develop yours - You are the boss and you should understand the concepts, so JUST apply the strategy which worked for you in high school or college. If you remember things, when you write them, just do this with the GMAT as well, if you do not like to write, but prefer to read things a couple of time - do it. Don't try to copy a successful study strategy, because it's not going to be yours. And in the end of the day - many of us (including me for some days) thing that you achieve the score with your strategy. NO, you achieve the score with knowledge and therefore it's totally senceless to apply something, which generally, does not work for you. Study at this time of the day, which is convinient for you, do this sequence which makes you happy and just have fun with your study! I'm sure - you can boost your score dramatically, just let me move on to my second insight...
2.
Take your time - don't try to push things and schedule a GMAT-exam for next month. If you don't have any deadline, take two months and get some 1-2 weeks of mental rest. Read some reviews/debriefs here, you'll see - all people, who were persistens, just achieved their objective - name it Harvard, Wharton, MIT, INSEAD...all of them just took their time, planned they journey and achieved it. But, attention, all of them had some difficulties/problems which they had to overcome. So, man, you're just in a very common situation where you just need to say - "Hey you Mr./Mrs. (in case this sweet thing is a girl) GMAT, I've achieved so many things, I bet I can crack you within X months." And start your journey!
Yeah, my insights are just two, but, hold on, I've been studying for just one month!
Stay calm, you've already studied a lot, take one or two weeks of rest, and then start with all the motivation, which will allow you to dramatically boost your score. Because of the fact, that you are having a score around 500, I think, you have a problem with the foundations. I've just posted reviews of both
MGMAT Foundation book (Kaplan also has such) just go out, buy the one which look nice to you, and dive into them. I'm sure if you complete them (about 2 weeks) and then you just brush again through the books, which you have already worked on, you're going to score 600+!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Regards,