How do you take breaks when studying? Weekly or after 10 days?
So this is one problem that plagues all. Some people are rational and take breaks once every week, like Monday ( when no tests are to be written ). others go on studying without a break, until after 10-11 days, there is a breakdown and then they end up wasting3-4 days. Yet some people are able to study for 15-20 days with some 3-4 days unplanned break after that?
What do you do / end up doing?
I really don't have any break days, they make me really anxious and I feel like I am wasting my time. But then its not like I am working round the clock, everyday I spend like 1-2 hour doing things I like which is either cooking or watching web series, that helps me keep sane.
And sometimes when I feel the urge to take break then its an unplanned break with me stopping studying the moment it feels I am exhausted and want to run away from all this.
@Neyawn sir any last minute wisdom before mains?
1. Finish the paper on time. You should always do a reality check after every 30 mins.
2. Do not fill pages when you dont know an answer. If you dont know an answer and want to beat around the bush ( bluff), dont over do it and just write half a page to 1 page. People write 2-3 pages in questions that they dont know and less in qustions they know
3. Eat well, and be hyradted, You should not have low energy during the exam.
4. Last day studies dont matter much in Mains. It is also fine, if you leave studying 24 to 72 hours before your exam. If you are studying in that time also it is only to stop any distraction .
5. You should not be making it already, but see this once - https://blog.forumias.com/common-mistakes-in-mains-examination/
I am no knight. Do not call me Sir|Philosophy behind ForumIAS
@Neyawn sir any last minute wisdom before mains?
1. Finish the paper on time. You should always do a reality check after every 30 mins.
2. Do not fill pages when you dont know an answer. If you dont know an answer and want to beat around the bush ( bluff), dont over do it and just write half a page to 1 page. People write 2-3 pages in questions that they dont know and less in qustions they know
3. Eat well, and be hyradted, You should not have low energy during the exam.
4. Last day studies dont matter much in Mains. It is also fine, if you leave studying 24 to 72 hours before your exam. If you are studying in that time also it is only to stop any distraction .
5. You should not be making it already, but see this once - https://blog.forumias.com/common-mistakes-in-mains-examination/
Thank you sir, will keep in mind
THE_MECHANIC,@Neyawn I know no one asked me for it, but I would like to give some feedback on the logo. Basically, I have pursued graphic designing, UI/ UX, logo making as a part of campus groups during my college days.. Did some internship as well in the design field.I also wanted to appreciate mgp and other brochures of forum, they reflect presence of some graphic design-aligned mind curating them. To a usual upsc aspirant these things will not matter but my mind takes me back to the old days when I spent hours figuring out alignment and color combinations in some logos, I worked on.Regarding, the logo.. I feel there's something odd which irks my minds.- With the arrow coming in the logo, 'IAS' in ForumIAS appears thin. Basically, arrrow, Forum and IAS have 3 different font styles which in my view breaks uniformity.I believe arrow and IAS, if they have similar styles or use of 2 font style instead of 3 will bring simplicity and uniformity.Apart from logo, I really feel the portal to show good mgp copies can be designed in a different manner:Having links to ans copies of all toppers in one webpage >a webpage for every topper.Design can be very subjective and you may have your own reasons of why a particular thing was designed this way.I just wanted to express what I felt.
Thank you for your two cents.
I could either make that IAS thicker or the arrow slimmer. If I make the arrow slimmer it will not be visible. If I touch with the IAS thickness, it may be too much change ( my concern ).
Can you make a logo for us if you have time? It could be a small gig? I would like to have infinity or something with some changes like the original firefox browser = inifity symbol and the new Forefox focus logo as the edited version of the inifinity symbol?
You would recommend having one single page for all the topper copies?
I am no knight. Do not call me Sir|Philosophy behind ForumIAS
THE_MECHANIC,@Neyawn sir, I scored 54.43 in 2020 pre.. had nosedived into the prep and realized there were major knowledge gaps. Prepared for 2021 with all zeal and expanded my reading list too.. but this time I became so anxious while giving the paper that I misread 6 questions and started panicking after looking at sports questions. I am scoring 60+ in 2021 which is making me more anxious.
I have enrolled for SFG but I am even worried about the entrance.
I have been a topper throughout.. always worked hard and got things done but with prelims my whole confidence seems shattered.
Lets be honest here. 60 marks means we have not completed the basic books and the revisions. You do it, you will make it.
Too often, we underestimate or overestimate the prelims.
My 2 cents is just give it 4 or 5 months dedicated, you will clear it. People do.
At some point you will have to draw the line and give Prelims the respect it deserves. It is easy to be seduced by the cacophony that will make you believe that its a Russian Roulette, but its not.
