D day mistakes

1.Making sure that you treat each question with equal merit is a big take home point. 

2.Reading all the options carefully. Very important in questions which asks you the 'most appropriate meaning'.

3.Trying to get to the answer by whatever means you have. Many a times the questions may be unheard off but if you have a wide knowledge base you can eliminate options based on existing facts.

For example this question appeared in 2020 Prelims

With reference to the period of Gupta dynasty in ancient India, the towns Ghantasala, Kadura and Chaul were well known as 

(a) ports handling foreign trade 

(b) capitals of powerful kingdoms  

(c) places of exquisite stone art and architecture 

(d) important Buddhist pilgrimage centres

The three towns given were unheard off-not covered in regular texts but see the options

Capitals of powerful kingdoms-must have been known to someone who has prepared for 2-3 years. So eliminated.

Places of exquisite stone art-Again we know only of Mathura,Sultanganj,Ajanta,Deogarh.

Important Buddhist pilgrimage sites-lumbini,kushinagar,sarnath etc is what one stumbles across. 

Therefore we are left with only one option.ie a.. that's how i got this question right.

Not taking enough sleep the night before the exam. I reckon 50% of the candidates lose it even before attempting the exam!

Taking a good amount of sleep (at least 7 hours) would add 4-5 questions to one's tally and would also help minimise silly mistakes. I interacted with many aspirants on this point, and I was shocked by the degree of neglect they showed towards this fact.

'Mai 2-3 ghante so kar hi manage kar leta hu '- This is what they'll tell you. Such people lose 10 marks every year and do not find their names in the list. You're fooling yourself if you're one of them.

Sleep for 7-8 hours. What's the harm?

You can reduce the 'in exam' anxiety to a large extent. I am one of those guys who is very scared of my mind playing tricks on me during the exam. I'll tell you what I do to control the external environment. The more you have these things under control, the less stressed you'll be during the actual exam. The person who is more CALM will beat a more studied anxious one 9 out of 10 times.

BEFORE THE EXAM

1. Go see your exam center 2-3 days before the paper. You can tell your parents/friends to go visit the center as well.
2. Reduce screen time [TV/Phone] and ensure absolute no screen time in the last 2-3 days. You don't want any random song playing in your mind during the paper.
3. Acclimatise yourself with noise/ people chatting/ shaky table..... so that everything remains under control on actual exam day. Now is the right time to get uncomfortable!!! in everything!!!
4. Google 'exam anxiety' and how to get over it. There are simple breathing techniques that do help. I did that googling before the exam as well.

ON THE DAY

1. I get the UPSC official OMR printed [7-8] copies and bubble my roll number the same number of times. It's important to do that on the morning of the exam to minimise the shaky fingers when you get the OMR.
2. Get the 2021 paper printed [or any other year's PYQ that you have thoroughly solved]. On the morning of the exam, sit and solve 10-15 questions. You'll obviously know the answers but bubble them in the OMR. You can also open the official key and see all 15 of those questions being correct. It does give confidence.

I'll add more as I remember.

I'm someone who suffers a lot from anxiety. Prelims exam still continues to be one of the most anxiety inducing things I've ever done even though I've succeeded in it previously. 

There are a lot of things I do to keep myself stable. Some of these might help you too. 

1) I try to go through my list of worries and then simulate it, to 'prove to myself' that it's not that serious. For instance, I get migraines and I'm afraid of getting one on the exam day. So I gave a mock once or twice with a migraine. Turns out it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Similarly, I gave mocks sitting in the sunlight without a fan in peak summer; gave one after just 2 hours of sleep etc. If there are specific worries you have, simulate them to assure yourself that you'll be fine. 

2) Past failures can haunt you. You need to overcome that. If you haven't done so, please do give the previous three years Prelims tests in exam-mode. It will help you confront your failures and boost your confidence. I've done the same with Mains papers and it definitely helped. 

3) Try practicing Meditation for a few minutes, especially breathing exercises, in the coming few days. The point is that with practice, you can calm yourself after just a couple of breaths. In the exam hall, when your heart starts beating faster, take deep breaths. You'll be fine. 

4) I've always found that your self talk and body posture affects your feelings. I pretend as if I'm the most confident person in the world on the exam day. I'll keep repeating encouraging phrases to myself. Sometimes even in the exam hall after a few bad questions in a row. 

5) In the initial 15 - 20 minutes, I'll go through the paper and solve the easiest questions first. Also UPSC papers are jumbled in sets of 10 questions. So I'll glance through 1,11, 21 etc to see where Polity/Eco starts and then attempt from there. I keep History for the last (in each round, not the paper as a whole). This is because these are my easiest and toughest subjects. All of this boosts confidence initially. Then once I'm settled I can tackle the tougher questions. 

6) It's okay to not study much towards the end. In my first attempt, two weeks before the exam, I lost it. Even though I went to the library, I couldn't study at all. Nothing I read went to my mind. It took me about 5 days to recover from the anxiety. The remaining 8-9 days, I studied just 6-8 hours per day. Based on the advice a mentor gave me, I focused more on improving my confidence. On the exam day I was calm as anything and managed to clear comfortably. 

All the best for the coming couple of weeks. Focus on anxiety management and confidence building in these last few days more than your studies. It will bear much more fruit. Do well! 

Don’t fail in CSAT is probably the most important mistake to avoid. Been there done that situation so. For that having a strategy by solving a good number of papers even now will help. 

Another mistake is that everyone will say that you must sleep 6-8 hours before the D day, but for most of us it doesn’t happen that way. It just doesn’t. 

