The foundation of the one factor you truly have control over is studying for your promotions tests. There are three ways people learn; visual, audio, and tactile. The key is finding which of those (or combination of) methods work best for you.
For visual learners, you can probably read and easily conceptualize something in your mind. Using a variety of colors to highlight text would be a useful technique during your study sessions. For the audio inclined learner, MP3 audio files are useful. You can also use the ‘Read Out Loud’ function in programs like Adobe to read the document to you. The last and the most prevalent method I’ve seen in the aircraft maintenance community is tactile learning. These learners tend to want to put hands on the subject of the lessons they are taught. One of the methods I use is a tactile method; while I read, I will hold a Rubik’s Cube in my hands and twist it. This has been successful for me and it’s better than clicking a pen.
Other considerations for your study method are when and where you do it. ‘When’ is a matter of when you are most apt to read and concentrate during the day. I am often a night owl; studying at night is okay for me. Others are more focused in the morning. ‘Where’ is simply not making yourself comfortable while you study. I often make the mistake of reading while sitting in bed and I typically do not make it through two paragraphs before I’m falling asleep.
Plan your study sessions out, give yourself a few months to cover the material and know when your testing window is. Be ready and good luck!
~Jessy
Deliberate Development 