[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

[I'm, Ron Burgundy?]

Disable facebook.

Go somewhere that you know has no internet and study there.

Don't study at home. Too many distractions.

"If you're going through hell, keep going"
- Winston Churchill

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed."
- Michael Jordan

BEC: (54), (72), 80 (losing credit on 02/02/15 - nervous)
AUD: 78
REG: (74), 91
FAR: (71)

[I'm, Ron Burgundy?]

Disable facebook.

Go somewhere that you know has no internet and study there.

Don't study at home. Too many distractions.

"If you're going through hell, keep going"
- Winston Churchill

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed."
- Michael Jordan

BEC: (54), (72), 80 (losing credit on 02/02/15 - nervous)
AUD: 78
REG: (74), 91
FAR: (71)

[Boate]

@GSU-CPA- To be honest its all about routine. Do something for 2-3 weeks straight and your body adjusts to it. For example, my routine everyday during the week is wake up at 630am do an hour of studying, go to work, study during lunch (if possible), go home and study for an additional 2-3 hours BUT if I cannot focus, I get up and do something else for 25mins then go back to studying (assuming you don't have a family to look after). You have to force yourself to study this material because it is extremely dull. I'm on my second try with AUD and if you ever fail an exam (hopefully you won't, would never wish that on someone) just wait for how difficult it'll be to study the same material you already looked at for 6-8 weeks that you now have to study AGAIN!! My advice is before you start to study, think about how long it'll take you to prepare and schedule the exam that way you know you can't fool around because your exam is set and you don't want to push it back or lose the money you paid to register. This exam is a marathon, unfortunately for most, you can't just cram 2-3 weeks before the exam and pass, you have to put the effort in and I get you, trying to keep focus is a motha******, believe me we've all been there. It's what you'll get out of it which makes it all worth it. Push through kid, you got this

AUD: (65)(66) 77
REG: (66) (48) destroyed me mentally.....
FAR: (68) (66)(69)(71)
BEC: (63) 75

"Greatness is not some precious thing, it is no more unique to us than breathing. We are ALL capable of it."

[Boate]

@GSU-CPA- To be honest its all about routine. Do something for 2-3 weeks straight and your body adjusts to it. For example, my routine everyday during the week is wake up at 630am do an hour of studying, go to work, study during lunch (if possible), go home and study for an additional 2-3 hours BUT if I cannot focus, I get up and do something else for 25mins then go back to studying (assuming you don't have a family to look after). You have to force yourself to study this material because it is extremely dull. I'm on my second try with AUD and if you ever fail an exam (hopefully you won't, would never wish that on someone) just wait for how difficult it'll be to study the same material you already looked at for 6-8 weeks that you now have to study AGAIN!! My advice is before you start to study, think about how long it'll take you to prepare and schedule the exam that way you know you can't fool around because your exam is set and you don't want to push it back or lose the money you paid to register. This exam is a marathon, unfortunately for most, you can't just cram 2-3 weeks before the exam and pass, you have to put the effort in and I get you, trying to keep focus is a motha******, believe me we've all been there. It's what you'll get out of it which makes it all worth it. Push through kid, you got this

AUD: (65)(66) 77
REG: (66) (48) destroyed me mentally.....
FAR: (68) (66)(69)(71)
BEC: (63) 75

"Greatness is not some precious thing, it is no more unique to us than breathing. We are ALL capable of it."

[vanadium3]

if we can all focus 100% then we'd all be able to pass this exam with ease.

say if I study for 8 hrs, I probably will only be able to squeeze out 4hr of real efficient study time. my mind just wonder off every 10 mins or so. it's just the way some people's brain works. the only way is to grind in this case. or be an artist..

CPA

[vanadium3]

if we can all focus 100% then we'd all be able to pass this exam with ease.

say if I study for 8 hrs, I probably will only be able to squeeze out 4hr of real efficient study time. my mind just wonder off every 10 mins or so. it's just the way some people's brain works. the only way is to grind in this case. or be an artist..

CPA

[Kimboroni]

I hear you, GSU! In high school, I was usually the person who would come in to class, forgetting that there was a test and get an A, when my friend who studied for 4 hours would get a C.

When is your test? For me, I wasn't taking studying that seriously yet and was thinking of rescheduling, but I knew that wouldn't work, since my class and busy season would be starting. That had to be the day. So I realized how little I had studied so far, and I got serious. Maybe you are too far from your test date right now, and you will be more focused when you get closer in, from the pressure?

That said, this time I'm making a plan based on the amount of material and how long I have to study.

You can also try being a more active studier by multi-tasking and using multiple parts of your brain at once– don't just look at the note cards. Do a second process with each note card, like writing down notes about it, or saying or singing it out loud. Draw or diagram it, etc. Or a combination of those. It may help you stay focused better by doing more things. It's easy to look at it, but not actually be processing what it says, so try coming up with a step 2 (or even 3) of the process to help keep focused.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Kimboroni]

I hear you, GSU! In high school, I was usually the person who would come in to class, forgetting that there was a test and get an A, when my friend who studied for 4 hours would get a C.

