Relearning How to Learn: Preparing for AWS Certifications with ADHD

Source: Dev.to

For as long as I can remember, I’ve not been a great test taker. Timed exams, dense wording, and second‑guessing myself under pressure have never played to my strengths. Add ADHD and a learning disability on top of that, and standardized tests have always been something I approach with hesitation.

Because of that, I put off AWS certifications for a long time. Not because I didn’t work with AWS, but because I already knew the testing format was something I struggled with. Eventually, I decided that avoiding it forever wasn’t helping either. So I studied for — and passed — the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam. Now that I’ve figured out what actually works for me when preparing, I plan to use the same approach as I work toward other cloud certifications.

This post isn’t about exam hacks or speed‑running certs. It’s about relearning how I learn — and what actually worked for me.

I Had to Stop Studying the “Right” Way

Most certification‑prep advice assumes you can sit down for long, structured study sessions and steadily grind through material. That has never worked for me. When I tried to force it, I just procrastinated harder. The problem wasn’t learning AWS. Once I stopped pretending otherwise, my approach changed.

Using Practice Exams Without Spiraling

Practice exams can be rough if you already struggle with testing. A bad score can quickly turn into “this is why I don’t do this.”
So I stopped treating practice exams as pass/fail signals and started using them as feedback. That gave me direction without wrecking my confidence.

Understanding Beats Memorization

Memorization has never been reliable for me. Context is. Instead of trying to memorize services, I focused on understanding how they fit together and what problems they solve. That made it possible to reason through questions instead of freezing when I couldn’t recall a specific detail.

Short Sessions, Hard Stops

I didn’t do marathon study sessions. I did short, focused bursts—sometimes 20 minutes, sometimes less. If my brain checked out, I stopped. Forcing it just made the next session worse. Progress wasn’t neat or linear, and that had to be okay.

Exam Day Was Still Uncomfortable

I didn’t walk into the Cloud Practitioner exam feeling confident. I walked in nervous and fully expecting to overthink things. I still passed—not because I suddenly became a good test taker, but because I stopped fighting how my brain works and planned around it instead.

Why I’m Sharing This

If you’ve been avoiding certifications because you’re bad at tests, have ADHD, or don’t learn well from traditional study methods — you’re not alone. You’re not broken. You don’t need a perfect study plan. Passing one exam doesn’t make everything easy — but it does make the next one feel possible. And that’s enough to keep going.

What I Actually Used to Study

I didn’t rely on a single resource. I bounced between a few depending on what I needed that day, treating them as a menu and pulling from whatever helped the concept click. That flexibility mattered more than the specific platform.