TIME MANAGEMENT

We see many people around us who spend their time in a frenzy of

activity but achieve very little because they are not concentrating
on the right things. They are perpetually busy but it does not
necessarily mean that they make optimum utilization of their time.
So there is a great need for effective Time Management in our
lives today.
We keep hearing the word "Busy" a lot. There are two kinds of
busy, chaotic, disorganized busy and calm effective busy. It goes
without saying that being the latter helps to pack in more
productivity in your work. Improving our "effectiveness Quotient"
calls for mastery of basic time management skills.
We constantly hear the refrain that we do not know where the time
goes. Whether you are an executive, a student or a homemaker,
you need to achieve more in every minute of the day and to enjoy
each task that you take up. We will be well on our way to the top if
we know how to squeeze the most out of even a minute.
The first thing to bear in mind is to question whether you have a
personal sense of time or a time log. This helps you to keep track
of how you spend each hour. There is a way to do this. Divide each
day for a period of two weeks into one hour intervals and jot down
what you do in them. You can sub divide the activities under such
headings as business meetings, writing, making phone calls,
reading, time spent with the family etc. At the end of the week,
examine your time log.
What you may find is that very little time goes into top priority
activities and more into activities such as phone calls, coffee
breaks, chatting with friends etc. Now is the time to analyze what
activities are a waste of time and what need more time. Try to cut
down time spent on useless activities or stop doing them
altogether. Once you have prioritized your time, you will find your
efficiency level rising and the end result is that you will be an
achiever!

How To Prepare For Prelims

The civil services examination is basically a test to choose suitable

administrators. It tests the candidate right from the stage when one
starts the preparation. One common misconception about the
prelims is that it is a test of facts and figures. This is not so. A
candidate should have the right frame of mind and the will power to
succeed in the exam. A proper action plan is needed for the
preparation itself since he /she will be tested for some essential
qualities like power of retention, clarity of concepts, ability to
identify the correct alternatives with efficiency and accuracy.
All this requires a quick decision making power. Since the
preliminary exam in particular is a test of endurance the candidate
needs to prepare himself on the physical as well as mental level.
The main constraint is the time one gets to answer questions. On
an average one gets around 40 seconds for each general Studies
question and around 50 seconds for each optional question. Added
to this time constraint is the fact that the exam is conducted in the
month of May which is usually the hottest month all over the
country. Most of the centres for the exam do not have proper
facilities which adds to the stress. One sure way of dealing with
this stress is to count numbers or to take a few deep breaths.
Meditation and Yoga also help in dealing with stress to a great
extent.
Now we come to the actual preparation for the prelims exam.
Since it is a multiple choice question paper, it needs a different
preparation and a proper strategy. The first thing a candidate
needs to bear in mind is that the examination is designed to
evaluate certain qualities like a sharp memory and basic
retention power. There are ways to increase one's memory like
preparing charts. One gets confused when faced with mind
boggling facts and figures. Important facts and figures can be
simplified and represented on charts and they can arranged in the
form of tables or graphs. Another thing to remember is to make
short and brief notes on each topic so that the entire syllabus can
be revised a day before the exam. It is better to use diagrams and
link words which make it easier to understand difficult concepts.
One more technique to help in retaining information is the use of
abbreviations. Since the syllabus involves exhaustive information
abbreviations help you to remember it better. It is a good method to
remember dates, facts and figures in a picture format and to break

up complex names and places into smaller and simpler words. The
last and the most important technique is doing regular revision.
This helps in retaining the maximum information. A separate time
slot should be given to doing not only regular but multiple revisions
like daily, weekly, monthly etc.
Many candidates make a mistake of overloading themselves with
lots of information and end up remembering nothing. One should
be able to differentiate between relevant and irrelevant
information. Since the preliminary exam is an elimination round
the candidate should also learn to focus only on the information
needed and filter out the rest. It helps to discuss with friends and
teachers but the most reliable way is to past years question papers
for the optional subject whereas for the general studies paper, one
should keep abreast with current events and information related to
them.
An important thing to remember is that for this exam it is just
enough to remember information but to understand the concepts
well instead of memorizing facts and figures. The questions asked
in the General Studies paper are of 10+2 level whereas for the
optional subject it is graduation level. Therefore emphasis has to
be on conceptual clarity. Any concept has to be understood with
its origin, merits and de-merits, then it needs to be analyzed with
other relevant topics and lastly it has to be correlated with the
events that have taken place during the year.
The preliminary exam requires candidates who have the acumen
and the ability to choose the right option of many given options.
This needs a proper method of elimination. It is a good idea to go
through previous years and model question papers and solve as
many as possible. Taking a mock test of a certain number of G.S.
questions and optional questions would be a good practice and
help to pick out the most appropriate option.
Each prelims paper is for two hours but a lot of time is wasted in
signing attendance sheets etc, therefore there is a lot of need for
effective Time Management not only for the exam but in the
preparation as well. It is not enough to know the right answer
but it has to be marked correctly on the answer sheet. Speed
and Accuracy are important, so solving model question papers on
a regular basis would be a great help.

