Avoiding studying on OFF/BAD days???

Does anyone ver have days when they dont feel like studying due to issues such as family or work.

Ive had one of those days today after a stresfull day at work. 4 days in studying on icnd2 and Ive skipped studying due to a bad day at work.

My thinking is theres no point studying when your minds not fully motivated, am I right?

What motivates you guys in these situations?

Thanks
Pujan

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Node Man

i might avoid trying to figure new things out, but might try repeating things i already know.... subnetting questions, bit counts and masks, basic interface configuring. maybe web over to the Cisco Arcade and play Area 51.

[Deleted User]

What motivates me in these types of situations is this:

1. Will getting the certification help me get out of the current stress I am in now as in avoid these problems?
2. If I get the certification, I will make myself more marketable so if I ever want to leave my current job, I can do so and not have to worry about being broke!

Sure everybody has bad days but if they are happening more and more frequently, take some vacation days and relax, do some studying on those days off to make up for lost studying.

Also, get in a habit of studying at a set time each day (7-9pm usually works best for me each day) but everyone is different. This will prevent any skipping of study days!

Hope this helps. Best of luck with ICND2!

NetworkNewb

pujan96 wrote: »

Does anyone ver have days when they dont feel like studying due to issues such as family or work.

Nope, sunshine and rainbows seven days a week.

UncleB

pujan96 wrote: »

My thinking is theres no point studying when your minds not fully motivated, am I right?

Just because you may be having a bit of a rubbish day does not prevent your brain from absorbing information - it is largely down to your unwillingness to tolerate the dull work when you just want to go and play with unicorns and puppies

Too many years in this field show the only way is to learn discipline, compartmentalise the stuff making you feel bad and be professional about finding a focus to study. It isn't easy and is going to be different for everyone but it is so worth it.

Giving in to feeling down is self indulgent and only encourages neediness so if there is no clinical reason for it, develop the mental skills to deal with the crud life throws at you because it never stops.

If anything having a really bad day at work then coming home and getting a productive hour or two on studies towards that next cert is a great feeling of a win. It means you get to go to bed feeling you acomplished something useful in spite of the day being a war zone, so you sleep better, have less bad dreams about the aforementioned war zone and come in the next day ready to deal with it better plus you are one step closer to being able to move on with your career now.

Dakinggamer87

What motivates me is my faith and me trying to put myself into a better position of growth and the doors the certification might open. I also look at the bigger picture supporting my friends and inspiring them through my difficulties and overcoming those obstacles. They can see determination and flames of passion in the midst of struggle.

Studying also helps me focus my energy into something productive and redeeming the time instead of wasting it. Time is finite so you have to keep an attitude of never give up and surrender.

PocketLumberjack

The best thing I have found to fix off days is just taking 10 minutes to do a guided meditation. It gets my mind clear and I am able to be productive and I feel a lot more calm.

MontagueVandervort

No, if I had not studied on bad days, I would have never studied lulz. When I was in school (college) things were really bad in my environment. It took me a (short) while, but I learned to "click" into study mode and leave that to the side.

What movitated me in that situation was that I wanted to get the ____ out of it.

sillymcnasty

If I'm already annoyed I might as well study. Versus being super happy and then being brought down by technical reading lol

blatini

Do the mindless stuff.

Make flashcards
Go through the syllabus and rate 1-5 how well you know the topics. Whatever you don't know print off Cisco documentation on the topic. This works best if you have Boson exams saved. They provide links to references for their answers so you can just do that.

Also I love watching sports. Going over highlighted sections or flashcards of sections I know pretty well during commercials/dead time helps. You don't really want to do that with a new/complex topic though.

Or just start learning something else you find interesting. Just don't beat yourself up over not studying.