study tips

I think I've been studying for most of my life.

I left school and joined the police and had to study law for 15 weeks. Then I studied for the sergeants exam, then detectives exams. Then I went into IT and studied for the A+, Network+, MCSE, CCNA and CCNP.

Heck, I'm even studying now for more Cisco exams.

I'll discuss dealing with the usual challenges life throws at you in another post. For now, I just want to cover how to study meaning which method has worked for me consistently over the years.

I find a quiet place, be it my home office, garden shed, spare office at work or my car. I have a study plan of what I'm going to study each day. I also like to mix up reading theory, hands on labs, exams or flash cards. I tend to start with theory but quickly follow up with labs so I can make sense of all the commands.

Even before it's begun to sink in I'm into the exams and flash cards. I know I'll probably be getting 20% to start with but I don't care. That's what practise exams are there for.

I set my stopwatch for 50 minutes and I study. No phone calls, no Facebook, no surfing the web. Once those 50 minutes are up I have a timed 10 minute break where I can grab a coffee, check my messages or whatever. At 10 minutes the timer goes off and I'm into another 50 minutes.

[quote float=”left”]The 50:10:50 system works like a dream.[/quote]

If you can do that you get two great quality study sessions. Anything extra is a bonus of course but you can feel pleased that you have taken another step closer to attaining your study goal.

Paul Browning

There are two extremes when it comes to exam preparation.

The one camp does little or no studying but still insists they are ‘working towards taking their exam.' They either say this to impress people, avoid the sack at work or just because they actually believe picking up a book now and again counts as studying.

The second camp does the opposite. They are studying but it has consumed their life. They do nothing but study and if they aren't studying they are feeling guilty about not studying or dreaming about studying. While I respect their dedication, it can often be detrimental to their learning curve, exam performance and life.

My philosophy to study is this. I want to do as little as possible in order for the material to sink in, be understood and be used in a live network enviroment. So, I tend to avoid reading very technical documents and whenever possible I do hands on examples of what I'm trying to learn.

You can read about NAT or ARP all day long but until you lab it up, see it in action, break it, fix it and break it again it won't ever truly sink in or mean anything apart from words on paper. For most exams I set aside two hours each day and I do a mixture of the following:

Read theory notes from a good book
Watch a video about it on a website or YouTube
Do hands on labs if possible
Read over the theory again and make my own notes
Create my own cram guide with main learning points

Some people think that more is better but I find that the more time I spend reading, the less sinks and and the less I can focus.

But hey, this is all just advice so you do what works best for you.

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