A good presence of mind is needed to eliminate the least

appropriate options and arrive at the right one. Tick out the least
correct answer first and go on to the next option. Even when faced
with a question for which you do not have a ready answer, with
basic common sense and a good presence of mind, it is possible
to make your guess a smart and a correct one.
Throughout the preparation for the prelims exam, it is important to
remember that any topic or concept should not be studied in
isolation. It is better to understand and establish a correlation
between related concepts from other subjects and current events
and happenings.
Even with all this preparation, it is necessary to have a positive
attitude and a great amount of will power to succeed to achieve
your goal, that of getting through the civil services examination with
flying colors!
How to Prepare Notes
Appearing for any competitive exam requires a lot of preparation.
Students should be ready to face this challenge in the best
possible way. Though there is no one way of studying, there are
ways to study more effectively and with less stress and more
enjoyment. It is important to know how to make use of the sources
available to you in the best possible way. It is wise to take a three
pronged approach to preparation, reading to learn, making
effective notes and able to write answers to various kinds of
questions.
Students are often faced with the daunting task of making
voluminous notes. Now the question arises as to why make notes
at all. There are several good reasons, one is that you cannot
make notes without understanding the given topic, since you have
to pick out the important points and try to summarise them. Next is
that writing down any information helps you to remember it better.
Thirdly, it makes a good practice for thinking and writing out
essays. Fourth, it will prompt you to revise your work since it does
not take a long time to go through a set of well made notes. Lastly,
it helps you in your final revision by reminding you of the most
important points of each topic.

The next question is when should one make notes? One should
make notes from the very beginning as soon as you have done
your studying when the material is fresh in mind. This helps to fix it
in your memory. It is better to make notes from all possible
sources, from what you read, what you hear and from what you do.
After making the first brief notes, it can be expanded and
organised properly. You can then keep adding information to it from
time to time. One important thing to remember is to never treat a
set of notes as the final version.
There are different methods of making notes and one should
decide which method suits you the best. There are two types of
making notes, one is the LINEAR NOTES and the other PATTERN
NOTES.
Let us start with Linear notes first, it is a method in which you
condense the material you have read using headings and sub
headings and jotting down the most important points. This method
works best when making notes from a book where the material is
already properly organised. But one disadvantage of this method is
that you end up copying a lot of material from the book which
defeats the very purpose of condensing.
The right way to use this method is to use loose sheets of paper
instead of an exercise book since it is easier to keep adding
information. It is a good idea to leave space on each sheet of
paper for additional information. Another way to make your notes
more interesting is to use colors, block letters, making boxes and
highlighting as and when necessary. All this will immediately draw
our attention to the actual contents of our notes and make it more
clear and comprehensible.
We now come to Pattern Notes. For this we have to begin the
topic at the centre of the page. Each line radiating from it
represents a branch of the main idea. Each point is written as
briefly as possible using a key word or a phrase. It is a better
method to adopt because it is more flexible than making Linear
notes. One can add extra information to it at any point without any
problem. Second advantage is that we can see the whole pattern
at one go without actually turning the pages. Thirdly we can
indicate the links between different topics more easily than we can
do in a linear method. Another advantage of pattern notes is that it