I would say just stop worrying about that and you can still perform the best we need if we had 2-3 hrs only. But thinking that we can’t is worse. 

Before the exam make sure you have your admit card and pens ready and checked. Go check out your centre, ideally the Sunday before so you have a rough idea of time it takes to reach and then keep a 10 minute buffer. This might differ from person to person, but I would revise as long as possible before my exam. I found it kept panic at bay.@Steph_Curry mentioned about not listening to music, but music helped calm me down a lot before the exam as well. I found that humming upbeat songs really helped me to not panic right before the exam actually starts.

During the exam, the time before the papers are distributed is what can really unnerve you, so keep to yourself, don’t talk to others during that time. I used to calm myself down and then hum songs under my breath (so as to not disturb others around me either). Once the OMR is distributed I used to take my time to fill my roll number carefully. This step really helps as well as rushing can create more panic.

Once the exam starts, I would keep my watch on the table and break it down into 4 slots of 30 minutes each. In the first 2 slots I would complete the first round of the paper (this was crucial to keep to the 30 minutes for 50 questions). I found I tended to overthink questions less when I knew I had to move on quickly. After that I would try and complete 2 more iterations at least within the next 45 minutes. I messed up my 2nd prelims because I didn’t time myself and panicked really hard throughout the exam. The less time you keep to ruminate and spilt hairs in the exam the less you’re likely to second guess your answers and therefore panic less. I hope this helped :)

Things that I do:

• Get as far away from the aspirants crowd as possible.. The last thing you want is to over-hear people discussing ki "Tuney 25 ka (b) mark kia ya (c)"..
• Eat, but try to keep it light. You do not want to feel asleep with you tummy full while giving the CSAT paper.
• Take a power nap for 20 minutes. This has been the most important thing for me, even during mains. Power naps make you feel fresh and energetic, which is exactly what you need for the CSAT paper.
• You may take tea/coffee that helps u rejuvenate. Again do not over consume, because you would not want to rush to the washroom again and again in the middle of the paper. There is no time for that , especially when the washrooms are in the other corner of the exam center. 
• DO NOT OVERTHINK ABOUT THE GS PAPER. LET BYGONES BE BYGONES. 
  You will have enough time after CSAT paper toh go through what answers you marked in paper 1. 
  Some people get so anxious thinking about paper 1 during the CSAT , so much so  that they end up attempting lesser number of questions in the 2nd paper, which drastically reduces a chance of them qualifying paper 2. 

Having said that, I personally know someone who despite sleeping for just 2-3 hours the night before prelims, could manage to get >90 marks thrice in a row. So yes, have faith. More sleep is generally better but Indomitable spirit >sleepless night can also help in qualifying the prelims. It’s doable : )

I totally understand what went wrong in 21. This fear of past baggage is also real. But I see little possibility of past repeating itself. Prelims, I feel is level playing field. Somebody who has cleared 3 prelims earlier would be equally apprehensive about appearing in it again. Have faith, it’s doable. 

Also, since you have given attempts before, I feel you have enough knowledge to clear it. I would personally recommend to focus equally on performance aspects now. 

Like for example, if in middle of exam, confidence is going down, there should be some instant confidence booster mechanism. My friend told me she would recall face of her fiance. Personally I do something weird. There is one abuse in my native language. Everytime I say it, it gives me kick. I feel confident. I have been doing this in all the prelims. Maybe these things help me overcome fear or anxiety or when some bad thought comes in during the exam. There must be something that will work for you : )

1. Performance during exam is as much important as preparation for the exam.

2. Changing exam solving strategy on final day

3. Judging scores one will get before exam is over

4. 2-3 questions won’t make much difference. Focus on rest

1. Sleep for 5-6 hours the night of 3rd June

2. On the 4th, walk as much as you can throughout the day.

This is what I follow. It works for me

Harder than said. 

Be '3C' cool, calm, and confident. (catalyst)

Maximize attempt (90+ for IFS)

Attempt PYQs10-11 years on 4th May. (something like **academy type MARATHON conducted by urself for urself.

#Reactant (Preparation)--Catalyst (3C)-->Product (PDF-Pre wala)

NOTE: Not doing these is a mistake

You probably only read half the tip.

You needed a second red bull for the CSAT

The most uncomplicated way to mess up Prelims in my experience is-

1. Not getting a good night's sleep (@AzadHindFauz is spot-on about the importance of sleep/rest) 

2. Not staying calm/ in the moment

Apart from not getting any sleep the night before the invigilator somehow managed to mess up mine and the guy ahead's OMR sheets (2021 attempt). Small benches, a  an october sun burning my back, questions on Sports and many more were mere actors of a snowball effect that was my state of mind. I was inches away from losing my shit. Mere inches were also what remained between my alleged score and the supposed cut-off last year. This time around I hope to not commit the same mistake.

I don't mean to sound pessimistic but a lot of things can and will certainly go wrong on D-Day. Nothing really prepares you for the pressure of the 2 hours each of Paper 1&2. Like that saying goes- no plan survives contact with the enemy. 

A nice technique that has helped me stay calm and get good sleep has been to-

1. close your eyes and count till 10 (or any other number)

2. only think of the numbers and as you count if a thought bothers/disturbs the count

3. you start again from 1

4. count till you reach the final number with nothing else running in your mind (or start again from 1)

It gets frustrating initially but can manifest in an efficient quick fix. The beauty of it is that you only need to do it once. The result is either instant sleep or when you open your eyesyou're in the moment.

And thats where one should be in the Prelims. In the moment. One question at a time.

I suggest mix both the drinks and make a mocktail for yourself ;)