[GSU-CPA]

School has always come easy to me i would go to class pay attention ask questions take notes then study for 1-2 hrs before exam and get an A. As you know accounting is no joke and most of my friends/classmates had to study alot more but as i said school has always come easy to me.

Anyway I am starting to study for CPA REG and i managed to get the ninja note cards deal for $1 during the recent promotion. I will be ordering Wiley next week and start full out study sessions but even right now i am trying to study the notecards and am finding my self fighting not to go read yahoo articles, post on forums , text etc etc. Seems like my focus keeps going down after about 30 mins of reading the note cards.

Can you guys give me some tips ?? Do i need to go to the doctor and ask for some adderal … I want to be ready to tackle this test when i get that Wiley material in.

REG-77
BEC -Waiting on score May 5th
AUD - May 30
FAR - Q3 depending on if i pass above two in Q2

[fiona87]

Second the Pomodoro technique! Also the Chrome extension “StayFocusd” is EXCELLENT. I set it to “go nuclear” for an hour at a time (yes, that's longer than Pomodoro recommends, but it is what it is) and then I allow myself my 10-15 minute “screw around” break, then I “go nuclear” for another hour. It's gotten me through many long weekends of study study study.

FAR - 79 (11/27/13)
AUD - 76 (2/1/14)
REG - 77 (5/30/14)
BEC - 88 (7/18/14)

MN Ethics - 100% (3/9/14)

AND DONE! 8/1/14

[mystical guy]

Apart from the normal advice – eat right, sleep right, exercise, there are two things that have always worked for me when I studied for CPA, CISA and other standardized tests.

1. Get through lectures quickly. It's counter-productive to look at a textbook for 10 hours when you're falling asleep.

2. It's more interesting to work the MCQs and learn as you go, and, by far, most efficient for standardized tests.

3. Breaking down study into small units works when you're bored. Reward yourself with breaks every 20 mins.

4. Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to study EVERYDAY lol. You can study every other day and weekends.

CPA - Since 2015
CISA - Smashed 2012
CIA - Passed 2015

[mystical guy]

Apart from the normal advice – eat right, sleep right, exercise, there are two things that have always worked for me when I studied for CPA, CISA and other standardized tests.

1. Get through lectures quickly. It's counter-productive to look at a textbook for 10 hours when you're falling asleep.

2. It's more interesting to work the MCQs and learn as you go, and, by far, most efficient for standardized tests.

3. Breaking down study into small units works when you're bored. Reward yourself with breaks every 20 mins.

4. Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to study EVERYDAY lol. You can study every other day and weekends.

CPA - Since 2015
CISA - Smashed 2012
CIA - Passed 2015

[jlough]

@GSU-CPA, please don't go to the doctor and get adderall. You can do this.

What worked for me is to give myself specific study assignments for every single day of my CPA journey (yes, all 8 months of it). I scheduled Sunday as a day off (except for the last two weeks before each exam). If I didn't get through my assigned work throughout the week, I would have to use Sunday to catch up. Trust me, the incentive of having a day off inspires you to work your butt off the rest of the week.

Also, I looked at studying as something I had to do everyday. Like brushing your teeth or eating or sleeping. You wouldn't go through a day without doing either of those, right? Same goes for studying.

F- 7/13- 84
R- 10/13- 79
A- 11/13- 99
B- 1/14- 86

Licensed in PA- 3/20/2014

This exam ALMOST defeated me back in 2006-2008, but I came back and WON!

[jlough]

@GSU-CPA, please don't go to the doctor and get adderall. You can do this.

What worked for me is to give myself specific study assignments for every single day of my CPA journey (yes, all 8 months of it). I scheduled Sunday as a day off (except for the last two weeks before each exam). If I didn't get through my assigned work throughout the week, I would have to use Sunday to catch up. Trust me, the incentive of having a day off inspires you to work your butt off the rest of the week.