is exceptionally useful when making notes from memory for

revision as you keep jotting down points as and when they occur to
you. This makes it easier to revise for exams and writing out
essays as only brief key words are used. Lastly, it is easier to
remember as notes is made in a shape format.
But this method has some disadvantages as well. If there are too
many facts and too much of information, your pattern becomes
messy and over crowded. Using key words can remind you of
basic ideas but when it comes to remembering details, this method
cannot be sufficient. Therefore the most effective way of making
good notes from the sources available is to use a combination of
these two methods. One important thing to remember is that for
many subjects your notes will have to include diagrams and sketch
maps. They must be accurate and labelled very clearly.
For example while making notes for Science, the general lay out
has to follow the one given by your teacher with as little variation
as possible. There are four basic stages which should always be
there, Purpose, Method, Result and Conclusion If there is a
description it will have to include a diagram and if it is recorded
data, it will require a table or a graph.
Whatever method you decide to follow, one thing to remember is to
keep your notes handy at all times and in a proper file. It is a good
idea to use colored flags to demarcate different topics. With such
systematic preparation, a student can face the challenge of any
competitive exam with confidence.
How to Write Answers
The civil services main exam consists of descriptive type of
questions. It focusses on testing the candidate on various levels.
The time limit for the essay paper is 3 hrs without a word limit, but
for the optional paper, there are questions with specific word limit
like 250 words in optional subjects and 250 words, 150 words and
20 words in general studies. The candidate then has to prepare
himself to answer all types of questions. The most important thing
to be kept in mind is the time constraint. Therefore it becomes
necessary to answer these questions quickly and effectively and in
minimum words.

One common doubt that students have is with regard to the style of
answering questions, whether to adopt the paragraph or the point
style of answering questions. Though there is no set rule, it is wise
to adopt a style depending on the question asked. If the question
says to discuss, analyse or critically examine, it would be better to
answer the question the paragraph format. On the other hand, if
the question asks you to list the advantages or give reasons for/
against etc., it is better to go in for the point format of answering.
STYLE OF ANSWERING QUESTIONS:
For this it is very important to understand the question first.
Depending on what the question is, whether one is asked to
"discuss", "elucidate", "explain","critically Appreciate" or "give
reasons for and against", the answer should be written Accordingly
because it is only through the examinee's style of answering
questions that one can assess his or her originality of thought and
analytical abilities. The question should be read properly, in fact the
question paper should be read thoroughly in the first five or ten
minutes of the exam and then one should decide on the questions
which are to be answered first. Time should also be given to frame
the answer so that there is no confusion later on.
A good way to write effective and precise answers is to pracise
writing out answers. our answers should present the facts and
concepts in an interesting way and should never read like a
passage from a book. It is best to use simple English and avoid
flowy and decorative langauage wich takes our attention away
from the original facts and our opinions about a given topic. Making
a practice of writing out answers is especially useful in managing
the time limit set for the exam and to write the best possible
answer in the allotted time It not only improves one's style of
expression, but also one gets used to the time and word limits.
HOW TO WRITE A GOOD ANSWER:
It is just not enough to know all the facts and information but the
most important thing to be kept in mind is to write an answer which
has a clear and a logical frame, which presents information in a
clear and concise manner, which does not contain any irrelevant or
piling up of information, which is interesting and able to hold one's
attention.

So the next logical step is to know how to write a good answer. The
first step is to prepare the framework where one can list all ideas,
thoughts and facts and write them down. It is important to adopt an
answering style which is natural, original and to the point.
Emphasis should be given to the kind of language used, one which
is simple and clear without unnecessary use of nouns and verbs.
Use of archaic and fancy words or language should be avoided at
all costs. Care should be taken to avoid grammatical mistakes
which will give a negative opinion however good the answer may
be. Last but not the least, it is very important to have a good and a
legible handwriting.
Gaining Mental Power for Preparing UPSC Exams
Author: Ragini Sinha
E Mail: kalpstava@yahoo.com
UPSC exam preparation needs thorough planning. Candidate can
not achieve success until he organizes his study matter, make
proper time management and get guidance from professors and
experts. These are the core preparations and everyone makes
great efforts to do well in examination to get success. In today's
competitive environment, examinee is struggling with number of
issues. Even though he put extreme knowledge and attempts, he
can not manage resources and cover all topics related to
examination. There are various factors parallel affecting when
students appear in competitive examination. These may be
personal, environmental or related to subject. First of all, student
must have to learn to cope up with these problems. There are
many ways by which he can solve problems as they arise.
Sometimes we have to instantly provide solutions so that these
factors do not create hurdles in exam preparation. Candidate must
have to be detached from many activities and voice everyone that I
can share only serious matter. He must avoid entertaining guests,
picking things, purchasing and so on. When he makes
environment soothing, he gets more time to understand complex
terms and much of the definition and research matter is clear to
him. Sometimes student does not get study material in time. For
this he must not worry because psychological imbalance creates
other complicated problem and he will not concentrate on studies
well. Student must assign job to close ones to collect material. This
will off load his work up to some extent and studies will also not

