9 Steps to Forming an SAT Prep Habit: Step 2
If you continually fail, you might be giving yourself challenges that are too difficult.
In terms of SAT prep, start by doing questions you’re comfortable with, and you think you can master. Then increase the difficulty from there.
Give yourself space to concentrate, so you don’t get distracted.
This is step 2 of our 9 Steps to Forming an SAT Prep Habit series.
Step 2: Set Incremental Goals for Yourself!
Tip #1: Success is the key to more success in SAT prep.
It’s honestly so difficult to start anything new. Ever found yourself ABOUT to start your homework, and 30 minutes later you’re still watching cat videos? You’re not alone. Starting new things is hard, because when you want something deeply, it becomes high-stakes for you: You really, really don’t want to fail. Being overwhelmed by the prospect of failure can make you not want to start - because you might fail. So the more important it is, the more terrifying getting started can feel.
That’s okay; that’s normal. When you care, doing things is difficult.
It can be even harder when the thing both matters to you and seems difficult or boring. Most students feel that way about the SAT: It matters a lot, but doing the work is both difficult and boring.
Guess what: When you don’t succeed, things seem more boring. And that makes sense, too - it’s not fun to keep getting things wrong. You have to do the problem, get it wrong, and look up the answer. The process of failing is excruciatingly boring. And it’s hard to keep your mind focused, because it feels like you are exclusively getting things wrong - so it doesn’t feel like it matters if you focus or not.
This result is actually telling you something ELSE: The starting goal you set for yourself is too difficult to achieve.
You’re not alone here, either - a lot of folks set goals that are too difficult for themselves, and that’s why people have such difficulty with follow-through! I am currently watching a close friend prepare for a set of coding interviews (where they give you problems that you have to solve on the fly) for which she has to study exhaustively. She told me that she’s actually enjoying preparing, because she’s getting problems right. But then she added that “they’re probably too easy for me; although I have to work hard, I’m getting a lot of them right.”
I told her that that’s EXACTLY where she should be! If you continually fail - or continuously don’t understand anything - you’re giving yourself challenges that are too difficult. Your level for work should be right on the edge of where you can understand it; progress is making something you KIND of understand -> something you TRULY understand. Think of athletes: They don’t try to push themselves day after day to the point of breaking - they ease from something that’s somewhat challenging but that they can complete to something slightly more challenging - and give themselves several chances in which to complete it. You’d never go from a 7-min mile to a 5-min mile - you’d shoot for a 6:50 mile, and if on the first day you did 6:56, you wouldn’t say you had failed. You’d say you had originally set the challenge point too high.
So what about on the SAT?
If you’re working on the reading or writing sections:
Start by doing a question type you are comfortable with, or your favorite passage type. Set yourself a goal of a certain number of challenge questions per 30-min period - questions that are harder for you, but that you think you can master. As soon as you do a question, check its answer - that will exponentially increase the amount of improvement you can get, as you get immediate feedback and almost infinite inflection/reflection points.
If you’re working on the math sections:
Remember that each math section goes in difficulty order, with reset points at the grid-in questions. So give yourself a certain number of questions to do (starting with #1), and make sure to go to a point in the section where you usually have trouble. As soon as you do a question, check its answer - that will exponentially increase the amount of improvement you can get, as you get immediate feedback and almost infinite inflection/reflection points.
Tip #2: Give yourself space to concentrate.
Another reason it can be hard to start is DISTRACTIONS. It’s easy to get distracted (cat videos again) and lose a lot of time procrastinating. Get ahead of that problem: Give yourself a clear start time and a clear stop time to stick to - and don’t plan anything else during that time. Give yourself hard deadlines and during that time:
Turn off the TV
Turn off your music (remember, you can’t listen to music during the SAT!)
Close your laptop
Turn off your phone (like DO NOT DISTURB off)
Close the door
Tell the people in your house to let you focus for awhile
To keep yourself motivated - think of the long game. Visualize your score on the College Board’s page: You have broken a 1500. IT'S ALL WORTH IT.
Remember that during the SAT, all distractions are removed. I have kids every year who tell me “oh but I concentrate better with music on.” Well, you’ll want to figure out how to concentrate without it also - because the SAT is not going to let you chill with headphones on during the test.
You’d be amazed how stopping distractions and allowing yourself to work at the correct challenge level make a difference. Remember it takes 21 days to form a habit, so you’ll have to enforce this for awhile. It may not be easy at first, but you can do it!