Any successful study plan must incorporate the use of resources that are rich in technical detail, sequenced appropriately, and consumed thoughtfully in order to develop the necessary knowledge and skills required for the PE Exam. However, there are additional considerations beyond what to study and how to go about it. Studying is a cognitive process and the quality of our thinking depends on having enough energy and mental clarity to do the work day after day. Cultivating this state of readiness is a metaskill that creates the possibility of building new skills, and it rests on three pillars: sleep, nutrition, and fitness.
This brief article, while far from comprehensive, offers a few practical tips for engineers pursuing PE licensure. You will notice an outsized benefit for each additional tactic you put into practice due to their synergy. If you have significant sticking points in one particular area, it is more important to make modest improvements to that area than to attempt to perfect another area. For example, there is not much value in eating your vegetables if you’re trying to get by on 4 hours of sleep.
One final disclaimer before we dive into the details: The hardest part of any complex project is getting started, and I want you to know it is completely fine if the beginning is messy. The alternative is not starting at all, which is a far greater tragedy than a few rough spots in the early days. Each of the changes suggested below can be hard in and of itself, and making them at the same time you are starting to study can feel doubly overwhelming. When implementing these strategies, give yourself tons of grace if you end up staying up too late, eating pizza and candy bars, and hitting snooze instead of going for a run. This stuff is not life and death, so you should feel free to take and use what works for you and skip the rest.
Sleep
Establish a standard bedtime. The tried and true advice to get 8 hours of sleep per night is great, but the devil is in the details. For those who work a standard 9-5 schedule or anything similar, the start of your day is already constrained. Therefore, you must work backwards to determine your ideal bedtime, and if you find that nothing particularly valuable is happening in the evenings, choose a standard time to turn in. Set a “Go To Bed” alarm if necessary until the new habit is formed.
Get up around the same time every day, including weekends. This follows naturally from the previous suggestion. This was a tough one for me personally. My whole life through college and well into my career, I slept in on Saturday and Sunday, then switched back to waking up early on Monday morning for work. But doing this is like having jet lag twice every week, and leads to the same symptoms: fatigue, malaise, and difficulty concentrating. Try a consistent waking time for a couple weeks and you may never go back. You can make minor adjustments over time once you establish a basic rhythm. If it doesn’t work for you, you might consider adopting this approach for several months while you study for the exam and reverting after.
Nutrition
Eat half as many carbs. The Standard American Diet includes 300g of carbohydrate per day. However, we have known for years that the food pyramid is flawed, yet somehow this information seems to have a hard time propagating into mainstream guidance. I’m not suggesting that everyone should go on a ketogenic diet and abolish carbohydrates forever. Rather, we should strive to reduce our carbohydrate intake into the 100g-150g per day range, targeting the lower end of the range if you seek to lose weight, or the higher end if you are looking to maintain. Eliminate all the empty calories from added sugar, keep the incidental carbs from whole fruits and vegetables, and then control the starches to make up the difference. By holding bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and other grains in check, you can make up for those missing calories with a bit more protein and healthy fat. The goal is to stabilize your energy throughout the day as much as possible and avoid crashing and brain fog.
Shop the Perimeter. It would be completely understandable if you wanted to delegate as much food preparation as possible when you add PE exam studying to your already busy schedule. The challenge arises if there is no one to provide nutritious, delicious meals that will fuel you day after day. If you have a short list of restaurants or take out venues that meet this need, that could be a strong alternative. But if the food options in your area are scarce, unhealthy, or cost prohibitive, then procuring your own groceries and preparing your meals is likely the last good option. A great tip for grocery shopping is that most of the products that can actually be classified as food are located at the perimeter. Imagine your local store – produce, meats, eggs, dairy – it’s all around the edges! With a handful of exceptions, your best bet is to do a lap around the outside and avoid the manufactured products in the interior which tend to be packed with added sugar and questionable industrial seed oils. You don’t have to become an expert chef. For years I made the same two or three meals on rotation resting in the confidence that I was giving my body something helpful rather than harmful. While the lack of variety might have been less than ideal, your goal here is to eat well enough and also be efficient with your time in the kitchen (make extra for leftovers!) so you are ready and able to study.
Fitness
Raise your heart rate to maximum aerobic function for 30 minutes 3 times a week. Subtract your age from 180. As I write this I am 37, so that’s 143. Walk, run, bike, row, jump rope, or do any other activity you find enjoyable to increase your heart rate in the direction of this number, which is your Maximum Aerobic Function heart rate. This may sound intense, but for most people, with the exception of highly conditioned athletes, the perceived effort level associated with this heart rate is notably low, so you must take care not to exceed the target. This can be accomplished with a heart rate monitor, or by training with a partner and making sure you are always able to carry a conversation. The goal is to train our cardiovascular system to burn fat, and as soon as we pick up the pace, our system switches to burning glucose instead, which only makes us want to have a sandwich when the workout is done then take a nap. If we can train our bodies to run on fat, we will stabilize our energy when we are not exercising. There are countless cognitive benefits to cardio, such as balancing neurotransmitters, increasing blood flow to the brain, and producing mental sharpness. Dr. John Ratey writes about these in Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.
Lift or carry something heavy a couple of times per week. Weight lifting need not be a formal, structured, time consuming activity. A couple sets of pull ups and push ups twice a week could do the trick, or squats and lunges with dumbbells or just bodyweight. Try putting 20 pounds of books in a backpack and go for a 40 minute walk. The community of people that do this call it “rucking,” and they use bricks or special weights, but I find that old textbooks work just fine! Or rake some leaves or chop some wood, anything that involves using your muscles. For our purposes, the goal is not an increase in strength although that is a pleasant side effect. Specifically, what we are seeking is the chemical and hormonal release that accompanies the strength adaptation, which improves cognitive performance in ways that are complementary to cardio training. If you want to run sprints and max out your bench press, that’s fine, but the most intense forms of exercise are not a requirement to achieve the improved thinking, reasoning, and remembering that make for high quality studying.
Bottom Line
In conclusion, sleep, nutrition, and exercise are cornerstones not only of health and longevity, but also of optimal cognition, and are crucial to a solid foundation for studying. But don’t feel like you have to be perfect. If before reading this article your sleep was erratic, diet poor, and exercise nonexistent, do not be discouraged. The main point is to take inventory and find opportunities for gradual improvements that can be sustained, and to start to create a positive feedback loop across all 3 domains. In fact, the potential benefits are even greater to those who can find meaningful upgrades in all 3 areas. Doing so will powerfully set the stage for an enriching and enjoyable study experience.
If you found this article helpful, I’d be honored to support you on your journey toward professional licensure. To learn more about the process and our programs, contact Dan@mechancialPEexamprep.com.
