Plan Your Salesforce Certification Studies – Use a Traffic Light System

Author: Peggy Schael | Salesforce Trainer | WeLearnSalesforce

“To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.”

Nicolaus Copernicus

Prepare Your Salesforce Certification Exam Studies For Success

Using a systematic approach to plan your study time in order to prepare for your Salesforce Certification Exam will make all the difference. It will allow you to stay on track by organizing your Salesforce learning schedule and allotting specific times for different types of knowledge topics. In this blog article, you will learn about the traffic light system and how to use it to avoid distractions and improve productivity.

Track Your Salesforce Learning Progress

The first question everyone, who is preparing for a Salesforce Certification Exam, is asking themselves is “What do I actually need to learn?”.

Therefore, BEFORE you get started with your learning efforts, the first thing you need to do is understand which Salesforce knowledge topics you need to be proficient about.

This is where the Salesforce Certification Exam Guide comes in. It contains an overview of the exam topics you need to know about. Now, the thing with the exam guide is that it’s more of a high-level overview. It doesn’t quite provide you with a list of sub-topics. Because it’s often the sup-topics which will be asked about in the exam.

Plus, the exam guide does not allow you to tick anything off let alone highlight any topics with our traffic light system we’ll get to shortly.

Here comes our Salesforce Study Checklist to the rescue. The Study Checklist will help you stay on track with your studies. And in combination with the traffic light system, it will organize your study schedule so that you spend more time doing things and less time wasting time.

There are two approaches to incorporate the Traffic Light System.

Approach #1 is for Salesforce Newbies:

If you are totally new to Salesforce and you are starting from scratch, you’ll work your way through the topics in the given order. The order follows a logical structure allowing you to learn each topic step-by-step and build up your knowledge as you progress. Why? Because a lot of the subsequent topics often require the knowledge of the preceding topics. As you progress you’ll tick off each topic and see how you are moving towards the end.

Here’s an excerpt from the Study Checklist of our Salesforce Administrator Certification Course:

Once, you’ve gone through each topic, you’re not done. I don’t want to punish you, not at all. BUT, as a new Salesforce learner, the next step is to deepen what you have learned. Because…by the time you’ve reached the end you will have forgotten at least 50% of what you thought you had learned. This is perfectly normal.

It’s all about repetition and practice. Therefore, you’ll now go back to the top and go through each topic again. For each topic, however, you will now use the traffic light system to classify them. Here is what this may look like:

🟢 Green = **too easy** Topics you know well and you would be able to set up in Salesforce in your dreams.

🟡 Yellow = **uuuhm** Topics you feel like you know but you’re not 100% confident with.

🔴 Red = **never heard of** Well, you probably have but you don’t recall. That’s what I mentioned earlier in regards to the 50% you’ve already forgotten.

Here’s what this may look like:

Approach #2 is for the somewhat-experienced Salesforce learner:

If you’ve already been exposed to Salesforce either through your current job or through the Trailhead platform or else, you probably don’t need to work through all the knowledge topics in chronological order. You can take the approach backward and start with the part where you go through each topic and classify them using the traffic light system.

You’ll then go over to work through each unit in the order of the colors. You’ll begin with the red ones, followed by the yellow ones, followed by the green ones. Then, tick off as you go through each.

Like in this example:

By using the Study Checklist in combination with the Traffic Light System, you can create a schedule that prioritizes the red learning topics while also leaving room for deepening your skills in the yellow topics as well as reviewing your expertise in the green topics.

Setting Realistic Salesforce Certification Exam Study Time Slots

Prioritizing and tracking your study progress is one side of the medal, the other side is your timing. Here are a few tips on how to manage your study time:

• Set up your learning environment. This includes setting up your Trailhead Account and creating Trailhead Playgrounds.

• Keep it quite. Turn off your mobile phone. If you live with family members or room mates, tell them not to disturb you.

• Learn in bite-size chunks. Break down your study goals into smaller buckets, maybe 2-3 learning topics a day. Each knowledge topic is different in length and complexity. Some require 5 minutes, other may need 2 hours. Don’t worry if you don’t tick off more than one, the next day you might tick off 3 at once.

• Take regular breaks. You can study 0.5-2 hours each day or schedule 3-4 hours on your weekend days. Don’t try to study for hours on end if you know you won’t be able to focus.

CONCLUSION

All of the above will help you stay motivated and avoid feeling overwhelmed. Studying for your Salesforce Certification Exam takes time and patience. Having a plan and tracking your progress will keep you sane. 🤓

We offer a range of Study Checklists you can download for free. They are included in our Free Salesforce Certification Preview Courses. Go here to get access: https://www.welearnsalesforce.com/collections?category=free-salesforce-preview-courses

Let me know in the comments if you’ve been finding these tips helpful. Do you use any other learning methods that you have found useful? I’d love to hear about it!

WHAT ELSE…

We make learning Salesforce simple with our range of well-structured Salesforce Video Tutorials, downloadable Study Workbooks and realistic Practice Exams. Available for Salesforce Administrator, Advanced Administrator, Platform App Builder and more.

All materials are in line with the official Salesforce Certification Exam Outline including regular release updates.