Trying to work and study definitely is not easy, unless you have really good time management. But let's face it, no one is perfect, therefore virtually none of us can really stick perfectly to our schedules (I am sure you know what I mean). For those wondering how it feels like to be working and trying to study at the same time - it is really tough.
My experience:
I am sure at least 95% of us have heard of ACCA from someone or somewhere. For those who do not know what ACCA is, it stands for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. I won't go into the details of what it is and all the jargon about it - but let's just say with that qualification, it will boost my value in the job market!
Anyway, back to my experience. It is tough, definitely tough! I am not really experienced at my job but I have been doing it for close to nine months now. The last round of exams was not easy at all. There is not much room for play when I am already spending most of time working, and if there is any spare time that I get, I channel it for reading or at least browsing through my notes.
So how do I study? It is a relatively simple method. With classes, I get notes and studying aids, and I just study those notes and aids. However, before I rely on the notes I make sure those notes are sufficient to give me the foundation for my understanding. With the lack of time, time is of the essence. So, once I am sure the notes are sufficient, I read those notes but I do not by any means read it deeply. Instead, I set a cut-off point to stop reading, and then I start reading at a quick pace right up to the cut-off point. Once I am done, I just keep repeating the same process. How effective is it for others? I really would not know. But here's my rationale for adopting such a method - I have to be practical because I simply do not have the luxury of time unlike a full time student that goes to class from 9am to 4pm and have the whole time after 4pm to do virtually anything I want. With work, I'd be thanking my lucky stars if I get to reach home by 9pm everyday! Let's say I do get home by 9pm; I wipe my car, bathe and it will probably be like 10pm to 10:30pm by the time I settle down. Let's say I set 12 midnight as my bedtime, assuming I am ready to open my notes at 10pm - I have about 2 hours to read up. But let's face it - if I am going read the notes deeply, I wouldn't get very far within 2 hours or worse, I end up falling a sleep! Some of you may argue, I would not understand what I am reading if I go at it at a quick pace. Realities of life says otherwise - I start work at 8:30am and end at 8:30pm (to get home by 9pm that is), which would mean I have had a good 12 hours of work. That in itself would have placed enough stress on my brain. So do you honestly think, any reasonable person would still have enough awareness to take the time to slowly read and try to absorb the facts? I am pretty sure the answer is "no" for most of us.
Hence, the speed-read method. After all, more often than not, by achieving efficiency, effectiveness tends to follow suit.
___________________________________________________________
With my dire need to get better results, and with the expected demand for studies and work to multiply; I found something really helpful! That help comes from this software that assists us in creating a useful and communicative mind map - Recall Plus. For those who want a better narration visit: http://www.recallplus.com/
For those you want to download the software please click HERE.
My experience:
I am sure at least 95% of us have heard of ACCA from someone or somewhere. For those who do not know what ACCA is, it stands for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. I won't go into the details of what it is and all the jargon about it - but let's just say with that qualification, it will boost my value in the job market!
Anyway, back to my experience. It is tough, definitely tough! I am not really experienced at my job but I have been doing it for close to nine months now. The last round of exams was not easy at all. There is not much room for play when I am already spending most of time working, and if there is any spare time that I get, I channel it for reading or at least browsing through my notes.
So how do I study? It is a relatively simple method. With classes, I get notes and studying aids, and I just study those notes and aids. However, before I rely on the notes I make sure those notes are sufficient to give me the foundation for my understanding. With the lack of time, time is of the essence. So, once I am sure the notes are sufficient, I read those notes but I do not by any means read it deeply. Instead, I set a cut-off point to stop reading, and then I start reading at a quick pace right up to the cut-off point. Once I am done, I just keep repeating the same process. How effective is it for others? I really would not know. But here's my rationale for adopting such a method - I have to be practical because I simply do not have the luxury of time unlike a full time student that goes to class from 9am to 4pm and have the whole time after 4pm to do virtually anything I want. With work, I'd be thanking my lucky stars if I get to reach home by 9pm everyday! Let's say I do get home by 9pm; I wipe my car, bathe and it will probably be like 10pm to 10:30pm by the time I settle down. Let's say I set 12 midnight as my bedtime, assuming I am ready to open my notes at 10pm - I have about 2 hours to read up. But let's face it - if I am going read the notes deeply, I wouldn't get very far within 2 hours or worse, I end up falling a sleep! Some of you may argue, I would not understand what I am reading if I go at it at a quick pace. Realities of life says otherwise - I start work at 8:30am and end at 8:30pm (to get home by 9pm that is), which would mean I have had a good 12 hours of work. That in itself would have placed enough stress on my brain. So do you honestly think, any reasonable person would still have enough awareness to take the time to slowly read and try to absorb the facts? I am pretty sure the answer is "no" for most of us.
Hence, the speed-read method. After all, more often than not, by achieving efficiency, effectiveness tends to follow suit.
___________________________________________________________
With my dire need to get better results, and with the expected demand for studies and work to multiply; I found something really helpful! That help comes from this software that assists us in creating a useful and communicative mind map - Recall Plus. For those who want a better narration visit: http://www.recallplus.com/
For those you want to download the software please click HERE.
I thought it would be worth sharing since it may well be useful even for full time students. But for those working and studying, I highly recommend it. Have fun trying it out!
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