Also, I looked at studying as something I had to do everyday. Like brushing your teeth or eating or sleeping. You wouldn't go through a day without doing either of those, right? Same goes for studying.

F- 7/13- 84
R- 10/13- 79
A- 11/13- 99
B- 1/14- 86

Licensed in PA- 3/20/2014

This exam ALMOST defeated me back in 2006-2008, but I came back and WON!

[Anonymous]

Taser?? …just kidding…I think it's important to note that going through the flashcards will be a little easier once you get into the material a little more. The flashcards are a high level view of things. You can't expect yourself to know this stuff at this point or even focus for that matter. Before I watched my corporate tax videos, I listened to the Ninja audio on corporate tax and, just like you, my mind kept wandering. Now that I've watch the lectures my focus is better. As others have said, limit those distracters.

[Anonymous]

Taser?? …just kidding…I think it's important to note that going through the flashcards will be a little easier once you get into the material a little more. The flashcards are a high level view of things. You can't expect yourself to know this stuff at this point or even focus for that matter. Before I watched my corporate tax videos, I listened to the Ninja audio on corporate tax and, just like you, my mind kept wandering. Now that I've watch the lectures my focus is better. As others have said, limit those distracters.

[katymegh]

Hey, @GSU-CPA!

About five years ago after graduating college, I started to study and sit for the CPA exams. Just like you, I never had to learn how to really study and focus while in school because it came relatively easy to me. With the CPA Exam, though, I found out really quickly that wandering from self-study to read an article, call a friend or go to the movies meant a failing score on the exam. I had just started a new job (for which I didn't need a CPA) and moved to a new city, so I temporarily gave up on the exam until last May. Even back then I probably knew what my problem was, but now I know for sure… I wasn't willing to spend the time doing the boring practice work.

Since my last attempt at studying, I have done thousands of tedious but necessary tasks at work, gotten other job-specific certifications and run my first marathon. Of all of these things, I think that studying for the CPA Exam is most like a marathon. You have to train yourself to study just like you have to train to run long distance. Long run training for the marathon meant that I was giving up my Friday or Saturday nights to go to bed early only to spend hours on the weekend just running. To make things even more mentally challenging, I decided not to listen to any music and instead force myself to “embrace the suck.” This is exaclty how I have been studying/training for the CPA Exam these past few months.

Everyone on here that has encouraged you to eat a healthy diet and exercise as much as possible is giving great advice; this will no doubt help with your focus. Also, if you think that you want to get checked out and find out if you need medication, by all means, go to the doctor. However, I would be willing to bet that your problem is lack of training at studying. My advice would be to get over the fact that you're going to be out of touch with the world for several hours a week and just do it. Embrace the suck.

You can absolutely do this; you just have to make some sacrifices. There are no shortcuts or tricks. Best of luck!

AUD-88 5/24/13
BEC-86 12/2/13
FAR-77 1/31/14
REG-88 2/27/14 --> Done!!!

[katymegh]

Hey, @GSU-CPA!

About five years ago after graduating college, I started to study and sit for the CPA exams. Just like you, I never had to learn how to really study and focus while in school because it came relatively easy to me. With the CPA Exam, though, I found out really quickly that wandering from self-study to read an article, call a friend or go to the movies meant a failing score on the exam. I had just started a new job (for which I didn't need a CPA) and moved to a new city, so I temporarily gave up on the exam until last May. Even back then I probably knew what my problem was, but now I know for sure… I wasn't willing to spend the time doing the boring practice work.

Since my last attempt at studying, I have done thousands of tedious but necessary tasks at work, gotten other job-specific certifications and run my first marathon. Of all of these things, I think that studying for the CPA Exam is most like a marathon. You have to train yourself to study just like you have to train to run long distance. Long run training for the marathon meant that I was giving up my Friday or Saturday nights to go to bed early only to spend hours on the weekend just running. To make things even more mentally challenging, I decided not to listen to any music and instead force myself to “embrace the suck.” This is exaclty how I have been studying/training for the CPA Exam these past few months.

