By the time you’re halfway through a mock, a strange exhaustion sets in. It’s not your knowledge that’s failing, it’s your brain’s ability to decide. Should you tackle this tricky LRDI set first? Or jump to QA? Spend another minute on that seemingly simple QA question or move on? Every choice suddenly feels heavy, every decision more exhausting than the last.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. What you’re experiencing is called decision fatigue, and it’s one of the quietest, most frustrating score killers in CAT prep.

What Decision Fatigue Really Is

Decision fatigue happens when your brain’s mental energy for making choices starts running low. Think about it: CAT isn’t just a test of what you know; it’s a test of how efficiently you can make hundreds of micro-decisions under pressure. Every question, every set, every strategic call is a decision. The more you make, the less sharp your decisions become.

By the last 20 minutes of a mock, even questions you could solve confidently feel like riddles. Accuracy drops. Random guesses rise. And your score quietly suffers, not because your knowledge is lacking, but because your brain has reached its decision limit.

Spotting the Patterns

How do you know if decision fatigue is haunting your mocks? Look for these signs:

• You second-guess answers you knew were right.
• You start skipping questions impulsively, without a clear strategy.
• You switch strategies mid-mock, losing flow.
• You feel mentally foggy, even though you’ve prepared well.

The issue isn’t ability. It’s mental bandwidth. The CAT isn’t just about what you know ,it’s about how you manage your brain under sustained pressure.

How to Outsmart Your Brain

You can’t remove the decisions from CAT, but you can manage them strategically. Here’s how:

1. Pre-decide your mock strategy
2. Don’t leave it to chance. Decide before the mock which section you’ll tackle first, which to skip if stuck, and what order maximizes your confidence. By pre-deciding, you free your brain from weighing these options mid-test.
3. Timebox every question
4. Set a strict timer for each question. If it takes longer, move on. This preserves mental energy for the questions that really matter and prevents one tough problem from draining your decision-making capacity.
5. Train under decision constraints
6. Practice small sets with limited options first, then gradually increase complexity. Over time, your brain learns to make fast, smart decisions, even when choices multiply.
7. Mini mental breaks
8. Even 30 seconds of stretching, closing your eyes, or taking a few deep breaths can reset your clarity. This isn’t lost time, it’s strategic energy management.
9. Error log with reflection
10. Keep track not just of wrong answers but of decisions that slowed you down or drained energy unnecessarily. Reviewing how you made choices is as important as reviewing what you got wrong.

Why This Approach Works

Because it turns endless choices into a map. It teaches your brain to conserve energy for high-impact decisions. It reframes your preparation: instead of just knowing questions, you learn how to navigate them without mental collapse.

CAT isn’t just about knowledge; it’s about mental stamina. And when you manage your decisions wisely, your percentiles reflect it.

You can’t eliminate choices from CAT. But you can control how you approach them. With a plan, structure, and a few smart tricks, decision fatigue stops being a silent score killer and becomes a challenge you can beat, one smart choice at a time.