How Do You Budget Your Time?

kengjames · July 2016

Hello Guys,

You may remember me as I have posted here before when I was studying for the 70-410 and 70-409 exams. I'm now onto 70-411 but I'm having challenges.

I transferred to a software company as a DevOps Engineer. I have to learn to install, configure, and troubleshoot WebSphere, IIS and also the software that the company develops.

I guess the reason I'm posting is to ask an advise on how to stay motivated. Most of the time I feel exhausted as I spend all my time studying the stuff that I need for work. When I come home all I want to do is lay in bed and rest.

I'm one exam away be an MCSA. How do you guys budget your time?

Thanks.

TheFORCE · July 2016

We have all been there, you just need to dedicate 30 minutes everyday before bed or after your dinner and slowly you will finish your study material. Just keep at it.

636-555-3226 · July 2016

Motivation - Visualize why you're doing it. A raise? A better job? A Porsche? A hot Russian-import bride? Make whatever your goal is your homepage or your desktop wallpaper as that constant reminder (caveat - work may frown on a hot Russian-import bride being your wallpaper, keep it SFW)

Otherwise, I study over lunchtime & before bed and if I wake up a few minutes early I get in some time then.

DoubleNNs · July 2016

Lots and lots of coffee.

Attempting a 2-3 week binge might help. Devote every single minute of your non-working time to the exam. Cram every day (maybe 1 day a week off) and finish the material in 2-3 weeks. Then set 1-2 weeks of slower, more leisurely review and then take the exam. Personally, when i'm struggling w/ motivation and being disciplined, I just ignore discipline and go all out on the goal/cert then slowly go back to a more normal/balanced life afterwards. Finding REASONS to be motivated is easy for me, but finding ways to FEEL motivated and stop procrastinating is difficult for me, so I often just brute force it.

Setting a homepage/desktop background as something motivational is also helpful.

Techytach · July 2016

I think it is important to note if you are a morning person or a night person.

I am a morning person and would rather wake up 4:45-5:00 am, have a brisk 15-20 min walk, then 30 mins of study (with coffee) rather than stay up studying at night. I would just be too tired.

kengjames · July 2016

Thank you guys for all the replies! I really appreciate it.

I am just kind of lost right now as I'm struggling between work and getting my certification. But I guess the good thing is that the reason I'm frustrated is that I really want to learn these things. I just feel like 24 hours is not enough.

I'll try to go back to my usual routine. Studying 30 minutes to an hour a day never works for me. I find that I learn most when studying 4 to 8 hours straight. The reason is that I try to read the material a lot of times to make sure that I fully understand it. I also try to practice it on my lab. When I study for a hour a day, I just end up reading the material again the next day as I already forgotten what I read.

OctalDump · July 2016

Before work (before you get tired), when you are travelling to/from work, any downtime you get at work, and on weekends. And if you can combine work and study by implementing things that you are learning about, that can be one way to solidify the knowledge. It might be too early if you are in a new role, but discussing with your boss if you can have time to study. If they can see the benefit, they might be able to give you some time for this.

But it's also ok to just take a break if you've got bigger things to do. If it's a new role, then maybe you do need some time to focus more on that before coming back to the MCSA. You might even find that there are new pathways from your new role, and different areas to explore.

superbeast · November 2016

I am in a similar situation. I work full time, go to school full time(night classes) and have a family so my time is 98% used up in these three areas. I have heard some people wake up at 4:30AM and use this time for themselves(whether it be to work out, enjoy quiet time, or in my case, study for certs). I have not started this yet but am willing to give it a go to see. If you're tired now when you get home, the results of waking up early to invest some study time before you have to start your day shouldn't be any different than what you are used to now. Give this a try to see if it works for you.

Z0sickx · November 2016

use any free time you have and Sacrifice any activity to free up time to study, read, watch videos. lots of coffee to. i did this for 6 months and got my CASP and CEH

No_Nerd · November 2016

For me i put in 30 min to 2 hours in the morning when work is slow. I also work 80 hours a week now so its difficult to study alot. One thing i allways do is try to eat my lunch at my desk in 15 min or less. I use the remainder of lunch for study time.

dazzler1 · December 2016

i would suggest finding the time in which you are most focused in ,_ weather its noon or everning or morning and then study on that time.

How Do You Budget Your Time?

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