I failed in MICS subject of CA final year and then I authored a book named "MICS Unleashed" (link) for CA final year study course before clearing my CA, and that too with good marks.
I would like to share the secret key points to Chartered Accountant students who are appearing for their exams:
10-tips-ca-students-preparing-exams-ten-alone-novel-by-vikram-verma-chartered-accountant
10 Tips
1. Knowing your weakness is the first step towards success.(Q)
Check the root cause of your fears of failure. It can be one or both of followings:
- Punctuality / Lack of time management; and/or
- Divided concentration / attention.
Time flies during the preparatory days. Check if you are not able to give apt time for studies to individual subject or whether it's the concentration that gets disrupted when you sit for study.
2. Making your weakness your strength is second step towards success.(Q)
Win your fears and mold these in to your strengths. The problems identified can be solved by following tricks:
- Make time table and follow it strictly;
- Find innovative ways to enhance concentration.
Making time time table is toughest job for some students. Here is a golden tip for how to create the time table. Suppose you want to study 8 subjects in 3 months of preparatory days i.e. you have 90 days to prepare and revise. Calculation is simple:
i. 8 days for each subject for first revision
ii. 2 days for each subject for second revision
It comes out to be 80 days in total for all 8 subjects and still you have 10 days of reserve. Give them to the toughest subject like 2 days for 4 toughest subjects. Wooho, you are still with 2 reserve days.
NOW, allocate time the way you want. Use two methods. Either use the horizontal method i.e. complete 1 subject in 8 days in one go or use vertical method i.e. give 2 hours for 1 subject covering all 8 subjects simultaneously every 2 days.
To check your progress divide the number of pages with available hours e.g. if Tax book / material has got 400 pages in total then divide them by 8 days i.e. 50 pages per day you have to cover. Some times you would cover 50 pages in 10 hours and some times in 4 hours. It depends on the type of study if it's practical or theoretical.
To enhance concentration take breaks, watch 30 minutes of stand-up comedy during meals or listen to songs. If one subject is boring for you then use vertical method as stated above. Drink loads of water so that you have to get up every 1 hour for bio-break. It'll keep you healthy and fresh.
3. Talk to yourself, boot-up yourself. (Q)
No one else can understand you; better than you yourself. So talk to yourself once a day.. sometimes quietly.. and sometimes.. aloud. Tell yourself, "I can and I will do it." Believe me.. ‘It works’!! this way you’ll guide your subconscious mind to go get the things you dreamt of.
4. Homework, Do it before you go to the classroom. (Q)
Prepare.. not in the quantity, but quality. Your homework will strengthen your confidence. Same ways for exams, be prepared. Make sure you have studied the subject once in detailed and have 2 type of revisions stated above i.e. firstly 8 days per subject and secondly 2 days quick revision per subject.
5. Prioritise, prefer Today and Tomorrow to Yesterday. (Q)
Anything that is to be done today only, should be done today, do it on priority, leave everything else till tomorrow. If there’s anything you lost, that was yesterday.. let it go. Concentrate on today.
In exams if you think you are not going as per time table and you have wasted e.g. one month and now left with just 2 months to revise, DO NOT worry. Time is still there. Plan your tomorrow today learning from Yesterday.
6. Defrag and Rearrange. (Q)
One in a week rearrange all your things, be it planner, time table, cupboard, books, kitchen, office.. anything.
Same ways rearrange.. not only things.. but your mind too.. by cultivating a hobby. Take time off.. play guitar.. go dance.. read books.. do anything you like.
During exams, give time to your hobby e.g. 10 minutes after every 4 hours. Do watch comedy videos and do listen to songs. You'll feel rejuvenated. BUT don't spend more time on these hobbies, a short break only.
7. Learn the ABC of things. (Q)
To nail a peg, learn what size of hammer is required.. and WHY. Learn ABC or theory or logic.. of things that you want to master. Lighter hammer on a bigger nail and vice-versa; both result in failure.
Same applies to exams. Learn the logic of formula being applied, don't cram. If anyhow you can't remember the topic without cramming then learn the sequence in innovative way like SMARTU can be the acronym for learning characteristics of a topic that goes as.. Symmetric, Multiple functioning, Applicability, Resources, etc etc..
8. Laugh at life.. before life laughs at you.(Q)
Learn to laugh aloud. You should not worry in two cases, one, when you have control over the situation; two, when you can't control. So Whenever you fail, first laugh, then do the postmortem on why you failed. Learn laughing at life, not yourself.
During exams, don't cry over subjects you don't like to study, no other choice, just master it.
9. Keep toiling the mill of your mind yourself; leave no room for devil to tame the idleness of your mind. (Q)
Don’t sit idle, Do it yourself, No one else will do it for you. Take the charge of your life and never be free to waste even a single minute doing nothing, till you achieve your goal, and after that you won’t ever feel like sitting idle doing nothing.
So give your best in the preparation. The hard work repays, satisfaction and bills too. Keep yourself so busy with study and small breaks at 4 hours that devil should get no time to disrupt your thoughts.
10. Thy are the Victorious, who dare not to give up. (Q)
Never ever.. give up; even if you fail every time; give it a try, every next time. Make a log of your progress. Put ticks on calendar. If you fall short of time sleep 7 hours instead of 8. Believe me, you wont regret it if you cleared your CA.
Don't even think of giving-up, neither your ambitions, nor a single topic of any subject. Make a single minded goal of becoming a CA and you'll realise it.
Thanks and Regards:
CA Vikram Verma
Author : "10 Alone" (Novel) and "MICS Unleashed" (Academic)
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