I realised something,correct me if I'm wrong. I was not able to clear prelims because I was never done with my mains syllabus. Actually the temptations during prelims to complete mains never let me focus full fledged on prelims. Even when prelims got postponed I took optional for a month. Seeing my condition it was a suicide.
I think doesn't matter how much time it takes, one has to be done with his mains syllabus if he has this tendency of getting distracted by the left mains syllabus and then to focus for like more than 5 months on prelims if u r weak at it.
And relying on just one institute for questions solving is also a huge mistake which I did. We must do minimum 2-3 institute question papers. And to have like a question bank for things we don't find on basic books and should revise it again and again.
Plus 20- 25 years PYQs. (Did just last 10 years). Upsc repeats itself. It is the best guide.
Fill in the gaps. My preparation was never complete because of the gaps and lack of discipline to fill them on my own. So maybe some classes or test series to help bridge the same.
And understanding that I am not smart enough to do this with less studying like some people do. I have to put in more hours than what others are doing.
I realised something,correct me if I'm wrong. I was not able to clear prelims because I was never done with my mains syllabus. Actually the temptations during prelims to complete mains never let me focus full fledged on prelims. Even when prelims got postponed I took optional for a month. Seeing my condition it was a suicide.
I think doesn't matter how much time it takes, one has to be done with his mains syllabus if he has this tendency of getting distracted by the left mains syllabus and then to focus for like more than 5 months on prelims if u r weak at it.
And relying on just one institute for questions solving is also a huge mistake which I did. We must do minimum 2-3 institute question papers. And to have like a question bank for things we don't find on basic books and should revise it again and again.
Plus 20- 25 years PYQs. (Did just last 10 years). Upsc repeats itself. It is the best guide.
Fill in the gaps. My preparation was never complete because of the gaps and lack of discipline to fill them on my own. So maybe some classes or test series to help bridge the same.
And understanding that I am not smart enough to do this with less studying like some people do. I have to put in more hours than what others are doing.
I beg to differ here :
1) I haven't met even a single guy who has completed his complete mains syllabus before prelims, instead try to cover a substantial portion of the mains syllabus and decide a deadline after which reading mains stuff is a crime.
2) Fill the gaps, but don't expect that your preparation will be complete. As former NSA SS Menon says "foreign policy is a game of minimaxing" same goes with UPSC prep minimize your weaknesses and maximize your strengths.
3) Believe in your preparation, most people fail in the exam hall, not in the preparation stage. Prepare for the exam, not for having a perfect preparation. Solve lots of questions and try to answer questions with your peripheral knowledge and intelligent guessing.
4) Regarding UPSC PYQ 25years is ideal but even 10 years would do.
Thankyou :)