affected. As soon as new books will be available, he can access

them. Many times, he can not understand what to study first, how
to compile and he takes advice from untrained counselor or
seniors those are easily approachable. Here, it is warning to
students. Learning wrong concepts will put them in great trouble.
Always take professional's advice and plan to study as per
convenience. It means use your brain to organize and follow
pattern that suits you. If you can learn words well in the evening,
go a head. It is not necessary that you have to learn vocabulary in
the morning if advised by experts. There are individual differences
and everyone has own typical way of learning.
It has been noticed that long sitting may create monotony and
student can not speed up his studies. It is common to all. Some
may discouraged and start worrying how to complete target. But
this is not the solution. Studying same topic for a longer period is
often uninteresting. Student must change the content of study time
to time to involve deeply in study. When he feels fatigue, he may
get relaxed by talking to family members, preparing coffee or any
other activity which he likes. This will boost enthusiasm for studies
and then he will study more seriously and grasp all concepts. It is
to explain that the competitive exam preparation is a bit different
from professional courses. Students need to solve set of questions
in time and speed is very important. Once he gains speed, he can
solve complicated questions and eager to learn more about subject
to get success. Other important points to be noted that do not go
out of track. Students often confused with range of topics and
question styles. They buy question paper and start to solve
questions. They get an impression that they have covered large
portion. This is a false impression. Solving question papers is only
1/3rd preparation. They must penetrate to the subject to be
selected among competitors. In above mentioned ways, many
problems of students will be solved and they will be in a better
position.
Today with the development of hi tech Internet system, all of us
can access details of examination for which we are appearing and
also get subject matter. So there is no need to mention here about
UPSC exam pattern. The only problem is how to organize studies
and inhale as much as we can to compete. Candidate must collect
information and edge details for their educational/ subject area and

there is need to compile immediately to prepare base for study. For

improving rank, one must have to gain mental power through clear
understanding of concepts and all necessary details. It can be
enhanced by setting up a steady study timetable, regularly reading
all of the allocated topics cautiously, developing an approach to
practice for tests. Sometimes candidate must have to practice test
questions himself and analyze how many questions he has
completed, what problem he faced during practice and so on. He
must give rank to himself honestly. Prepare a list and find solution
where he could not perform well. This will work as feedback and he
will soon realize his mistakes and correct it well with in time. As
time runs out, candidate will not able to concentrate on such issues
and he will face such problems directly in examination hall. At that
time he will become handicapped and will blame himself. Research
has shown that these tactics will definitely work and the best ways
to learn the wide course.
There are many challenging subjects. When student choose
subject, he must immediately make inquiry for research reports,
best resources which can enrich his mental vocabulary. Having
correct and genuine knowledge will help student to solve difficult
questions in examination speedily. Presently competition is tough
and subject covers a vast range of material. But if matter is
organized from the beginning, it will be learned easily. Candidate
must make tag for each topic or concept and look in detail
whenever necessary. It will save time. But one has to know every
minute details, Question technique and way to attempt questions.
A student who have thorough knowledge of subject but unaware of
question designing tricks will never be successful. It is necessary
to update your knowledge with latest developments and mold
accordingly. This will improve mental power and you will be familiar
with many terms which are not available in texts. But at the same
time do not rush to collect irrelevant material of subject or topic
chosen. Excessive information, especially repetitive information will
again create confusion. It is advised to do more focused study and
must make outline what type of information is missing, how much
covered and ask question to self- is there any thing which is
unknown to him. This outline will help from time to time to refresh
knowledge and student will gain confidence and satisfaction which
is very necessary for such competitive examinations. When

student attempts to question test paper with confidence, his mind

works very fast and he concentrates more on question, thinks from
various angles to choose correct alternative and mark the correct
answer. Whenever preparing for examination, it must be remember
that this paper is highly important and I have to get success at all.
This type of optimistic approach will help student to gain more
knowledge about subject. Student should not harbor such feelings
that if he will not get success in this exam, he will attempt once
again. Such type of thinking makes student careless and he may
not win race. Finally, it can be said that, it is important to develop
ways of efficiently studying and mastering new theories and
concepts to make strong your brain for competitive examinations.

