[tomq04]

I am week 4 into my real studying, week 6 into my spring quarter (taking Adv Business law) as a supplement to my Reg studying which I will be sitting for July 2ish. I am not talking about overall burnout, although I am certain I will feel that some day, but I am talking about sitting here at lunch getting to minute 35 and wasting the rest of my lunch. I am getting up early, studying at about 60% efficiency, Lunch can’t be much better (perhaps 70%, 35 minutes out of 60) and night which is TERRIBLE, since I am getting up early(4:15 AM) by 8 pm I am dragging, and studying does a great job of pulling ZZZZZ’s out of me.

I am doing little things throughout the day and am honestly not terribly worried yet as I am just starting this journey with plenty of time until the first test.

My question (hopefully worded better) is this, on your individual study sessions, how do you guys stay on task? Do you take breaks, and what do those breaks look like?

REG- (1) 76
FAR- (2) 64, (5)74, (7)83 (Over achiever!)
AUD- (3) 70, (4) 75
BEC- (6) 75

[smp73]

I take breaks…wait I took breaks.

I would study for a certain period of time then take a 5 or 10 minute break. Take a walk, go out side, do laundry, play with the dogs…anything really. I would do this on repeat when I studied at night.

I think a lot of people on here have talked about the pomodoro method which is 25 min studying, 5 minute break. You can get an app for your phone.

I think breaks are essential when you are studying to keep you focused on the material. I also threw in a redbull or coffee if I was really dragging.

Good Luck!

NYS CPA License # 113563
CIA: Done as of 2/15/14

Training for a half marathon post studying!

[Jeanie]

I agree completely – breaks are SO important – your brain just cannot go that long in focus and still be useful. I use a fifteen minute timer with a five minute break – I may try the 25/5 mentioned above, but I find a huge increase in my ability to stay focused and on task when I take a short break.

A
B 4/9/11 62
F 8/14/10 55 08/06/11 43
R 10/14/10 35 05/14/11 58 5/4/13 ???

[OJFWEroiu]

If you're not working:

* take regular breaks (AT LEAST 15 min. every hour; longer for lunch)

* weekends off

* no more than 8 hours of studying per day

* workout 4-7 times per week

* get lots of sleep

* eat healthy

* don't drink, smoke, or do drugs (including OTC or prescriptions)

* enjoy your breaks or time off (TV, video games, going out with friends, etc.)

* don't beat yourself up if you were supposed to study, but didn't

* If mcqs are burning you out (getting a lot wrong), just review the major part of the book (passkeys (highlights), mnemonics, formulas, & examples) and/or flashcards

If you are working, make them give you time off (at least 3 weeks) before each exam. If you can't get time off, I dunno.

passed

[tomq04]

HA!

*if you're not working…I am

make them give me time off…I have 2 days of vacation i can use. 🙁

I also have a wife and 1 year old…my study time is precious, about 3 hours /day if I am lucky, 1.5hours 4:30-6am (when boy wakes up), 1 hour at lunch (3 days/week), .5-1 hour in the evenings. I just get extremely frustrated when I push for 30 minutes and burn out and waste my last 30 minutes.

Certainly can't move forward very fast.

REG- (1) 76
FAR- (2) 64, (5)74, (7)83 (Over achiever!)
AUD- (3) 70, (4) 75
BEC- (6) 75

[smp73]

@ tomq04 – are you making any time to study on the weekend? That could help.

Also, do you have the NINJA audio? You can listen to that at work, at the gym, in the car…really helps you get in some more study time.

NYS CPA License # 113563
CIA: Done as of 2/15/14

Training for a half marathon post studying!

[Anonymous]

I am not working, but I am very strict with my studies. I wake up as if I had to go to work usually around 5 am and workout.. than study all hours of the day I am not in class. My breaks consist of doing homework for my college classes and I have no life anymore. Its a dismal lifestyle and I wouldn't recommend it. OJFWE's recommendations are much more solid. I am starting to have anxiety over BEC because this IT stuff is insane.

