Hey guys. Was just wondering what you guys do during your “study breaks” to help refresh/stay motivated to continue. Also, what is your typical study-to-break ratio? E.g. 2 hrs studying 15 min break etc.
Things I’ve been trying, mostly to no avail are:
Playing Chess/Sudoku (using too much mental energy)
Youtube (terrible idea, addicted)
Naps (I can never do “short” naps)
Reading a book? (CFA = too much reading already)
Meditate (going to try this)
Nothing (need to learn how to just do nothing?)
Coming off of December’s CFA Level I straight into Level II, I feel like I and can’t marathon study for as long as I used to and am burning out easier.
I think it is highly personal. What works for one, does not necessarily to work for the other person. I think the most effective “break” will involve physical activities (e.g. running, gym), especially outdoor ones. Let it be short walks in parks. I would love to have these physical activities as my breaks, but I usually end up doing something else because of urgency of them.
Study-to-break ratio… hmm… I usually manage to effectively dedicate max 6 hours for CFA studies out of 10 hours a day. The breaks in between these hours are random and depend on my eating, drinking and other requirements at the moment.
Personal preference. You have to figure it out for yourself. My breaks include changing the baby’s diapers, playing guitar, watching youtube. While taking breaks, I remember I failed last year, and that motivates me to get my ass back to studying.
The reason you can’t study as long as you used to is because the material is harder. A lot of it is new and will require you to think more about what you just read. Eventually that takes a toll on you.
I study until my head hurts or I start losing focus, and I then take about a 20 minute break until I feel like I can focus again. I study at a bookstore, so when I take a break I either get up and walk around, or I find a book that doesn’t require a lot of brain energy and look at it.
Hahaha, lichess is literally like my worst addiction. I could sit and play bullet for 5+ hours. I have to have an app to block and it on my computer which I can’t undo, and to always resist the temptation to download it on mobile.
lol i’m with you on that man. The constant feeling on “falling behind on studying” though, makes me make excuses to skip the gym.
True. I guess the constant feeling of “not enough time” makes me try to figure out how to be most efficient/productive at all times, when, it’s really not that deep. It’s funny b/c when I think about what I did in these “study breaks” while preparing for level 1, I literally can’t even remember lol. Guess I figured it out then and will now.