Jan 28, 2026 · 27 min · 11 segments
The Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification can be a career game-changer. What’s the best way to study for the exam? How do you stay motivated through months of preparation? What’s the…
Prabhjeet SinghGuestKelly HeuerGuest
Fernanda SaGuest
Steve HendershottHostSo if I had to boil my advice down to three main topics, they would be, number one, consistency.
Don't try to cram it all in the night before, right? Cognitive science of learning shows us that what's called interleaved practice or focused study sessions spread out over time are much better at helping you retain the information you're trying to internalize and then apply it to new contexts like success on the certification.
It feels very natural and comfortable to sit back and listen to lectures, right? I think we've all experienced a lot of that in our educational journeys.
That's what we call passive learning in learning science, right? Active learning is trickier, but it is also much more effective in getting you results.
Anything that gets you to respond or react to the materials to produce answers is going to be much more effective than simply rereading or relistening to content, though that can also be obviously an important part of your overall study plan.
Whatever you can do to find accountability buddies or mechanisms, that is really critical in terms of driving the spaced practice and the active learning that's going to be so important to actually succeeding on the exam.
I set a strict deadline for myself because my mom was coming from Brazil to visit during last summer, so I scheduled the tests for a week before her arrival.
Honestly, my strategy was to start with videos and easier content to digest, like YouTube tutorials.
Once I felt comfortable with the exam content at a high level, I moved on to more structured online courses.
I'd educated about two hours every day during the week to study for the exam and at least eight hours on the weekends.
I'd even book time at a local library to really focus on the practice simulators.
I made it as a mini project for me to make sure that I am able to get the PMP certification by the date that I was incentivized.
Having that deliverable, so to say, ready, I was able to backtrack and build a plan.
So I do go back to using the principles of project management to get a PMP certification and making sure I have the requirements.
So if I had to boil my advice down to three main topics, they would be, number one, consistency.
Don't try to cram it all in the night before, right? Cognitive science of learning shows us that what's called interleaved practice or focused study sessions spread out over time are much better at helping you retain the information you're trying to internalize and then apply it to new contexts like success on the certification.
It feels very natural and comfortable to sit back and listen to lectures, right? I think we've all experienced a lot of that in our educational journeys.
That's what we call passive learning in learning science, right? Active learning is trickier, but it is also much more effective in getting you results.
Anything that gets you to respond or react to the materials to produce answers is going to be much more effective than simply rereading or relistening to content, though that can also be obviously an important part of your overall study plan.
Whatever you can do to find accountability buddies or mechanisms, that is really critical in terms of driving the spaced practice and the active learning that's going to be so important to actually succeeding on the exam.
I set a strict deadline for myself because my mom was coming from Brazil to visit during last summer, so I scheduled the tests for a week before her arrival.
Honestly, my strategy was to start with videos and easier content to digest, like YouTube tutorials.
Once I felt comfortable with the exam content at a high level, I moved on to more structured online courses.
I'd educated about two hours every day during the week to study for the exam and at least eight hours on the weekends.
I'd even book time at a local library to really focus on the practice simulators.
I made it as a mini project for me to make sure that I am able to get the PMP certification by the date that I was incentivized.
Having that deliverable, so to say, ready, I was able to backtrack and build a plan.
So I do go back to using the principles of project management to get a PMP certification and making sure I have the requirements.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
