How Not to Prepare for CFA!

Here is an article I originally posted at Xomba.com on my CFA Preparation or rather non - preparation! One thing I would like to say about the CFA preparation. You can cut down the prep from 400 hrs to 250 hours and still have a chance to pass - but you have no hope if you cut down prep time to 40 hours! Of course there may be exceptions - there always are, apparently.

Here is the article (originally posted at xomba.com on 3rd June, 2011 - http://www.xomba.com/top-5-ways-not-prepare-cfa)


I have enrolled for the CFA Level 1 Exam and the exams are just a few dozen hours away. Am I prepared? Of course not! Why not? Well that is what this article is going to be about - how not to prepare for the CFA or for that matter any exam. Let me just clarify something - I am not proud of not being prepared, rather I am disgusted - with self. And would change the situation if I could!

Dont Forget About the Exam

Honestly - for most of April, the exams were the last thing on my mind!
The children had holidays, and when they weren't having holidays - they were staying back at home with allergy, cold and / or cough. Now I know people are going to say that, candidates still prepare and pass the exams after going to office. All I have to say is - try and concentrate when cranky kids are at home and husband is away on tour and you will feel it is better to get away to office - where one can study in cool AC chambers!

I not just couldn't concentrate - the exams absolutely escaped my mind!

Dont Go On Long Holidays

I didnt have one or two - but three long holidays during April and May! There were two trips to the beautiful Borneo Islands and one long trip to India in May. Yes, you heard me right. I was gallivanting around the place when THE CFA exams were less than 30 days away. Candidates will tell you they shut themselves up and do a 4-5 hours a day last moment cramming and revision. All I can say is - oh, yeah?

Dont Follow A Month Long Cricket World Cup and Then IPL!

As if watching just India's matches in the 2011 Cricket WC werent enough, i watched almost all the WC matches. In the end they were worth it! India might not have lifted the trophy if I hadnt watched...some things need to be sacrificed for the greater good after all!
Unfortunately, i have no such excuse for watching so many IPL matches. Just that as soon I opened my laptop to study at night, the bookmarked official Indiatimes IPL channel was too tempting to ignore. And how could one resist those Gayle storms?

Dont Attend a Fitness Boot Camp that Leaves You Half Dead!

I spent March attending a fitness bootcamp. What was wrong with that except improving my abysmal level of fitness? Well I came back from each session of the HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and spent the day in bed with a ice pack on my head!!! It took me 48 hours to recover from each session initially. Here is an article about my first day at the bootcamp.
http://www.xomba.com/bootcamp_day_1_experience_fitness_camp

There were a few advantages though. I lost (really!) 4 kgs and could generally "feel" to be healthier. My recovery time was also improving towards the end when...

Dont Fall Sick

I had a long and severe attack of allergy. The source of the same has not yet been identified. It necessitated being on heavy steroids for almost 15 days. So there went a fortnight feeling drowsy, heavy and irritated!
Now that I have made a compelling case of why I wont clear the Level 1 this time around - I feel much better. And much less like kicking something around!