Help at managing my time, please? Last semester student/CFA1 Candidate

Hi @archer90‌, sounds like a hectic schedule there and you’re starting the feel the stress (which is normal).

I just wrote something this week which may be helpful (5 Sure-Fire Ways to Beat the CFA Exam Anxiety) – I hope you can apply some of it to your studies which would help immensely.

You have about 1 month left to finish all your reading of the books, then it;s time to leave the last month before exams for some hardcore sessions to do practice questions and chart your weak topics as you go along. This can be done!

CFA is meant to be studied with work/study. Stress is normal, but I think you’d be far from the busiest CFA student here! Like @sophie said, perfectly possible.

Go for it!! Praticing tests will allow you to fill the gaps that you certainly have. I’m working with a schedule pretty close to that one that you are presenting. Keep the focus and finish it!

@archer90‌
Instead of managing time,  you’re gonna have to “make” time for Level 1. Here’s what I have been doing for the past 2 months: 

On weekdays, I wake up at 5 am, do a quick 10 min workout, have a bath, have some breakfast and try to be at my desk by 5.45-6. Then I study for 2 hours till around 8.15, with a 15 min break in between.  

While I’m travelling to work, I just try to revise whatever I’ve studied in the week or try solving practice questions, instead of going over new stuff, though sometimes I ditch the books and take a quick nap in the train! 

For the weekends,  I have a minimum 10 hour target. That means, irrespective of other plans (hanging out with friends, other activities,  running personal errands etc), I must put in 5 hours each on Saturday and Sunday. If I don’t have any plans,  then I end up putting in a total of 16 hours over the weekend. Now, considering that the dreaded December date is fast approaching,  I need to cut down on my socializing!! So that’s the way I’m going about it.

Make a plan. During your day, have specific time blocks just for CFA, and commit to the plan and commit to getting things done. From my experience, scheduling CFA studies as the “First thing to do in the morning” and actually putting in those two hours,  will help you get through a lot of the material in the least possible time. Study in blocks if 30-50 mins with a break of 5-10 mins at the end of each 30 or 50 min session. This is probably one of the most popular study tips for studying efficiently, that I have read online and  have found it to be extremely useful. 

By the way, you have about a month to get through the balance 20 readings after portfolio! That’s more than enough. I think you will be able to meet your 17th October deadline,  after which you’ll have slightly more than 1.5 months for practice questions and mocks. And that is awesome!  So don’t stress!  🙂

Hope this helps! 

@archer90, the CFA challenge is not easy, but we’re here to share the pain and moan about FRA together!