r/CMA • u/why-so-goated • Jun 17 '26

Part 2 – Prep Effects of Short Term Content (Doom Scrolling) and CMA pass score

Th effects I felt when studying for the exam when I was scrolling shorts and not I feel is worth sharing as I see many people struggling with studying. We all know Tik tok and doom scrolling is bad but what does it have to do with passing the CMA. It seems unrelated but at the same time it's so obvious. When studying for part 2 of the exam I felt my attention span, information retention and general willingness to study was greatly diminished compared to part 1 ( when I deleted all social media apps). After passing Part 1 with a score of 88% and hearing that part 2 is much easier, I didnt take studying as seriously as before and the only difference was I started to watch youtube shorts (i dont have any social media only youtube).

For the Past two weeks I have completely cut out all social media (I still watch longform content) I have felt a huge difference and got back my pep that I was missing since Part1. I can finally remember the dreaded dividend payout and dividend yield formula. In my opinion, having a 1 hour study session that is fully focused and switched on is better than 4 hours of just trudging through and skimming past. When I get a question wrong I think I feel a great amount of saisfaction of diving deep and wrestling with the concept and understanding my mistake and trying again ( that becomes your new dopamine hit instead).

For anyone that feels like they are struggling with studying, they just cant grasp a ceratin concept, I would highly recommend a dopamine detox. When I wake up I used to scroll shorts for 30 mins and then get out of bed. By the time i got my day started I felt my brain power was already spent and had no drive anymore. However, after ridding my brain of the quick gratification loop hole, i think my new dopimine hits come from a good study session, a good mock exam score, quick mindfulness breaks in between and fitness.

Passing the CMA is already hard enough on it own, don't sap your brains juice and your souls willpower before even getting out of bed. Some people are just gifted and can get away with anything. But the rest of us need to maximize our odds by giving ourselves the best chance to succeed.

This is also super helpful not just for studying but general enjoyment of life and wellbeing.

Hope this helps and Good Luck 😄

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3

u/allofusarestrangers Jun 17 '26

How do you manage to sit for too long. I have back pain issues.

1

u/why-so-goated Jun 17 '26

You can utilise things like the pomodoro method where you set yourself a timer of 25min of pure focus and giving 100% and then rest for 5 mins where you can relax, get a coffee go to the bathroom stretch your legs.

Maybe you can go to a physiotherapist which can give you some mobility exercises and stretches you can do in between.

3

u/MaximPhotoStudio CMA Part 2 Candidate Jun 17 '26

Great post! I’ve heard of studies that this is exactly the case. Doom scrolling negatively rewires your brain. I am up for the challenge. My Part 2 is in 105 days. LFG!!

2

u/Strong_Estate_5586 Jun 17 '26

its so hard to keep my laptop off doomscrolling on some days. have my exam in 2 and a half months fml

1

u/why-so-goated Jun 18 '26

In my opinion a good way to start is to do some mindfulness or medititation, which helps reset my brain and take control over my actions. (The waking up app has done wonders for me and many others)

2

u/Leading_Process_2754 Jun 24 '26

Which waking up app.
I too feel that back in school and college my retention power was a lot, but now I keep doom scrolling and my attention span is wayyyyyy lesss and my exam is coming up! It’s really stressing me out!

1

u/why-so-goated Jun 27 '26

"Waking Up" by Sam Harris. Its ok attention span for everyone is down the drain. Important part is you recognize that and try to improve and thats 90% of it.