ATT arrrggggggghhhhhh
Monsoon
Registered Posts: 4,020 Beyond epic contributor 🧙♂️
My personal tax exam is in 2.5 weeks and I'm really down about it. I haven't had much time to study at all, though have done some, and now I'm trying to study and I just feel like I'm not getting it. Even things I managed to do before, i am now finding hard, and the new stuff I need to learn is just going way over my head (not because i can't understand it, but because it's new and my head is just too full of other stuff, i don't feel like there is any room for any more).
I'm beginning to think I've just totally underestimated the exam and also overestimated my ability to study as well as try and sort my business out. Part of me really wants to qualify ATT, but part of me thinks sod it, I've run my business fine without it for so many years, what is the point? It's really, really getting me down, every time i sit down to study I end up in tears.
If I don't do it now, I won't ever do it, which is why I made the decision to just go for it, and I really don't want to give up. But I don't think i can cope with feeling like this for another year. Furthermore my depression has been really under control but this is just making me ill again and it seems stupid to put myself in this position. But i don't want my illness to stop me from achieving something i really want!
Argh. Rant over. And to lighten the mood, i shall just say, Why do they make it so hard, it's just not fair!!!!
I'm beginning to think I've just totally underestimated the exam and also overestimated my ability to study as well as try and sort my business out. Part of me really wants to qualify ATT, but part of me thinks sod it, I've run my business fine without it for so many years, what is the point? It's really, really getting me down, every time i sit down to study I end up in tears.
If I don't do it now, I won't ever do it, which is why I made the decision to just go for it, and I really don't want to give up. But I don't think i can cope with feeling like this for another year. Furthermore my depression has been really under control but this is just making me ill again and it seems stupid to put myself in this position. But i don't want my illness to stop me from achieving something i really want!
Argh. Rant over. And to lighten the mood, i shall just say, Why do they make it so hard, it's just not fair!!!!
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Comments
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I think all students know the feeling of all of a sudden not knowing anything and I wouldn't worry too much about the stuff you used to know, but don't know anything anymore.
I know it happens to me too, so far today I spent 9 hours on one practice exam of F1 (CIMA) and I still haven't sorted all questions.
The main thing is, you already spent quite a bit of time on it and you made up your mind to just see where it ends. That sounds like the smart thing to do, if you would also stick to it. But instead, you seem to be stressing about it, wondering if you are doing the right thing and making yourself feel bad about not studying more.
Try and keep your priorities straight. Your health is more important than either the business or your study. I'm guessing your business is more important then study, so make sure you keep your priorities straight (in your mind) and drop the study if it really doesn't fit. In the mean time spent some time studying, rereading parts of the books and practice questions with the book next to you open to get some confidence back.
Stop stressing is the main thing though! Once you've learned how to do that, please tell me, as I still haven't managed.
Random, yes very! What I mean to say is, don't give up, unless you got the feeling you got no other choice, but realise that it hasn't have to be completed (this exam I mean, not the full study) in May, it can also be done in November instead.
You've got quite a lot on your plate at the moment and the last thing you want is to do too much now, end up with a burn out or similar and end up with nothing. I'm not saying you are close to a burn out though, just saying that it might be worth taking a step back.
There is no reason why you can't aim again for the November exams, and yes I know you keep postponing it if you're not careful, but think about it logically, do you need the extra time and could you just sit the May exam and use it as a test paper?
You might just want to have a random rant and you need a kick under the bum to get yourself going again, in which case you can consider yourself kicked!
(But think about the underlying reasons why you haven't had enough time to study and keep that in mind too!)0 -
Hi Monsoon,
Great advice from Rinske, I second the trying not to stress and to relax thing - if you work out how to manage this can you let me know how you did it too please!!
Sounds to me like you're trying to do too much at once, sometimes that ends up meaning nothing actually gets done - yes I do speak from experience on that one unfortunately!!!
I totally understand what you say about wanting to qualify ATT but wondering if you really need it, I ask this - you must have thought it would at least be useful when you registered and when you booked the exam, do you still? Or do you feel compelled to finish something just because you started it? As someone who is just starting out as an MIP (application in the post this morning!!!) I feel that doing the ATT will benefit me, get back to me on that one in a few months an see if I still think that!
How much of your time is sorting out your business taking? If this is something you need to concentrate on right now would you feel better doing this and sitting your exam in November instead?
