When preparing for my CFA exams years ago, I often wondered if there are brain foods for studying that improved my concentration. This resulted in some experiments and changes in my food intake. And my, what a difference it makes – it’s as if the heavy cloud clogging my brain lifted instantly! My concentration improved …
Whether you’re preparing for professional exams, or are a college student studying for your finals, you might be experiencing some anxiety or nervousness about the test. Exam anxiety is common, and something that almost everyone experiences to some degree. Left unchecked, anxiety about upcoming exams has the potential to become a little overwhelming. It can …
In between juggling work, life and studying for finance exams, there’s hardly much time to sleep nor eating well. There’s never enough time, isn’t it? We’ve discussed various ways to organize ourselves for more productive study sessions. However, the largest area of improvement in terms of time management would come from learning how to read faster, since a significant amount of our …
Do you love coffee? I imagine I see many heads nodding now. Suffice to say, my appreciation for coffee has increased throughout the years, especially since I discovered that good coffee, properly made, shouldn’t have a hint of bitterness in it. Yes, without addition of sugar! I’ve been studying with coffee ever since. What’s most …
We spend roughly a third of our lives sleeping. We all know being sleep deprived is detrimental to our mood, state-of-mind and productivity. Yet we are not really taught how to sleep better despite its importance to our health, focus and wellbeing. Isn’t that crazy? So how do we improve the quality of our sleep …
Nearly every student is accused at some point of idling about listening to music instead of working hard on an assignment. Unsubstantiated protests that music helps put them in the right frame of mind for concentrating are usually bound to fall on tone-deaf ears. And when it comes to self guided study, whether you’re studying …
Lydia – a CFA Level 2 candidate reader – wrote to us about the difficulty of living in isolation for 6+ months during the pandemic, especially when it comes to forming good habits and getting motivated again to restart her CFA journey. Her struggles resonated with me, as we all get stuck in a rut now …
How to study for the CFA exams (or any other finance exams for that matter)? Have you ever wondered if your current study methods are effective for passing your exams? A comprehensive study called “Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques” by Dunlosky et al. (2013), may just help answer that. More importantly, I’ve read through and applied …
Being a working parent is hard enough, but what if you add on the challenge of studying for a finance exam to the mix? Some of us at 300Hours have rambunctious children, so we know parenthood ain’t easy. We also know from speaking to hundreds of CFA candidates who are parents that ‘CFA as a …
Stress has an alarming ability to infiltrate all aspects of everyday life. It can strike unexpectedly, often causing people to subconsciously react in ways that are quitsleep problemse out of proportion to their situation. The overwhelming workload involved in studying is usually cited as a prime cause of stress, particularly for high level, professional qualifications. …