Child-rearing and the Administrative Scrivener Exam: How I Maintained My Mental Health and Motivation While Studying Alone

I started studying in August 2024 and took the Administrative Scrivener exam in November 2025.

While raising my children, I dealt with two surgeries and three hospital stays as an attendant.
It was not an environment where I could study every day.

I had no choice but to choose self-study, and it was mostly a solitary process.
It was lonely.

Even so, I was able to continue studying until the day of the exam.

In this article, I write about how I maintained my mental health and motivation while facing the reality of not being able to study as I wanted to.

I have recorded the mindset I valued in order to keep going without giving up, even when things didn't go as planned or I couldn't study every day.

My situation when I started studying

I began studying for the Administrative Scrivener exam in August 2024.
The actual exam was in November 2025, a study period of one year and three months.

My younger child has an incurable congenital disease, and between starting my studies and the exam, there were two surgeries and three hospital stays where I had to accompany them.
Since the time I could sit at a desk to study during hospital stays was limited, I could barely find any time for myself.

I chose self-study. Or rather, I had no other choice. I didn't have the time to attend a prep school, and I couldn't afford to take correspondence courses.

Because the time I could spend sitting at a desk was limited, I made full use of my smartphone and tablet to study in the gaps of my day. It was far from an ideal study environment.

Studying silently on my own was lonelier than I had imagined.
There was no one around me studying for the same thing, and no one I could consult with.

This was my situation when I took on the challenge of the Administrative Scrivener exam.

The reality of not being able to study as I wanted

I knew it from the beginning, but it was not a situation where I could study every day.
Even when I made a proper plan, things rarely went as scheduled due to my child's poor health or hospital stays.

There were days when I had time to sit at a desk and focus on studying, and days when I couldn't even open my smartphone all day. During hospital stays, the most I could do was open my tablet at the bedside while keeping an eye on my child.

Even when I decided, 'I will study for X hours today,' I often couldn't do it.
I wouldn't finish the planned material.
I wouldn't make progress on the problem sets.
Days where I couldn't study as I wanted continued.

Spreading out reference books, taking notes, and studying properly at a desk.
I envied people who could study in such an ideal way.

My study style was solving problems on my smartphone in spare moments, opening textbooks while waiting at the hospital, and doing problem sets if I had the energy.
It was a patchwork kind of study.

I sometimes felt anxious about whether I would really make it in time for the exam.
But this was the best I could do. I kept telling myself, 'I will do my best in the environment I am in.'

Rebuild your study plan as you go

From the moment I started studying, I made sure not to set unreasonable plans.

I knew that strict plans like "study for 3 hours every day" or "finish this section in one week" would be impossible to keep in my situation.

Instead, I set loose goals like "I want to get this far this month" and progressed as much as I could.

Even so, things not going according to plan was a daily occurrence. If my child got sick, studying was out of the question. If there was surgery or hospitalization, there would be periods where I couldn't study at all.

At those times, I would rebuild my plan as soon as it fell behind.

I would adjust it each time, thinking, "I couldn't do it this week, so I'll move it to next week" or "I'll skip this section and move on to the next."

I didn't think of a plan falling apart as a "failure."
I thought of it as natural for plans to fall apart, and that rebuilding the plan was part of the study process. because that's what I believed.

What I valued was "continuing without strain".
Even if things didn't go according to plan, it was fine as long as I was moving forward, even if just a little.
Thinking that way made me feel more at ease.

I have summarized my own way of rebuilding study plans in "Childcare x Self-study x Administrative Scrivener Exam: How to rebuild a study plan that I revised many times."

Self-study is lonely. A mindset for continuing to study

Self-study was truly lonely.
There was no one around me studying for the Administrative Scrivener exam in the same way.
I couldn't confirm with anyone if my study method was correct or if my understanding was right.

Even when I felt anxious or wanted to complain, there was no one to listen.

In the midst of that, I joined a LINE open chat where Administrative Scrivener exam candidates chat.

A place where there are people studying in the same way.
I wanted to connect, even a little, with people working hard toward the same goal.

However, since I wasn't one of the members who talked all the time, I was sometimes ignored when I spoke, which actually increased my sense of loneliness.
In that situation, only "Takotako-san" would respond with a high probability.

It wasn't every time, and we didn't have a deep interaction. But just having someone respond made me feel like I wasn't completely alone. That alone saved me.

Also, what I valued to continue self-studying was "not blaming myself."

Even if I couldn't study every day or didn't progress according to plan, I accepted that it was due to my environment, not my own laziness.
I thought that if I blamed myself for not being able to do it, I wouldn't be able to continue.

When things were tough, I would sometimes fantasize about myself after passing.
I would look up rental offices for an Administrative Scrivener office, or think about what it would be like to put a desk here.

It may sound like escapism, but by picturing myself a little further ahead like that, I was able to pull myself together.

I am not completely alone. I have at least some connection. I am moving forward within my capabilities. By thinking this way, I managed to continue my studies.

Reflecting on it now

I have finished taking the exam and am now waiting for the results. The results will be out in a few days. According to the grading from two prep schools, I scored 196 points, but I don't know if I have truly passed.
(Added on 1/28: I passed!)

However, looking back, what I think is, 'I'm surprised I was able to keep going.'

Childcare, surgery, hospitalization. An environment where I couldn't study every day. Lonely self-study. There was not a single ideal situation.

Even so, I was able to continue studying until the day of the exam. I was able to take the exam without giving up.

I think I was able to continue because I didn't push myself too hard.

I didn't make unreasonable plans.
I didn't blame myself for not being able to do things.
Even when my plans fell apart, I rebuilt them each time.
I didn't seek perfection and proceeded within my capabilities.

If I had pushed myself by thinking, 'I have to study every day' or 'I have to follow the plan,' I think I would have broken down along the way.

Studying for the Administrative Scrivener exam was not a place for me to learn the 'ideal study method.' It was a place to find 'a way to continue that suits me.'

Regardless of the results of the exam announcement, the fact that I was able to continue for this year and three months has become a great experience for me.

If there is anyone else working hard in an environment where they cannot study as they would like, I hope you will continue without pushing yourself too hard and without blaming yourself.

Thank you for reading until the end.

I will continue to update my experience with studying for the Administrative Scrivener exam in my note magazine 'Study Record Until Passing the Administrative Scrivener Exam'.

I plan to write about my reflections after the exam results and my actual study methods, so I would be happy if you could like and follow me.