CAT prep is probably the best example for an aspiring filmmaker wanting to make non-linear narratives. The preparation goes back and forth as and when a CAT aspirant identifies holes in their performance. Things pile up on the other side, and then there is an effort to reduce the load.
A bad CAT Prep Day – What exactly is it?
While you are still at it, there are end semester examinations, day-to-day chores, pandemic stress factors, lack of Vitamin D, and an occasionally, if not entirely, stressful job that pays you comfortably well. One or several (sometimes, all) of these factors result in a rare to often bad day of CAT preparation. We have all been there done that.
The day starts off well with your early morning alarm; you go for a jog (in the terrace, of course) or meditate, hear some soothing music and start preparing. You get an early message from your boss, stating one of your colleagues (who may or may not be going through the CAT prep rigour) would be on leave, and therefore you need to take up some extra work. Or, there is a client with a sudden gigantic product requirement, and you are the go-to person; the org asks you to work on it, and you cannot push it down the back-burner. You slog and get it done, and it takes an extra hour or two from your planned schedule.
(Side note: If you are thinking, “Hey, this is not an occasional burden for me but a daily reality”, either your daily plans are wrong or somehow you do not have 24 hours per day. Of course, I am not venturing into the territory of “good work culture” or the lack of it in some organizations).
What does that leave you with?
Effectively, you are either left with little to no time for the day’s planned CAT Prep topics, OR you are too grumpy and exhausted to prepare with focus. Tadaa, there you go; you have a bad CAT Prep Day.
Now, the journey thus far is easy. Or, relatively not rough and tough, rather. The more challenging job at hand, now, is how you are going to salvage this day so that you can
- Either work on something pertaining to CAT Prep for the day
- Or set you up in a non-grumpy mood for the next day
What is going to be discussed below are a subset of the limitless possibilities you have to still make a bad day of CAT Prep decently good enough. Some or all of it might work for you. Let’s go!
1) Work on stuff that you might otherwise deem ‘mundane’
In most cases, at least during this pandemic season, we get drained mentally, but our physical vibrancy is still waiting to be tapped into. There are two kinds of tasks that fall exactly within this bracket:
- Tasks that are not mentally taxing but those which you can get done with physical labour
- Those tasks that do not require too much mental strain
If I were to give an example for each of these, cleaning up your study and getting things ready for the next day would fit the bill for the former; solving a few Drill level tests within the 2IIM test modules on your favourite topic (which you know you will get right for sure) is something that can be attributed to Category #2.
On that note, if you have had a heavily-loaded work day, there are times when you still want to continue working and not sit with CAT prep. Do that. Get a portion of the next day’s work done so that you will have some extra hours to prepare when tomorrow begins.
You, for sure, are not gaining much, but you are still in touch with CAT Prep even after that blasphemous day. Good for you.
2) R. E. A. D. Binge on books/articles
Trust me. Irrespective of your inclination to reading (and your level of mastery in CAT VARC), a demanding day could also be the day you read the most. Pick up a not-so-huge novel, OR a genre (say, Science and Technology) from Bharath’s Curated Reading List. You will be astonished at the level of reading you can do in a day.
How do I know this? Yes, I have had one such day recently when I completed ‘The Runaway Jury’ by John Grisham (one of the authors recommended by Rajesh, here and here) in an all-nighter binge.
3) Exercises are your go-to companions on a bad CAT Prep Day
Oftentimes, bad temper and the resulting slack in productivity (or vice-versa) could end up in emotions getting pent up within ourselves. You need a reservoir to let go of all that accumulated energy if you are looking to start the next day of CAT Prep on a fresh note. Exercises are a great way to lose your energy.
This does not mean doing things the Arnold Schwarzenegger way (there you have your test for the day; get the second name of Arnold right!); you could do a few minutes of yoga, a few rounds of jogging or even deep breathing for some time. Follow it up with a good round of shower and you might even be ready to go all guns blazing with your CAT prep.
4) Puzzle solving as an offsetting mechanism
This might look too antithetical an exercise for a brain that is already muddled. However, solving an easiest level SuDoKu, or playing a game of Chess against the Computer in the “Beginner” level might not only stimulate your neurons (pardon my Biology teacher, if I had gotten that one wrong) but could also make you end the day on a successful note. Winning does not hurt, at any given point during a day, right?
You should not be ending a day in the most negative state of mind. Anything that gives you a boost, like defeating an infant/toddler in a game of box cricket (just kidding), should make you go to sleep peacefully.
5) Go. To. Sleep.
Our parents have been telling this the day we got our mobiles, and turning a deaf ear is not a good idea all the time. It becomes more important when you have a bad CAT Prep Day.
Do not sit with books with the blind arrogance that you will still get done with your CAT prep for the day, despite the amount of work you had already finished outside of the prep. Sleeping 7 or 8 hours a day is a highly underrated routine.
If the L.H.S is “Try studying hard when you are exhausted, forgoing an hour or two of sleep” and the R.H.S. is “Your productivity and performance will increase”, then I can guarantee you that LHS is never be going to be equal to RHS. (Roger Federer sleeps 12 hours a day. Yeah, that FedEx, one hell of a legend only).
Plan how you are going to study the next day, jot down a simple, feasible plan and off you go to bed.
If one or many of these work(ed) for you, well and good. If none of these seems to be something up your alley, find something that you can latch on to when there is a bad CAT Prep Day.
Stay safe, and best wishes for CAT 2020!
Written by Giridharan Raghuraman
Something that made my Bad Cat Prep day better !
Thankyou and keep writing and inspiring
Loved the article. It was straightforward and not all the very motivational giving you a reality check on what is to be done! Thanks :)))
Loved the Article. I resort to the Bharath’s curated reading list when I have a bad day in general. After joining 2iim , i realised reading is fun , it is no more like a preparation part , much like a do between breaks of my Quant questions. Reading is real fun , if someone is reading this , read for the leisure !