Timing/Internal Clock Forum

[pseudonym1]

Does anyone else go through the actual test, as well as PTs, without watching their time? I feel it is distracting to keep looking at the time, and that I have a general sense of whether I need to speed up or slow down. Dangerous approach? Your thoughts....

[3|ink]

Does anyone else go through the actual test, as well as PTs, without watching their time? I feel it is distracting to keep looking at the time, and that I have a general sense of whether I need to speed up or slow down. Dangerous approach? Your thoughts....

I felt just the same way about tracking time. It's way better to develop an internal clock.

[Flett]

I may have created an internal clock on accident. I would almost obsessively check the clock during PT's to try and see which questions took me longer. Then, on the real thing, I forgot to reset my watch for 4 of the sections. Ended up with a couple of minutes to spare on all but the LG going mostly by internal clock. It usually comes down to the wire for me and blindly guessing on a few questions. I really hope that I didn't bone myself by going too fast.

[Adjudicator]

I brought an analog watch but I barely even looked at it, just like I've barely been looking at it in my last few PTs. I don't find that it helps me at all to look at it... I just do my thing.

[BeachedBrit]

I always checked at certain points, I had also purchased a specially modified watch with (4) 8-minute sections each with a different color. On LR I looked for time used after first 10 questions (for me it had to be under 10 minutes) and time used after 1 - 14 + 22 - end. On LG and RC I just looked at the end of each passage/game to make sure I wasn't eating in to the next ones time. Funnily I forgot to use it on my experimental games and partially as a result of that, it went poorly.

[CDiggy]

I have a analog watch with a chronograph, which is basically a watch with a small stop watch circle on the face able to time up to 30 minutes.

However, I would only look down a few times usually around quesstion 7 to see if i was gonna be at question 10 on the 10 minute mark. Than to see if I was at question 15 around the 17 minute mark that toward the end around question 20 also.

[Woozy]

IMHO, every second spent looking at a watch is a second not spent looking at the questions. I never understood this board's obsession with watches.

I developed a good sense of timing when I took my first few PTs. For my last couple of PTs, I did not look at a watch or timer. I took the test in Sep09, didn't bring a watch and could not see the clock from where I sat. I think it actually helped me work faster.

[Ragged]

I checked the clock after each game and RC passage and right after 15th LR question. Sometimes when there is a time consumiping question I lose the track of time so its nice to see that I'm on schedule or not.

[Lasers]

i forgot to set my watch in the LG section, and that may have contributed to me not finishing. it probably wasn't a huge factor, though.

i use my analog watch a lot for LR, where i try and do the first 15 questions in 15 minutes. the clock helps me stay on track. also comes in handy when i check after each RC passage.

[sarahlawg]

I bought a watch the morning of the test because, although I had been perfectly fine PTing without looking at the clock, I didn't want to have that to blame it on once I see my score. Only ended up looking at it to see how much time I had left to go over answers every time I finished a section. Taking the watch back to walmart today.