[OJFWEroiu]

Dang bcjasper09, that's tough. I sort of know how you feel. When I wasn't taking breaks I went insane.

passed

[MintsRGood]

How do I deal with brain melt and burn out, you ask? Good pinot noir and dark chocolate! Seriously, I use a small serving of wine/chocolate/cheese as a reward at the end of a marathon study session, like a good behavior treat! Ha! 🙂

I'm using the Wiley textbook for BEC and they break up topics by injecting multiple choice questions throughout the module. When Wiley instructs me to stop and do a set that is when I take a 5 minute break and stretch, get up, etc. It helps to not feel like I'm sitting for hours on end and it breaks up the chapter! Also, try the pomodoro technique of 25 minutes of focused prep followed by a 5 minute break!

Do something nice for yourself after you've been studying so hard!!! It's just as important to take care of your mental well being as it is to study. You can fit 15 minutes of decompress time in your day somewhere, considering how diligent and adept you are at fitting in study time.

Good Luck!!!!!!!!!

REG: 75 DONE 🙂
AUD: 61, 71, 68, 92 DONE 🙂
BEC: 76 DONE 🙂
FAR: 72, 74, 79 DONE 🙂
Licensed Michigan CPA 🙂
-Some people dream of success...others wake up and work hard for it!!!
-The cowards never start and the weak die along the way!
-You better work, b***h!
-Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.-JFK

[smalltimeauditor]

I would love to work somewhere that “gives” you 3 weeks off before sitting for each section.

And, please do not stop taking your prescription medication.

To piggyback on what other people mentioned: take breaks, eat healthy, exercise, and take a few days off here and there so you maintain some work/life balance. Yes, studying for this test is work.

B - Passed
A - Passed
R - Passed
F - Passed

[SeattleAccountant]

@smalltimeauditor, yeah, wouldn't be great to have that time off before each section?! what kind of job are we talking? Here, struggle is to take vacation despite having it earned and about ready to lose. Taking two consecutive weeks even once a year is already frowned upon let alone four times!

Here is my list of things that make this exam less crazy: *Get fresh air daily: walk or run. *Eat well: proteins, little fruit, moderate veggies while eliminating whites like breads, rice and potatoes. *Have a reasonable prep schedule that takes into the account work, school, family obligations but make attempts to limit attending things that are not crucial.

I guess it all revolves around daily efforts to stay awake, lucid and healthy while making at least some progress in preparation even if insignificant.

Becker Class of Jan - Aug 2013: FARB DONE!!!!
CPA license pending 🙂

[Anonymous]

Here's my .02 worth. Take it to heart or take it with a grain of salt, the choice is yours.

1. DO NOT EVER STOP TAKING A PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION WITHOUT TALKING TO YOUR DOCTOR FIRST! THIS IS A RECIPE FOR DISASTER NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE TAKING! THE DOCTOR PRESCRIBED IT BECAUSE YOU NEED IT!!! (I very rarely YELL, but I felt this warranted being heard loud and clear.)

2. Find out HOW you learn.

2a. If you learn best by hearing things such as being able to remember the words of a song after hearing it a couple of times, then get the Ninja audio's and listen to them non-stop. An iPod is cheap compared to a lost test score. I could hear Jeff's voice in my head while I was taking REG for the 8th time and I owe my 84 in REG to him!!

2b. If you learn by writing, then go to Quill.com and get a case of cheap legal pads. Again, these are cheaper than a lost test score. Start writing the Ninja notes over and over. When you miss a problem, write down an explanation that you understand. Don't just write the answer, or the Wiley explanation, write a page of notes on the problem if you have to. Just make sure you understand it. Quality over quantity is always best.

2c. If you learn by working problems, then use the Wiley Online test bank when you are at a computer, but go back to the books and work some from there too. I realize that most of the problems are the same, but if you get one wrong in the book you are more likely to go FIND the answer, which will make the information stick.

3. Find out WHEN you learn best. I have always believed that I was a night owl and could get more done at night. Well, that turned out to be wrong! I did best when I got up at 4:00am and studied until it was time to get ready for work. I got up at 4:00am on Saturday and Sunday as well and studied all day long. I did this for months! Now I'm awake at the butt crack of dawn whether I want to be or not! But it's a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things.

4. A lot of people have great success with the Pomadoro (sp) technique. You set an alarm when you start and you decide how long you are going to study and how long your breaks are going to be. This didn't work well for me, but I know quite a few others that passed and say they owe it to using this technique.

