Check out the video or read the posts!
Want powerful results from your study sessions! Here are seven things you can start doing to make studying the PMP exam preparation material easier and give awesome results.
1. Focus on starting not finishing. Most people begin a task with the end in mind, but most people never finish something they start. Why?
- They focus on the end and become frustrated with lack of progress.
- Distractions that look more tempting than finishing what they are doing.
- Turn back because the journey is taking to long.
Whatever, the reason is stop focusing on the result, but the next step. How do you write a book? One word, one paragraph, one chapter at a time! Focus on starting the next step and set this as your goal toward a distant end like the PMP Exam.
2. Practice J.I.L. also known as Just In Time Learning. When going through the PMBOK guide don’t get distracted by what’s in the next chapter or some trick you heard about that benefits you in three chapters ahead in the PMBOK. Focus on material that will help you remember and learn what you are studying now. This will help you shorten the learning track and prevent you from slowing in your progress.
3. Stop multi-tasking. That’s right a project manager is telling you to stop multi-tasking! Multi-tasking doesn’t work! You need to make small accomplishments! Multitasking slows down progress. Don’t make the following mistakes when studying for the PMBOK Guide:
- Watching TV!
- Listening to music!
- Studying a busy area!
- Studying for more than 20 – 30 minutes at a time without a break.
- Don’t eat while studying.
You may think some of these are absurd, but your brain retains what you tell it is important. That’s why you can’t recall the billboards and ad you see on the way to work, or what three of your co-workers wore to work yesterday. Your brain automatically starts to filter out what’s important and retains what you give your attention to. So give the PMBOK Guide and PMP exam preparation materials your attention!
4. Setup some form of accountability for studying. Join a small group or create a reading schedule, do something to ensure that you are staying on track. Here are some great ways to keep your self accountable by:
- Set your exam date before you start studying, but after you have purchased the materials! Maybe three and half months from the day you start.
- Buy a calendar and mark deadlines for each chapter of the PMBOK & Project Management Professional exam preparation book you purchased.
- Tell everyone you know the date you scheduled to take the PMP Exam test. This did the trick for me. I studied harder because I didn’t want to fail in front of everyone!
- If you must and are the type of student that needs the accountability of a classroom environment then join a PMP Prep class.
5. Manage your self-talk. That’s right, manage your self-talk. If you think I will fail, you will fail. If you think there is too much to learn, that’s what you will believe. There is a proverb that says “as man thinks, so is he.” Avoid that discouraging voice, by telling your self positive things. I kid you not, but this will do for you what no one else can. There is a reason that a pen is mightier than a sword. It’s because words can change people. So when you think:
- “No, I can’t.” Say out loud, “yes, I can.”
- “This book is too long.” Say out loud, “I only have to read this chapter.”
- “I’m just not getting it.” Say out loud, “in time I will master it.”
6. It’s about progress not perfection. Don’t focus on getting the score of 80 or better, focus on what you can learn from your mistakes and the 80 or better score will com When comes to preparing for the PMP Exam use the motto “know what you don’t know.” Impossible? No, it’s possible. What you don’t know today can be learned tomorrow. It’s how we achieve, a bachelor’s degree, how we learn to ride bikes, speak English, on and on. If you don’t get that flash card right or that question on the practice exam correct, understand why. When there is something you aren’t understanding and it becomes frustrating use the ask why technique. It will help you get to the root of your problem. For instance:
- I answered incorrectly the question that asked “The objective of decomposition in activity definition is to”
- Ask yourself why. Why did I get that wrong? It was because I thought the answer A. Then repeat the correct answer.
- Ask yourself why. Why did think it was A? Then repeat the correct answer. Then, ask yourself why again, until you get to the simplest answer why you answer incorrectly.
This does two things. One it helps you understand how you learn and reference memory to something from the past. Two it makes you repeat the correct answer and teaches you brain to think critically. This technique will become invaluable to you on the exam, guaranteed!
7. Make studying a habit. Doing something you are use to makes studying for the Project Management Professional exam easier. They say that it takes 30 days to form a habit. It takes most people 4 to 5 months to study for the exam. I bet they aren’t using the techniques I’m showing you. Prescribe to my tips and tricks and you could potentially cut this down by 1 to 3 months. Of course everyone is different and your results may vary, but why not give yourself the best opportunity.
- Study often. Keep a study schedule and stick to it.
- Study smart. Concentrate your studying into small bites.
- Study well. Don’t listen to music and don’t watch TV, tell your mind
what’s important, by focusing on what’s important!
Save time. Save money. Fast Track the PMP Certification.