hard

tukki

i find hard to be motiveted to study for ccent
i have my mind all the day and night in this exam but its diffucult for me / does any one has any idea how to be focused? or any other help

Iristheangel

Ritalin and Adderall


jking of course.

Motivation is something you have to ignite in yourself. I usually set long term goals on where we want to be in our career, mid-term goals for what certification tracks will get us there, and short-term goals for how many chapters or pages we'll read in a night. Anyone can say they want to be an IT professional but it's not a career you just "accidentally" find yourself. It takes hard work, studying and education.

MAC_Addy

If you're genuinely not interested in getting the certification then I wouldn't recommend taking the exam, or even studying for it. Or, if you are interested, just allot yourself time to sit down and read. Or if you have CBT Nugget videos, sit down and watch them.

swild

Iristheangel wrote: »

Ritalin and Adderall

HA! That's exactly how most of my friends made it through college/med school/law school/vet school/pharmacy school. I realize that there are people with an actual need for those drugs, my sister-in-law being one, but that has got to be one of the most highly abused non-narcotic prescriptions available.

I personally like caffine; either chain red bulls or go down to my coffee shop and take a double shot every couple of hours. That got me through the horribly boring parts like Project+, but now I can't hardly study without it.

Probably the biggest help is setting reasonable goals. Break up your studying into whatever size chunks you can do. If you are starting to feel burnt out, take a break or try smaller chunks. Be sure to relax at least once a week, taking a whole day where you don't study at all and do the things you like to do.

From my experience, CCENT is MUCH easier than ICND2. You may want to take a step back and try your hand at Network+.

Now I have to go study for my CCNA: Sec test. In order to be ready to test on Friday, I have to read 100 pages today and 130 pages tomorrow, then take a practice test Thursday followed by restudying my weakest parts.

Iristheangel

100 pages today and another 130 tomorrow, swild? I hope this doesn't come across as rude, but are you employed or just doing the school thing FT?

MAC_Addy

swild wrote: »

Be sure to relax at least once a week, taking a whole day where you don't study at all and do the things you like to do.

That is definitely a good point. Try not to study whenever you can. This can make many people burnt out quickly.

From my experience, CCENT is MUCH easier than ICND2. You may want to take a step back and try your hand at Network+.

Getting Network+ for me helped a considerable amount. Though, at the time of me studying for my N+ I didn't know that I wanted to pursue into more of a networking field.

Now I have to go study for my CCNA: Sec test. In order to be ready to test on Friday, I have to read 100 pages today and 130 pages tomorrow, then take a practice test Thursday followed by restudying my weakest parts.

Holy crap! Good luck in your studies and good luck on the exam!

swild

Iristheangel wrote: »

100 pages today and another 130 tomorrow, swild? I hope this doesn't come across as rude, but are you employed or just doing the school thing FT?

Not rude at all. Unfortunately, I am employed full time and have been slammed for the past 2 months. That along with the ICND2 kicking my ass, means that I have to pass the IINS on Friday or beg for a term extension for my one last test. I told my boss that I am here for emergencies that come up but for the rest of the week, I am busy. I can pretty much do what I want around here because they can't fire me due to the fact that no one else is capable of what I do. Being the lone IT tech has that one perk. The first 3 months of the year were extremely slow. I had at least 2 whole weeks where I never got a single incident ticket. Then there was yesterday where I had 27.

tprice5

swild wrote: »

The first 3 months of the year were extremely slow. I had at least 2 whole weeks where I never got a single incident ticket. Then there was yesterday where I had 27.

This happens to me more than I would like. I would prefer to stay busy, stay engaged, learn, develop practical skills. Instead I get to read about them. I know it sounds like I am complaining but it has allowed me to cram a lot of studying in. Will be grateful to have this job when (if?) I start my masters.

r_durant

If you want motivation, set the exam date! You won't want to waste your money, and that should motivate you to study towards that date!

