Hi, Question to anyone really, has anyone else been in my situation, where working full time (working extra hours at month end), having a toddler and a husband who works away!!! Did you have difficulty with studying and how did you find the right balance. I don't feel prepared for the exams next week and have lost alot of confidence in myself because I just don't seem to have got the work/family/study balance right yet. Thanks
Hi,
I haven't been in your situation, but I wanted to suggest that you make audio notes, record yourself reading out key points and listen back to them while you do chores, commute etc. It helped me a lot. There's a free software called audacity that I used. Also, there are flashcard apps for your phone, one I used was called quizlet. Even if you only have 5 or 10 minutes you can flick through your flashcards.
Goodluck!
I am in not in exact situation because my wife is at home, but I work full time, extra hours and have to spend time with my kid and wife, I normally study when my son is sleeping and it's quite at home. The timing is mostly after 21:00 for how ever long my brain works. On weekends when he is sleeping as well. And even if you don't feel ready, I would suggest to go and sit the paper, if nothing else you will have the experience.
Hope that's helpful
Need any help for any paper? feel free to contact me. Hasan.acca@outlook.com
Hi Caroline,
I am in the same situation now (toddler & 10 yo & husband), my advice to you like Mansoor, don't give up, just keep trying and go sit the exam. What exam are you sitting this week?
I understand your situation completely. I work in the private sector and i spend more than half of my day at busy at work. I'm married and have two kids. I'm teying to create some time for my studies as much as I can. And to do so, I try to study at least for an hour at work and spend the weekends studying. I ask my wife to take the kids outside for a while and I use that time to catch up on my studies.
Recently I'm trying to adapt myself into studying with the presence of children and sounds. Try to concentrate.
I advise you to try some techniques and also try locking yourself in a room and study for 2 hours at least daily.
Hi Carol ,
I'm actually in the same situation . even if i try to study at night sometimes the baby just does not want to sleep . To be honest the only thing that helped me during some of the exams is to find another study location ( away from home ) 2 times a week for 3 hours . I still can't find Balance at home. Hope this helps , and good luck with your studies .
Hi C
Another thing will be to work on more questions. I sometime feel tired after and when trying to study i just fall sleepy.
That very little time you get, try to work on question and go back to the text where you get lost.
My situation is a mirror image of yours it is hard and it does take time to get the balance right especially if you haven't studied for a while. I have studied via many avenues and have found Learn Signal is the perfect balance for me especially working full time and then having another full time job when you go home. Learn Signal offer great support with their detailed notes and short videos and you can easily fit one or two videos in at lunchtime depending on the length of them. Then if you need a better understanding of the topic or need more detail go review it at home once your baby is gone down, even if it is just half an hour. Definitely go sit your exam because you might surprise yourself, if nothing else it will give you experience of sitting the exam and it will give you confidence to keep going. The very best of luck with it!
All the best.
Jen
Hi Caroline, I am married now and I was feeling that way especially leading up to the F8 exam. I had to take a step back inhale exhale and remind myself that *** hasn't given me a spirit of fear but one of a sound mind. Taking a step back and taking each day in stride assisted me with meeting my revision goal. Being overwhelmed stops you from achieving your revision goals. I went home did what shores I had to slept and woke up some mornings at 12 or 1am and work through to 5am and got ready for work.
I'm a married full time student and I still struggle with studying.
ACCA is harder to prepare for with responsibilities. It is a time consuming course. It requires lots of practice.
I'm still trying to find a system that works for me.
Hello everyone!
I came up with an innovative way of learning! Maybe someone esle is doing it but this thing works! This is how I have to deal with all my exams and requires a couple of steps. Is better to perform it early mornig before work when you are more fresh and have more will power. If not, during lunch break could work. If you work in front of the computer and you have to study after you might be mentaly tired and hopeless.
First have an overview of the exam. You can watch the free OpenTuition lectures. It wil take you in total with the breaks 30 hours.
Take the Syllabus and write each point in your own words briefly! on big A1 papers. The free Acowtancy notes help. You should have between 4-6 pages maximum! The whole process shouldnt take you more than 15 hours. At this stage is good if you put more efford and finish it in a week.
Stick the papers on the wall! 6 A1 pages = 48 A4 pages! This works amazingly. When you try to solve any problem, any information you want will be in front of you! Any missing detail will be in front if you! You don’t have to turn pages to find notes! You dont have to search the internet for answers. You just have a wall where you have all the information. When you go to the the exam you will already have associated the information with a specific part of the wall. Is like you tidy your kitchen and you know where each ingredient or anything else needed is.
When you do past papers read the answer and write all the weakest points in one big A1 paper. This will make you emphasize on those specific weak points and will help you strengthen them.
I hope it helps, Good luck!
Hi Carol
We are in the same boat, i leave home 6 am everyday have a demanding job and arrive home 6 pm to a 3 year old baby and husband i still need to cook and clean up the house and obviously by the time i finish i will be so tired and just want to sleep. My strategy is to study 4 hours in the evening two times during the week i just have to lock myself up and ignore all baby cries while the father attends to his son,(this is not enough and can sound a little bit cruel i know but that is the only option i have) and study greater part of my Sunday.For my Sundays i hire a baby sitter and give the whole day to studying All i can say is go and write your exam you never know, you still might make it
First of all I understand your situation and empathize it completely. I know it is not easy. Prior to my ACCA I've tried balancing full time work and study (no kids). Its always off the balance I know. But the end results give us a lot of satisfaction. On the day we qualify, we shall hold a degree in our hand, experience and this brings happiness. Its difficult but I think there's no other option but to keep moving ahead!
But one thing that works is: to study at least for an hour so dialy and appear for the exam once we feel confident about it. This saves both money- exam fees and we won't be stressed too much. We might have to skip a couple of attempts but I don't think it causes any damange. Its better than writing an exam and failing it. So, our aim has to be get it done in single attempt once we feel completely prepared
Best Wishes.
