Last article we talked about Common Mistake #4: Trying to do everything yourself. Sometimes it can be much more valuable to just let other people do things, even if that’s a bit counter-intuitive.
The example I gave was paying a housekeeper to help keep me focused on activities I could do that would generate more value.
After years of coaching thousands of Six Sigma certification candidates I’ve learned one thing; we are all pressed for time. We all have the same amount; not enough!
The common thread among people who are successful on the exam (and I’d guess likely successful in life are the ones who learn to take advantage of the time they have.
Stop Doing This
There’s likely several things that you might be doing right while studying for your exam right now that you could stop doing and put towards higher-value activities.
Here’s a few:
- Looking for practice questions.
- Looking up answers to practice questions.
- Reminding yourself to study.
- Making your own plan to study. And then making it again. And then making it again.
- Interacting with Six Sigma “experts” on forums. only to leave more confused than ever.
- Studying for several hours straight.
Ok, Ok, enough of that.
Some of the items on the list are obvious. Others are less so – and that’s intentional. Sometimes the best strategies are counter-intuitive.
Not to worry, we’ll cover the hows and whys next time. If you want a head start, this is really just the Pareto Principle applied to studying: a small slice of what you’re doing accounts for most of your progress. I’ve written more about how the Pareto Principle can change how you study and work if you want to go deeper.
Best, Ted.