Creating Your PMP® Study Plan - The Complete Guide

Stephen R. Covey, in his best-selling book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, famously stated: “Start with the end in mind.” Applying this concept to studying for and passing the Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification exam means understanding what material is covered on the exam, how the PMP® exam is structured to test your comprehension and knowledge, and developing and following a study plan. Starting with the end in mind allows you to treat your study plan like a project, maximize your time and resources, and increases your ability to get your PMP certification.

In this article, I am going to show you how to create your very own PMP study plan step by step. We begin with a general overview and then quickly move on to nearly a dozen best practices that we have identified. You will know exactly what to do!

But let me qualify this: No two people have the same experiences or expertise, nor does everyone learn in the same manner. Therefore, the best way to study for the PMP exam will be based on your personal learning likes and needs. Additionally, there is no reason to be overwhelmed at the prospect of developing study plan, as there is a wealth of resources available to exam candidates that allow you to mix and match resources fit to your specific needs, style of learning, and individual circumstances while you prepare for the exam.

Not the least of which is the wisdom gained from analyzing the lessons learned from thousands of successful PMP candidates that I have helped pass their PMP exam. The following tips and best practices summarize techniques successful exam candidates have used to leverage their time and resources to pass the PMP exam.

What is the Best Way to Study for PMP Exam?

While the PMP exam is not directly based on A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), this publication is an important source of the preparation for the exam. First and foremost, read, study, and understand (don’t try to memorize) the PMBOK® Guide. It is the foundation of project management best practices and illustrates the depth and breadth of the material covered. This point cannot be overstated: your personal project management experience and expertise are absolutely necessary to qualify for taking the exam and understanding how to perform project management activities, but only as they apply to the material presented in the PMBOK® Guide.

Although the PMBOK® Guide provides the basis and foundation for the exam, it will not function as a template to pass the exam, which is based on applying the principles from the guide and other reference materials to project situations.

However, there are many ways to prepare; on the top of the list is becoming involved in your local Project Management Institute (PMI)® Chapter, which is full of folks willing to share their knowledge and experience on how to study for the PMP exam and pass. Additionally, there are numerous published books and online resources that provide invaluable insights and tips on how to pass. Most of these resources provide study guides, assistance with concepts, tips for studying and passing the PMP exam, as well as practice exams that let you gauge your comprehension and learning progress.

How to Prepare for PMP Exam?

First, fundamentals:

The PMP exam is composed of 180 mostly multiple-choice questions. To learn more about the questions, read this article: PMP® Exam Questions - The Complete Guide. The questions are distributed throughout the three domains of the PMP Examination Content Outline (ECO): People, Process, and Business Environment, each of which is broken down further into job tasks a project manager is expected to do as part of their day-to-day work. The tasks are comprised of various enablers, which are examples of work associated with the task. Additionally, as stated in the ECO, "About half of the examination will represent predictive project management approaches and the other half will represent agile or hybrid approaches." A test taker is allotted 230 minutes to complete the exam (with two 10-minute optional breaks after answering the 60-th and the 120-th question).

Second, practical information:

During the PMP exam, questions are generated randomly and not systematically by the Domains, tasks, or project management approaches. This information is key to developing your study plan and test taking strategy.

Third, reality:

Only 175 of the exam questions count toward your score, the remaining 5 are being “beta tested” for use on future exams; you will not know or be informed which are the 5 questions that don’t count toward you exam score.

Another important but often overlooked area for understanding the exam structure is “PMP vocabulary” – the PMBOK® Guide has an extensive vocabulary that is crucial to understanding the terminology used on the exam. The Glossary is an essential source of common acronyms and definitions needed to study and pass.

How do I Develop a PMP Study Plan?

Analysis of lessons learned from successful exam candidates show there are common study plan Best Practices:

• Knowing what to study
• Knowing how to study
• Preparing a study plan
• Developing a study schedule
• Know the vocabulary
• Get a study partner
• Know what study notes make a difference
• Know how to use practice exams

And so it is no surprise that the same review of these lessons learned from the experiences of thousands of certified PMP’s supports that the best way to study for the PMP exam is by developing a study plan tailored to your expertise, experience, and project management knowledge. How to prepare for the PMP exam is similar to preparing for a project:

• Define the scope (e.g., material to study)
• Define the deliverables (e.g., milestones of understanding based on Domains, tasks, and project management approaches)
• Develop a schedule to complete your studying for PMP certification.