I've done this a few times.

tukki

i guess this is what i would do

JeanM

swild wrote: »

Now I have to go study for my CCNA: Sec test. In order to be ready to test on Friday, I have to read 100 pages today and 130 pages tomorrow, then take a practice test Thursday followed by restudying my weakest parts.

Lol..I remember not getting my book for ccna in time for class/finals, and basically gone through the whole book 11 or so chapters over the weekend. That was NOT fun.

kurosaki00

Getting more money? chicks? becoming a better professional? filling that brain?
That should be enough motivation

If you still cant get into the material, maybe cisco is not for you. You should find it interesting if you like the subject.
Example Im extremely tired of OSI, Ive read the same information soo many times..
But once we get into switching and routing, woot woot!

Illumanati

tukki wrote: »

i find hard to be motiveted to study for ccent
i have my mind all the day and night in this exam but its diffucult for me / does any one has any idea how to be focused? or any other help

ALL I can say is I'm in the same boat and have not conquered this demon either. I will give one example and the only one I know and that is this. When I show up to jog either at the park or gym treadmill, my car slows to a crawl in the parking lot and I'm slow to even exit the car. Once I come to the realization that I drove down there and have no choice, I begrudgingly make my way out, stall some more and then after much contemplation and consternation(?), I start and by golly once I start I can't stop until I reach my goal(2 miles) right? so it's easy to keep an object moving once in motion and harder to make it stop(law of gravity and inertia) Find a way to manage GETTING STARTED and then see how much you can do until you get tired. I bet you make some progress versus none at all.

I don't know how these people are getting ALL those certs listed under their name(see: iristheangel) but if they really are, they should write a book and tell all cause they could make a trillion! must do favors at testing center..

Iristheangel

Illuminati: Favors at the testing center, eh? If I wrote a book, it would be extremely short and summed up into one sentence: I work and study hard. May I have my trillion dollars now?

It took several years to get to where I'm at and for all my successes, I failed a few times as well (most notably: the Server+ exam back in 2009, the two MCSE-to-MCITP:EA upgrade exams in 2010, etc). We pass, we fail, but we keep going. There's no secret to it except maybe better clearer goals set and maybe a stronger passion to learn. Like everyone on here, I'm a work in progress

EV42TMAN

also it helps when an employer pays for test fees and/or gives you a bonus. when i first started doing certifications there was a decent bonus that went along with each test but then the economy tanked and now its just reimbursement for fees. but staying focused on my career goals and forcing myself through an XP test for the MCSE was one of the best things i ever did

Scamceno

Fun stuff isn't going anywhere, work hard and play hard. Just sit down and read. It takes a lot of discipline, but just sit and start reading and see how much you learn and how you feel about what you've learned. If you find it a bore after doing this an extended period of time, like stated maybe its not really as interesting to you as you first thought.

There is something about textbook formatted stuff that's extremely boring, but its fun to read about the stuff here or elsewhere and actually understand what the discussions are about. Suffer today for the huge reward tomorrow my friend.

paul78

@tukki - thanks for starting this topic. I can absolutely empathize with you. It can be tough to sometimes get into the groove of studying and learning. And I know for some people it isnt even about motivation or ambition. Over the years, I have tried different learning habits and after 20practice years I am still learning new ways to learn - sounds odd doesnt it.

For me, distraction is an issue and so is procrastitation and impatience. All bad combinations. It has taken me literally years to find tools to cope with learning and also to understand the source of these learning challenges.

One advantage of someplace like TE is that you can hopefully find the encouragement to continue with your studies.

Welcome to TE.

Illumanati

paul78 wrote: »

@tukki - thanks for starting this topic.

PAUL: What are some of the tools to cope with learning challenges and what did you understand about the source of your learning challenges?

To the OP: I feel your pain and as a result of you writing about this(along with the other thread about failing CCNA even though that OP has a job in networking and a home lab), have learned to take a few steps back and I am going to speed up my reading but still take it slow to make sure I enjoy it but at the same time verify my results as I go. It's going to take some street smart type confidence to "defeat an adversary".

I