1. The Brain is a Muscle, Train It Like One

You wouldn’t run a marathon without gradually building your stamina, right?

(Or you would. But your knees would sue you.)

Same goes for CAT. If your prep involves solving 10 QA questions at 10 PM and calling it a day, your brain’s being trained for bursts, not endurance.

Start simulating the full 3-hour experience.

Sit for a mock at the exact exam time (9 to 12 or 2:30 to 5:30). Phones off. No snacks. No music. Just you and the clock ticking away.

Yes, it’ll feel exhausting at first.

That’s the point.

2. Tame the 90-Minute Slump

There’s a weird thing that happens to almost everyone: somewhere between the second and third hour, the brain just… drops.

Focus slips. Your VARC accuracy tanks. That seemingly simple DI set becomes incomprehensible.

This isn’t just laziness. It’s real cognitive fatigue.

You’ve been thinking hard, under pressure, for over an hour and a half.

So, train specifically for this phase. Do section-wise practice after doing 90 minutes of another task. Solve QA after finishing a full RC or DI-LR set. You’re teaching your brain to stay alive even when it’s begging to nap.

3. What You Do Outside the Mock Matters Too

Mental endurance isn’t only built during study hours. It’s built when you sleep well. When you’re hydrated. When your sugar levels aren’t crashing mid-RC.

If you’re pulling late-night study marathons and running on caffeine and stress, don’t expect your brain to perform like an Olympic athlete on D-Day.

You don’t need green juice and yoga (unless you want to). You just need a stable routine. Sleep on time. Eat food that doesn’t knock you out. And stay consistent.

4. Build Recovery Speed, Not Just Accuracy

Mental endurance doesn’t mean never feeling tired. It means knowing how quickly you bounce back after a dip.

Say your VARC went badly. Do you drag that baggage into DILR? Or can you reset, breathe, and start fresh?

Build this skill during mocks. Consciously detach after each section. Don’t stew. Don’t analyze. Don’t curse the paper setter. Shift focus. 

A 3-hour paper isn’t three hours of logic; it’s three one-hour sprints. Train like that.

Sharp, Not Just Smart

You can have all the knowledge in the world. You could’ve solved the 2023 CAT paper in your sleep.

But if your mind gives up halfway through the actual exam, it doesn’t matter.

Mental endurance isn’t flashy. It doesn’t come with percentile boosts overnight.

But it’s the difference between a good student who could’ve cracked CAT, and the one who actually does.

So while you’re working on concepts and mocks, don’t forget to train your brain for the long game. Because on CAT day, it’s not just about being smart. It’s about staying sharp till the very last second.