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04 Oct 2025, 20:57
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I have a basic question. I am struggling with time management, and keep spending more time on specific questions. In most test views, the individual question time is shown; however, in the main exam, it only shows the overall time.
I have read extensively about time management, and most of the strategies revolve around
- Make sure not to give more than 3 min on a specific question: Here, I am struggling to track time at the individual question level. I have started writing down the start time for each question (before I start), but that is not very effective, especially in MSR & RC.
- A lot of advice is also around loosely tracking, like by the 20-minute mark, make sure you have done 10 questions, but in many cases, especially in Quant, I can stay on track broadly for the first 20 minutes, but it goes haywire in the next 10 minutes.
I understand it's a basic question, but I would appreciate help with time management strategies for all 3 sections, if possible.
Thanks in advance!
I have read extensively about time management, and most of the strategies revolve around
- Make sure not to give more than 3 min on a specific question: Here, I am struggling to track time at the individual question level. I have started writing down the start time for each question (before I start), but that is not very effective, especially in MSR & RC.
- A lot of advice is also around loosely tracking, like by the 20-minute mark, make sure you have done 10 questions, but in many cases, especially in Quant, I can stay on track broadly for the first 20 minutes, but it goes haywire in the next 10 minutes.
I understand it's a basic question, but I would appreciate help with time management strategies for all 3 sections, if possible.
Thanks in advance!
04 Oct 2025, 21:07
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Hi. This may be a very personal challenge.
For example, children do not have the concept of time. I’m not sure if that’s because they like experience or some of the mental connections haven’t developed but I can tell you from personal experience that if you ask a child about a very recent event from the last 10 minutes or and ask how long ago it took place, they have no clue.
So they would not be a good gmat test taker because taking the test assumes you worked out an internal clock. Basically an internal system that you have confidence in and you know that this system allows you to slowly read a quant or DI or C.R. question and allows you to think about it for a short period of time and then proceed to solving it using whatever strategy. You know you have enough time to write out a solution and pick the answer and because you’ve done this so many times, you know that this is around two minutes maybe it’s 10 seconds maybe it’s 10 seconds less, but practice has helped you develop this internal clock.
You track time for five or six questions and after you’ve taken a number of practice exam exams or quizzes that are timed, it doesn’t matter which one, you should have a pretty good sense when you are ahead and a pretty good sense when you’re behind.
Couple of this with checking the clock three or four times during the test, depending how you count and you basically checking the clock every five or 6 questions. These are your correction points and if you are over your time, you know you have to speed up so maybe you read the question a little bit faster or maybe if you run into a difficult question, you just guess it because you see no way to solve it quickly, and similarly if you suddenly find that you have come out ahead on time, then you can slow down a bit.
It’s not any different for reading comprehension. You should not be wasting your time and mental energy on keeping track of the clock. This should be happening automatically.
If this is not happening automatically, by now, you may want to develop your own personal approach where you keep the clock on, and you basically start at 45 minutes and then you need to start a new question every time you go to the next odd digit - 43, 41, 39, etc.
If you struggle keeping track of time for some reason and it’s a real personal struggle, you may do and you figure out a solution but majority, overwhelming majority should be able to keep track of time in 5 to 6 question increments and develop a good sense of confidence Based on the numerous practice sessions....
What do you think? Any of this helpful?
For example, children do not have the concept of time. I’m not sure if that’s because they like experience or some of the mental connections haven’t developed but I can tell you from personal experience that if you ask a child about a very recent event from the last 10 minutes or and ask how long ago it took place, they have no clue.
So they would not be a good gmat test taker because taking the test assumes you worked out an internal clock. Basically an internal system that you have confidence in and you know that this system allows you to slowly read a quant or DI or C.R. question and allows you to think about it for a short period of time and then proceed to solving it using whatever strategy. You know you have enough time to write out a solution and pick the answer and because you’ve done this so many times, you know that this is around two minutes maybe it’s 10 seconds maybe it’s 10 seconds less, but practice has helped you develop this internal clock.
You track time for five or six questions and after you’ve taken a number of practice exam exams or quizzes that are timed, it doesn’t matter which one, you should have a pretty good sense when you are ahead and a pretty good sense when you’re behind.
Couple of this with checking the clock three or four times during the test, depending how you count and you basically checking the clock every five or 6 questions. These are your correction points and if you are over your time, you know you have to speed up so maybe you read the question a little bit faster or maybe if you run into a difficult question, you just guess it because you see no way to solve it quickly, and similarly if you suddenly find that you have come out ahead on time, then you can slow down a bit.
It’s not any different for reading comprehension. You should not be wasting your time and mental energy on keeping track of the clock. This should be happening automatically.
If this is not happening automatically, by now, you may want to develop your own personal approach where you keep the clock on, and you basically start at 45 minutes and then you need to start a new question every time you go to the next odd digit - 43, 41, 39, etc.
If you struggle keeping track of time for some reason and it’s a real personal struggle, you may do and you figure out a solution but majority, overwhelming majority should be able to keep track of time in 5 to 6 question increments and develop a good sense of confidence Based on the numerous practice sessions....
What do you think? Any of this helpful?
04 Oct 2025, 21:55
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Hi BB,
Thanks for your detailed response, really appreciate.
Like you said, developing an internal clock is the key, and it seems like I haven't developed (or mastered) it yet. Let me try the ways you suggested and see if I can develop a system that works for me.
Are there some broad-level strategies that I can use that work for people who have developed this clock?
Thanks for your detailed response, really appreciate.
Like you said, developing an internal clock is the key, and it seems like I haven't developed (or mastered) it yet. Let me try the ways you suggested and see if I can develop a system that works for me.
Are there some broad-level strategies that I can use that work for people who have developed this clock?
bb