We review the best practices and the feedback learned from the students below.

Thoroughly Prepare for the PMP Exam

The best way to start your preparations is to read and understand the entire PMBOK® Guide. And while the Guide is not the only reference for the exam, it's likely the most important one. If you have many years of experience in project management, reading the PMBOK® Guide and understanding what's in it is essential. One of the main reasons unsuccessful candidates have cited for not passing the exam on their first attempt was because they assumed their years of project management experience were all that was needed to pass the exam.

The PMBOK® Guide does an excellent job of identifying fundamental aspects of project management, specifically, the principles, performance domains, models, methods, and artifacts associated with project management best practices. Some students find it useful to study the inputs, outputs, tools and techniques (ITTOs) described in earlier editions of the PMBOK® Guide. It's worth mentioning, however, that there are very few if any, questions directly asking about specific ITTOs. Understanding the hows, whys, and relationships between ITTOs is much more important than memorizing them. Those who are interested in learning more about ITTOs may find this article helpful: Inputs, Tools, Techniques, and Outputs (ITTO)

Know How to Study for the PMP® Exam and Pass

Studying is much more than just “reading” the PMBOK® Guide and other sources of information.

Studying takes dedication, perseverance, and an understanding what type of “learner” you are, all of which will determine how well and effectively you prepare for the exam. For example, do you learn best through reading (books, online, etc.), visually (graphics, video, etc.), listening (Podcasts, books on CD, etc.) or combinations of all these? Knowing what type of learner you are goes a long way to helping you develop your study plan for PMP.

Whatever style of learning works best for you, there are a lot of resources tailored to your learning style(s). Review and select one or more published and/or online PMP study guides and exam preparation tools that fit your learning style – there are many to choose from, such as Head First PMP (Greene and Stellman), PMP Exam Prep (Rita Mulcahy), and the full suite of PMP examination resources offered The PM PrepCast.

Develop a PMP Exam Preparation Plan

Baselining your project management knowledge against the PMBOK® Guide is considered a best way to develop a preparation/study plan. It is very important to identify your areas of strengths and weakness (gap analysis) relative to the PMBOK® Guide, as this provides feedback on where you need only to review and polish your understanding versus those areas that require more effort and/or serious study to overcome the gap between what you know and what you need to know to pass the exam. It is also important to continuously evaluate your study progress to make sure you baseline knowledge gap is being closed.

It is also a good best practice to adapt the guide's chapters as 'phases' of your PMP exam preparation plan.

Watch this video with more ideas on developing your study plan:

Taking a PMP practice exam to benchmark your current understanding is the best way to define what and how you need to develop your personalized study plan. While there are numerous “free” PMP practice exams available that may appear tempting, they are generally not vetted, validated, or verified for accuracy and consistency with the examination content outline; your best choice is to use a proven source of PMP exam questions, such as the PMP Exam Simulator.

Once knowledge gaps are identified, developing and sticking to a study plan is the surest way to answer: “how do I get my PMP certification?”

Prepare a PMP Exam Schedule

Management “truisms” are validated every day on projects around the world:

1. What can be measured can be managed; and
2. That which is scheduled gets done.

How does this apply to studying for the PMP? Make studying priority and stick to it. Treat studying for the PMP exam like a project – plan the work and work the plan. This means developing meaningful milestones and a realistic schedule to implement your study plan and identify what you will study, when, and for how long. Also, be aware that your study schedule, just like any other project, can be affected by unforeseen events that require you manage the change, revise your schedule, and move on.

Many successful PMP exam candidates found creative ways to find “extra time” in their days for preparing for the PMP exam; for example, listening to a PMP Podcast during their daily commute and/or over their lunch breaks.

It has also been shown that studying for an hour or two every day is generally more effective than only devoting large blocks of time on weekends. Combining daily individual study with weekly group study events (where possible and practical) on weekends has been shown to be very effective.

Whatever schedule you develop, it is crucial that you are honest with yourself with respect to your ability to maintain the schedule and close the knowledge gap. Life happens, it is better to re-baseline your study schedule and/or reschedule your exam than it is to rush your studying and show up for the exam ill-prepared and risk not passing.

