A practical PMP® study plan: 30-day intensive, 60-day balanced, and 90-day part-time schedules with weekly focus by domain and tips for using the Mastery Cloud app.
This page answers the question most candidates actually have: “How do I structure my PMP® prep?”
Pick a timeline, then follow the loop: Syllabus → drills → review misses → mixed sets.
Choose a plan based on hours per week:
| Time you can commit | Recommended plan | What it feels like |
|---|---|---|
| 12–18 hrs/week | 30‑day intensive | fast coverage + heavy practice |
| 7–10 hrs/week | 60‑day balanced | steady progress + room for review |
| 4–6 hrs/week | 90‑day part‑time | slower pace + repetition |
If you want one rule: start with ~60% learning + 40% practice, then flip to ~30% learning + 70% practice in the final 2 weeks.
PMP domain weights (PMI ECO, Jan 2021):
| Domain | Weight | What to be good at |
|---|---|---|
| People | 42% | leadership, conflict, stakeholder collaboration, virtual teams, mentoring, emotional intelligence |
| Process | 50% | planning + delivery controls: scope/schedule/cost/quality/resources, risk, communications, procurement, governance, changes/issues, artifacts, tailoring |
| Business Environment | 8% | compliance, benefits/value, external changes, organizational change |
Use the weights as your default time split, then adjust based on weak areas discovered in practice sets.
Target pace: ~12–18 hours/week.
Goal: cover the syllabus quickly, then harden decision instincts through drills and mixed sets.
| Week | Focus | What to do | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | People domain fundamentals | Leadership, conflict, team rules, virtual teams. Start short daily drills and keep a miss log. | Syllabus • Cheatsheet • Practice |
| 2 | Process planning core | Scope → schedule → cost/resources → quality. Add comms + risk basics. Drill after each task. | Syllabus • Cheatsheet |
| 3 | Process execution/control | Stakeholders, changes/issues, procurement, governance, artifacts, tailoring. Do mixed sets every other day. | Practice • Cheatsheet |
| 4 | Business environment + final review | Compliance + benefits/value + org change, then full mixed sets and miss-log cleanup. | Practice • FAQ |
Target pace: ~7–10 hours/week.
Goal: cover each domain with reinforcement and spaced repetition.
| Weeks | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | People | Team leadership, conflict, stakeholder collaboration, rules, mentoring, EQ. Short drills after each task. |
| 3–5 | Process | Planning + delivery controls + procurement/governance/changes/issues. Practice after every task set. |
| 6 | Business environment | Compliance, benefits/value, external changes, organizational change. |
| 7–8 | Mixed review | Mixed sets + revisit weak objectives; tighten formulas and “best next step” patterns. |
Target pace: ~4–6 hours/week.
Goal: slow-and-solid coverage with repetition and steady practice.
| Month | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | People | Build leadership and stakeholder instincts; light drills 3–4×/week. |
| 2 | Process | Work through planning and control tasks; drill after each task set. |
| 3 | Business + consolidation | Business environment coverage, then mixed sets and miss-log cleanup. |