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Are You Doing GAMSAT Exam Time Management Wrong?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Hey Gamster, wha-

(⌐O_O)
…

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Oh G’s doing a practice exam, let’s come back later- and geez, stop eating G’s toes.

(^ΦдΦ^)
But food waits for no one.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That’s true- carry on then~

(^ΦдΦ^)
(Nom)

(⌐O_O)
🎶

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Hey Gam, how’re your toes?

(⌐O_O)
Non-existent

(^ΦдΦ^) ( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Good to hear, good to hear… and how’d the practice exam go?

(⌐O_O)
Yeah good, finished Section 3 with 5 minutes and 42 seconds left for review~

(^ΦдΦ^) ( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Hey yeah it sounds like you’re getting faster…

(^ΦдΦ^) ( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
…

(^ΦдΦ^)
(Wait a minute….)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(Why does G have a countdown timer?)

(^ΦдΦ^)
What did you use to keep time?

(⌐O_O)
The timer on my watch.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
And what kind of watch do you have?

(⌐O_O)
A smartwatch – I can use it even without my phone. 

(^ΦдΦ^) ( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Oh…

(⌐O_O)
Why do you ask?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
You can’t

(⌐O_O)
I can’t what?

(^ΦдΦ^)
I can’t even

(⌐O_O)
You can’t even what?

Are You Using The Right Watch To Keep Time?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
I can’t even- No, Snarksy can’t even- No goddammit. Bad, aneurysm, bad!

(^ΦдΦ^)
Stop, breath, and start again….

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(Mindfulness Meter renewed) Phew! Yeah, you can’t use smartwatches unfortunately.

(⌐O_O)
I can’t?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(Nods) It says so on ACER’s GAMSAT Info Booklet, under “What to bring on test day”

(^ΦдΦ^)
Just search for “watch” in the PDF.

(⌐O_O)
I can only use an analogue watch?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Not only just an analogue watch, but you also can’t use bullshit Chronograph functions like stopwatch or timer too.

How You Keep Time, Matters

(⌐O_O)
I don’t even know where my analogue watch is.

(^ΦдΦ^)
Or if you even have one.

(⌐O_O)
…That too. Can’t I just use my normal watch for now, and use an analogue watch for the exam?

(^ΦдΦ^)
You *could* do that. Hell, ppl might even use their mobile phones to time themselves for practice exams, because they don’t wear watches.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That said, I would encourage you to start using an analogue watch ASAP.

(^ΦдΦ^)
Like, right now.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Because there’s actually a huge difference in how you keep time if you have a timer (on your digital or smart watch), versus if you don’t (on an analogue watch).

(^ΦдΦ^)
For example, you’re using a countdown timer on your G-shock-

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Classic

(^ΦдΦ^)
-thank you – and you glance up at the time, and it reads:

1:50:58

And you’re like “Ok, that’s out of 3-ish hours – so a bit under ⅔ of time has passed. I’m up to Q70, and 70 out of 110 is sort of ⅔ of the way through – so I’m sort of on progress”

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That’s maybe like 10-15 seconds.

(^ΦдΦ^)
Versus you look up and you see this:

And you’re like “Um, ok, what does that read… 2:08? When did we start? 1:14 was it? How many minutes has it been? 2:14 is 60 minutes from 1:14, and if 8 is 14 minus 6, then the answer is 60 minus 6 which is 54. And 54 out of 170 is around ⅓ – I’m on Q30, 30 of 110 is around ¼. I’m through ¼ of the questions, and ⅓ of the time – I need to hurry up….”

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That took 30 seconds at least.

(^ΦдΦ^)
Yeah, now imagine doing that every time you want to check the time – you’ll get sick and tired of checking quick smart.

(⌐O_O)
That maths also made my brain hurt.

(^ΦдΦ^)
Oh yeah that – and how much mental arithmetics was that? And that was per instance of checking the time, too. You know doing maths in your head costs energy, right? Wouldn’t you rather use that energy for the actual GAMSAT questions instead?

