Studying for the CFA while working full time: a weekly routine that holds

A plan built on your best week fails in the second week, and you blame yourself rather than the plan.

Start with the arithmetic

CFA Institute recommends about 300 hours per level. The book works with 250 to 350. Divide your hours by the time you have in a normal week.

• 10 hours a week: 30 weeks
• 15 hours a week: 20 weeks
• 25 hours a week: 12 weeks

Then add one buffer week for every eight weeks of plan. A plan of 30 weeks gets about four buffer weeks, and they are not slack. Sick children, audits and quarter-ends all land there.

Measuring a real week

For seven ordinary days, write down every block of 30 minutes or more that you kept free. Do not count the evening you hope to have. Count the one you had.

Most full-time workers find between 8 and 15 hours. That is enough for a level, but it fixes the length of the plan. If the date it produces is further away than you hoped, resist the urge to inflate your weekly hours. A plan built on hours you do not have breaks sooner than a longer plan built on hours you do.

Choosing a track

Choose the track that matches a typical week, and revisit the choice at each level. Level II or III may fit a different season of your life.

A ten-hour week

Use three kinds of block, and keep the same shape every week so the habit forms.

Two weekday evenings of 90 minutes: learn. New material, one topic at a time, with end-of-topic questions straight after.

One weekday evening of 60 minutes: review. Go through the wrong answers from the weekend and write one line for each: concept gap or slip?

One weekend block of three hours: practise. A timed question set by topic, 30 to 40 questions, followed by a short break and then the review.

Two short sessions of 30 minutes: recall. Write the key formulas or the seven Standards from memory. Short and frequent beats long and rare.

That is about ten hours. Notice that nearly half the week is practice and review, matching the book's guidance that 40 per cent of the plan goes to questions and mock exams.

Fitting the stages to the weeks

The book divides the plan into four stages.

• Stage A, foundation (about 10 per cent): rate yourself on every topic, try a short diagnostic, plan your skills module and buy your calculator.
• Stage B, first coverage (about 50 per cent): work through every topic once, with end-of-topic questions.
• Stage C, practice (about 25 per cent): question banks by topic, with every wrong answer reviewed.
• Stage D, simulation (about 15 per cent): full timed mock exams and revision of weak topics.

At 300 hours, that is about 30 hours for foundation, 150 for first coverage, 75 for practice and 45 for simulation. Put the dates of Stage C and D in your calendar first, and fit Stage B around them.

Getting through a busy season

Look at your work year before you start. If year-end, a product launch or a regular audit takes your evenings, mark those weeks in advance as no-study weeks and move the buffer there. Tell your manager about the three busiest weeks of your plan. Many employers help candidates, and some sponsor fees or give study leave before the exam.

If a week collapses, do not try to cram it back into the next one. Cut a topic block, not a practice block, and add the missed block to the buffer.

Staying consistent

• Fix the time. Same evenings, same place, phone away.
• Keep sessions small. Ninety minutes is enough. Longer sessions after a full day rarely produce more learning.
• Log your hours. One line a day in a notebook shows progress and warns you early.
• Review weekly. On Sunday, compare actual hours with planned hours and adjust the next week.

Warning signs

Three weeks below 60 per cent of your planned hours means the plan is wrong, not that you are weak. Re-plan with the hours you actually have, and move the exam window if you must. The spacing rule makes a failed attempt expensive, so a later window is cheaper than a rushed one.

Tonight's task

Track one ordinary week, choose the track it supports and write four stage dates beside it. Once those are on paper, the rest of the course is repetition.