They've gotta make the exams hard apparently it makes the qualification worth more
Lastly, take a deep breath, go get a cup of Coffee/Tea or go for a walk and try studying again when you feel refreshed.
Hope some of that helps!0 -
Thanks both
I'm not close to burn out; I know what it feels like and I'm not nearly there. I just had gotten used to not feeling depressed and it's a bit crappy feeling down again! LOL. I guess it's a balance thing, if I am cheerful enough for at least 50% of the time then i can cope with the stress but I don't want it to take over.
As some of you know I chose to separate from my business partner in Dec/Jan (great timing!!) and restructuring the business is a LOT of work, as is fixing some of the messes I have been left with (another one of which surfaced last week which is possibly why i am extra frazzled!). I should have the time to study but oer the last few months i genuinely kept forgetting!! Hence I have not done nearly enough. Work is relatively quiet over the next couple of weeks though that I could take a good few days off as study days as well as the bank hols of course.
I don't need ATT. I enrolled in 2008 after realising that the tax modules at AAT were not nearly detailed enough for working in practice and I needed to know much more. 3 years later, experience and CPD has taught me a lot of what i haven't had a chance to learn at ATT yet, and i no longer feel that there are gping holes in my knowledge. However there is always more to learn and revising for this exam has reminded me that there are still more 'staples' of tax that I don't know or use on a regular basis. So even though I can survive without it, in an ideal world I would have it. That and I want the letters after my name, but thats just pride talking!
I plan to take one exam per sitting and I am doing VAT in Nov and Ethics in May 12, i have already paid for this exam so I may as well sit it. I can always resit in Nov if I need to, and if i fail that time, i will call it quits, I like to think I know when I'm flogging a dead horse!
Thanks, i think partly I just needed to vent but it really does help to talk it out and to hear others views. I decided to leave income tax for now and go on to CGT and I am doing better at that today so I am feeling a little better about it all now.
Cheerr guys. I think i also need to write up my key things on card in marker pen and get the blutac out!!0 -
One thing that always helped me is reminding myself you only need about 50% right to pass so dont worry if you cant remember anything. On the hard questions i just approached them thinking i only need to get half of it right and ive done enough and then they dont seem quite as daunting. When you look at the books and how much material there is it seems hard but its always surprising how much has sunk in without you actually realising it.
Good luck for the exams and i am sure you'll do well. And remember you will have already increased you tax knowledge by studying the course so whatever happens in the exam you will have already got a lot out of it.0 -
Thanks Andrew. One of the disadvantages of teaching myself is that I don't have a tutor to tell me what the pass mark is! If it's about 50% then that is manageable. I guess i could walk in now and get 40% so with 2 weeks of study i should be able to pass.
Oh, and a secret to not being stressed is affirming a positive point of view. Think positive and talk positive, and don't allow yourself to talk negative even if you are thinking negative. I can't do it all the time (obviously!) but the rest of the time, it works for me well
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I'm beginning to think I've just totally underestimated the exam
I did exactly the same Jenni you're not on your own. I remember looking through the study materials and thinking on yeah I know that and that already, yeah there's not that much that's new to me. Oh how wrong I was, even though yes I did know some stuff I hadn't thought about all the different rules which applied to to different senarios etc etc , there's so much to learn.I think all students know the feeling of all of a sudden not knowing anything and I wouldn't worry too much about the stuff you used to know, but don't know anything anymore.
The main thing is, you already spent quite a bit of time on it and you made up your mind to just see where it ends. That sounds like the smart thing to do, if you would also stick to it. But instead, you seem to be stressing about it, wondering if you are doing the right thing and making yourself feel bad about not studying more.Sounds to me like you're trying to do too much at once, sometimes that ends up meaning nothing actually gets done - yes I do speak from experience on that one unfortunately!!!
How much of your time is sorting out your business taking? If this is something you need to concentrate on right now would you feel better doing this and sitting your exam in November instead?
That's spot on! Have been there myself on more than one occasion. I had to sit myself down the other week and decide which was the most important to me, getting my first exam done in May or my health and sanity.
In the end because I was trying to juggle work, my own practice, hospital visiting, studying, not to mention washing and cleaning etc etc I decided to defer my exam until November and not put myself (not to mention my husband) through all that stress. At first I felt like I'd somehow failed already but once I got my head around it I felt a great sense of relief.
