A lot has been said and advised about how to prepare for exam and what material to use, which books to read etc. Great strategies and resources have been shared already so I feel I do not have much to add to the already valuable knowledge bank. So I thought I should focus on another important area,something that probably is not given enough importance by the test takers, the exam day.
The length of exam is 6 hours where you have to put your brain to some serious test for 250 times, your memory, your cognitive thinking, your presence of mind,your experience and your mental endurance is tested on top of the knowledge of 8 domains you acquired prior to this day spending all blood sweat and tears.
Study Cut Off time: It is extremely important that you are at your physical and mental best on the exam day, you must have had good sleep , be nicely hydrated and feeling comfortable and fresh. You have done all the hard yards prior to this day and this is the time to make them count. You must not be fatigued by the overnight review/cram session. You must set up a cut off time for your studies at least 15 hours prior to your exam. After that time you should NOT look at any book,reference material document etc. Yes, No study,Trust Me! Just give your mind some break to rest and rehab. No sparring before the real battle.
Know your testing center location: It is good to be familiar with the exact location of your testing center , how to get there by your preferred means of transport, where to park etc. If possible pay testing center a visit couple of days prior to exams so you know exactly how to get there.
Have your supplies handy:
Have light snacks,sandwich,an energy drink in your bag .I carry a pack of chewing gums, they help me with the stress, so if you have anything that works for you have it in your bag.(Legal stuff only ) J.
Take Breaks Once you hit the go button on the exam, no matter how good you are feeling about the questions you've attempted take regular breaks, I would like to credit someone on this forum who came up with this idea of having 75 Questions and 10 min break and so on..I tried that method and it worked really well for me. So I was doing 70 odd questions and even though I felt fresh I still took break went to the breakout room and had loads of water, cup of tea etc. Went to men’s room splashed some water on my face to stay awake n fresh. (I have a very short attention span mind you) Did not eat much, as i did not wana get drowsy after increasing my glucose level, so kept it to tiny little natural snacks i.e. “dates” a bite of a sandwich. Did not have a full meal in between.
Exam Review:
To be very honest, the only review I did was to ensure I did not miss any questions and couple of questions that I had flagged, I did not go through the completed/unflagged questions again, I was advised this by Mohammad Atef from Udemy and it made sense in my case.
In a nutshell, CISSP is not like any other exam,it does not just test you on your knowledge or subject expertise but also your ability to handle the pressure and stress. I think there is a method to this madness by ISC2, probably they want to test the candidates on their ability to make informed decisions under pressure situations?