From: Colin McNamara (colin@2cups.com)
Date: Sun Mar 02 2008 - 19:55:31 ARST
Well, first things first, 20 days out isn't really much time to adjust
schedules. If this attempt doesn't get you your # you may want to try a
schedule that worked for me. I too have faced the challenge of lack of
focus, and general burnout when banging on devices for days on end. Here
was my study schedule -
Book learning phase (new stuff, is interesting, easy to get lost in a
technical book)
4 hours nightly 6-10 pm monday-friday.
Lab Preparation Phase - this is working with a workbook, or configuring
devices. This gives you 18 hours of study time a week. Feel free to look
at minor stuff during your off days, but really focus on relaxing and
keeping your mind clear. During study time, office door is locked,
family is banned from you office, phone is off. 100% focus is required.
Monday - off
Tuesday - 6-10 PM
Wednesday - off
Thursday - 6-10 PM
Friday - off
Saturday - off
Sunday - 12-8 PM
Crunch time phase - 7 days before lab
7 days out - 8 hour mock lab, speed work
6 days out - 8 hour mock lab, speed work
5 days out - 8 hour mock lab, speed work
4 days out - 8 hour mock lab, speed work
3 days out - Travel day to test site - only read Doc CD on plane
2 days out - 8 hours Small labs, focus on any areas you feel scared
about
1 days out - Chill out, go to a movie, do not study, stay away from
spicy hot wings at hooters in RTP ;). take some sleeping pills at night
so you don't toss and turn.
lab day - Rock it, do your best, if you fail it was just recon. 97% of
Cisco engineers fail to get in the seat you are in today. Don't get
caught into the self pressure trap of having to pass the first time, or
getting a digit that is in a certain range.
post lab day - Honest self assesment of your skills, find the answers
to the "WTF's" from the day before. Take a couple days off and repeat
until you pass.
-- Colin McNamara (858)208-8105 CCIE #18233,RHCE,GCIH http://www.colinmcnamara.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/colinmcnamara"The difficult we do immediately, the impossible just takes a little longer"
On Sun, 2008-03-02 at 21:38 +0000, keith tokash wrote: > Dear Abby, > > I hate to say this, but I'm really burning out here and would like to compare > notes a little. I wake up at 5.30am each weekday, but I'm a slow riser so I > may not quite make it out of bed right away. Average time to start lab work = > 7am. I go until 9-9.15am, then head to work. I get home about 6-7pm (3 mile > commute) and get about 1.5 hours of lab time in. On weekends I almost never > go anywhere, just alternate between lab work and taking Netflix + food > breaks. > > I've been doing this for about 3 months now, with another 6 months of various > other schedules before that, and I'm starting to have more and more trouble > focusing, and I'm losing my patience more as well. Of course I'm becoming > more and more fun for my wife to deal with on the side. > > Does anyone have any type of advice or schedule that worked for them? I don't > suppose it helps that I'm normally really busy at work too, so I can't study > there, or take time to play video games like some sysadmin types seem to have > time for. At this point I'm really having trouble just finishing the last two > tasks in my current lab on account of wanting to take a nosedive off my > balcony. I'm thinking a week off might do wonders, as I have a bootcamp > scheduled for March 17th, but I hate to lose the time (May 20th lab date). > > With a few exceptions, secrecy is deeply incompatible with democracy and with > science. > --Carl Sagan > _________________________________________________________________ > Connect and share in new ways with Windows Live. > http://www.windowslive.com/share.html?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_sharelife_012008 > > _______________________________________________________________________ > Subscription information may be found at: > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
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