Scheduling
Scheduling questions test your ability to organize events, exams, or corporate presentations across a calendar timeline (days, hours, or shifts) based on clear time constraints.
Fundamental Principles
Precedence Constraint
A chronological rule establishing that a specific event must happen completely before another event can begin (e.g., 'Exam X must be scheduled on a day prior to Exam Y').
Essential Formulation Tips
- Set up your scratch paper scratchpad using a fixed timeline grid (e.g., Monday through Friday) as your baseline rows.
- Pay close attention to immediate proximity words like 'consecutive days' versus general terms like 'sometime before'.
Shortcut Execution Techniques
- The Weekend/Holiday Anchor: Look for structural gap constraints like 'No presentations can occur on Wednesday'. Use these empty blocks to separate your timeline into distinct, manageable halves.
Contextual Inquiries (FAQs)
Q: What is the difference between 'two days after' and 'two days between'?
A: 'Two days after Monday' points directly to Wednesday. 'Two days between Monday and another day' means Tuesday and Wednesday are skipped, pointing to Thursday.
Example Breakdown: Mapping Calendar Presentation Chains
Standard chronological sequence validation.Set up your calendar rows: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
Analyze the consecutive block: 'Chemistry is on the day immediately following Math'. This creates a fixed time block: $[Math \rightarrow Chemistry]$.
Test timeline positions for this block: The block can fit on [Monday, Tuesday] or [Tuesday, Wednesday].
Apply the final constraint: 'Physics is not on Monday'. If the Math-Chemistry block takes Tuesday-Wednesday, then Physics is forced onto Monday, which breaks the rule. Therefore, the Math-Chemistry block must take Monday-Tuesday.
Fill in the remaining spot: This leaves Wednesday open for Physics.
Conclusion: Physics is scheduled on Wednesday.
Timeline Allocation Practice
Practice ordering events across calendar matrices and resolving chronological dependencies.
Q1. Four projects (A, B, C, D) are reviewed from Monday to Thursday. Project A is reviewed before B. Project C is on Tuesday. Project D is reviewed on the very last day. On which day is Project A reviewed?