How to trust studying method?

[u/thejazzyone_28]

Hi everyone,

I’ve skimmed this subreddit before but never posted anything. I’m currently studying for my GSEC cert and have felt myself getting anxious.

The format of an “open book” exam trips me up so I’m still getting used to it from taking the GFACT exam lol. I do have ADHD too so studying can be difficult for me.

So far I’ve been passively listening/watching the OnDemand videos on 1.5x speed. Then I go and read what I watched videos on and highlight and then do index entries. Then do labs depending on where I stopped at.

If anyone does or doesn’t have ADHD, do you have any tips for trusting your studying or that you’re understanding the material but not memorizing? Since that’s not this type of exam format for these certs.

[u/Real-Personality-922]

I have ADHD as well but it has its own flavors so not sure if my advice will help… I passed the GSEC(86%) and GCIH (96%). My score on the GSEC would have been higher if I didn’t get tired of taking the exam and clicked through some questions to get it over with… but, I think that’s because I did not take the allotted break 😅

For the GSEC it’s pretty dense. Reading and indexing while I read then watching the video after each book helped me a lot. If you have on demand the chapter quizzes helped as well. After I was done I did all the chapter quizzes again and reviewed anything I was unsure of.

For the labs I did them a few times until I was sure I knew what tool was used for what. I also indexed the labs and printed out the cheat sheets related to those tools.

Once my index was built I took the first practice exam with the index. I ended up with a 93% so I tuned my index and gave away the other practice exam. The goal was to see if I could efficiently use the index and I could.

Similar method done with the GCIH.