If you are not careful, even the best time management plans can go wrong. The AAPC CPC exam requires you to answer 150 questions in 5 hours and 40 minutes, and a lot of students simply run out of time to even finish it. One of the most important factors of passing the CPC exam is to have a good time management strategy. Most people come fully prepared but slip up come exam time due to stress, pressure, and a whole host of other factors. Here are some of the top things that will derail your time management strategies in the AAPC CPC exam hall.
Thinking too much
This is one of the big reason that can trip up your best time management strategies. Usually a lot of the time-wasting activities revolves you over-thinking it. Remember that all questions are worth the same, irregardless of how long it took you to answer it. So if you're having a particularly bad time with question, you should be moving on and coming back to it later.
Doubting yourself and repeatedly changing answers
The objective is to pass the CPC exam, not to ace it so you'll need to keep moving once you have an answer. If you have an answer but aren't really sure, then just mark it as one of those questions that you'll come back later if you have the time to spare.
They're not there to trick you
This comes back to second guessing yourself and wondering if it might have been a trick question. The exam is to test your abilities to code accurately so the questions can almost seem to be too straightforward sometimes. If you fall for this, then you'll be looking for nuances and hidden meaning that doesn't exist.
Watching your neighbor
It is all up to you. Everyone is given the same amount of time, same questions, and the same environment to finish the CPC exam so what they do is none of your concern. Some people use different strategies, such as jumping ahead or even starting from the end so do not be distracted wondering what your neighbor is doing.
Panic and tools breakdown
Last of all, being prepared is the best way to avoid any problems in the exam hall. Visualize all the things you'll be going through a few days before the exam so you know what is coming, what you need to do, and what you need to bring. There is nothing worse than having something go wrong such running out of pencils or forgetting the time and then having to panic in the exam hall.