How to Read Effectively

Students are often at a loss when faced with the extensive syllabus
of Mains exam. One should be objective and try to focus on about
70% of the syllabus instead of being over ambitious and trying to
cover the whole syllabus. The next thing to be kept in mind is the
choice of study material. It is a wise option to just refer to few
standard books to get an deep understanding of the subject.
Reading from too many books will do more harm than good.
Lastly it is good to be selective while preparing for a given topic, to
list out all the important points and the relevant information in a
logical framework. It is important to remember that studying for the
exam involves Purposeful reading which is basically reading with a
certain focus on the given topic and preparing for the possible
questions accordingly. Before starting on any topic, it is a wise
move to go through the questions asked in the past about the
given topic and jot down the probable questions for the current
year. It gives an idea to the king of material one needs to study to
be able to answer such questions effectively. After this mentally
analyse all that you have read and try to logically link all the points
and see if you have understood everything.Such a kind of
periodical revision will help in the long run as it will ensure that it
increases your understanding, improves and enhances your
memory, and makes you more confident so that you give your best
performance.

Students often have doubts at the time they begin IAS preparation
for the IAS exams. But before they can start any preparations they
are siezed by a number of questions. Here we address some of
those questions that arise while you prepare for the IAS exams.
Q1. What is the restriction on number of attempts in the
Examinations?
Ans. Number of attempts - General-4, OBC-7, SC/ST- No
restriction
Q2. Is there any relaxation in number of attempts for physically
handicapped?
Ans. No. However physically handicapped candidates belonging to
SC, ST and OBC categories will be eligible for relaxation in number
of attempts provided to such categories.
Q3. Can a candidate who has completed his education from an
open school/ University apply for Commissions
Examination?
Ans. Yes, provided it is a recognized University and he possess
the educational qualifications prescribed for the exam and is
otherwise eligible.
Q4. Whether a candidate belonging to a community included in
the OBC list of states but not in the Central list of OBCs is
eligible for age relaxation, reservation etc. for
Commissions Examinations?
Ans. No. Only candidates belonging to communities which are
included in the Central list of OBCs are eligible for such
concessions.
Q5. Can a candidate choose an optional subject, which he has
not studied at graduate/PG level?
Ans. Yes.

Q.2. Is it necessary for a candidate to take the same optional

subject in the Main Exam, which he had taken in the prelims
Examination?
Ans. No.
Q.3. If a candidate has applied for the CS (P) Examination but
has not appeared at any paper in the CS (P) Examination
will it be counted as an attempt?
Ans. No. An attempt is counted only if a candidate has appeared in
at least one paper in CS (P) Examination.
Q4. Is a candidate who has done his graduation without passing
class X and class X11 eligible for Civil Service Examination?
Ans. Yes.
Q.5. Can a candidate write different papers of Civil Service
(Main) Examination in different languages?
Ans. No, Candidates have the option to write their answers either
in English or in any one of the Eighth schedule languages.
Q.6. Can a candidate write the Civil Service (Main) Examination
in English and take the interview in Hindi or any other
Indian language?
Ans. If a candidate opts an Eighth schedule language for the CS
(Main) Examination he will have the option to take the interview in
same language or in English.
Q.7. How to choose a subject?
Ans. Normally one should select optionals, which one is familiar
with, or has at least studied till the graduate level. If you are not
comfortable with the subject, you should not select the subject as
an optional. But the choice should not only be as per your interests
but also be baed on the study material available. Even science and
engineering students take up subjects like history, sociology,
anthropology, grography, political science, psychology and public
administration because there is a huge amount of study material
available in these subjects. Also keep in mind that you may have
been proficient in a subject, but lack of touch may make it tougher

to crack technical subject where freshers may do better. The

competition is among the people who have opted for the same
subject. One should top in his/her subject to succeed in the
examination. The Point is, if you are an electrical engineer with 2
years of experience go for a new subject like pub adm or sociology.
Analyse the syllabus of previous years and the question papers,
and analyse past trends. Get some feedback/advice from seniors
and fellow students who are well versed in the subject. Remember
no subject is bad. History is good if you can spend more than 4-5
hours everyday. Geography is a good option if you can spend at
least 4 hrs every day. Pub Ad, more than 3 hours. Sociology, more
than 2 hours and so on.... So, it all depends on how much time you
can spend a day and your liking of the subject. You have a very
good memory then a technical subject may help else a social
subject would be better. Lastly look for overlap in subjects like,
sociology and pubad; history and political science etc.