[Anonymous]

I’m guessing most people here did their CPA exam while working full time. How did you fight the tiredness when you knew you had to get studying done? Interested to see how people got the energy to study during those couple hours after work, especially since caffeine at that time of night can be bad for sleep.

[Anonymous]

oh the struggle! I find an uncomfortable place to study, usually at the kitchen table. If I try to study on the couch or even the floor, I find myself nodding off. Most of the time that can buy me an hour or two before my face gives up, but there are some days where I'm better off just going to bed because struggling through it usually means I'm not getting sleep + the studying I did is worthless.

[Anonymous]

Trying to stay awake & focused is awful.

I have found using a pomodoro app is useful. (Google it if you are not familiar.) Having the countdown helps me re-focus my attention on the materials, and knowing I only have to hang on for 25 minutes… 15… 6… phew, break.

For what it's worth, I have tried several, and I prefer the Pomodoro Challenge. The nagging is very helpful for me. 🙂

[Anonymous]

Take a quick power nap with your alarm set with you (15-30 minutes or so). After you get up, that's when you drink some coffee or power drink to begin with your studies.

Studying is just like driving. We are not supposed to resist tiredness or drowsiness while driving. Pull over at some safe parking space and take a quick nap before hitting the road again.

[Zuly]

I had a hard time with this as well. I usually studied in the morning by waking up 4:30am and at least getting one hour of studying since I had to start work at 7am. I'm more of a morning person so this worked well. I also studied right after work. Didn't go home and studied at the library (got a big cup of coffee before) or studied at work…again big cup of coffee. Since I was studying both in the early morning and early evening the coffee didn't affect my sleep at all…needless to say I was tired all the time, lol. 😉 Unfortunately you just have to grin and bear it.

FAR - (11/01/14) 71 (02/07/15) 79
AUD - (04/30/15) 86
BEC - (07/21/15) 73 (10/01/15) 75
REG - (11/30/15) 55 (05/19/16) 74

[Matt Douglass]

Welcome to the life. I study after everybody goes to bed from 9pm to 1 or 2 in the morning. I change up my study area every so often. After finishing FAR, I could not bear the thought of studying in my basement room anymore so I moved to the kitchen table for AUD. Sometimes I go to McDonalds or some kind of place open late to study.

I don't have any music for the reading/taking notes time, but when I feel when doing MCQ's music has a couple of benefits. First something upbeat gives me a bit of energy. Second, it does scatter my thoughts a bit which I think is a good thing. Every high stakes test has distractions and we all have to deal with the adrenaline and nagging thoughts that can't be replicated in practice.(Oh no! This testlet is easier than the last, I'm doomed!!!) If I'm used to tuning out the words to music or dealing with the two old dudes at the table next to me pontificating about how the other candidate is going to destroy America, I'll be a little more ready for the distractions of test day.

I also find that having a short succinct reason why I'm doing this helps when I'd rather go to bed than knock out another lesson. When you want to quit (even if it's just for the night) having a mantra helps.

MS, Accounting - Done!

FAR - 83 (CPAexcel/Ninja MCQ)
AUD - 87 (CPAexcel/Ninja MCQ)
REG - 10/16
BEC - 11/16

[golfball7773]

@Amor – try the caffeine nap. You drink the coffee/tea/etc before taking your power nap and you wake up 30 minutes later feeling wide awake. The reason is caffeine takes about an hour to take full effect. It is a real thing.

FAR: 63, 55, 62
REG: 65, 77*
AUD: Fail, 64, 71
BEC: 72, 74, 81

*expired

[Anonymous]

@Thanks, Golf. I'll try it someday.

I tried Red Bull light, once, twice, or thrice. It kept me awake for 40 hours straight. I felt like a zombie on the 40th hour:(

[Duskfall]

Caffeine nap does work pretty good.

FAR - 07/07/2016 - 81
BEC - 08/23/2016
AUD - 10/05/2016
REG - 11/23/2016

[Duskfall]

*double post

FAR - 07/07/2016 - 81
BEC - 08/23/2016
AUD - 10/05/2016
REG - 11/23/2016

[Spartans92]

Im not sure why caffeine doesn't work for me. I had 2 monster once but I still felt super tired throughout the day. I now study in the morning at 5am and take breaks throughout the day which has become much more effective than studying 6 hours straight.

BEC- PASS

[Anonymous]

I wrote this a few other times but caffeine pills helped me. I'm not a coffee drinker so this was my alternative. I only studied after work (4 hrs but 3 solid studying) and weekends. Helped me pass Reg, Aud and Far consecutively after I failed Reg once. Just got cheap pills off amazon that were 100% caffeine. Can't say how much long term damage I did to my body but I'm fine now.

[marqzho]

Coffee is your friend. And if it doesn't work, take another one.

REG 90
FAR 95
AUD 98
BEC 84

[Ag12thman]

Caffeine doesn't have an effect on some people — at least not the effect it does on most. When I drink coffee, tea, or caffeinated beverages, it does nothing to me. If anything, I get more tired. I've tried it over and over and it just does not wake me up or keep me up. I just keep on yawning and usually seem to fall asleep more easily than if I had not taken any. I know – I am weird. But it's the truth. I know one other person that has this same problem, so there are a few of us.

FAR: July 2016

[Ag12thman]

Caffeine doesn't have an effect on some people — at least not the effect it does on most. When I drink coffee, tea, or caffeinated beverages, it does nothing to me. If anything, I get more tired. I've tried it over and over and it just does not wake me up or keep me up. I just keep on yawning and usually seem to fall asleep more easily than if I had not taken any. I know – I am weird. But it's the truth. I know one other person that has this same problem, so there are a few of us.

FAR: July 2016

[MOP]

As weird as this sounds, sometimes I eat really spicy food. And yes, coffee coffee coffee.

FAR (85)
AUD (81)
REG (79)
BEC (TBD)

[Author]

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