Hey Zinn,
Starting work at 10:00 seems awesome - if you don’t mind, what type of field are you in?
This is probably one of the best threads on this forum for L2 '13 - misery loves company and balancing fam + f/t job + this test leaves one a bit exhausted/overwhelmed/not motivated, so its good to see what others w/these challenges are doing.
Similar to many others (scary thought), I’ve just found it a struggle to get motivated and study hard for this exam (when we all know this requires more time than L1). I’m much more disciplined on weekdays (2-3 hrs after work) than weekends (3-6 total). I can’t study at home even on days when I have it all to myself, public libraries are useless as I feel most people are there for leisure (atleast the few that I’ve been to) and university libraries are almost an hour drive. Hoping to start going to the office on weekends (which is so exciting given how little time I already spend there…NOT!) or university libraries as those are the only places I can think of to help me go hard-core on weekends…
Less than 80 days…YIKES!
Thanks for the share Gottasay - regiment is def critical for getting over this hurdle.
Question for the group - do any of you actually read the CFAI books? I signed up for a class so i have vid lectures and in person lectures, but I also like to read the CFAI books too. Perhaps this is a time trap, but I like it as a review to the lectures I listen too.
Also, I’m glad to hear so many of you still go to the gym (perhaps this is a group of overachievers in all aspects). I partake in a pretty extreme lifting schedule (oly, circuit, sprints ect). I wrote level I in Dec and was so concentrated on getting that 300+ hours I would cut short some of my pre-workout routine (i.e dynamic stretching) and because of that I injured my back squatting. Albeit, this may not apply to all of you but to those that it does, def don’t compensate your study for imporant aspects whether it be pre-gym warmup or a healthy lifestyle. Just my .02 - cheers,
I work in finance too and I definitely have to “steal bases” since I passed Lv1 in December. I started late February 1, and it was a challenge to develop a routine. I think I’ll be finished wih Schweser books by mid April.
My best study tips so far: 30 mins here and there, lunch hour, commuting time - use them wisely. Study material in smaller chunks, pay attention to the number of pages per day in order to complete the readings with enough time for review. Try to keep up with EOC questions in order to retain the material.
One last note, I’m will begin to review some of the early material (i.e. FRA, Corp Fin) now, while I’m pressing to complete readings.
Best of luck everyone.
This thread reinvigorates my motivation thank you for that!
My schedule is fairly similar to you all, I aim for 2 hours clocked every night on weekdays and 6 hrs a day on weekends. Im fairly good at doing my studying on weekdays, it is just the weekends that bite me lol.
By the time friday rolls around, all i want to do is have a few beers with some buddies and relax…but it turns saturday into a write-off everytime haha
Maybe!
was just a case of testing what i’d learnt and checking how hard the parts that I hadn’t tried were. I can see how it comes across as a waste of time, but i like to know what sort of direction I’m going in. Each to thier own!
I’ve got $2000 into this thing, pass and I get reimbursed - as long as I have an empty bank account that’s motivation enough haha
Hey whatsyourgovt,
I’m with you on the class thing - forgot to mention that.
Will be taking a 6-week review class, every Saturday frmo 9 to 5 starting tomorrow. This seems like a happy medium and a good fit for my schedule. Weekly evening classes (the 6 to 9 format) would be unmanageable with my work & travel schedule as I would miss half of them, and the 3- or 5-day courses in May make me a bit nervous as there isn’t much more I could do so late in the game. So for what it’s worth I would encourage you guys to take a look at similar options in your city (this is in NYC). I don’t have the willpower to go through videos, but old school classes and books do it for me.
Nimesh: I am thinking of taking a practice test in a couple of weeks as a “diagnosis tool” to indentify weaknesses before it’s too late, just like you did. I would be thrilled if I get anything higher than 50% at this stage! Your 55% looks good from where I stand, especilally if you haven’t completed all readings.
Ramos4rm: same here. A healthy amount of peer pressure and emulation at my workplace with others taking the exam, plus letting the cat out of the bag with family & friends. Of course no one outside the CFA cohort gets how much work this is, so as long as they see you working for more than 20mn they think you’re an automatic pass 
Little do they know…
By the way: if I had a penny for every person who’s told me “oh but of course you’ll pass”, we could replenish woodywoodford’s bank account. Makes me grind my teeth every single time.
There was an article on WSO on 10 worst comments to hear when taking the CFA. I think #1 was “I’m sure you’ll pass”. I think #2 was something like “Oh, I have a friend that took the CFP too”
#3 - Oh you’re doing the CFA? That stands for Certified Financial Accountant right?
My personal favorite (from my very own mother): “why are you doing this to yourself?”
I never considered myself much of a stickler for rules but anytime somebody says something like “Oh you’re going to be a CFA” or “I want to get my CFA” or “CFA’s are smart” I die a little inside.
I think it’s actually retarded that the CFAI doesn’t allow us to use CFA as a noun, forcing us to use “CFA charterholder.” It’s a lot easier to reference people as CFAs.
A bit of evolution in this matter wouldn’t hurt. It’s akin to saying, “go search something on Google” instead of “Google that shit,” every time you want to search.
“woodywoodford is a CFA” sounds ballsier than “woodywoodford is a CFA charterholder.” The former is akin to someone dealing in swaps while the latter is like GE issuing some noncallable bonds.
Maybe they wanted to differentiate the charter bearers from the CPAs… who knows.
I am always interested to hear how other people schedule their days.
I work 8:30 - 5 with a 1 hour commute on both sides and am in a PT MBA program.
i wake up at 6:15 and go to the gym and eat breakfast. I can usually get 30 minutes of reading in each way on the train and I take lunch to do my school assignments. I aim fof 2.5 good hours of work 4 nights a week and alternate school and CFA. On Daturday and Sunday I try to put in about 8 hours each day on some combination of the two and the nights off.
I struggle with the evenings. I don’t know if it is best to go to the library right at 6 when I get home and power through 3 hours while tired from the day, or go home eat/workout/relax and work from 730 - 1030.
I find I am fresher when i break between work and study, but I find if I study till 10:30/11 I can’t get to sleep…
Out of curiousity, how much sleep do you guys get per night?
That’s none of your damn business and I’d appreciate it if youd stay out of my personal affairs.
About 7 hours/night 
What about the unemployed and full time students of CFA, how are you doing?
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Hi pierrewoodman_fan,
Given the title of this chat, I’m guessing not too many unemployed and full-time students will read through and see this question!
For what it’s worth, I got a master degree while working full time and used to be jealous of the people who didn’t have to work, until I realized that the folks who were working full time were always handing their assignments on time - and the others, not so much. Took a short CFA class for Level 1 in December: same story; people working full time were done reading the curriculum earlier (on average).
Of course everyone is different - and every job is different - but I choose not to blame my job, even when it seemingly gets in the way of my studies. Knowing how lazy I am, no doubt that without the structure of a full workday I would be sleeping until noon, watching DVDs and reading SciFi without getting any studying done. People who have the self-discipline to get their act together have my unconditional respect. I find multi-tasking easier and less stressful in many ways.