Timed mode is for confidence and pacing. Reflective mode is for repair. If you only study timed, you will memorize letter positions. If you only study reflective, you may never feel the pressure of a ticking room.
Alternate by objective domain rather than by day of week. Domains have different time signatures; hardware scenarios often take longer to read carefully than vocabulary-heavy policy questions.
In the last seven days, bias toward short timed bursts with immediate review. Long marathon sessions the night before tend to increase noise, not signal. Sleep is part of readiness, even if it does not feel productive.