Hi all, this is my first post on analyst forum although I have been a regular reader. Decided to post to get some advice.
I am a June 2017 level 2 candidate. I have taken 2 weeks off work to study (starting from the 16th of May until exam day). Over the past week, I have had regular headaches and have been unable to sleep. I am now on my fifth day without sleep.
In terms of study progress, I am currently skimming the schweser book while doing cfai eoc questions. I have done this for books ethics, book 2 and 3. However I have books 4 and 5 and the remainder of book 1 still to go. I originally planned to finish this by the 28th or 29th and then doing 1-2 mock exams. Understand a lot of you might think this is far from an ideal study strategy but this is just what works for me.
I have been slowed down by my headaches and lack of sleep considerably. Had I been fully functional, I am pretty sure I would have pulled it off…
My question to you is: have any of you experienced similar “burn out” symptoms? Any advice on what I should do? Should I keep pushing myself?
if you put all of your study efforts for this exam only in the last 2 weeks, expect something like that.
this stuff is not meant to be ingested in such a short period of time.
do you always use this strategy even in high school, university or other examinations? you should definitely get some sleep (it’s scientifically proven that humans need sleep but we haven’t really figured out why), drink a lot of water and get outside help from friends or family to help you with stuff that you usually do everyday such as cooking, cleaning, laundry and most importantly moral support.
if needed, definitely get some medicines to power through the headaches but please be cautious when it comes to using them.
I don’t recommend this to everyone, but I’ve been using nootropics (allegedly supplements or meds which improves your brain functions, you can google them if you’re interested) in the past weeks and continue to do so until the exam’s over.
Thank you Edbert, for your reply. I started studying back in February but still feel like I need to re-skim all materials to refresh my memory. Will give it my best shot!
depends on each person, dosage and what kind of nootropics. I myself is new to this thing so think about the costs, potential unwanted side effects and its realized benefits. obviously you should start slow.
i’m currently using noopept+modafinil “stack”, first time I used them, the most noticeable side effect was that I had a mild headache but afterwards the headaches were gone. I also noticed that I urinate less and when combined with coffee, I had a hard time getting to sleep.
perhaps these were mere placebos, but I do notice a slight boost although it’s fading quickly over consistent use (at least for me). this might help the most for older people (35++ years old and for context, I’m currently 24)
disclaimer: I am not responsible for any potential physical or mental harm caused by consumption of nootropics or any medicines. please take whatever I write with great caution.
“re-skimming” the material via the curriculum books at this stage seems like a bad idea.
You should be doing questions. If you really feel you still need to readings, have you thought about just getting Schweser secret sauce? Although I don’t think its super great, it surely beats reading large text books at this stage.
I’m not sure i agree with this. I’ve been going back to schweser and skimming through sections (maybe 2 hours for an entire topic) and its helped me pick up a lot of the intricate details
Doing questions alone will not give you a comprehensive overview. A lot of the information may not be in the questions you do. So as much as it is important to do a lot of questions, coupled with regular reviews you will have much better results on the day.
Also its very common to forget simple basic facts or logic… again reviewing will on help.
Thank you all for your replies. I was also hoping to learn more about if any of you have actually experienced such insomnia (over 6 nights in a row) /head aches from studying. And if yes, any tips to break the cycle?
I have accepted that my body will not allow me to study much more at this stage. I plan to do only some light study for a few hours every day till the exam. I will still go in for the exam but likely will not pass.
I have in the past suffered the same, Usually this occurs because you study in your room (for me atleast) and you study after work then roll into bed so to speak. It is also natural at this stage to be feeling anxious/stressed/tired but remember everyone is in the same boat.
My advice now, is to take a natural sleeping tablet and get a good nights rest and set your alarm early say around 7am, look to crunch out big day sessions, hour on (10 min break) another hour (15 min break) etc. When you get to early evening given your particular circumstances I would then just pack it away.
Everyone is different, I personally enjoy working later at night then early morning. Good luck.
This is concerning and doesn’t sound like “I’m tired from studying”… I would advise you to make an appointment with your physician (doctor, however you prefer to refer to him or her) to discuss this to figure out what might be going on.