{"id":10226,"date":"2017-10-11T22:01:18","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T16:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=10226"},"modified":"2019-07-12T14:48:05","modified_gmt":"2019-07-12T09:18:05","slug":"the-last-minute-plan-to-ace-mains-and-motivate-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-last-minute-plan-to-ace-mains-and-motivate-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last Minute Plan to Ace Mains ( And Motivate Yourself )"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is one of those 2 AM emails you badly<\/em> want to\nwrite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who are slogging each night. To ace the Civil Services Mains\nExamination with such a margin in the Mains score, that cracking the interview<\/em>\nis a child’s play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we walk into the exam zone, a territory which may not be\nnew to many of us, here are a few things, I would really like you to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life’s greatest paradox is that we always end up where we\nbegin. Its called moving in circles. We all do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here is No. 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#1 Get back to the syllabus, one last<\/em> time.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Do what you did when you first began. Read the syllabus one\nlast time. By now, most of you would be so deep in what we are doing – by which\nI mean – Current Affairs Revision of the  Handouts or Q& A\nCompilation, or writing 4 Tests a day etcetra, that it is likely to miss the\nbigger picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, here is the secret . Take one final look at syllabus.\nAnd see what you know, and what you have missed<\/em> out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latter is more<\/em> important. And do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#2 Make Miscellaneous To Do Lists<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Make a list of things you think you don’t know – taking\nwords of the syllabus, do a basic google search, and read something<\/em> on\nit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lets talk facts. You have 200 words to prove the depth<\/em>\nof your knowledge . 200 words is not too<\/em> deep. At this stage, a good\nidea would be to make sure that your cover words mentioned directly from the\nsyllabus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least Ethics Paper<\/em>. Because if a questions comes\nin Ethics Paper on What is Attitude?, a good answer is not “attitude\ndefines altitude in life. It is basically our outlook of life”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It won’t fetch you marks either.It has to be technical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wikipedia has a good article on it. Go through it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#3 Fight Anxiety. Randomize your Tasks<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The big secret to doing last moment studies is to not be anxious<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anxiety is the killer of productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question is , why are we anxious. Bear with me, and I\nshall tell you why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we begin with World History ( and decide to complete it\n\/ finish it off), we are likely to get jittery. Because three hours into world\nHistory, we realize  that Current Affairs is pending . And perhaps Paper 2\nof optional is more incomplete than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And optional is the key to success.  Rest everything suddenly<\/em>\nlooks like the lock<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we quit one thing to do another. And then a third one.\nFailing at all three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is because we ( think that we ) do not have the time to\nfinish one big thing at one go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best way then, to proceed is to decide to do the one\nweak topic of World History, instead of whole of it, and do one topic of\nOptional 2, and one topic of Ethics Paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are called pieces. But in five days, you must make\nsure that these pieces put together, fill up at least a substantial picture of\nthe jigsaw puzzle that UPSC syllabus is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#4 Ask the right questions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Success in life is all about asking the right questions. So\nstarting tonight, as I slog to write this article for you, make sure you learn\nto ask the right questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So instead of asking  – I have to complete Post\nIndependence History today. How much time will it take to cover Nehru to Indira\nEra?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask – I have to complete Post-Independence-History – Nehru –\nIndira- era. What can I best do in 60 minutes? Once you time the work with a\ndeadline of minutes, you will end up optimizing how you study. And I know, that\nif you had to do Post Independence ( half of it ) in 60 minutes, you are going\nto do a good job at it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you miss the deadline, just don’t extent the\ntimeline, just leave the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#5 Because Resource scarcity promotes efficiency<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So you are likely to do Post Independence History once\nquickly in 60\/120  minutes , for the same reason, why you sometimes score\nbetter in questions which you attempt in the last 30 minutes. ( I am talking\nthe questions you know the answers to. In a Test Series. )<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because of several reasons<\/p>\n\n\n\n