The kind of problems that you’ll deal with later on as a manager resembles the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section of the CAT. Your decision-making ability and speed using only some limited effort are tested in this section. Like with all other CAT sections, the most important part of preparation is practice, so every practice test should be taken seriously as the real CAT. You should keep in mind to check the time while preparing for the test, the first thing you have to do in the initial stage of preparation is to start with the topical tests. After you have gained enough confidence in all the areas of DI/LR, you can start with the full-length DI/LR tests. After this, you can start with the CAT-type full length test papers containing all the three sections, before that you have to combine the individual sectional tests.

Don’t forget to analyze your performance after every test because it acts like a good feedback mechanism for you. In this way, you’ll be able to know in which topics you lack behind and you’ll be able to improve it by taking more area-specific tests in that particular topic. One important thing you need to work on is the cautious assortment of questions, for this you need to make use of the practice tests.

Data Interpretation: This is the calculation intensive portion of the section. It consists of a myriad of graphs, charts and tables from which you will have to glean and analyze data. The key to cracking this area is to quickly identify the key pieces of data that you will require to work on the questions asked. It is not unknown for question-setters of the CAT to try and bewilder students with a large amount of data, most of it unnecessary. As a rule, the more the data presented, the easier the questions that follow, so don't lose heart if you see a table with 10 columns occupying one whole page. On the other hand, several seemingly innocuous questions may trip you up. Therefore, I would advise you to look at the questions first to get an idea of what data you need to be searching for in the graphs/charts/tables in the main question asked an unusual source of practice questions that I would recommend for DI is a GRE preparation textbook or software. These contain several graph and chart type questions, most of which are near CAT level. You can utilize these questions in the initial source of preparation to practice reading data off charts and tables, and then gradually move on to tougher questions from CAT preparation material. GRE software comes with the added advantage of an inbuilt timer that keeps you on your toes.

Logical Reasoning: This is the tougher (as perceived by most students) portion of the section. It consists of logical puzzles with several questions that follow. The most important and first step to solving an LR problem is to write down all of the information given in a box, table or diagram e.g. if the problem involves seating arrangements at a round table, always draw the table first and then try various permutations and combinations of people seated around it. Once you have drawn the figure for the problem, you are free to think with an uncluttered mind. LR problems usually contain several statements which serve as clues to solving the problem. Thus, the problem should always be attempted in a methodical fashion, and solved step-by-step, because trying to look at all the information at once will confuse even the best of us. LR problems are usually 'all-or-nothing' type, in the sense that if you crack the problem you will have answers to all the questions that follow, and if you don't you will not be able to answer even a single question. Often, students fail to solve a problem after investing 10-15 minutes on it. Since the information they have at the end of that time is not much more than that at the beginning, they cannot answer even a single question in the set and have nothing to show for their effort. Problem-selection is tricky, so if you find that you are unable to make headway after the first 5 minutes, do the smart thing and switch to another set or section. You can always come back later if you have the time.

LR requires the maximum amount of practice among all areas in the DI/LR section. Apart from picking apart problems in your CAT preparation material, try looking for puzzle books or newspaper leisure sections that contain logic puzzles. Puzzle-solving is a knack, and the more you start enjoying logic puzzles, the better you will get at them.