I meanLifeis more a Russian Roulette than this.
And then they never ask about the Prelims phase.
@Neyawn yes sir, I lacked proper revision. I realized this, when you asked about the state reorganization committee.. I blurted out sardar Patel but when you answered Nehru.. suddenly I recalled.. yes patel was of minority committee.
I read books, revised them but maybe not the number of times it is actually required.
Thankyou for this!
sjerngal,THE_MECHANIC@Neyawn sir, I scored 54.43 in 2020 pre.. had nosedived into the prep and realized there were major knowledge gaps. Prepared for 2021 with all zeal and expanded my reading list too.. but this time I became so anxious while giving the paper that I misread 6 questions and started panicking after looking at sports questions. I am scoring 60+ in 2021 which is making me more anxious.
I have enrolled for SFG but I am even worried about the entrance.
I have been a topper throughout.. always worked hard and got things done but with prelims my whole confidence seems shattered.
Lets be honest here. 60 marks means we have not completed the basic books and the revisions. You do it, you will make it.
Too often, we underestimate or overestimate the prelims.
My 2 cents is just give it 4 or 5 months dedicated, you will clear it. People do.
At some point you will have to draw the line and give Prelims the respect it deserves. It is easy to be seduced by the cacophony that will make you believe that its a Russian Roulette, but its not.
I meanLifeis more a Russian Roulette than this.
And then they never ask about the Prelims phase.
@Neyawn yes sir, I lacked proper revision. I realized this, when you asked about the state reorganization committee.. I blurted out sardar Patel but when you answered Nehru.. suddenly I recalled.. yes patel was of minority committee.
I read books, revised them but maybe not the number of times it is actually required.
Thankyou for this!
More than that we have to know that if it is odd,question yahin se banega
I am no knight. Do not call me Sir|Philosophy behind ForumIAS
@Neyawn I know no one asked me for it, but I would like to give some feedback on the logo. Basically, I have pursued graphic designing, UI/ UX, logo making as a part of campus groups during my college days.. Did some internship as well in the design field.I also wanted to appreciate mgp and other brochures of forum, they reflect presence of some graphic design-aligned mind curating them. To a usual upsc aspirant these things will not matter but my mind takes me back to the old days when I spent hours figuring out alignment and color combinations in some logos, I worked on.Regarding, the logo.. I feel there's something odd which irks my minds.- With the arrow coming in the logo, 'IAS' in ForumIAS appears thin. Basically, arrrow, Forum and IAS have 3 different font styles which in my view breaks uniformity.I believe arrow and IAS, if they have similar styles or use of 2 font style instead of 3 will bring simplicity and uniformity.Apart from logo, I really feel the portal to show good mgp copies can be designed in a different manner:Having links to ans copies of all toppers in one webpage >a webpage for every topper.Design can be very subjective and you may have your own reasons of why a particular thing was designed this way.I just wanted to express what I felt.Thank you for your two cents.
I could either make that IAS thicker or the arrow slimmer. If I make the arrow slimmer it will not be visible. If I touch with the IAS thickness, it may be too much change ( my concern ).
Can you make a logo for us if you have time? It could be a small gig? I would like to have infinity or something with some changes like the original firefox browser = inifity symbol and the new Forefox focus logo as the edited version of the inifinity symbol?
You would recommend having one single page for all the topper copies?
I also believe ForumIAS should be left as it is, we've all built some sort of connect with this part of the logo.
The addition has been the arrow part so we can possibly make changes on that.
I would be happy to design a logo for Forum :) if I'm given a flexible timeline.
The infinity concept sounds interesting.
I come from tech background and was involved with startups for brief period of time. A startup named toppr have their logo also on the arrow concept. The arrow concept is appealing as it reflects 'upwards n onwards' sort of message.
What I meant from a single webpage for all topper answer copies was something like vision(If I'm allowed to name). On a single page they've provided ans copies of all toppers across years, saves time for the user + one may also get some good copies of toppers whose name they didn't knew.
But this is my view, others may think differently or you might have some others factors in mind while designing the pages.
Everyday. 3-4 hours. Me time.
No day specific break. If feeling saturated, take break for a day. Ganga kinare baith jate hain. Barber ko visit kar lete hai. And since he knows me from childhood, he would ask everytime about my exams. "Jo last exam diye the usme hua kya...arre re nahi hua... Koi nahi... Ho jayega. Mehnat karte rahiye. Aur bhi exams dijiye". I mean, every damn time :p
Will come tomorrow to meet you at offline centre. What time are you available?
Spend a few hours daily on things that I like to do (Reading, TV Shows, Meditation and so on!). Once in 3-4 months I'll usually get super saturated so I'd then go visit friends for a couple of days.
