Get Control Over Your Results: How to Study Efficiently While Being Busy

You don't need to be a genius to achieve great result. You just need the right approach.

You want to do something for your career. Or mayber you’re still in school preparing for a difficult exam that’s coming up.

You need to study, but no matter how hard you try, you always end up too busy.

Sounds familiar?

Maybe I can help with that.

When I was preparing for the CISSP certification exam, I was working full-time.
I didn’t have spare hours, I had to make them.

The beauty is, this approach doesn’t just work for cybersecurity certifications.
It works for any exam , or any goal that requires consistent effort alongside a busy life.

5-step learning process

What I am about to show you is a 5-step learning process that helped me passed all exams I have ever taken, including the CISSP certification exam.

Understanding these stages will help you study more efficiently, not harder, and actually retain what you learn.

Step 1: The Gathering phase

Most people skip this step, and then wonder why they run out of time later.
But this phase is absolutely crucial for effective planning and time management.

Goal: Gather as much information about the exam as possible.

Talk to people who have already passed it.
Understand what topics and concepts you’ll need to cover.
Map out the entire scope before you even start studying.

The more clarity you have at the beginning, the less stress you’ll face later.

Step 2: Divide and Conquer

Now that you know what you’re facing, you’re probably panicking. It seems impossible to learn all of this.

There’s a simple trick for it.

First, divide the exam into logical parts, that’s kind of obvious.

What isn’t as obvious is dividing it into study-type categories.

What are study-type categories?

Some exams require memorizing terms.

Some require learning how to solve complicated math problems. Some require understanding complex concepts. And many of them require a combination of all three.

What is the goal of this step?

Divide the entire scope in a way that will help you efficiently laverage the “blind” time in your day.

Step 3: Plan and prepare

Now it’s time to be smart. Sit down and fill in your calendar with all regular activities, and schedule study sessions whenever you’re free, preferably at least an hour long.

Then, identify the blind, unproductive time in your day.

All those moments you spend scrolling on your phone, sitting on a bus, waiting in a doctor’s office, etc.

You need to leverage this time as much as possible.

That means choosing the right tasks for the time. It isn’t really convenient to perform complex computations on a bus.

But it is perfectly suitable to memorize terms using ANKI cards.

So here’s the main message: Use your productive time in a way that will help you leverage your unproductive time.

Memorize terms and prepare ANKI cards during your productive time, then learn the “stupid” terms on a bus!

It’s a real game changer.

Step 4: Execute

There isn’t much to say about this step. You know what to do, now just execute what you’ve planned.

Keep leveraging your unproductive time as much as you can, and track your progress.

Thanks to your analysis at the beginning, you can always make sure you’re still on track or notice if you’re falling behind.

This allows you to adjust your strategies early in the process, not just a couple of days before the exam.

Step 5: Stay calm

I know, easier said then done.

But also very important. If you followed the steps before, you will be prepared better than most people.

And you know what?

That’s often enough.

Don’t let panic to temper your results.

Trust your preparation and you will pass.

Study tips

• Set a recurring study schedule. Make it non-negotiable.

• Use diagrams and analogies for better understanding

• Don’t rely on motivation. Rely on your system.

• Build a glossary of key terms.

• Practice questions and review notes during short breaks and commutes

Conclusion

You might not believe it, but most people don’t know how to prepare efficiently for the exam.

They often get caught up in details or run out of time before the exam.

Just by starting early and creating a plan and strategy, you’ll probably be ahead of the majority of people.

You don’t need to be a genius for this, you just need to do it.