How To Study For Designations, Certifications and Exams
Benefits of Studying and acquiring Designations and Certifications
Designations and Certifications are becoming increasingly valuable in the workplace.
Possible benefits of Designations and Certifications:
Increases your productivity
Career advancement
More job opportunities
Networking and community benefits
Professional credibility
Personal development
Learning how to study effectively and pass exams is key to developing specialised knowledge and acquiring the certifications necessary to advance in your field.
I will now share with you 12 techniques that will help study effectively for your designations and certifications and pass exams easily.
Technique 1: Create simple study plan with key sections
Spend the time to create your personalised study plan with key sections that will be covered in the exams.
Successful students create and use a personal study plan to stay organised, focus and manage their time effectively.
Use Google Sheets or Excel files to identify and store key sections and study activities that will help you master the material.
Add key study activities that will help you master the study material:
Watch lectures or lesson videos
Make handwritten study notes
Complete assigned readings
Do practice problems
Review notes
Teach what you learn to a friend
Technique 2: Begin with the most enjoyable or most-relevant topics to your life
To build motivation, begin your studying with the most enjoyable or most-relevant topics to your life or career.
If you are procrastinating to study, this is the most important technique you should follow.
You will build momentum and discipline over time.
If you are taking a course with an instructor, follow their plan. In your own time, study topics and sections you enjoy.
Technique 3: Use Time-Blocking and Pomodoro Technique to manage time
Use Time Blocking and Pomodoro Technique to manage the time dedicated for studying.
Time-blocking: Dedicate specific time periods to complete specific tasks.
I.e. “I will complete watching my lecture videos on “Section 1” between 2pm-5pm Today.”
Pomodoro Technique: Work in a focused 25-minute session with 5 minute breaks.
I.e. “I will spend 4 Pomodoro cycles (25 minutes) to complete “Section 1” lecture videos with 5 minute breaks in between.”
Feel free to adjust the duration of time-blocking and Pomodoro technique to match your ideal study durations.
In combination, these two techniques will provide you the best time management framework for your studying.
Technique 4: Invest in a good video course
If you are self-studying for an exam, I highly recommend investing a video course.
A good video course will give you a good roadmap on what you need to study and what to focus on.
If the instructor is experienced, he or she will help you master the material easier while providing your motivation and encouragement.
Ask your friends or research online for a highly-reviewed.
Make a strong commitment to maximize the learning from the course you purchased.
Technique 5: Create your own hand-written study packages
Create “formula sheets” or hand-written Study Packages with key concepts and details.
Hand-writing your notes helps understand and process information more deeply.
Write down all key formulas, concepts and related details.
Pay special attention to and make note of concepts that are:
New to you
Repeated in multiple places
That you easily forget
Draw diagrams and mind maps to help you study and understand.
Start with the instructors’ or video lesson notes then move to other material.
Technique 6: Repeated review and quiz yourself as you study
Successful students continuously quiz themselves as they study.
They use the hand-written notes to revisit and quiz themselves to make sure they understand previously covered material.
Remember repetition is the key to learning and mastery. Don’t expect to immediately understand new material.
Nobody understands things completely by reading it once or twice.
Review your important concepts and study packages in detail at least 6x before exams.
Technique 7: Teach what you learned
Most successful students teach the material to someone as they study in order to remember better.
Find a study partner to teach and discuss concepts you have covered.
Being able clearly to explain what you have learned is a sign of mastery of the material.
Alternatively, you can simply speak to your phone and record the audio for later listening.
Technique 8: Do practice problems and study what you get incorrect.
Spend the time to find and do practice problems - use online resources.
Set a goal to find and complete a certain number of problems before the exam.
Celebrate what you got correct. Learning and progress is the key driver.
Create a list of what you get wrong. Understand whether you got the question wrong because you misunderstood the question or the concept is too new to you.
If the concept is too new: Spend time learning these concepts in detail if it is too new to you.
If you misunderstood the question, reread the question a couple times carefully before answering the question.
Technique 9: Use online resources to fill any knowledge gaps
If you have a challenging time with a concept, use online resources to fill any knowledge gaps.
Search for good articles, images or videos online and that will help clarify the concept a bit better.
Add what you learn to your own study notes.
Don’t leave any key concepts left unturned.
Technique 10: Prioritize Sleep and Exercise
The best way to rest and recover your body and brain is through sleep and exercise.
Know when you study or do any type activity without body, you develop certain waste material within your cells.
If this material is not cleaned out of the blood, it can stay in the cell causing it not function correctly.
Exercising can transport blood and other resources to the cell in addition to removing waste material that is no longer needed there.
Relaxed slow-to-medium aerobic or cardio-based exercise for about 30 minutes is an ideal place to start.
Sleeping is another way people can restore their bodies to a recovered state. Professional athletes like Lebron James and Roger Federer sleep between 8-10 hours to help them recover.
Plan to get at least 8-10 hours of sleep to fully recover your body and brain.
Bonus Technique: My 10 Secrets To Answering MCQ Questions
Brain dump any formulas or key concepts where you allowed write things down.
Read the question and the options carefully and entirely.
Answer the question in your mind first.
Eliminate incorrect options before answering the questions.
Use markings to identify revisit question that was challenging.
Get the easy questions out of the way first.
When in doubt, choose the answer option that is longest and most detailed.
If you see two similar answer options, it's likely that one of them is correct.
If you see any two answer options that are opposite of one another, one of those options is probably the correct answer.
Review your answers at least once before you end the exam.
That’s it for today!
