Till now, you must have been acquainted with the format of the CLAT exam and you might have understood that this exam is a race against time as you have 2 hours and 150 questions to attempt. Therefore, a student is expected to have good time management skills in order to excel in this exam. More than just attempting questions, it is a requirement that you are able to answer them correctly as well because there is negative marking for each wrong answer. So, learning the art of time management for a CLAT aspirant is a primary responsibility. Here are 5 tips that will help you manage time while attempting the CLAT exam-
One passage at a time– Reading multiple passages at a time will only consume more time than doing any good. The brain functions in such a way that it can comprehend a single passage at a time. So the right approach is to read one passage and then attempt the questions that are asked. In this way, you would be able to understand the context of the passage correctly and would then be able to solve answers in a logical manner. It is advised that you may read questions related to that passage first, and then read the passage so that you are aware of the things that you have to focus on. Try not to jump to other passages unless you are completely done with one passage. Jumping to another passage should only be done when the passage you earlier started with turns out to be complicated as per your understanding.
Practice is the key– You might think that attempting mock tests is only to judge your preparation; however, you tend to forget that practicing mock also helps you institutionalize your CLAT attempt. When you give a mock in an exam set-up, you get into that exam mode and attempt questions in a time-bound manner. This helps you in understanding what should be your ideal approach towards attempting any question. You are able to make your own tricks to read the passage carefully that too in a time-efficient manner. Moreover, the more you practice, the more you are accustomed to different question patterns, which would help you in quickly addressing any question that you see because you won’t have to understand the scheme of the question as you already knew it.
Not every question is meant to be attempted- A student must understand that in a competitive exam, you are required to score maximum marks in a limited time and are not required to attempt each and every question. Therefore, if a question seems to be tricky in nature and you think that particular question would be time-consuming, you must mark that question to be attempted at last. Do not hover around such questions that may cost you a lot of time. Try to identify those questions which are direct and less time-consuming.
Start with your favorite section– A student should start with the section in which they are the strongest. This would result in two advantages. The first one is that you would be able to give a good headstart to the exam in a time-efficient manner and secondly, you would feel confident for the rest of the exam. So, try to start with the section that you feel is the strongest as well as most scoring.
Do not get nervous and anxious– Anxiety, as well as nervousness, are barriers to effective time management. When you are worried about time, you perform under extreme pressure that does a lot of harm. Due to pressure, a student gets anxious and nervous, and because of that, you lose your focus and your concentration itself reduces resulting in taking more time to comprehend any passage. So, do not rush or take the pressure of time. Rather, have a composed and relaxed approach and attempt questions carefully with a proper mindset.
Time management is a skill that you have to develop with practice and sincerity. So, have a positive approach and keep practicing. Use all your tricks and techniques in your practice tests so that you can identify which approach works for you in the best manner.
