Motivation & learning style

Hypntick

Trying not to burn myself out as well. Did the Comptia trifecta in about 2 months total with a week or so break between Net+ and A+. Taken a couple of weeks off so far, mostly for job hunting, however I am starting to get antsy to start in on something else. Been trying to run through some labs for 70-646, I just need more RAM for more VMs.

You also have to keep in mind everyone goes through various stages in things. Everyone takes a little bit different route. I know for a fact there are a lot of us on here that are just starting into IT in some way or another, all of us at various ages. Do I wish I would have gotten started earlier? To some extent yes, however, I would not have gone through the other things that have shaped me into the person I am today. Could I have done some of these certs 10 years ago? Probably not, I wasn't focused enough and didn't really want that type of thing enough.

I finally just had the thought one day that okay i'm gettin real close to 30, i'm married and own my own car but I don't have that career or the level of pay I want. So I said to myself, okay, you're not getting any younger, you've gotten your wild streak tamed, you've made a few mistakes to greater or lesser degrees and it's time to start being a little more serious. You just have to look at what your goals are, short and long term, hopefully those can motivate you.

NetworkingStudent

Hypntick wrote: »

Trying not to burn myself out as well. Did the Comptia trifecta in about 2 months total with a week or so break between Net+ and A+. Taken a couple of weeks off so far, mostly for job hunting, however I am starting to get antsy to start in on something else. Been trying to run through some labs for 70-646, I just need more RAM for more VMs.

You also have to keep in mind everyone goes through various stages in things. Everyone takes a little bit different route. I know for a fact there are a lot of us on here that are just starting into IT in some way or another, all of us at various ages. Do I wish I would have gotten started earlier? To some extent yes, however, I would not have gone through the other things that have shaped me into the person I am today. Could I have done some of these certs 10 years ago? Probably not, I wasn't focused enough and didn't really want that type of thing enough.

I finally just had the thought one day that okay i'm gettin real close to 30, i'm married and own my own car but I don't have that career or the level of pay I want. So I said to myself, okay, you're not getting any younger, you've gotten your wild streak tamed, you've made a few mistakes to greater or lesser degrees and it's time to start being a little more serious. You just have to look at what your goals are, short and long term, hopefully those can motivate you.

I totally agree!! You can only ponder on the would’ ya, could’ya, whould’ya, for only so long… I’m in my 30’s too and sometimes I get brunt out studying for certifications too. I try to find balance by going to the gym, and I try to put my girlfriend first, before the certification studies. In my opinion studying for certifications should be fun. One thing I like to do is try to study at a coffee shop. For me at least it is some what relaxing to have some coffee and hit the books.

agplt

NetworkingStudent wrote: »

My motivation is to find a job in IT and to stay current with technology. I have found that at least in IT there is always someone that is better than you, or has more experience than you do with a certain technology. If you get behind it can cost you your job, a promotion, or even a raise.

I think you need to find your learning style and develop it. Some people learn better by doing, while others learn by seeing an example. On the other hand there are others that learn best by hearing the material and having it explained to them. I’m more of a mix of all these and I learn best when I use CBT’s like lab sim , mixed with books, notebooks(where I jot down my notes), and note cards.
Here is my advice----I would do the following:

1.Go to this site, it will give you some insight on your learning style.
What's Your Learning Style? | Edutopia
2. Watch this video it give me some insight when I was preparing for my certifications.
YouTube - Network+ 2009 Certification Overview And Study Tips
3. Study Skills | Howtostudy.org - When you hit the books - and they hit back.
My tips
• A don’t be so hard on yourself. (Studying for a certification is a learning process, not a race)
• Take a mental break for every hour you study.
• When you can explain what you are studying to someone else, then you remember it better. Sometimes I do this and it helps make the stuff stick.
• You should Study every day, but you don’t need to study for three hours every day. Some days it will be three hours a day, and sometimes it will be thirty minutes.
Good luck and happy studying!!!

