TOPIC: PMP exam in 25 days!!

I have scheduled my exam for first week of July and also have purchased the PM prepcast exam simulator. I just have 25 days left with me and suddenly i have lost all motivation to study. This is my third and final attempt to take exam.

So far, I have read the PMBOK and going through materials. I attempted and completed 3 exams from the simulator with 60+ scores.
Seeing the scores, I have mixed feelings and my own doubts if I will pass the exam or not.
When I analyze, I get to understand that I am totally exhausted after attempting 100 Qs or so, exhaused, energy depleted then I am missing to look at the Qs carefully and end up marking wrongly.

Is there any tips you will like to share so i can keep myself boosted and prepare well for the exam.

Hi Parveen,

I am happy to speak to you. Thank. You for sharing your doubts with us. I am a certified PMP since last year and I am very proud to bear this great title.
I believe your initial goal for becoming a PMP is strongly valid and that you are sure that the certification will boost your career and image?
In fact when you look at the benefits of the PMP you would find that it deserves a long and steady study and mastery of the project management methodology and processes.
Finally this is not something impossible, you have 100 of people passing the exam everyday with some less than 25year old. Are there better or smarter than you? No of course. It is the matter of focus, strategy and determination. When you see from the computer PASSED the day of your exam you will be so excited and amazed that you would agree it is worth for the sacrifice

Kindly contact Dan for coaching course and you will be rejuvenated and assured for a great success.

I have much to tell you but I will stop here for others weight in too.
Keep your hope alive and continue the journey. We are here to support you.

Best regards

Hi Shabina,

First, take a deep breath
Take a couple of days off; don't read anything related to PMP and the exam, to recharge and refresh yourself. Try not to think about it either during those two days.
After two days, when you feel a little refreshed, you can pick up an exam.
Based on what you said, stamina seems to be your big hurdle right now.
So we can maybe first focus on building that up.
The way to build up that stamina is practice, practice, practice.
If 100 questions is your current tipping point, try doing 110 questions next time under simulated exam conditions.
Once you feel you can do 110 with reasonably good concentration, try 120 and then 130 ... don't worry about the complete paper at this point in time.
Our aim is to first build up the stamina.
Try this for a week everyday and see if it helps.
If are you able to build up to say 170 then you can start taking full tests again and this time I'm sure your stamina would last much longer than the current 100 questions.
It's like working out, you start with light weights, but consistency and continuous progressing is key.

Try this and let us know of your progress. We're here to help.

Oh and finally, don't do anything PMP related for at least two days before the actual exam.

Thanks Toe, nothing comes without hard work!!
Few more days to go, and I will continue my PMP journey with the same momentum!!

Thanks Rahul, points worth to be noted. Yes, practice practice practice is the mantra..
Last 2 days before exam, definitely I am going to be relaxed and not take too much on my head.

If I were you I'd first confirm my assumption that it's fatigue that's making me score lower. On your simulated exams are you consistently getting the first 100 right and getting most of the ones after that incorrect? If so, then your assumption is correct. If that isn't the case then you should identify areas that you are missing most questions in and really strengthen your knowledge there. The PMP exam is like building a table with each area being a leg of the table. If one is weak the table will be wobbly but if one or more are broken or severely weakened the table will fall. You've got to strengthen your knowledge of your weaker areas.

A few quick tips overall that I think will help you in your current situation.

1. Remind yourself of why you want to be PMP certified. Think about it. Visualize it. There are tremendous benefits to having the certification
2. Don't think of the past failed attempts as failures but rather as a learning opportunity
3. Create a written timetable of what you will do until the day of the exam. Writing it will help you focus. Hold yourself accountable to following that plan
4. The scores you're getting on the simulators are a great guide. Use that information to see which areas you need to focus on
5. Review the correct answers for the questions you get wrong on simulators and really dig deep to understand why you got it wrong
6. Join a study group. Studying with others will help you retain more information and regain motivation
7. Create a cheat sheet as you study so that you can refer back to it frequently for a quick review of important concepts. Writing them out also helps retain that information
8. If you find yourself getting exhausted after 100 questions take a break. Get up, stretch, walk, and come back
9. Look into test taking tips for the PMP if you haven't already. Some approaches and tips are
   - Read the last sentence of the question first and then reading the rest of the question
   - Go through the easy questions first, skipping over the harder or wordy ones to come back to (but be careful with this - timing yourself becomes very important!)
   - Go through the entire exam in order rather than skipping, but mark the ones you're not 100% sure you've gotten correct
10. Use flash cards to revise content
11. Read PMP Head First - that's a book that'll keep you from getting bored
12. Put the prepcasts on your phone and listen to them as much as you can
13. Take pictures of your cheat sheets so you can review them throughout the day when you get a chance
14. As Rahul said, build up your stamina incrementally going from 110 to 120 to 130 and keep practicing

Failure is nothing but an opportunity to learn from and grow as a person. Don't let it dishearten you and don't get stuck in the past.

Thanks Yasir for the great words. Regaining my momentum after my discussion in this forum!!