A structured way to reach a good score

Hey there!
I have had a rollercoaster ride while studying for my GMAT. Initially, I did not want to spend on any course. I thought I was "smart enough" to self-study (and I still believe that). In fact, (full disclosure) I even reported e-GMAT's ad on YouTube in order to hide it from my account.
Started with a 690 (Q50 V32), which was a pretty decent starting point. One month of OG and bam, still 690. I consulted my seniors who had aced the GMAT, and from them, I got the notion of error logging and practising hard questions from GMATClub. This really helped me shape my understanding of questions and even improved my verbal score from V32 to V37. I once got a 730 on my GMATPrep and thought that if I simply continue with the error logging, I will break that 750 barrier. However, I stagnated again. Instead, my score dropped to 710 (dropping one point each in Quant and Verbal), meaning that the 730 was a score on a good day. This is after over 3 months of GMAT study. In my head, I was thinking, "This is taking way too much time, and I do not even know what I am doing wrong". I had already gone through GMAT Ninja's videos and solutions (which are GOLD, btw) and diligently worked on logging my errors and practising tougher official questions everyday. But V40 STILL seemed out of reach.
I sent an email to e-GMAT (yes, I had the gut to mail them even after I blocked their ads on YouTube :P) and I got a response within 5 hours, on a Sunday. Not gonna lie, their promptness moved me a bit. I had 2 calls first in order to discuss which e-GMAT program would be suitable for me. Bought the course for a month and started right on, hoping to keep a fresh and open mind.
I realised my SC, which I believed was great, had some particular conceptual gaps because of which I was missing Medium questions on SC. RC was actually great, thanks to a reading of The Economist articles for 2 weeks. CR was conceptually alright, but the timing was super bad (3 mins on average!). I had never timed my practice - I used to do a question, reflected on why I got it wrong, did a thorough review (20 mins/question) of that question, and only then moved on to the next.
e-GMAT courses really helped me structure the process of learning. I was not wasting time on WHAT I should study. Rather, I was spending time refining my process. The SC modules are awesome for someone who prefers video lessons over textbooks. I also got guidance from their mentorship program (A big shout out to Atreya and Arathy for all the help). Atreya guided me on what to do next, and took to my concerns. Yes, there were times when I would not get a response, but he went out of his way to get back to me.
Scholaranium, their practice platform, is where I worked on my CR timing. In fact, I even improved my timing on SC. It is something that I realised while practising on Scholaranium that I could say to myself, "Oh, ok, I should approach the problems this way". The biggest realisation: Read slow. Like a 5th grader. Literally. (Thanks to Gin's RC tips and a free e-GMAT video on RC strategy). I applied the same to CR and SC, and I was amazed at the improvement in my timing.
Of course, these improvements will be specific to your case. What to takeaway from this review is that invest in a course. Sure, you are brilliant and can self-study. But these courses are designed to minimise the time that goes into the prep. By the end of 5 months, I was burned out (even after the e-GMAT courses). I had to re-take the actual GMAT (first score was 700) because of something at the test center that distracted me during my Verbal section. I had to re-take even after I had gotten 760 and 770 in my mocks. Something unprecedented like this can really affect you. I am surprised to get a V40 even after all the wear and tear and a stupid sickness on D-Day.
Another thing is, if you decide to take e-GMAT and are invited to their mentorship program, please be nice to your mentors. They handle a lot of students (which might lead to less attention to some students, frankly). But they work like hell to help you out. You do not want to get a good GMAT score at anyone's expense. Being nice to them actually motivates them to work harder.
All in all, e-GMAT has a great course. Had I not been a miser in my first 3-4 months and bought the course already, I would have been in a mental state to hit 760 or more on the actual test (and I mean it). 2 months of e-GMAT can really get you there, provided you have a good starting point. All the best to anyone who takes up the course! (Sorry for the long post!)