So I’m trying to take my time and really absorb the CCIE material. It is tough slowing down my usual studying pace.
When I studied for the CCNA, I studied constantly, at least 3-4 hours a day. I would read my books in the morning before work, read for two or three hours at night between dinner and bed, read documentation at work, sat through labs from the PEC, watched CCNA tv videos, read forum postings and asked a ton of questions. I studied a solid two months before I took the exam and passed it on my first attempt. I know people who have studied a lot longer than that and not passed it after several attempts.
I pretty much used the same approach for studying for the CCSP exams. They were more difficult because except for the SNPA (which is now retired) all the exams had regular books that had to be read, no exam guides. At least not that I could find. I carried them with me everywhere and read more than I had to and practiced way too much. In the end though, it paid off and I earned my CCSP in about 6 months.
The CCNP took me down a different path. I was in an interesting situation at work where I was able to study almost all day long for about two months. I took full advantage of it. I still followed the usual course of action though, reading before work, reading after work, labs with dynamips, watching videos, reading documentation.
The one thing I always realize while studying for exams: the amount of stuff I don’t know. Which is the reason I am trying to slow down my CCIE studies. I know it is a long and time consuming path earning your CCIE. My wife and I had a discussion about it on Valentine’s day and she fully supports my efforts. Right now I get up even earlier everyday of the week than I once did to study before my wife and daughter wake up. I’ve read the stories of people saying you can’t study for the CCIE and have a life. So I get up early to maximize my study efforts. I’ve cut a bunch of stuff from my daily habits like reading rss feeds and just surfing the web. It also means that I don’t post here as often as I would like to. I will probably do more as I find things to write about, but for now, studying for the written exam isn’t very exciting and I don’t find much to share doing it.
Anyway, back to studying for me.