Studying for PMP also means Vocabulary Drills

One of the attributes of the PMP Certification that gives it cachet and value across borders, technical disciplines, and industries is a foundational lexicon that provides a common vocabulary shared by project managers worldwide. A lack of understanding of the PMBOK® Guide's vocabulary is one cause some candidates fail the exam on their first attempt. Therefore, thoroughly studying and understanding this vocabulary is noteworthy.

Learning a new vocabulary is very much like learning a new language, the same level of effort and, often frustration, commonly accompany this process. Learning a new vocabulary takes time, discipline, and dedication – but, like any large project, it can be broken down into “bite sized” pieces and systematically addressed. Again, the type of learner you are will decide what method works best for your personal vocabulary development, only you can choose the best method for you. However, there are common traits to all successful vocabulary development techniques:

Your PMP Exam Study Plan Succeeds with a Partner

Almost without exception, a partnership or team of like-minded individuals is significantly stronger, more productive, and more capable than any one individual.

It is not a coincidence that graduate Business Schools and Law Schools use the study-group approach to drive greater learning, higher individual performance, and improved graduation rates. These study groups meet once or twice a week to bolster and reinforce both individual and group learning activities, develop both team-building and leadership skills for all group members, and can lead to relationships that last a lifetime.

Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that what works in higher education is also one of the Best Practices for passing the exam: Study with a group, or have a study partner that can help "push" to dig deeper and try harder, as well as to provide support when the challenge seems overwhelming, or to share in your successes as learning mile stones are achieved on your journey to your certification.

Your co-workers or colleagues at your local PMI® Chapter are a great place to develop a local exam study group. In today's day and age, however, it is almost easier to find your study partner online. One of my students posted a 'looking for a study partner' message in our forums and received almost 100 responses!

Earning your certificate is a significant achievement, so increase your ability to pass the exam by enlisting others to help you help yourself.

PMP Study Notes that Really Make a Difference

There are as many philosophies on how and what types of note taking is “best” when studying as there are subjects to study. One tip that comes up time and time again for project management students is the PMP brain dump: have you heard of it?

It’s a fantastic revision technique that many students report using for their exam preparation alongside a PMP exam simulator.

The brain dump is something you write out many times during your revision. It helps because the act of writing improves recall of ideas. You will be encouraging your brain to remember facts and concepts to make it easier to remember them during the test.

The action of reading notes also helps you retain the information, as Jesse, who shared lessons learned from the exam in our student forum, found out.

“For months I casually read the A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), sometimes letting a week go by between opening the book again,” Jesse says. “With around three months before the end of the year, I activated the simulator and did 10 practice quizzes.” Jesse reports failing practically every quiz.

“Obviously reading casually through the PMBOK® Guide did not help,” Jesse says, “so I opened a Google sheet and re-read the PMBOK® Guide while taking notes. Just the action of taking notes helped me retain the information.” Jesse also wrote down key processes and a selection of pmp formulas (earned value, variance, three-point estimating and communication channels) almost every day for three weeks prior to the test, to memorize them. Jesse also wrote down key processes and a selection of formulas (earned value, variance, three-point estimating and communication channels) almost every day for three weeks prior to the test, to memorize them.

Note: It’s no longer easy to replicate your PMP formula brain dump in the exam because you are not allowed scratch paper and you’ll have hardly any time to make notes. Instead, focus on using a brain dump or mindmap as a way of improving recall. You can picture your notes in your mind when you meet a question that requires a formula or other fact from your sheet.

“You'll hear people talk about a brain dump and some people are for it and some people are against it,” says Karen Hairston, PMP, who passed her exam on the first attempt. “I wasn't convinced that I would use one, so I hadn't been developing one all along while studying, but the weekend before the exam, I came up with about seven things that I did put in a brain dump - most of them were formulas, just so I didn't make a dumb mistake using an incorrect formula. For your brain dump, include whatever is going to take some stress off of you during the exam.

A PMP Plan Also Looks Outside the PMBOK® Guide

While the core information needed to pepare for the exam is included in the PMBOK® Guide, the guide often only presents a high-level discussion of each topic.

