How are you doing? Can you concentrate after work? How many days off are you planning to take before the exam?
I work in finance and i try to abide by this routine.
study in the am on my commute in
during my lunch break
after the gym
I usually get 2 hrs on the weekday and more on the weekends. I usually take fridays off for date night w the gf. I have to admit, the flame that I had in lvl I has faded and Im having a harder time concentrating.
i also work in finance and my schedule follows:
-wake up 4:45 for the gym and make it into the office by 7:15 - 7:30 (study notecards while driving from gym to work)
-take 25-30 minute lunch break during which I drill ethics questions on QBank
-spend two hours every day after work studying (now reviewing before practice exams begin April 6)
-try to hit 4-5 hours saturdays and the same on sundays.
indeed, its more challenging to study on weekdays after work, but i crave the buzz i get from an intense workout every morning and feel like that helps my day (and energy) more than if i were to study in the AM and workout in the PM.
Working full time and finishing up MBA (not Top 5, not even full time. Yes, I know I have brought shame to AF). I’m finishing up my read through Schweser this week, taking notes after each reading and doing concept checkers. For review, plan on watching Schweser videos while following along in CFAI text, pausing to work blue boxes and EOC ?'s. Mocks on weekends.
Study from 7-9 on weeknights when I do not have class. Listen to audio notes as much as I can throughout the day, not really retaining much with that but it makes me feel better. Usually hang out with the wife and daughter for a few hours on Saturday/Sunday morning, and then get in 4-5 hours each weekend day.
Graduate May 11th, going to really ramp up the evening review sessions for the last three weeks. Taking the last week of May off work.
I work from 9 to 6pm… My commute is 2.5 hours per day wasted in traffic. I’m finding it more difficult to study after work.
My mind is tired 
L2 is killin me slowly
L2 is slow and painful death
Need 3 books to be done with CFAi Econ, Derivatives and PM… i feel like I am behind. I was supposed to finish all books by end of March and drill Qbank for 1 month but i don’t know now… It’s so hard to work and then study after work!!!
Work full time in finance. Study 2-3 hours after work on weekdays. Weekends vary but could be anywhere from 3-7 hours per day. On days I go to the gym I try to get an hour in during lunch so I have an hour less to do after work, I work out after work. Gym is in the building so it’s easy to go back upstairs to my office. I took CAIA L2 this past Saturday and I was basically living in the office. Since I’m behind on CFA because I stopped studying in mid february to concentrate fully on CAIA, I suspect I should start living in the office again, but i gotta admit it gets depressing some days.
No wife, family, or gf is a blessing in disguise. My advice, go absolutely HAM, move away from your current gf and secure a girl “best friend” when life is tough and you need…well you know…lets call it warmth ;)…its working so far for me 
I also work full time in finance. I start @ 10AM so I can get 2-3 hours in before work, and I’m going to the gym post-work lately. I’d prefer gymming before work…but I can’t focus on studying after work…so I had to do some rearranging. I’m starting to do 9-5 studying on weekends (structured like the exam, 9-12 & 2-5 time blocks) and thats been a BIG help. I fell way behind because I wasn’t utilizing my weekends, and I’m slowly catching up.
I’m also finding my retention blows, so I’m phasing in more and more questions. I want to set up my weekends from here on out such that for at least one of the days, I spend the entire day drilling questions/reviewing. I seem to only remember this stuff by doing…especially accounting…
Also I was going to take 3 vacation days prior to the exam, but I may have to grudgingly bump that up
>Rasec, why not invest in some elan guides audiobooks ?
It’s really comforting to hear that I’m not the only one struggling to stay motivated and put in the hours after work. My feelings towards this exam have been on a roller coaster. On saturday I started second pass starting with Equities and there was a point where I had a realization that I was going to be one of the statistics of people who start the program and never finish. Then on Sunday I put in 9 hours and plowed through the remaining EOCs for Equity and felt like I was going kick this motherfucker of an exam in the face and show it who’s boss. I was pumped.
I also work in finance (9-6 typical hours), I get about 40 minutes each way on the tram each morning to read or do Qbank, then I try to get an hour in at lunch. Evenings are difficult, I’m just so tired and I have to do all the family stuff like dinner for kids, bath time, story time, brushing their teeth, etc, then dinner for my wife and I often because she’s been at it with the kids all day and needs a break. By the time I get all this done, I’m ready for a beer and bit of down time. I can manage some reading or videos, but putting in the brain power to solve problems is tricky, the motivation just isn’t there. I also agree that my hunger isn’t at the level it was for L1, even though the material is harder. I think if FRA wasn’t there I’d be more motivated. It’s like this immense mountain that I feel I’m never going to be able to climb, it’s discouraging and sometimes make me feel like throwing in the towel.
true studying very less vs L1.Burnout it seems
Yea… I don’t have the drive/hunger for level 2 also. But then again, I didn’t have the drive for level 1 either until a month away from test day. Hope that drive kicks in earlier than may this year.
