A note to self
It's all coming back to me. This constant gnawing feeling that time is running out. Fact is that it is. I've been so anxious the past few weeks that I've been unable to get the best out of my day. Every time, I tell myself that maybe a break would sort it out. I take the break; still, it comes back to me. The only way seems to me to actually chew it up and spit it out.
I have so much left to do. I wish there were a way that one could just make a plan, stick to it, and see the whole thing through. There may be some who do it, and to them, I take my hat off. It's simply not my cup of tea. I've tried and I've failed a great number of times, just over the past month alone. The enormity of it all is mind-boggling and quite simply, overwhelming. I don't think I have been more stressed in my entire life.
If the past few years have taught me anything at all, it is that stress brings out the worst in me. I get nothing done, and I'm so fucking snappy. I've been easy going and a chiller my entire life. This part of my life calls for discipline that I can't seem to find. Even on the days that I find that discipline, I mostly end up finishing too little, comparing with what is left for me to do. Every day, there is renewed energy, but most nights, there's terrible anxiety.
I need to find a way to be calm. The only way that I can seem to do that right now is to allow for the possibility that it might not happen for me. I need to let go of the feeling that I am much closer to my goal. The closer I think I am, the more anxious I get about the result. I need to let it be. I need to remember that this is all not purely within my control. I need to be authentic. The only thing that I can do is to maximise my chances. The first thing I need to do towards that end is to find my lost confidence. I need to stomach the fact that my preparation will be far from perfect. Yet, I must prime myself for giving my best shot on the day. It's a funny little game, this.
Maximising my chances right now can only be done through shortcuts. It is clear as day to me. Be it in my optional or in GS, that is the only option that is open to me to even make a fight of it. Hence, I must take them. Shortcuts have served me well in my life. I think they are underrated. 250 or 150 words is all I need. Nothing less, nothing more. This is when the tables will turn. Whether I am able to see these 51 days through and keep my head about me will determine whether I am successful.
I need to keep faith, not in my reading or my preparation, but in myself. This is what gives me my best chance. There is simply no magic pill that works for me. Not hard work. Not smart work. Definitely not the beautiful strategy I penned down on a thread here when I was still naive.
The only time I was successful was when I was calm. So, maybe that is what I must bank on. Whatever it may be, I will face it. The only thing I can do now is to cover the gaping holes that I have in my preparation. My efforts will be towards that end because that is simply the only thing in my control. This is an exam that a person who does not have the same resources and privileges as me should be, and have cleared in the past. I've been making a mountain out of a reasonably large hill. I need to direct my efforts towards climbing that hill, not the mountain I've built up inside my head.
It's definitely daunting, but my head has been making it a hundred thousand times more daunting than it is. The time is ripe for simplification level Patootie. Break that shit down to manageable pieces. Do no more than that. If they are unmanageable pieces, do the manageable bits. If there are no manageable bits, it is by definition unmanageable.
So, here's the last plan that Imma make. It's the plan that I've always followed. The one where there is no plan. No schedule. No daily targets. Just execution. My exam is on January 8. Not the mock on Sunday. I know the parts where I'm weak, and I know the parts where I'm strong. It's only about putting my best foot forward on the day.
Cut the noise out. The noise inside my head, the noise from the mentor, the noise from the mock test feedback. Sometimes it gets too much that I feel like I can't hear the calming inner voice that is Patootie. I need to cut all of that out. That bubble is what I'm looking for again. It's a fookin utopia where everything is good. No matter what happens on the outside, everything is good inside Patootie's bubble.
I may not be able to make the exam work, but I'll find my peace again. That, to me, is the most important thing. If I can find that peace again, I feel life will be good. Life has to be good.
What if I fall? I'll get up, dust myself off and find myself another way.
But what if I fly? That's gonna be a whole new story altogether.
Gold! As always! Will be reading this every 6 hours. God bless you!
Day no. -- 220 :
1) 9:00 - 11:30 - Hindi - (notes revise 1/8)✔
2) 12:30 - 2:30 - Economy ( notes - 2/4)✔
3) 3:30 - 5:30 - Economy (lec no. 4) ✔
4) 6:00 - 6:45 - Newspaper ✔
5) 7:30 - 8:30*- PSIR ( from notes) Done half target only
6) 10:30 - 11:30 - Ethics (revise notes) Will not do.
7) 11:30 to 01:00- Geography (do notes of lec 2) Will DO
Targets for tomorrow:
Slot 1: Optional
Slot 2: Current Affairs
Slot 3: Optional
Slot 4: Revise GS2
Martin Luther King: "If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward"
And so it begins...again!Things done:
- Optional
- Vision Sept CA (1/3)
Things to do today:
- Finish Optional Chapter
- Vision Sept CA (2/3)
- Revise GS2
Yesterday:
- Optional Chapter (80%)
- Vision Sept CA - Done with very low efficiency
Things to be done today
- Finish optional Chapter 2
- Start new optional chapter
- Vision Sept CA (3/4)
- Revise GS2 - Need to be started today, no more procrastination!
A note to self
It's all coming back to me. This constant gnawing feeling that time is running out. Fact is that it is. I've been so anxious the past few weeks that I've been unable to get the best out of my day. Every time, I tell myself that maybe a break would sort it out. I take the break; still, it comes back to me. The only way seems to me to actually chew it up and spit it out.
