Hello Everyone! Starting a CCNA

Hi Peeps,

I'm new and this is my First post. So i thought i would say Hello!

I've Just enrolled on a (slightly expensive) networking course at the local college, as I am simply too disorganised and lacking in motivation to self study, so wish me luck!

Oh and I'm sure I'm not the only one here who has sometimes lacked motivation to fully study, so what techniques do people have for motivation? What kind of things do you do to keep your studies on track?

Thanks Peeps

, and Good luck those with exams

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Comments

earweed

Welcome to TE!
My main motivation has been that all of my certs so far have been obtained while going for my BSIT at Western Governors University (WGU) which if you prowl the IT Jobs/degrees forum you'll see alot about WGU. I'm also now studying extra stuff which may help my career down the road like some Linux and Virtualization.

alan2308

iSpaZZZ wrote: »

Oh and I'm sure I'm not the only one here who has sometimes lacked motivation to fully study, so what techniques do people have for motivation? What kind of things do you do to keep your studies on track?

Keep your studies fun, but still keep your eye on the end goal. And by fun, I mean you don't always have to stick to the script. If you find yourself wondering "What if..." then try it. If studying feels more like a hobby than work, you won't find yourself struggling to stay motivated.

And welcome to the forum!

PhildoBaggins

alan2308 wrote: »

Keep your studies fun, but still keep your eye on the end goal. And by fun, I mean you don't always have to stick to the script. If you find yourself wondering "What if..." then try it. If studying feels more like a hobby than work, you won't find yourself struggling to stay motivated.

And welcome to the forum!

Thats how I feel about it. I love it. I have read over 3000 pages of tech books in the past month. I did all my Networking/Communication homework for the entire semester in just 3 days. I love playing with labs, watching CBT videos etc...

The more you like it the better you will study and the more success you will have. I would even work part time for free while I get certs if I could get in on some real world network engineering/design gigs.

mikej412

iSpaZZZ wrote: »

so what techniques do people have for motivation?

One Chapter -- One Beer.

You read one chapter, do any exercises and labs and then you reward yourself with a beer. Repeat as necessary.

But you have to be honest with the effort you put into your reading for this to work -- otherwise you may as well just drink.

wbosher

Beer (or whiskey) is really useful when you want to troubleshoot...I'll explain...

>>Set up a lab and drink plenty of booze while your doing it, but make sure it all works before you get too drunk.
>>Then break some thing.
>>Drink some more.

>>Go to bed
>>Wake up and fix your lab, hopefully you won't remember what you broke.

Not recommended for minors, but hey I'm not a cop.

Slowhand

wbosher wrote: »

Beer (or whiskey) is really useful when you want to troubleshoot...I'll explain...

>>Set up a lab and drink plenty of booze while your doing it, but make sure it all works before you get too drunk.
>>Then break some thing.
>>Drink some more.
>>Go to bed
>>Wake up and fix your lab, hopefully you won't remember what you broke.

Not recommended for minors, but hey I'm not a cop.

This is not only how I run my lab, but also how I work overtime.

iSpaZZZ

Wow, thanks for the responses people, there is certainly some interesting ideas, I'm trying to cut down on the drinking, so perhaps I should give that suggestion a miss!

I like learning new stuff, and some of the labs can indeed be fun. The only time I seem to really struggle, is with stuff like learning to subnet, I understand it, and can do it, the problem is I'm slow! I find getting the motivation to sit there and start going over and over it until I can work it out quickly, a little tedious! Or parts where I know I know most of the material I tend to zone out and not pay attention.

But hopefully with the support and guidance of peeps who have done the CCNA I can pass easily

Cheers guys...

PhildoBaggins

iSpaZZZ wrote: »

Wow, thanks for the responses people, there is certainly some interesting ideas, I'm trying to cut down on the drinking, so perhaps I should give that suggestion a miss!

I like learning new stuff, and some of the labs can indeed be fun. The only time I seem to really struggle, is with stuff like learning to subnet, I understand it, and can do it, the problem is I'm slow! I find getting the motivation to sit there and start going over and over it until I can work it out quickly, a little tedious! Or parts where I know I know most of the material I tend to zone out and not pay attention.

But hopefully with the support and guidance of peeps who have done the CCNA I can pass easily

Cheers guys...

Subnetting is slow at first but just keep doing it. One good way to practice subnetting is looking at VLSM setups and figuring out how to maximize address requirements. Its just like anything else though, if you keep doing it, and you do it everyday and take your time you will get faster. After maybe a couple more week, even a month or two you can start doing it in your head.

pitviper

mikej412 wrote: »

One Chapter -- One Beer.

You read one chapter, do any exercises and labs and then you reward yourself with a beer. Repeat as necessary.

But you have to be honest with the effort you put into your reading for this to work -- otherwise you may as well just drink.

Shouldn’t the number of beers be proportionate to the chapter number completed?

I've been doing it all wrong! (no wonder why I tend to not remember anything from chapter 10 on...)

Netwurk

pitviper wrote: »

Shouldn’t the number of beers be proportionate to the chapter number completed?

Worse yet, I thought it was proportionate to each page number completed.

ToddB

School is a great way learn these foundations of CCNA, my problem is my budget is simply too disorganised and lacking to attend school right now. I'm hoping that after I pass a few things will get better and I can take my 24 years of TDM and 2 years of VOIP together with my CCNA and goto school.

either-way good luck!!!!!!