By now most of us are aware of burnout and the detrimental effects. ive been going very strong -albeit it some of you are much further in your study than i, but relative to the vast population i see myself way ahead. With that said, i have yet to implement a day off - something i was fond of during my l1 and l2 study until the last month or so. Does anyone take a complete day off? slim back on a particular day?
Yes - Usually Wed or Friday I give myself the night off. usually it’s the day of the week I have time off from the gym and work is slow and for some reason that always lands on a Friday or Wed.
I personally need a day off to keep my weekly motivation.
Unfortunately not. My study plan involved studying everyday until the exam. But the daily effort is ok I guess.
I suggest you invert your study schedule…take 6 days off and only one day of study.
This will help me pass 
My plan was to study every single day, even if it meant just 5 minutes some days. My goal was not to break momentum and to not give myself an excuse to not open the books.
I do take off one night per week for a little entertainement (playing music with a few friends), but it’s not a full day, so I also study that day, and every day of the week.
D**n it. Hard to motivate myself. 20 pages of fn’ GIPS EOCs on a saturday 4 months away from the exam is depressing.
+1. It’s all about building a habit. If I ever miss a day, it’s b/c I’m hungover from a big event but I live in Chicago and the weather here often sucks from January to early May, so it’s easier to stay in for most of the study period.
I don’t particularly care for the Level III material b/c portfolio management doesnt really help me with my job (nor future aspirational jobs) the way Level II stuff did, but to be honest, a big part of me is very happy to be studying this stuff b/c Level II was no easy task.
If I were breaking the books this morning to study Multinational Operations, MBS, Time Series, etc. (Level II material), I’d be a little depressed the same way I envision I’ll be depressed if I’m still doing this next year. That’s enough motivation for me to hit this stuff every day.
++11, I like this guy. Really Tommy83- I like your atitutde and take towards the CFA marathon. I am impressed and tend to learn from you.
I take Fridays off - am absolutely exhausted by then. H**l, even thursday nights I’m pretty worthless.
Largely in part to taking a new role
I think I take too many days “off.” I’m just too easily distracted: take the dog to daycare, pick the dog up from daycare, yelling at clients about bad money management/personal spending issues, wondering if God is mad at me bc I am been engaging in “sin”…etc
I do think the key is in buidling up this “study habit” like “endurance training”. I think my study muscles are like tofu right now, used to be so good at it. I should go sacrifice a goat to God or something. I don’t have enough FEAR in failure or greed for more money/power that would help with motivation and marathon studying.
I take the whole weekend off. It really eases the strain that the CFA places on relationships (friends, family, girlfriend) and lets me relax. Perhaps I’m lucky in that I can study before and after work, but I don’t think you should be stressing about taking the occasional day off.That’s how you burn out. Also, candidates on this forum tend to have a way above average work ethic (good for you guys) so be aware when you compare yourself to them that you’re looking at a skewed sample.
I’ve taken some days off so far, but try to keep the zero days to a minimal. I at least try to pick a book up and get a few pages in on days that I’m not feeling it. Feb-June I don’t really commit to any weekend plans and spend some time really digging in on the weekend. Obviously, there are many weekends that things come up…
If I can get 3 good weekends in a month and pick a few days out of every week to really go hard then I’m able to keep up. Impressed at those who can really stick with a set schedule; I find this hard whereas the day I’m supposed to study I’m not feeling it and the “day-off” I’m feeling up to it. Generally, I’ll make a weekly schedule, but the days are flexible.
So far haven’t deviated one bit from my plan. Even if it means studying on the w-e when visiting friends, in cars, and missing lunch almost every day with my colleagues. Discipline is the only way i’ll succeed.
^My strategy is limiting one day a week to 1 maybe 2 hours instead of my normal 2-3. Keep up the momentum
is it just me or you guys notice the fraud posting here too?