Ye it's seems that my main problem is that i am overworking at start and it kills my interest, i need to do it slowly without panic and without thinking i will pass it as fast as i can. I need to concentrate in to absorbing information and understanding it. Thank You for link's i will check them right now, maybe it will help me to structure my schedule a little bit and make my studies easier.

headshot

I think we all can have issues with this. Two things I emphasize to myself; don't look back look forward, and the great wall of china wasn't built overnight.

[Deleted User]

This topic really kind of hit home for me and it is really interesting to see some of the responses here. I have big dreams/goals/aspirations whatever you want to call them but I am constantly distracted with a tv show or something else on the internet. I have a hard time just sitting down and studying. I like to take long breaks between certifications but right now that isn't really possible. I know that I function much better in a class room setting because I am forced to do what is presented to me there. In most situations that isn't possible for me anymore unless I'm willing to shell out the money for a boot camp. I think if I was a part of an interactive study group or something I would be more willing to study. I've already accomplished quite a bit for being pretty young but I want more. I think that a couple years down the line when I have a family to support and a mortgage to pay I may be more motivated.. who knows maybe not.

agplt

xmalachi wrote: »

This topic really kind of hit home for me and it is really interesting to see some of the responses here. I have big dreams/goals/aspirations whatever you want to call them but I am constantly distracted with a tv show or something else on the internet. I have a hard time just sitting down and studying. I like to take long breaks between certifications but right now that isn't really possible. I know that I function much better in a class room setting because I am forced to do what is presented to me there. In most situations that isn't possible for me anymore unless I'm willing to shell out the money for a boot camp. I think if I was a part of an interactive study group or something I would be more willing to study. I've already accomplished quite a bit for being pretty young but I want more. I think that a couple years down the line when I have a family to support and a mortgage to pay I may be more motivated.. who knows maybe not.

I never imagined that this topic would expand so much, but it shows that this theme is quite popular, and many ppl have issue similar to mine, now i am only trying ti think positively and just do stuff and i started to feel more comfortable with learning, somehow i started to get fun, i don't know maybe it's because i settled my mind or maybe some posts here helped me to think from different corner. I am very glad that this post will help somehow to other users like me.

Cisco Inferno

Before anything, you have to schedule time to study. 1, 2, 3 hours a day without distractions.

well for the net+ my style was read a chapter and highlight alot.(i guess highlighting forces you to read lines over and know theyre important). Watch CBT then watch messer to clear up anything. i thought if i was able to understand completely what i had read then i would understand the videos much better... took me about 2-3 days to fully understand and pass the practice test at the end of each chapter.
halfway through the book though, i started feeling sluggish and hated all of Lammle's extra fluff. i was wondering why the nuggets and messer modules didnt contain every little thing the sybex book was giving me.

so i switched my study style.
1. Watch CBT Nugget and take notes (longer and has more info)
2. Watch Professor Messer and add to notes.
3. Read chapter and highlight.
4. Review notes and highlighting and pass practice test at end of chapter.

my new revised method seemed to help alot. watching videos first prevented me from starting with unfamiliar terms being read over and over just to make sense. and gave me ideas of what i was reading about afterwards. pausing videos for jotting notes helped alot as well. It takes me about 2 days, maybe 1 day per chapter doing this. and took me less time completing the second half of the book.

on top of that before my test on the 30th, ive been going to barnes and noble everyday, skimming every net+ book out there for better interpretation, as well as taking all the different practice tests and doing well. and i also bring a notebook to literally write down definitions or stuff i dont know and get wrong, even if its right in front of me(helps learn).

dontstop

Thread Revival!

Awesome thread!, I too myself suffer similar to the OP and others in the post. I'm 23 and have accomplished a lot in my life but could have always done better. Vision in hindsight is 20/20 and looking back and moping and not doing anything right now to fix the problem moving forward is wasting time/energy and mental power.

Part of the problem in my case is that I.T. for me is both work and a hobby so i am battling each day to try and not overdoe it and burnout (spending 8-10hrs at work) + 1-2 hrs of study + more time playing on the Computer. More and more i'm starting to see why having other things to do in your life is very important. I find that if i'm sitting at a computer doing nothing worthwhile that it is time to get off and get away, Although your mind doesn't believe this is the case you need to ignore this urge because your mind is the first guy to complain about burnout . I believe strongly in the saying that the heart grows fonder with distance and it's the same if you had a very good mate or even your Girlfriend, spending each waking minute with and thinking about that person will always take off the tarnish, a bit of away time is always a good thing.

