CAT’18 : Dos and Don’ts for Working Professionals

The general perception associated with the most of the working professionals is that it is next to impossible to score 99+ percentile while working, however the silver lining is that the recent history of successful candidates illustrates that a majority of successful candidates who have demonstrated incredible results are working professionals. There are obvious reasons to agree with the fact that preparing for CAT or for that matter any competitive exam in India, is definitely not a piece of cake. It takes a toll on your body and on your mind. And if someone is preoccupied with a demanding job, it becomes all the more difficult.
 20 hrs a week can do wonder
The most challenging task is to get the best out couple of hours one is left with for CAT 2018 preparation. It is required to ensure that we rigorously devote 400-600 hrs of quality work to CAT preparation if we have to register a considerable score in our name. Roughly 20 hours a week will make sure you accumulate the required number of study hours in 5-6 months. It will be feasible only when we deeply believe and execute the quotation which says “ Life is made of small moments “. Golden hours of 2-3 hours every day pre or post work make the difference.
 Make weak links your biggest asset
The only way to turn your weak links into your asset is to start your preparation from those topics which have the potential to hurt your percentile the most. Usually  it is seen that most of the people end up devoting their precious time on topics hardly possess any inconvenience, this attitude is required to be changed at the earliest. We should realize the fact that we need to be selective lest there is strong probability of messing up those parts which have bigger proportion. For instance, reading comprehension is usually not taken up for preparation as a priority, even
though it carries a weight age of not less than 60% only because either they score below average in this segment or it doesn’t seem interesting. Needless to say it may prove disastrous.
 Learn well before taking mock tests
It has become a common practice for aspirants ;precisely for working professionals to start their preparation with online mock test itself, sadly it is not considered an ideal way to start your preparation. What is expected is to know the fabrication of questions, list of frequently asked questions , segregating must to do contents from not that important topics before rigorously working, solving and mastering these. Online mock test is a resource to check whatever you have learnt hence it has to be in this order [Know what has to be learnt– – Learn it well– – Test how well you have learnt.] Most aspirants prefer learning and analyzing on weekdays and taking mock tests on
weekends. It is sais that there should be a ratio of 70:30 between self study and mock test during the first 2 months and 30:70 during the last 2 months. Its time tested pattern except the exceptional conditions such as someone has already appeared couple of times or frequently registers 95+ percentile in mock tests.
 Stop being socialistic anymore
Most of us are unlikely to disagree that one of the biggest hurdles in executing what we have planned is being deeply socially involved either physically or on social media. If you are a working professional, you are not supposed to have a few luxuries – and you need to implant this in mind before you even begin preparation. Shut off social media – completely if you can. There are huge sub-conscious implications of social media and it is considered one of the biggest source of distraction and hence inferior efficiency. However certain WhatsApp groups which are source of study materials, interaction can be maintained.