Staying on Target

About7Narwhal

I am going through, reading 2 books, doing the Microsoft Learning program, and watching the Professor Messor videos in an attempt to ensure I don't fail the 70-680 a 3rd time. I have been labbing, reviewing, and ensuring I can do the stuff I have covered so far in my sleep. I have already set the exam date for Jan 18, 2013 and am excited about advancing my career if/when I pass.

However, The material is mind-numbingly boring and dry. The lab material is interesting, but the rest of the stuff (switches / sequences, which version does what, etc. etc.) makes me fall asleep. Can anyone suggest any ideas on how I can keep focused on the material? About an hour into reading, I will start thinking about something and suddenly realize I have gone through 2 or 3 pages and not actually retained anything I read.

I have a long year of M$ in front of me and I want to ensure I don't burn out before I hit my personal goals.

Thanks

ITMonkey

I know that feeling all too well. I was so tired of continually re-reading the two 680 books, and had lab'ed enough to have the critical dialog boxes and wizards memorized, yada-yada-yada ... This old monkey was ready to go ape. Here's what I did to re-energize myself: I did deep diving into Microsoft's Technet library for topics tested in the 680. There were more detailed knowledge there than in my two books. In addition, you can check out the blogs written by development teams. I often came across Q & A's that were covered in a book, but that I had obviously missed.

Another self-motivation tool was to imagine I was teaching a technology to someone. Once I had completely covered the material, I would read the relevant chapters in the books, all the while looking for portions that I missed.

When I did pass the 70-680, I decided the 70-685 covered pretty much the same ground. I was ill at the thought of spending any more time studying the same things. The 70-686 covered slightly dfferent topics, and I went down that route to get my MCITP.

About7Narwhal

Thanks for the advice. It is nice to know that I am not alone with this. I have the exam coming up soon, so I hope to be able to push through the last few weeks and then hit the ground running on either the 685 or the 686. Thanks again for the advice.