Re: CISSP Study Strategy?

[Mike Patterson <mike () snowcrash ca>]

On 2010/06/27 12:14 AM, Kevin Shortt wrote:
> It's key to have a good night's rest and eat a healthy breakfast.  It makes
> more of a difference than you think.   There is a lot of BS in the morning.

Reading this, it occurred to me that not all PDC readers are likely to
be veteran exam-takers.  I've no CC-anything, but it seems to me that
the written exams for that can't be much different from any other
non-trivial written examination.

So, yes, get lots of sleep the night before, you definitely don't want
to be studying last-minute, even if you already know it.  Study in the
condition which you wish to write the exam: if you've been drinking when
you study, for instance, you're better off drinking before you write!
Best not to drink for either portion though.  If you can, find out what
the exam room environment will be like, and actually try to study in a
similar location if possible.  So if you're writing in a conference
room, try to get some studying done in a conference room.

As Kevin said, you want to be well-rested and well-fed (but not *too*
well-fed, people tend to think better slightly hungry and worse when
full).  Try to be well-rested when you're studying as well, see above -
you want your studying conditions to be close to your writing
conditions.  Late night studying is better than none at all, but it's
nowhere near as effective.

Try not to study in huge allotments; do it in 60-90 minute chunks and
take breaks between chunks.

If you need to memorize things, there's any number of mnemonic
techniques.  Some will work for you, some won't.  Try them out as you go
along.  The best way to verify is to memorize, then close all your books
and write whatever it is back out without any reference.  You may think
you have "most" of it, but you'll find later that you're almost
certainly incorrect.  Common mnemonic techniques are method of loci,
interacting images, and pegword.

Mike (making use of his cognitive psychology textbooks, finally...)

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