5. Study in strange places. I know that sounds weird, but I've had more than one little old lady tell me I need to get the groceries out of the cart if I want to check out because I was holding up the line. I used my Kindle Fire to go over the Ninja notes whenever I had a free minute and my phone to go through the Ninja Flash cards whenever I could. My husband thought I was having an affair because I was taking my phone to the bathroom with me! I showed him the flash card app and he said “Oh, whatever works for you honey.”

6. Rewards and a night off with your family are great things, but they won't help you pass if you aren't committed the rest of the time.

7. I've used all of my vacation time in the past 5 years to study before an exam and I only passed one exam after taking a week off of work. The others I passed working the day before, and in most cases, the day after! The only way I was going to get 3 weeks off to study for an exam would have been to quit my job! And that just wasn't going to happen! Hindsight is 20/20 so now I realize that I should have used those days after the exam to decompress and rest before tackling the next exam.

8. This one was a big one for me and if I had done it sooner, I could have saved myself a lot of blood, sweat and tears…. Make sure you are healthy before you commit to an exam. I had no idea that I had thyroid cancer when I got on this slow train ride through hell and probably have had it for quite some time. It explains why I got confused during exams and didn't understand what they were asking me to do (thyroid wasn't working at all) and why my final passing scores are all in the 80's (thyroid was fighting to work despite the cancer). If I had been healthy the whole time I might have passed it on the first try with scores in the 90's. But luckily the only number that counts is the license number and I've got one of those now!

So like I said, this is my .02 worth. Good Luck to you and remember that the only way to fail is to quit! This exam is a bully sometimes. And sometimes you have to get mad and punch it back!

[smalltimeauditor]

@Kricket I can relate to #8. Halfway through this exam I found out I had a non-hodgkins lymphoma as a result of a medication I was taking. I was still studying in my chemo chair but it was difficult to concentrate. I finished chemo in November and have passed two sections since then.

Good luck with your new fight. KCCO.

B - Passed
A - Passed
R - Passed
F - Passed

[memmy29]

Wow @kricket and @smalltimeauditor-

Very inspiring. I have Crohn's Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis and have had some really dark times during the course of this exam. It's amazing what some people have to go through. Congratulations on your accomplishments so far- you two have definitely overcome some major hurdles that others may never have to face.

AUD-84, REG-75, BEC-84, FAR-77

Licensed CPA

CIA Exam
Part 1 - Passed
Part 2 - Passed
Part 3 - Passed

[henryv]

I use my lunch time studying which is 30 minutes. I use my bus time going to and from work which is 15 minutes per ride or 40 overall and this bus route depends on the type of engagement. Depending on the type of engagement, the 1 hour studying is not possible. My overall commute to and from work is generally 2.5-3 hours though (40 minutes train, 25 minutes walking and 15 minutes bus per route). I usually take a break on the train. Either I sleep or I stare into the abyss due to fatigue from work. Thankfully, I haven't missed my drop off point since I've begun embarking on the CPA journey. Depending on the engagement, I might use up my commute time going to a client for a fieldwork. From what I've said, my study hours per day which became a habit is 1 hour or less depending on workload.

For weekdays, if I took an overtime, I have no study time. Otherwise, I will study depending on my mood or level of stress until I sleep or my brain got overdosed with information.

For weekends, I usually catch up to my study plan which is basically 1 chapter of Becker per week regardless of how voluminous it is as compared to other chapters (page xx vs. page xx).

Basically, the only rest I could have is on the train, and on weekends depending on my study plan and the location of client for my fieldwork.

As a bonus, I study in the washroom when taking a dump! That's 5-15 minutes studying wasted if you just smelled your p**p while doing it. I'm really desperate to pass!

FAR - 92 02/2013
AUD - 90 05/2013
REG - 85 10/2013
BEC - 80 12/2013

I'M DONE. THANK YOU LORD!

[MintsRGood]

@HenryV I'm reading A71 while on a long conference call because I AM SO bored and I just laughed out loud on the line at your post!!!!!!!!!!! BAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!! Now that's an efficient and effective use of time! 😉

REG: 75 DONE 🙂
AUD: 61, 71, 68, 92 DONE 🙂
BEC: 76 DONE 🙂
FAR: 72, 74, 79 DONE 🙂
Licensed Michigan CPA 🙂
-Some people dream of success...others wake up and work hard for it!!!
-The cowards never start and the weak die along the way!
-You better work, b***h!
-Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.-JFK

[Author]

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