When is your test? For me, I wasn't taking studying that seriously yet and was thinking of rescheduling, but I knew that wouldn't work, since my class and busy season would be starting. That had to be the day. So I realized how little I had studied so far, and I got serious. Maybe you are too far from your test date right now, and you will be more focused when you get closer in, from the pressure?

That said, this time I'm making a plan based on the amount of material and how long I have to study.

You can also try being a more active studier by multi-tasking and using multiple parts of your brain at once– don't just look at the note cards. Do a second process with each note card, like writing down notes about it, or saying or singing it out loud. Draw or diagram it, etc. Or a combination of those. It may help you stay focused better by doing more things. It's easy to look at it, but not actually be processing what it says, so try coming up with a step 2 (or even 3) of the process to help keep focused.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Study Monk]

One thing that might help is vary study activities. Rotate reading, reviewing flash cards, multiple choice questions, and video watching. Also vary study locations.

You could also try to trick yourself into becoming exciting about the material.

Most likely, your problem is that you are missing the big picture of what you are studying. It is really hard to do things like Jeffs flashcards and multiple choice problems when you don't have the big picture concepts down. This post is premature because you haven't even started reading the material yet and you expecting to learn a random assortment of flashcards.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Study Monk]

One thing that might help is vary study activities. Rotate reading, reviewing flash cards, multiple choice questions, and video watching. Also vary study locations.

You could also try to trick yourself into becoming exciting about the material.

Most likely, your problem is that you are missing the big picture of what you are studying. It is really hard to do things like Jeffs flashcards and multiple choice problems when you don't have the big picture concepts down. This post is premature because you haven't even started reading the material yet and you expecting to learn a random assortment of flashcards.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Anonymous]

I can only do about an hour of study time, if I am doing questions. Let's not talk about reading- I'm lucky if I'm doing 20 mins straight. Then my mind starts to wander… I will do jumping jacks, catch up on a show or just doing something while I still think about what I was studying ( especially if I'm stuck). Then, once I come back to the computer…. its still not easy, but I feel like I got a second wind. Then just move on.

What also helps me is being on this website and hitting the study group. I just found out that helping people just helps you have a clearer understanding of the topic at hand OR you might learn something from everyone that understands what you're are going through.

I feel like we are all in an AA meeting but really— it's Boredom's Anonymous.(GSU-CPA enters the circle) Hi, I'm Bored, What's your name?? Here, we welcome you! It's sad!!!! Just know you're not alone. We are struggling too!

Just find your routine…….. it will become a part of your life soon… You won't even think about after a while.

[Anonymous]

I can only do about an hour of study time, if I am doing questions. Let's not talk about reading- I'm lucky if I'm doing 20 mins straight. Then my mind starts to wander… I will do jumping jacks, catch up on a show or just doing something while I still think about what I was studying ( especially if I'm stuck). Then, once I come back to the computer…. its still not easy, but I feel like I got a second wind. Then just move on.

What also helps me is being on this website and hitting the study group. I just found out that helping people just helps you have a clearer understanding of the topic at hand OR you might learn something from everyone that understands what you're are going through.

I feel like we are all in an AA meeting but really— it's Boredom's Anonymous.(GSU-CPA enters the circle) Hi, I'm Bored, What's your name?? Here, we welcome you! It's sad!!!! Just know you're not alone. We are struggling too!

Just find your routine…….. it will become a part of your life soon… You won't even think about after a while.

[Amay]

Someone posted this on another thread and it is such a great tip! I time myself with an online timer and study non-interrupted for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minute break. Rinse and repeat. The amount of study time is greater than if I just force myself to sit down and study until I get tired….I end up getting way more distracted that way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlU-zDU6aQ0

BEC: 73, 81
AUD: 85
FAR: 71, 77
REG: 74, 75...finally DONE! 😀

*This is my 2nd attempt at the CPA exam. For all of you who have failed this exam many times, given up on it, or taken a break like me, remember that it is still possible to finish what you started...failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently 🙂

[Amay]

Someone posted this on another thread and it is such a great tip! I time myself with an online timer and study non-interrupted for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minute break. Rinse and repeat. The amount of study time is greater than if I just force myself to sit down and study until I get tired….I end up getting way more distracted that way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlU-zDU6aQ0

BEC: 73, 81
AUD: 85
FAR: 71, 77
REG: 74, 75...finally DONE! 😀

*This is my 2nd attempt at the CPA exam. For all of you who have failed this exam many times, given up on it, or taken a break like me, remember that it is still possible to finish what you started...failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently 🙂

[mystical guy]

@fsugirl2005

I couldn't agree more. I used the trick with REG and BEC.. alternated them and I ended up passing in a short time. Seems like switching from one thing to another keeps the mind interested.

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

[Author]

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