when reading the material for your first time do you guys spend the time to memorize and learn everything on the first around or do you quicker reading and do questions to try to remember the material better afterwards?
I try to read it really carefully and then answer a bunch of questions (Schweser EOC, CFAI EOC, QBank).
In your first reading try understanding the material and organize yourself by highlighting the lines which you feel important and try making some flow charts of concepts on the side of Schweser or whatever the material you are using. You see retaining is the key to success in level I and this can only be done by understanding the information in first go and then repeating it multiple times either through re-reading or through solving questions. Though multiple readings, at least 3 according to me, and solving schweser questions and CFAI End of Chapter questions is a must. Organizing the material will help you remarkably in April and May to revise the books in quite less time. Good Luck.
A common mistake is people focus too much on getting the general concepts. CFAi questions are often nuanced and focus on details. Try to fully grasp the material the first time through. Otherwise, you may repeat the mistake the second time through of thinking “oh, I get that” and skimming through. First time is really the time to focus on getting that detailed understanding right and highlighting so that on second review you’re just refreshing yourself on the details you already understood and hitting highlighted nuances.
my technique is that i read all the material ( using elan guides), while reading it i highlight what i see as important information. after i finish reading, i write down all the LOS’s for that reading in my notebook. this helps me memorize the information and makes it easier to track it down when i dont understand something. after i write it all down i read it one more time, only this time i am focusing even more on understanding the concepts. i finish it off the the EOC questions, and later supplement it with the Elanguides questions ( which in my opinion are harder than the EOC questions).