This means that for a more complete understanding and comfort in addressing these topics, additional supplemental knowledge gathering is required. This can be done by simply picking up an additional PMP exam prep book, or by taking an online PMP exam course that teaches these topics in their completeness. The areas of supplemental study are generally covered in non-PMBOK® Guide published sources to allow exam candidates to readily find and study this information.

And by the way... if you are having a hard time finding good resources for where to look up obscure information (For example, do you know what a Tornado Diagram is?) then why not try Wikipedia? Wikipedia pages on project management are quite up to date and explain complex concepts in simple terms.

Your PMP Preparation Plan MUST Include Practice Exams

Take advantage of practice PMP exams as frequently as possible. In fact, use a PMP Exam Simulator!

Evaluate your exam results, paying special attention to the questions you did not answer correctly and why the correct answers are correct. Getting your PMP certification is based on your ability to think and respond as a project manager, not how well you memorized project management “facts.”

Practice exams are used for much more than just answering “typical” questions, they are used to be completely prepared for taking the exam. Ideally, a candidate will set aside a 230-minute block of time (just like the actual exam) and work their way through the exam by either systematically answering the questions, or marking them for further consideration – repeating this process until the exam has been complete or the four-hour block of time has expired. Done in this way, the candidate gets to experience facsimiles of the exam experience so that when taking the actual exam, the candidate is comfortable with the testing situation, understands and is practiced at the pace necessary to answer the 180 questions in almost four hours, and already has experience in dealing with the relatively random mix of questions types and topics – there is no substitute for this type of exam preparation.

Many successful PMP exam candidates have stated the PM Exam Simulator was one of the most valuable study tools they used in preparing for the PMP exam.

PMP Exam Timetable

Starting with the end in mind also applies to taking the actual exam and having a timetable for how you will spend the 230 minutes you have available.

There is no substitute for being well studied in preparation for the exam and using practice exams to hone your knowledge and test-taking approach. However, most successful candidates also have a simple, direct strategy and timetable for taking the exam.

They not only walk into the exam room with a clear timetable in their head, they have practiced it. A timetable should therefore be developed a long time before the actual exam date and then applied and updated whenever the student takes a complete preparation exam.

For example, one strategy that has worked for many candidates is to make multiple passes through the exam:

Following this strategy, candidates do not inadvertently leave “low hanging fruit” questions -- where they know the answers -- unanswered. They don't spend time completing more involved questions where they don’t immediately know the answer until later in the exam when the “easy wins” have already been claimed.

Use a PMP Study Plan Template

Whenever I have to develop a new project plan, then I usually look at the ones I have created in the past and I use the one that closely matches my new project as a template. And if I don't have one, then I can probably find one online.

PMP students should do the same. They should use a PMP study plan template as their starting point.

The primary source to find such a template is by reading lessons learned from successful PMP students. Here is the recommended approach:

• Read at least 25 lessons learned from other students
• Make a list of their strategies, study approaches, schedules and tips
• Convert your notest into your own PMP study plan

The best part about doing it this way, is that by the end of this you will have read 25 lessons learned from other students and you have now become an expert in planning and scheduling your own PMP exam studies. This approach is incredibly beneficial for you!

But now everyone wants to spend that much time reading lessons learned -- no matter how beneficial it may be. And so the second approach is a bit less time intensive: Use someone else's plan as your PMP study plan template.

There is still some work involved in reviewing and adapting the template, but at least we have a starting point. Here are several templates for you to choose from:

Do you have a template that you would like to share? Please send it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and mention that we may include it in this article here. Thank you

Summary of Creating Your PMP Certification Study Plan

This complete guide to creating your PMP Study Plan and PMP Exam Study Schedule has hopefully explained everything you ever wanted to know about how to approach and plan your certification studies. In summary:

• You may want to start out by reading lessons learned or with a template.
• In order to know what to include in your plan you must first learn what you have to study by understanding what will be on the exam.
• You must know yourself so that you can determine what study techniques (reading, listening, or watching) is best suited for you.
• Developing your schedule based on PMBOK® Guide chapters, ECO Domains, tasks, and project management approaches is a good practice.
• Having a study partner who holds you responsible for meeting your study targets is an incredible help.
• Keep notes and update your study plan as you progress forward.
• Taking practice exams with an online PMP exam simulator is an absolute must.

Now you have the complete picture about creating a plan for your studies. Why not check out some of these other articles to help you prepare for the rest of your PMP application?

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