Have you ever daydreamed of starting something new? Maybe you were feeling really motivated at the time and started doing some research while filled with excitement. I imagine you even pictured how life would be different.
Then at some point, a voice in your head said: “I don’t have enough time.” As Dr. BJ Fogg from Stanford University shares in his book Tiny Habits:
Change is a process, just like growing a flower in the garden or healing a cut on your finger. And like any process, there are things we can do to optimize it — to speed things along and make course corrections along the way.
We can lean into what has worked for others as inspiration on how to get started.
In this article, we’ll discuss three periods in your day that you can use to jumpstart studying for your FAA written test.
Study in the morning
For many people, the early morning can be a productive time to get things done. Instead of feeling groggy and hoping for just a few more minutes of sleep, you can wake up rested knowing that you have time for yourself. It’s quiet and for a little while, you can set aside obligations. That’s time for you to make progress with your aviation journey.
To do that, we need to build discipline around our sleep. That starts with examining the day before like a scientist.
Gary Keller and Jay Papasan argue that making sleep a priority is key to your success. Keller and Papasan comment on the value of sleep: “Protect your sleep by determining when you must go to bed each night and don’t allow yourself to be lured away from it. If you’re committed to your wake-up time, you can stay up late only so many nights before you’re forced to hit the hay at a decent hour,” they said. “…When you’ve connected proper sleep with success, you’ll have a good enough reason to get up and you’ll go to sleep at the right time,” they wrote in their book, The One Thing.
Imagine being able to wake up an hour earlier each morning to study for your test. That’s about five hours a week. Each hour moves you a step closer to reaching your dreams. Instead of dreaming about becoming a pilot, you could take action.
Next, we’ll talk about another part of your day where you can try studying.
Study right after work
People tend to decompress right after work. This can make it challenging to have the willpower to study when you get home. However, there is an in-between. That’s the time right after work and before you get home. You just need a few things to get started with studying for your FAA written test:
- Your computer. Start early and build the habit of studying from a computer. I recommend a MacBook Air if you don’t have a laptop.
- An internet connection.
- A quiet place.
One and two are self-explanatory. You’ll need your computer to access your online ground school and other materials. A quiet place to study is key. Eventually, when you go take your written test, it will be done on a computer in a quiet area. When you practice studying in a quiet area, what you are really doing is rehearsing for the upcoming performance where you’ll do well on your FAA test.
What if your workplace is loud? Take a minute, for example, to make a list of all places that you could use as an alternative.
Here are some ideas:
- Another location within your workplace (e.g., staff lounge, conference room, etc.)
- A library
- A coworking center
- A coffee shop
Next, choose a couple of them that you can test out this week by studying for one hour. Silence distractions from around you by investing in a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones from Bose. What if you work remotely from home? Choose a dedicated space in your home to study.
If your work schedule is flexible, then studying after an energizing activity may work for you. That’s what we’ll explore next.
Study after a daily routine
Think, for a moment, about the activities that you do on a daily basis. Some of them you may do on autopilot, like making a coffee in the morning. Now focus on the routines where you feel great after.
That could be going for a walk in your neighborhood during sunrise, having a delicious lunch, or perhaps heading to the gym right after work to exercise. Does your schedule allow you to study after any of these routines?
Here’s what has worked for some aspiring pilots like you:
- “Perfect for someone like me who works a full time job and studies during breaks. Now I don’t have to roll into work with all my books.”
- “For a lunch break, or any time you have a free minute you can just…have the same quality material.”
- “Provided me a way to keep my mind in the sky while juggling a full time job.”
As authors Chip Heath and Dan Heath write in their book, The Power of Moments, “Better to take a risk, try something, and distill the answer from experience rather than from navel-gazing. Action leads to insight more often than insight leads to action.”
Remember that taking action is important for learning what works and what does not. When you try something and it doesn’t work, you move a little closer to discovering what does work. This means that you can learn from failure. Three parts of your day where you can test studying for your FAA written test are:
- Study in the morning
- Study right after work
- Study after a daily routine
When, where, and how do you plan to study for your FAA written test?
