Are you preparing to appear for the most coveted UPSC exam? A combination of the right strategy and the right knowledge is what can give you success in the UPSC exam. It takes a specialised focus on the part of the candidates to crack the various exams. The Civil Services Exams is in a different league altogether because of its tough nature and the vast syllabus involved. Candidates have to prepare the topics thoroughly and should also acquire a few skills in order to fare well in the exam. If approached wisely, one can crack this exam easily. In this article, you will read some golden tips and strategies on how to prepare for the Civil Services Exam.
Before heading to the easy and relevant strategies for preparing for the UPSC examination, it is pertinent that UPSC exam preparation gives an extra focus on current affairs, which is the whole crux of this exam. This is no mean feat as you have to scan the newspapers daily to keep abreast of the latest national and international news. Hence, keeping up to date with Current Affairs 2022 has to be a daily task. This will give an edge to your preparation and will surely lead you ahead in the competition.
Easy Preparation Strategy for Civil Services Exam
- Know the exam in and out – The very basics are getting acquainted with the exam. Get to know the exam pattern better and understand the needs and expectations of the UPSC exam at three different levels. The preparation strategy for the UPSC exam would vary from level to level. For instance, the Prelims level of the exam tests the knowledge as well as the analytical skills of the candidates. Whereas, in the Mains level, descriptive knowledge about each topic of the syllabus is necessary, which might not be useful at the Preliminary level.
- No procrastination – Do not procrastinate. Time is valuable and generally scarce when it comes to preparing for a competitive exam. Also, remember that time once lost cannot be retrieved. So, avoid putting things off. If you have set a study plan, then follow it religiously.
- Prepare good notes – Preparing notes will help the aspirants to remember the facts better, and quick revision is made easy. But, making notes for the UPSC exam is an art because of the vastness of the syllabus. The notes ultimately become very unclear and unorganised because of the large volume of the notes prepared. Do not waste a lot of time making notes for each and everything. The notes should be well-organised; otherwise, the revision will again take a lot of time.
- Solve test papers – One of the important strategies of preparation is to strengthen the strong areas and keep working on the weaker areas. Hence, candidates should solve a lot of subject-wise MCQ-type questions and figure out their strengths and weaknesses. This will not only help you understand the demands of the exam but will also greatly increase your speed of answering the paper. You can also better time your answers if you do this.
- Learn smartly – It is important that you study a few tricks and shortcuts to solve problems in a shorter time span because Civil Services Exams demand candidates to answer a lot of questions in a relatively short time.
- Doing speed study – If preparing for UPSC, it is essential to work on improving your speed both while studying for the exam and while sitting to take the exam. In objective-type papers, you need speed in reading questions, knowing short-cuts, eliminating wrong answers and avoiding negative marks, if any. While in the Mains papers or any other written exam, you must enhance your writing speed by practising alone.
- Rigorous revision – Revision is paramount. A huge syllabus of UPSC and multiple subjects make it difficult for you to remember all that you have studied. To make sure that you are able to recall everything in the exam hall that you studied, you should revise repeatedly and regularly.
Lastly, throughout your preparation time, and also while actually taking the exam, it is important that you keep a positive mind. Being negative will hamper your performance in the examination hall. If you are positive, your mind will have clarity and confidence, and this will improve your recall and thinking abilities. Also, go through the important points related to The National Emblem on the given link; this is just a bonus to help you revise the facts.
