Do you guys have a hard time studying?

I have a hard time studying with working a fulltime job (luckily it is around Cisco equipment), trying to work on my home to improve it, spending time with the wife, and spending time with the kids. Plus my wife works fulltime as well so that makes it rougher in that I help her around the house allot which also takes up time. Lately I've been making a little time at work here and there to study but usually at home I hardly ever can get myself to crack the book.

Today was a good day though as I went all the way through a Cisco lab on Vlans and also spent about 45 minutes reading the book, plus I spent half my lunch break studying also.

I just wondered if others here are in the same boat as it seems most are college age people who do not have all the hangups to take away from studying.

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Slowhand

Sometimes it's hard studying when you're working. It used to be that I had to study whenever I could find time, as I was both working full-time and going to school part-time. These days, my company gives me time to study during business hours, we set time aside especially for lab work and course study. I still go to school, but I've upped it to full-time, and I still work a forty-hour work week.

I guess the trick is that I really want to learn more, to study, and to really nail down the knowledge I need to pass those certs. The certs will help me move up in my current job, will assure that I'll still have a job when or if cutbacks ever happen, and will help me get a new job once I transfer to a larger university. I make the time to study, I make sure I can read the books here and there, and I set reasonable deadlines for myself so I don't slack. If I ever want to get where I really want to be, I need to keep on chuggin' away at those certs, at school, and keep working to gain experience.

When I feel like not studying or not going to school, I open up an Excel spreadsheet of all my monthly expenses, my monthly income, and the difference between the two. Then, I compare that to the list of things I'd like to buy, the cost of going and seeing the places I want to see, and how much it would cost to help out my family and the close friends that I want to be able to be there for when times are tough. After scoping out that big, huge negative number, I get right back to the books.

boyles23

I can feel your pain, I carry a full time school schedule(online), full time job, part time job, wife and kids. My fulltime job is not in IT but I do get to basically run a small client server network by myself. My parttime job is a computer technician job. I want a fulltime IT job so I can work towards cisco certs, I am gonna start that study into next year because school will be done. I guess I am gonna build a home lab because I want to reach the top level of cisco soooooo bad. When I get bogged down with study I just look at everybodys posts here and focus on my long term goals and just work hard. All that hard work will pay off one day, when you reach the pinnacle you are shooting for.

HotKeys68

I have a really hard time studying too! I have 2 kids and a full time job with a 1 1/2 commute each way. My husband has a home business that I am responsible for somewhat also. I have been getting my mom chores done while they are awake and study after they go to bed. I also can study on the train to work so it's nice to have the video's at night and books on the train. You have to focus on one test at a time, I get overwhelmed when thinking of it all. I just remember that it will be worth all the hard work in the end. I joined this website not too long ago and can't tell you how much support I have been getting from all of you! The only down side to this site is that I am here instead of studying!

borumas

Thanks guys, that makes me feel a bit better. I wish my stepson was still in football as I got allot of studying for my Novell CNA done while waiting at his practices, lol. He's now in Karate but that only last about an hour so I'm using that for study when I can along with studying during lunch and some at home.

Vogon Poet

It can be tough, no doubt. Most of the people I started with (I started by taking formal classes) gave up. It was more work than they were ready for.
They will regret it in 5 years or so. My hat's off to all of you that are still committed despite enormous time commitments elsewhere. Keep your eye on the prize.

Trailerisf

I have a wife and a son and run a consulting business putting in 60 hour work weeks... It gets tough sometimes. I write an exam every two months. I could probably pass without studying, but I have always been score orientated. Anything below 900 and I want to jump off a bridge.

keenon

i'm so so , i'm married, 3 kids and work fulltime.. needless to say i have to be very disiplined about the time.. so i get up early every morning before everyone is up to study and luckly can get lab/ group study time on saturday for a few hours.

not much time to study at work, except the 1 hour we get a week.. never the less any downtime i get i try to get the most out of it.

deneb829

Married w/ 3 kids and another on the way. My wife is very supportive of my study time, and keeps the kids out of my way while I try to steal away some time to study. I am lucky, my boss is also cool with me studying during my downtime. The week of my 70-290 exam was a slow week at work, so, between work and home, I was able to get a good 20 hours in that week - I think that helped me to get a good grade on that exam.

goforthbmerry

Sounds like we are all in the same boat. I work 2 jobs and and doing my master's online. I have a wife and a 2 year old son who like to see me from time to time. I have already put off my Security+ once due to lack of time to study. I might have to do it again. I hope not, but this is the proce we pay to better ourselves for ourselves and our families.

Breadfan

I too work full time, married, and also do part time gigs on the side. Of course then there is football season

to deal with

But another problem I have that I dont know if any of you guys have is that my wife doesnt believe in what I am doing. She thinks all of the self studying is a waste of time especially since where we live there doesnt seem to be an outpouring of IT jobs (which is probably everywhere given the current economic state).

She thinks because I am 37 and "just now" getting into IT (which in reality its taken me all this time to break into it since no one would give me a break without experience, but then I got one cert and then a "little" break and now hoping for more)

I wish I could convince her otherwise but I cant. She is successful in her field and now wanting to get out or get a lesser position as to where I havent even gotten started.