Everyone on here that has encouraged you to eat a healthy diet and exercise as much as possible is giving great advice; this will no doubt help with your focus. Also, if you think that you want to get checked out and find out if you need medication, by all means, go to the doctor. However, I would be willing to bet that your problem is lack of training at studying. My advice would be to get over the fact that you're going to be out of touch with the world for several hours a week and just do it. Embrace the suck.

You can absolutely do this; you just have to make some sacrifices. There are no shortcuts or tricks. Best of luck!

AUD-88 5/24/13
BEC-86 12/2/13
FAR-77 1/31/14
REG-88 2/27/14 --> Done!!!

[fsugirl2005]

Mystical guy's #4 matches what one of my professors said years ago. He said it's best to study every other day because you will retain the information a lot better. Give your brain a rest. Or what you can do is study a different subject every other day. For example, I wanted to study for FAR and AUD at the same time. I would have just alternated the two. I still may do this but right now I'm just going to focus on FAR.

AUD - 10/21/16 (75----07/2010 expired)
FAR - 10/28/16
BEC - 11/2016
REG - 01/2017

Using Gleim CPA Review, Ninja Audio, Ninja Book

[fsugirl2005]

Mystical guy's #4 matches what one of my professors said years ago. He said it's best to study every other day because you will retain the information a lot better. Give your brain a rest. Or what you can do is study a different subject every other day. For example, I wanted to study for FAR and AUD at the same time. I would have just alternated the two. I still may do this but right now I'm just going to focus on FAR.

AUD - 10/21/16 (75----07/2010 expired)
FAR - 10/28/16
BEC - 11/2016
REG - 01/2017

Using Gleim CPA Review, Ninja Audio, Ninja Book

[Anonymous]

In college, a piece of paper called syllabus disciplines you.

You show up, read the chapter, finish homework(10MCQ), write a couple of paper. You can visually see people around you studying for the mid-term and final so you don't feel alone.

I don't even know why I was dreading on them. College days were so easy! Just following the assignment will get you credits(pretty much guaranteed unless your dog eat your final research paper).

CPA exam preparation, on the other hand, you do everything on your own. It's easy to not following your study schedule and skip a few days…nobody knows.

I was having trouble focusing too. the apps sounds nice. I will try that. I also break down a chapter into much smaller section and start doing MCQs. It's better than waiting to finish the whole chapter and do MCQs.

[Anonymous]

In college, a piece of paper called syllabus disciplines you.

You show up, read the chapter, finish homework(10MCQ), write a couple of paper. You can visually see people around you studying for the mid-term and final so you don't feel alone.

I don't even know why I was dreading on them. College days were so easy! Just following the assignment will get you credits(pretty much guaranteed unless your dog eat your final research paper).

CPA exam preparation, on the other hand, you do everything on your own. It's easy to not following your study schedule and skip a few days…nobody knows.

I was having trouble focusing too. the apps sounds nice. I will try that. I also break down a chapter into much smaller section and start doing MCQs. It's better than waiting to finish the whole chapter and do MCQs.

[GSU-CPA]

Good to hear that i am not the only one!!!! I was starting to think i had ADD or something. You guys are right about material not being exciting. I can sit down and read articles/book/lecture that interest me for hours with no problem so i think that would rule out the ADD issue. Many of you have given great advice and for that i thank you. I am looking forward to hearing more advice.

REG-77
BEC -Waiting on score May 5th
AUD - May 30
FAR - Q3 depending on if i pass above two in Q2

[GSU-CPA]

Good to hear that i am not the only one!!!! I was starting to think i had ADD or something. You guys are right about material not being exciting. I can sit down and read articles/book/lecture that interest me for hours with no problem so i think that would rule out the ADD issue. Many of you have given great advice and for that i thank you. I am looking forward to hearing more advice.

REG-77
BEC -Waiting on score May 5th
AUD - May 30
FAR - Q3 depending on if i pass above two in Q2

[Author]

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