GAMSAT Exam Time Management is Important

(⌐O_O)
Man, this time management thing sounds like a lot of hassle – is it even worth the effort?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Ok, this is a big one. GAMSAT time management can seem like a small thing, especially when you’re running your own practice exams.

(^ΦдΦ^)
Because keeping time isn’t something you have to do – like say, sticking to the Reading Time and Writing Time….

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
…Yep, so it’s easy to not keep time, or to keep time your way.

(^ΦдΦ^)
But the thing is, the real exam will strictly enforce the time limit, and the analogue watch requirement.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
And if you haven’t been keeping time properly during practice exams, you’re going to be between a rock and a hard place.

(^ΦдΦ^)
The Rock (which they should totally remake with The Rock)-

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(Because like the Attack On Titans theme, The Rock goes with anything and everything.)

(^ΦдΦ^)
(Exactly) The rock is the fact that, if you don’t keep time, you’ll easily run out of time, which leaves tons of questions unanswered – and that alone can be the single most significant factor that loses you marks.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Imagine spending all that time studying textbooks, doing chapter questions, doing practice exams, dissecting your incorrect responses, in order to get more questions right – only to get a heap of them wrong, because you didn’t even get around to them.

(⌐O_O)
Ok, so not keeping time is the rock – what’s the hard place?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
The hard place is struggling to keep time during the actual exam: If you haven’t been keeping time at all, or properly (e.g. using a digital or smart watch, instead of an analogue watch), that will be your habit, and your default, and your baseline.

And the actual exam is going to feel high-stakes and stressful. And there’s a saying, that when we’re under pressure, we don’t raise to the occasion, we sink to the level of our training.

(^ΦдΦ^)
For example, you’re friends with your crush, and whenever you work up the courage to ask them out, you ABORT and make more of the derpy small-talk instead.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Or say that you have a second language spoken exam coming up; you’ve learnt some useful new words, but during the exam, you can only remember your favourite sentences, like “Help my robber, they are being sat-on by the possum”

(^ΦдΦ^)
(What’s with the passive voice though)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
So, if you’ve been in the habit of timing yourself using a non-analogue watch, or timer, or stopwatch, or mobile phone, and you get to the exam with an analogue watch, you will likely:

1) Try to keep time, not be used to it, end up using conscious attention to keep time

(^ΦдΦ^)
Which is really damaging, because you will be multi-tasking when you’re supposed to be fully focused on the exam – and you end up using more time and energy than you should – just to keep time.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
And that’s just the best case scenario: The worse case scenario is:

2) Try to keep time, get confused, end up not keeping time

(^ΦдΦ^)
In the moment, you’ll think “Shit, dis shit too hard, I’ll just wing it.” 

So you end up not paying attention to time, and find yourself pressed against The Rock’s glistening hard chest, being 30 questions behind with 10 minutes to go.

(⌐O_O)
Woah.

(^ΦдΦ^)
If you don’t condition yourself right during practice exam, you can derail your whole GAMSAT performance on the big day.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That’s why weddings have rehearsals, and why they’re taken seriously – and not just by the Bridezilla.

(⌐O_O)
So, how should I keep time properly using the analogue watch?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That’s for a different discussion, coming up in Part 2 of Keeping Time. Meanwhile, borrow my analogue watch, and try keeping time now.

(⌐O_O)
Did you, like, read the Da Vinci Code or something?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Very good!

Let’s Review

The actual GAMSAT only allows time-keeping using an analogue watch, with timer and stopwatch functions off

Don’t relearn how to keep time good on GAMSAT day – start practicing keeping time using an analogue watch today

Want Loads More Tips and Strategies?

Check out the FastGAMSAT ebook pack on the homepage!

(Yes, that’s Snarksy on the cover)

( ^ΦдΦ^)
Draw me like one of your French girls, Willeo.