Another strong point to remember is *fun*, Depending on how you got into the I.T. industry or the motivation to why you started this is a major player in your ability to get stuff done. When i first really got interested in I.T. it was back in 2005/2006 when i started holding LAN Parties for my mates. I really enjoy Computer Hardware and Networking, the games were fun but that didn't interest me as much as setting up a fast network for other people to play on. There were things at the Parties which where not fun, including deal with budgets, dealing with people who did not show up and also dealing with people who had opposing opinions. Although these are unavoidable they are seen it almost every part of human interaction. At the end of the day though, it was all worth it when you stood there and watched 30 of your mates having a really good time and the network was running like a charm. To be told at the end of the day how well everything ran *even though there were some minor setbacks* and how much people enjoyed it, Made it all worth the effort. That was the real reward for me.

As much as i wish i could run a 1500 person LAN Party at my current organisation this is not possible, but i am able to still derive a similar sense of fun, when i see and hear people say how much better our network/workplace/Environment is than their home/University/College/Schools Network. How it also enables them to work fast and takes the stress out of their day & life. That's what i call fun (playing with new kit, learning new things and testing stuff is also fun!).

You really need to derive something from the work that you do, if at the end of the day there is nothing but a paycheque for you to smile about, then this career is not for you. Yes i do love my money, but i'm not coin operated i'm happy to help out others and work on things in my own time to help my skills and to help my company.

The other point that i wanted to make was patience, like driving a car learning about I.T. takes time *a lot of time*. It's such a diverse field with so many opportunities and with so much flexibility in what you can do with the technology that it would take many lifetimes to master the entire field.

If there is one thing that i have learnt in my time in I.T. it is to slow down and understand things correctly the first time. There is nothing more refreshing in the workplace then someone who really knows their (excuse the term) ****. This is always the guy who has taken the time to understand first principles correctly and can use this basic knowledge much more effectively to solve problems nd generally avoid them in the first place. These people are not brilliant, they are not geniuses; The knowledge they have is actually fundamental and it's albiet to the 1+1's of Computing. The difference between them and most people is that they know that putting in the hard yards today means that they can have fun tomorrow. Think about driving a car, as much as the road rules were boring to learn, it would not be much fun today if every time you drove your car you got a fine or had an accident. Similar concept, Network cowboys go out with no understanding of the basics and end up in a whole world of pain trying to fix all the problems that lack of knowledge has resulted in. Always thinking, if only i had learnt X it would be so much easier right now. All people can see is the hill, they cannot see the awesomeness on what awaits on the other side so it becomes the devil you know as opposed to the devil you dont.

As you can see at the end of the day, those people who do the so called "hard stuff" now are really lazier than those people who don't. I'm sure that knowing the correct command on say a Router and it taking maybe a total of 5-10 hours to learn (remember one command) is much easier than not knowing the command; and it taking 30-60 minutes to find and messing around for another 1-2 hours trying to get it to work and then not understanding the implications of the command potentially causing problems/outages which could rack up even more time, Resulting in stress and frustration. Who is taking the hard road? I'm pretty sure in this scenario it's the 2nd guy. Lets then say, this is done 10 times a week? How much easier would it be for guy B to spend a solid 5-10 hours to just learn it correctly the first time? Why are we in such a rush that we cannot do it correct the first time?

Anyway, i hope this helps someone. The main points are to find something that you enjoy and can take victory in, although everything else may not be fun you get to enjoy those little wins. Also remember to stay patient F1 drivers spend a lifetime training, practising to maybe spend 2-3 years at the top of their game until the next best beats them. Fame, fortune are fleeting... If they only did it for the fame/money then there would only be a handful of people in the sport as most drivers never even make it to the big stage. Remember to have fun, It's all about making computers do cool stuff, to work well, to helps others and advance our race. You are controlling the technology that allows others to do their best work Don't forget that.