Hi Jason -

I've done a couple of IT certifications (CompTIA A+ and Network+), and the things I found most valuable were (1) having a hard deadline, (2) having -- and working -- a concrete plan for getting through the material, and (3) working lots of practice materials to be sure I really knew the material backwards and forwards.

I accomplished the first simply by scheduling the test and paying the money. The test was nearly $300, so I was highly motivated to pay the fee only one time.

The second part was more complicated. I worked back from the scheduled test date and figured out how many days I had (leaving about a week for review). I divided the number of days remaining by the number of topic areas I needed to master in order to figure out how much time I had to spend on each. From there, it was a matter of putting the nose to the grindstone to get the stuff read and learned.

The practice materials were also invaluable. I used the Transcender exams to study for my exams. When I got review questions wrong, I made sure I read through and understood the explanation. If I didnt' understand the explanation, I went back to my source materials to review the concepts. I also used some of the review books, but they were generally less useful than the Transcenders.

As an aside, I've used other exam prep materials, but I found that none of them were as good as the Transcenders. They're expensive, but they're very accurate and provide a good exam simulation. Other prep materials had significant factual errors (confirmed after I contacted the developers) that diminished their value substantially.

Another thing to consider is whether there's significant content overlap between the two exams you're looking to take. For instance, there is substantial overlap between Network+ and most other CompTIA exams. Taking Network+ first would reduce the study load for other exams because you'd be studying for several exams while preparing for Network+. I don't know how much overlap there is with other exams.

Obligatory Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with the Transcender people, except as a satisfied customer. I should also note that these certifications were obtained three and four years ago, so the landscape could easily have changed.

Hope that helps,

Don