One Human’s GRE Experience — Calm Creating Test Day Routine (Part 5)
In this section, I’m going to talk about the test day routine that helped me thrive. I encourage you to explore and introspect to find what works for you. There are certainly many different ways to get into the calm state of relaxed concentration! This is what worked for me:
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During exam day:
- Woke up multiple hours before the exam and drank a couple of glasses of water
- Went for about a 30 minute outdoor walk and jogged until I was out of breath
- Did a few minutes of core exercise
- Solved 2 verbal questions and 2 quant questions
- Took a shower
- Meditated for 20–30 minutes
- Ate a few walnuts and an apple during the break along with some light stretching
What I didn’t do:
- Eat before the exam. I was in an intermittent fasting routine at the time so this was not hard for me
- Drink caffeine during the exam. I had taken a multi-month caffeine break prior to the exam so my body and mind was accustomed to being decaf. Taking the test in a decaffeinated state was a conscious decision. Abstaining from caffeine provided me with a steadier focus and prevented my energy levels from becoming spiky. Additionally, not drinking caffeine prevented me from needing a bathroom break outside of the allotted test break.
Other things of note:
- I maintained the exact wake up time for 2 weeks, including weekends, leading up to the exam
- I signed up for a morning exam
- I practiced this exact routine during one of the practice tests
This is the routine that got me in the zone for test taking. It really helped that it was planned out in advance. Of course, certain things didn’t go according to plan. For example, a dog started barking loudly in the middle of the exam (I took the test from home). I slept well but not perfectly the night before, etc. Still, having a plan to aim for really helped ground me before the test and raised my chances of taking the test well.
Now that we’ve covered subject matter, mindset, and test day routine, let’s go over “How I maintained my determination throughout the studying process.”
