Time Management : SBI PO PRELIMS 2015

Time management is the key to success in any exam. It becomes even more important when you are appearing for SBI’s PO Preliminary examination. This paper is worth 100 marks but you have only 60 minutes to solve it. This gives you 0.6 minutes per question i.e. 36 seconds. If you take away 5 of those 60 minutes in switching between questions, and another 15 minutes in reading questions, you are left with 40 minutes to handle 100 questions. This means you are effectively left with 0.4 minutes per question or 24 seconds to understand and solve the questions. If you find out how to manage your time well, half the work is already done.

Some important points to keep in mind while writing the exam:

• The question to time ratio in the SBI PO exam is less than 1. Thus, skip all the time consuming questions and do them later when you are sure that you have attempted as many easy and scoring questions as you can.
• Assign time to each question and stick to it. Drop a question if it is taking much longer than your assigned time-per-question.
• Tinker with the time-per-question for each section based on your strengths. If you are stronger at Quant than in English, then allocate a little extra time to Quant. If you are faster at Quant than at Reasoning, allocate a little extra time to Quant. And calculate time per question for each question in that section. Keep this in mind while attempting the paper. But at the same time, do not forget that there are sectional cut-offs that you need to clear. So you need to attempt sufficient number of questions in each section.
• Know your strengths and weaknesses before you go in for the exam. Attempt the questions that you know you can sail through. The exam is no time for you to experiment.
• As per past statistics, about 15% of the questions in the paper will be ‘difficult’. Again, it is advisable to save these questions for later.
• Do not get emotionally attached to any question. Solving a difficult question would fetch you the same marks as a difficult one. So invest your time in questions that are worth it. Else drop them.
• Questions in the Reasoning and Quant sections can be time consuming. Identify the short ones and comprehension questions without too many calculations and attempt those first.
• The prelim paper lasts only 60 minutes. Intense focus is needed to get you through this paper. Do not get distracted.
• Forget about the question you dropped. You are going to lose marks if you obsess over dropped questions.
• Do not waste time rewriting questions on the rough sheet. Use the rough sheet only for calculations.

Regular and sincere preparation is the key to cracking any exam. Effective time management can only be done if you are aware of your strong and weak areas, and without thorough preparation it is impossible. Make it a point to never lose track of a topic. Keep in touch with all topics and revise daily. Also, while dividing time among sections during preparation one should keep in mind the following:

• Grammar needs practice. Thus, spending time solving grammar exercises and practicing writing skills is a good idea.
• Data Analysis and Interpretation is calculation intensive and therefore requires rigorous practice.
• Reasoning can only be strengthened with regular practice.
• Go through lists of frequently used words and phrases to strengthen your vocabulary.
• Memorize your formulae beforehand.
• Remember solving techniques for Quant and LR.

All you need is the right approach coupled with good strategies to reach your goal of cracking the SBI PO Prelim paper. So, plan effectively and just nail it.