The biggest take away for me from the whole process was how much easier it was to focus and study once I’d booked the exam in. It was hard work, sure, but once I’d taken away the option of doing it later, or doing some other exam first perhaps, everything happened a lot quicker.

Having said all that, it was certainly my intention to start studying for the next exam straight after I did the CCNA. Obviously not having learned from experience, I have taken until pretty much right now to actually decide what that next exam should be. Should I start my CCNP? Do CCNA Security? Knock out a couple of Sun exams? All perfectly valid options, and by having options I was thinking about them, and not getting any study done. So, as of 20 minutes ago, I’ve booked in for my CCNA Security exam for late September.

Now that I’ve got my date, I know what I need to do between now and then. Looking forward to the challenge!