I am frustrated b/c I cant seem to get thru to her and I feel like I am running out of time (or missing the boat).

Sorry for the rant but I just needed to vent and wanted to see if anyone else is in a similar situation

borumas

Breadfan wrote:

I too work full time, married, and also do part time gigs on the side. Of course then there is football season to deal with

But another problem I have that I dont know if any of you guys have is that my wife doesnt believe in what I am doing. She thinks all of the self studying is a waste of time especially since where we live there doesnt seem to be an outpouring of IT jobs (which is probably everywhere given the current economic state).

She thinks because I am 37 and "just now" getting into IT (which in reality its taken me all this time to break into it since no one would give me a break without experience, but then I got one cert and then a "little" break and now hoping for more)

I wish I could convince her otherwise but I cant. She is successful in her field and now wanting to get out or get a lesser position as to where I havent even gotten started.

I am frustrated b/c I cant seem to get thru to her and I feel like I am running out of time (or missing the boat).

Sorry for the rant but I just needed to vent and wanted to see if anyone else is in a similar situation

I can understand you there, I know my wife is disapointed that I don't make more money especially when I was going to school I had the impression that by now I would be earning at least $10k more per year than I'm currently making. She doesn't give me that hard of a time but sometimes when money is tight I will hear about "I wish you made more money", blah blah, blah. I could have made more money in a previous job/career but I absolutely hated the job and was miserable, then I would go home and take it out on my family. At least now I'm happy with my work (just not the pay, lol) and I have more time with my family than I used to. I know that at my current job I'm building up great experience and I just need to add some certs to round it out, then I'll either move up or get a better job down the road.

Vogon Poet

I could have made more money in a previous job/career but I absolutely hated the job and was miserable, then I would go home and take it out on my family.

Exactly. I too had a decently paying job that I quit. I hated it, and lot of older men in my position had a habit of getting heart attacks. No thanks.
By the way Breadfan, I'm 41 and just getting into IT. Don't sweat it.
As far as the wife, good luck with that. She will see you did the right thing down the road. Luckily, I'm single and spending my mid-life crisis money (but I really wanted a Mustang GT).
The best investment you can make is in yourself.

strauchr

Lucky I have done the bulk of my study before settling down. Seems the way to go

Breadfan

It's good to know that I am not the only one in the same boat or traveling down the same lonely road.

It does feel sometimes like I have to fight extra hard to stay motivated because it's for 2 of us instead of having people believe in you and then thinking about that when I need that extra &%%# b/c I am just cruising the web and stopped on techexams.net and dont feel like studying anymore

oops...like now

But I am studying for myself not her or the $$$. I love the knowledge and I love the technology. That's what drives me. I just wish I could drive FASTER!!

Again, thanks for the booster. It's taking me forever to get thru the 70-270 and no end in sight. I had originally intended to pass it by Thanksgiving but that wont happen now (my football team is doing ENTIRELY too good right now

. If anyone keeps up with college sports, look for me on ESPN this saturday in Clemson, SC!!!! I will be there (then of course it's back to the um....books...

MrD

I'm married to a woman who wants to spend every minute with me, and I love her to death, so I get up @ 4am and study for 3 hours every morning while she's asleep. When I workout on my treadmill @ home I watch Nuggets on my laptop. Then I go work a full time job and go to school (20 credit hours)...you just have to make it happen

now, when my wife goes out of town I study and that's pretty much it.

Danman32

I once had a girlfriend who, if I wasn't available because of studying or what not, she would be unhappy. If I was available, she'd be in a mood and not want to do anything, or worse yet want to be alone.

Right now I am single and unattached, however I am involved in quite a few activities most weeknights, and have a considerable commute (at least an hour and 20 minutes).

My motivation is in spurts. Last mid spring to mid summer I was motivated, but now not so much. Also hard to find time now. During my study spurt phones were slow (to the point of endangering my employment) so I studied most of the time. Now they have a new assignment and the phones are much busier. It's hard to find time to study at home. Getting older doesn't help my attention span any either.

Breadfan, it sounds like your wife doesn't know what she wants.
For you guys that are having trouble getting support from your wives, what is it that your wives expect from you, or for you to do?
If you don't know, perhaps it might be good to ask. At least you might understand where they are coming from.
I know, it's easy for me to say since I don't have a relationship right now. As I mentioned, I have been in difficult to understand relationships.

kujayhawk93

I was married 7 years to a woman who laid a huge guilt trip on me if I was so much as 5 minutes late getting home from work (I was obviously choosing work over her), and once I got home, expected me to spend every waking moment doing something with her. Needless to say, studying for certifications would have been next to impossible. I'm now divorced and my girlfriend works 3rd shift, so I can spend every evening studying, if I choose to do so. She's in a dead-end job that she's content with and doesn't understand my need to improve my skills, but at least we don't have any fights over how I spend my time.

boatguy1982

I'm very fortunate. My wife totally encourages and supports my study habits. I am gone from around 7am to 7pm monday thru friday at my job even though I do get alot of down time since I work for the government. I average though 80-100 hours per week.

I guess my certifications are a way for me to prove that I can hack it and get me a job because noone will hire me with just my degree and no work experience so maybe they will once I have my certs.