Tried to take a forced break after a good November but that made me lost momentum and I haven't been able to go back to the November peak yet. Counting on the new year to do its magic now :P
I have written 3 prelims and failed in all. There has been improvement in all, I missed the last two by a few marks. Among other factors, I feel burnout has been one of the significant ones. We are told to be in a constant problem-solving mode, but it is extremely crucial to manage burnout. Although I took short breaks during my preparation they weren't regular, and even when I took a break my mind was constantly thinking about the exam, the results and my future. Hence the breaks were almost ineffective as my mind was not well-rested.
After speaking to you, I have decided to join the SFG and plan to do some targeted answer writing till February to make up for my sins of ignoring it until now. However, I fear burnout, I don't know how to manage it. I have been struggling with it, I am exhausted, almost depleted. I am trying to work on it albeit ineffectively. I request@Neyawn to make a video or write a long read on the same. Please share your experience and of toppers on how they faced burnout and how they overcame it/ managed it effectively.
Thank you@Neyawn
Guys I need genuine advice and your help as we learn from other experience currently entered into depression and developed anxiety .
Just writing my heart out civil service was always my desired goal so that's I chose to do BA from a typical govt . college with history as I wanted to prepare for this exam as soon as possible. In our institute we don't have to go to classes we have have to just compete the assignment and go and write the exam at the end of year .
Completed degree in 2018 and appeared for UPSC
2018@ - failed pre (88 marks )
2019 failed pre ( 90 marks )
2020 failed press inspite of getting 102 in GS due to csat (62 marks)
2021 again failed !
This was my fourth prelims and plethora of failure for me .
I don't know what to do as I have completed 25 last month and my mind has lost all faith in me .
Being from humble with dependent on parents it is taking toll on my health .
Would it would be wise to take a break and focus on other exam for stability .
I am just shattered with my performance .
Can any Senior would help me out ?
First few weeks start with 6 day study and 1 day break (doing things which require not much use of brain - tv series/movie/painting/art/craft).
Then pending things piles up, study 11-15 days and then mental breakdown happens - 2-3 days break feeling guilty amd losing my sanity.
Hey you might have the issue of trying to do many things if you find a constant pattern of things piling up. Either you’re trying to do much or you’re not pushing enough on your regular sessions. Either way try to start with lesser things and slowly push yourself to add one more topic once you’re settled into your routine.
I read a terribly demeaning self help book a while ago but one thing I really liked and implement on a daily basis is the “bare minimum rule”. As a rule try and keep certain things as the bare minimum tasks that you must achieve no matter what. Ideally limit it to 3 things, and be disciplined enough to do that, so that even if you’re having a bad mental health day, you know you’ve still gotten 3 things done, which is better than doing nothing.
Take a break whenever you feel like and maintain moderation in your daily routine. Hope this helps :)
First few weeks start with 6 day study and 1 day break (doing things which require not much use of brain - tv series/movie/painting/art/craft).
Then pending things piles up, study 11-15 days and then mental breakdown happens - 2-3 days break feeling guilty amd losing my sanity.
Hey you might have the issue of trying to do many things if you find a constant pattern of things piling up. Either you’re trying to do much or you’re not pushing enough on your regular sessions. Either way try to start with lesser things and slowly push yourself to add one more topic once you’re settled into your routine.
I read a terribly demeaning self help book a while ago but one thing I really liked and implement on a daily basis is the “bare minimum rule”. As a rule try and keep certain things as the bare minimum tasks that you must achieve no matter what. Ideally limit it to 3 things, and be disciplined enough to do that, so that even if you’re having a bad mental health day, you know you’ve still gotten 3 things done, which is better than doing nothing.
Take a break whenever you feel like and maintain moderation in your daily routine. Hope this helps :)
Ahh, it's either being too ambitious or perfectionist for me.
Being perfectionist = unless I have done 100% of a topic /task, I don't tend to take a break. Let's say I have completed 80% of a topic, then I think let's take a break after reaching 100%. But achieving the last 20% takes even more time (than the first 80%) as I am mentally exhausted. I realised perfect is the enemy of good. What's better- 100% of few topics or 80% of many topics. Moreover you can't know 100% about a topic(eg-health). Only few important things one should know and revise them and not everything. Hope I am not wrong, though leaving the last 20% make me a little insecure.
Being ambitious - being perfectionist lead to next problem of becoming too ambitious of completing too many topics in less time and hence mental breakdown.
Learnt it the hard way that taking breaks is also necessary to keep mental stability.
Thanks for advice and taking time to write this out : ). All the best to you.
Marigold,
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