Mum's coming out of hospital tomorrow so the books will come back out but I'll be studying towards the November exam.
I just had gotten used to not feeling depressed and it's a bit crappy feeling down again! LOL. I guess it's a balance thing, if I am cheerful enough for at least 50% of the time then i can cope with the stress but I don't want it to take over.
Oh Jenni I want you to be cheerful at least 90% of the time, you so deserve it! I now feel really guilty for troubling you this week with my stupidity when you had so much on your plate. Thank you, you saved my life.I have already paid for this exam so I may as well sit it. I can always resit in Nov if I need to, and if i fail that time, i will call it quits, I like to think I know when I'm flogging a dead horse!
I think i also need to write up my key things on card in marker pen and get the blutac out!!One thing that always helped me is reminding myself you only need about 50% right to pass so dont worry if you cant remember anything.
You're right Jenni but you really need to try not to feel stressed about it, easier said than done I know! lol To be honest if I didn't have to go to Leeds to sit my exam I might have had a crack at it because of only needing 50% to pass. I can successfully cram for exams but than forget it all afterwards so I think for me personally I made the right decision.
So if you feel up to it Jenni get those cards and marker pens out and go for it, if on the other hand, deferring it would give you the breathing space to concentrate on your business, November isn't that far away.
Do what's right for you, and more importantly when it's right for you. But most of all be happy, breath ..... and relax :001_smile:0 -
Thanks Andrew. One of the disadvantages of teaching myself is that I don't have a tutor to tell me what the pass mark is! If it's about 50% then that is manageable. I guess i could walk in now and get 40% so with 2 weeks of study i should be able to pass.
You sound like you made up your mind, so go get yourself in your study book and paint the walls with notes!
I think for me the trick for now is to check with what % I would walk out if I sat the exam now as well, as I got no clue on that one. That actually might make me feel better as well, as so far I might actually be very close on some subjects, rather than aiming to answer every single question perfect. That is a great idea, thanks Andrewtk for pointing out to keep it in mind and Jenni for pointing out where you are now!Oh, and a secret to not being stressed is affirming a positive point of view. Think positive and talk positive, and don't allow yourself to talk negative even if you are thinking negative. I can't do it all the time (obviously!) but the rest of the time, it works for me well
I'm on a spree to get myself used to this, as I seem to have lost it in the past few weeks with the exams getting closer and a year end at work that didn't really go as planned. Time to get back into it! However I'm not sure if I got the talk positive covered yet. I mess up with that one a lot, since I got very negative colleagues and I get involved in their complaint sessions in the mornings!
The other thing I try to do is to smile all the time, even if I don't feel happy, just smile. It's often in those situations where you can't change anything, that a smile just makes a difference in to how you feel about it.0 -
Jenni, you are young and have achieved a great deal so far. Nothing has held you back in your professional life so don't let these do that!! Keep going, it will be worth it!!
Best wishes
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Thank you all
Jill, glad to hear your mum's coming out of hospital, I hope she recovers well. And don't worry about me, it's a pleasure to help you, so just ask away, whenever you like!
Rinske, yes I forgot the smiling thing, I try and do that too. Except on here, I'm only allowed to smile once per post. Bah, humbugs!
Steve, thank you, I really appreciate it.
I just don't seem to find the time in the week, I'm going to have to get on it tomorrow night and every night. Roll on the bank holiday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!0 -
I know what you mean
I am working my way throught the paper 1 ATT personal tax books and wow what a lot of information there is to take in. It seems so daunting and I have not even looked at the capital gains tax folder. No social life for me for the next few months.0 -
Hi Jenni,
Not a lot to add really to the great advice already but at least I can show my support.
As you have pointed out above you do not necessarily need ATT it would just be really nice to have. In which case my advice would be to chill because if you don't pass so what. You are no worse off apart from a few quid for the study and exams.
I haven't studied ATT yet (although my intentions are at some point) so cannot comment on the difficulty level. However you know you can achieve it if you had the right time. But you can't obviously drop your business.
My suggestion would be to stick at it but to put less pressure on yourself to pass. Your business is going in the right direction for you at the moment and it doesn't need ATT it needs you.
Best of luck and really no need to stress.Regards,
Burg0
