during the breaks

That 8 minutes certainly goes by quickly.

Practically there is only one way to relax during the break time - Gear up for the next section, and stop thinking about the previous section. You must not allow your mind go numb entirely, you'll lose the groove and timing will screw up unnecessarily.

And there is only one way to approach GMAT overall, questions are bombarded at you, DECIDE the approach you want to take to get to the correct answer and get done with it in as little time as possible. Do not, in any situation, over-anticipate that the test is gonna end and you can face the upcoming questions in a relaxed state of mind. This is just suicide. For all 37 questions in Quant and all 41 in Verbal, one and only aim and challenge is to get to the correct answer in as little time as possible and you should be prepared to put anything that it takes.

All the very best and do well.

I think the key is that no matter what you do, you just have to forget the previous section and do what it takes to focus on the next section.

I think a banana is always a good idea. Filling and lots of vitamins.

I hope to utilize this strategy on my D-Day.

Hey, I know this is an old thread, but just an FYI:

As soon as you grab a new notebook and sit back down at the computer the clock starts ticking again--you only have around 60 seconds to start the next section.

I was hoping to get into my desk early and relax for 2-3 minutes before the next section started but I was surprised when this wasn't possible.

Go to the bathroom and splash cold water on your face. It's a good way to keep yourself alert.

Almonds are great yumm. Please let us know how it went!

See if this thread helps.

Seriously, 60 seconds? WTF? For Quant I start with blank slate in my notebook so no worries, but in Verbal I have a ritual - I mark ABCDE in my notebook from 1-30 question (for RC and CR questions, 10 q/page) - which takes like 2 mins. Are you sure I won't get 2+ mins when I get back from the break with a new notebook?

Hi,
I just want to warn people. Be very carefull with the break. I took the exam a month ago and I had a terrible experience with the break. I finished the quantitative section, so I took the 10 minutes break. I went out the room, I took a snack and a bottle of water, I went to the bathroom, I cleaned by face, and I streched my legs. After a while I went back to the exam room. When I went back to my computer, I saw that.... THE EXAM HAD ALREADY BEGUN!! I lost 30 seconds!! I started extremely nervous the Verbal section! It was terrible!
Fortunately, I got a very good score in the GMAT, but I recommend that everybody be very CAREFUL with the 10 minutes. They go faster than some may think!

Yeah, to echo what everyone has already said, it's really no time at all. It's 8 minutes, but in that 8 minutes you have to:
1) Flag the proctor down
2) Have him/her check you out of your workstation
3) Scan your palms
4) Whatever you want (snacks, bathroom, whatever)
5) Flag down proctor
6) Scan your palms
7) Have proctor check you in to your workstation

Pretty big list yeah but yeah this is the reality you can not help with your moaning on the only 8 minutes. It also reminded me of my D-day experience- the loo was quite a bit distant from my test room... I had to literally run after palm scanning to the locker I got at the center (to get some orange juice and cookies- both I consumed while running to the loo) and then running back to the designated test room...