I have so much left to do. I wish there were a way that one could just make a plan, stick to it, and see the whole thing through. There may be some who do it, and to them, I take my hat off. It's simply not my cup of tea. I've tried and I've failed a great number of times, just over the past month alone. The enormity of it all is mind-boggling and quite simply, overwhelming. I don't think I have been more stressed in my entire life.
If the past few years have taught me anything at all, it is that stress brings out the worst in me. I get nothing done, and I'm so fucking snappy. I've been easy going and a chiller my entire life. This part of my life calls for discipline that I can't seem to find. Even on the days that I find that discipline, I mostly end up finishing too little, comparing with what is left for me to do. Every day, there is renewed energy, but most nights, there's terrible anxiety.
I need to find a way to be calm. The only way that I can seem to do that right now is to allow for the possibility that it might not happen for me. I need to let go of the feeling that I am much closer to my goal. The closer I think I am, the more anxious I get about the result. I need to let it be. I need to remember that this is all not purely within my control. I need to be authentic. The only thing that I can do is to maximise my chances. The first thing I need to do towards that end is to find my lost confidence. I need to stomach the fact that my preparation will be far from perfect. Yet, I must prime myself for giving my best shot on the day. It's a funny little game, this.
Maximising my chances right now can only be done through shortcuts. It is clear as day to me. Be it in my optional or in GS, that is the only option that is open to me to even make a fight of it. Hence, I must take them. Shortcuts have served me well in my life. I think they are underrated. 250 or 150 words is all I need. Nothing less, nothing more. This is when the tables will turn. Whether I am able to see these 51 days through and keep my head about me will determine whether I am successful.
I need to keep faith, not in my reading or my preparation, but in myself. This is what gives me my best chance. There is simply no magic pill that works for me. Not hard work. Not smart work. Definitely not the beautiful strategy I penned down on a thread here when I was still naive.
The only time I was successful was when I was calm. So, maybe that is what I must bank on. Whatever it may be, I will face it. The only thing I can do now is to cover the gaping holes that I have in my preparation. My efforts will be towards that end because that is simply the only thing in my control. This is an exam that a person who does not have the same resources and privileges as me should be, and have cleared in the past. I've been making a mountain out of a reasonably large hill. I need to direct my efforts towards climbing that hill, not the mountain I've built up inside my head.
It's definitely daunting, but my head has been making it a hundred thousand times more daunting than it is. The time is ripe for simplification level Patootie. Break that shit down to manageable pieces. Do no more than that. If they are unmanageable pieces, do the manageable bits. If there are no manageable bits, it is by definition unmanageable.
So, here's the last plan that Imma make. It's the plan that I've always followed. The one where there is no plan. No schedule. No daily targets. Just execution. My exam is on January 8. Not the mock on Sunday. I know the parts where I'm weak, and I know the parts where I'm strong. It's only about putting my best foot forward on the day.
Cut the noise out. The noise inside my head, the noise from the mentor, the noise from the mock test feedback. Sometimes it gets too much that I feel like I can't hear the calming inner voice that is Patootie. I need to cut all of that out. That bubble is what I'm looking for again. It's a fookin utopia where everything is good. No matter what happens on the outside, everything is good inside Patootie's bubble.
I may not be able to make the exam work, but I'll find my peace again. That, to me, is the most important thing. If I can find that peace again, I feel life will be good. Life has to be good.
What if I fall? I'll get up, dust myself off and find myself another way.
But what if I fly? That's gonna be a whole new story altogether.
I had similar scorpions in my head, and hoped for a similar rescue. This gives so much clarity to that story. Thank you :)
18th: So-so day. 70%. But yay for finishing ethics test almost in time.
Not able to stick to timetable because not able to fall asleep.
19th November:
1. Finish social issues 365 ✔️
2. Optional - NAM, and some more odds and ends ✔️
3. GS2 - Finish polity ✔️
4. Answers - GS2 polity PYQS, optional - did RPA instead
5. Polity CA - did RPA instead
Have a good day everyone :)
Day no. -- 219 :
1) Newspaper- 1 hr.✔️
2) Economy ( notes - 3/4) - 2 hrs. ✔️
3) Hindi - (notes revise 2/8) - 2 hrs. ✔️
4) Economy (lec no. 5) - 2 hrs.✔️
5) Geography (do lec 2) - 1.5 hrs. ✔️
# After geography, will give remaining time to make some changes in my targets of next two weeks as per PYQ analysis of both PSC and UPSC mains.
Targets for tomorrow:
Slot 1: Optional
Slot 2: Current Affairs
Slot 3: Optional
Slot 4: Revise GS2
Martin Luther King: "If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward"
And so it begins...again!Things done:
- Optional
- Vision Sept CA (1/3)
Things to do today:
- Finish Optional Chapter
- Vision Sept CA (2/3)
- Revise GS2
Yesterday:
- Optional Chapter (80%)
- Vision Sept CA - Done with very low efficiency
Things to be done today
- Finish optional Chapter 2
- Start new optional chapter
- Vision Sept CA (3/4)
- Revise GS2 - Need to be started today, no more procrastination!
Things done yesterday:
- Optional Chapter 2 finished
- Optional Chapter 3 started
- Vision Sept CA (3/4) covered
- GS2 Revision begins
Targets for today:
- Finish first two modules of optional chapter 3
- Finish Vision Sept CA
- Complete 1/3 GS2 revision