Also work full time. Up at 5, quick shower and breakfast to wake me up, study until 7:30 (2 hrs), walk to work, study over lunch (1 hr), study a bit when things wind down in the evening, generally 4:30-5:30 (1 hr) and then if I’m still feeling up to it an hour or two in the evening. Total 4-5 hours on weekdays and I still have time to chill in the evening. Study all weekend but with many breaks interspersed in.
Hi guys, this is my life at the moment! Nice to know I am not the only one!
- Up at 6am and study for one hr
- Work 830-530pm; but squeeze in reading on my commute into work and home (about 1hr in total)
- Study from 7-9pm each night after work
- Up at 7 on Saturdays and study pretty much all day until about 4-5pm
- Sunday morning (and after lunch if need be) study again to to smash out the Study session
Am keeping to 18 study sessions in 18wks, with 4wks left over for revision. Am bang on keeping to this target and am studying using CFAI text, but read Schweser on my commutes. The final month will be 100% questions, questions, questions… Trying to be extremely disciplined as not going to do this again…
I try and put in at least 30 minutes a day during lunch and about 4 straight hours each weekend. I don’t plan on taking time off for the exam but I’m sure I’ll leave earlier on the few days before.
I have really lost it this week, only managed about 3 hours study 
starting to buckle hard, I am broken. Tried my first full mock last week and got 55% (admittedly i have yet to cover all the material)
will try and go for 15-18 hours over the weekend, and hit out more questions next week. cant wait for 79 days to be over
why would you take a mock without having covered all the material? it almost seems like a waste…
I don’t know if this could be motivation for anyone but it works for me. I literally tell the entire world I’m taking the exam…coworkers, friends, family…everyone. So everybody knows and if I fail I will be horribly embarrassed, not just because I failed, but because everyone will know that I failed. Also, I have to pay back my company if I fail…another reason to study hard and not fail. These are just a few other ways to stay motivated aside from the “I love and am truly interested in the material, it’ll put me in the right direction for my career, blah, blah, blah”.
My typical schedule -
Weekends:
At least 5 hours a day minimum, try for 7+.
Weekdays:
At least 1 hour a day (esp if busy), try for 2+.
My typical schedule -
Weekends:
At least 5 hours a day minimum, try for 7+.
Weekdays:
At least 1 hour a day (esp if busy), try for 2+.
Helpful to see how everyone else is managing to keep all those balls up in the air… Thanks for starting this thread, pierrewoodman_fan.
I’m in the same finance boat as many others; recently switched from bank-land to a role in asset management. Hours are not too bad: typically 8:30 to 7:30, though I’ve started to aim for earlier exit times (6:30ish) when the day is not crazy. That extra hour makes a difference.
The two things that have worked best for me so far are a) to have a plan (and stick to it); b) to “steal bases” whenever I can.
a) Since I only started styudying late Jan / early Feb (wrote Level 1 in Dec), I know I have to optimize those 4 short months so I worked out some weekly targets. Yup, it involves an excel spreadsheet. I will be done skimming the 5 Schweser books next week (only have Eco left). The next few weeks will be a little more mellow (some review and CFAI EOC, at least for FRA & Equities) because I don’t want to burn out and crash in flames in the final month. Last 4-5 weeks will be practice, practice, practice - hopefully ramping up to a fiery frenzy just before D-Day.
b) For those who don’t live in the US or don’t care about sports, “stealing bases” is a baseball analogy. In this case it involves sneaking some small amounts of study time here and there to get done earlier. E.g. if I intend to read half a book in a week, and don’t want to face more than 40-50 pages / day on weekends, I try to get through at least 20 pages a day on most weekdays. I’ve started taking actual lunch breaks instead of spilling soup over my keyboard. My keyboard is in better shape - and I can get 10-12 pages out of the way. Then another hour or two in the evening allows me to cover anywhere between 20-40 total pgs/weekday. If I fall behind during the week, it simply means bigger days on weekends. The key for me is to break it down in smalller chuncks, preferably with a reward later i.e. going out for dinner with my boyfriend, which we do on most nights.
I try to have studying become a part of my life rather than interfere too much with it. If my BF reads the paper over breakfast on a sunny Sunday, I read my CFA book. If I am traveling for work, I read my CFA book on the plane. Boring conference: reading on my iPad. And when I meet a study target: I definitely *stop* and enjoy my free time. I’m also incredibly lucky to have a BF who is supportive of my study choices and encourages me instead of giving me grief. Having him around helps me study because I don’t want him to see mee slack!
I must confess I feel less focused and efficient at work though. It’s hard to fire on all cylinders.
To answer your last question: probably no more than 2-3 days off before the exam, though more would be nice.
PS: Sorry for thee long ramble — but it feels good to share/vent…