CSE 2021: Plan / Strategy / Daily Routine
Hello 2021 aspirants. I thought it would be nice if we can share what we are doing and intend to do with one another here.
This could be a thread for discussing everything prep for 2021.
No one method fits all but to see the plans and progress made by fellow aspirants might help with the finer details of preparation and also keep one on track.
Moderator Update: This thread has crossed 1 million views and has thousands of comments slowing down the website. We are closing this and moving to the next thread
I have been not able to give my best since last few week hence I am trying out to publicly post my targets from today.
Target: 12 hours of studies
Minimum: 10 hours
1. PT 365- polity
2. AW 1 optional, 2 GS
Action on last target:
Time: 9.5 hours
Completed PT 365 Polity, AW 1 Optional. Missed 2 GS AW
Today’s target:
Time: min 10 hours, target 12 hours
Revise constitution and polity notes
I've done only one reading of Geography (Indian + Physical) from a wide range of sources to properly understand the concepts, having a hard time figuring out how to go about with the revision. Can somebody shed light on their concise revision sources for Geography for Prelims? Would mean a lot, thanks :)
I have Geo as optional. Yet the most useful material is what I get from NCERTs. They are the summum bonum. If one finds it boring, go for TN Geog books. Colorful, updated and a pleasant read.
3/8/21
Time studied ->7 hours 25 minutes
Fluids and Mechanics revision + PYQs ->done 80% of targets
Environment Red Book revision ->done 75% of target
CA Revision ->done 60%
Newspaper ->done
I had set really ambitious targets today to help me push more than usual. They turned out to be a bit out of reach. Also, I played football in the evening instead of the usual jog. This meant I was more tired than usual so my post 7pm sessions weren't too productive.
Nevertheless, this was a good day. I did more than I usually do.
@Marigold,@piano,@Newton981 Welcome to the thread! Hope to see you all become regular members here :)
hey! What is your optional?
Maths. Yours?
mightyraju,Rashmirathi
3/8/21
Time studied ->7 hours 25 minutes
Fluids and Mechanics revision + PYQs ->done 80% of targets
Environment Red Book revision ->done 75% of target
CA Revision ->done 60%
Newspaper ->done
I had set really ambitious targets today to help me push more than usual. They turned out to be a bit out of reach. Also, I played football in the evening instead of the usual jog. This meant I was more tired than usual so my post 7pm sessions weren't too productive.
Nevertheless, this was a good day. I did more than I usually do.
@Marigold,@piano,@Newton981 Welcome to the thread! Hope to see you all become regular members here :)
hey! What is your optional?
Maths. Yours?
Civil engineering.
I read fluid and mechanics in your post, a bulb of happiness lights up to find someone with my optional haha
Not able to study today because of excessive facial pain. I have been facing the problem of jaw locking for 2 years now. Whenever I concentrate or whenever something huge comes up ( eg: prelims) this problem gets more severe. My lower jaw gets stuck behind the upper one and I face severe facial pain. And it’s not even like teeth grinding, my jaws just get stuck and I feel a suction sort of thing. And I realise all this when my gums and my forehead start paining. Does anyone else face this problem? How are you dealing with it? I so want to get rid of it.
Hey. I am no expert and you can totally choose to ignore what follows, but this seems to be a case of anxiety/stress to me. Our bodies respond differently to stress and therefore the physical symptoms might not be the same but a lot of people do go through such problems.
Of course you should go see a doctor if this gets out of hand but if you want to try a few things I would suggest meditation, exercise or anything that helps you destress/gets you that dopamine rush. Could be music, food or friends too. Also, it is important to not fight the pain, that only leads to more stress and activates the fight or flight response of our body.
Just close your eyes, take deep breaths and think about good things whenever something like this overwhelms you. Trust me, if you find what helps you destress and you continue with it then you will forget about this in no time. All the best!
Not able to study today because of excessive facial pain. I have been facing the problem of jaw locking for 2 years now. Whenever I concentrate or whenever something huge comes up ( eg: prelims) this problem gets more severe. My lower jaw gets stuck behind the upper one and I face severe facial pain. And it’s not even like teeth grinding, my jaws just get stuck and I feel a suction sort of thing. And I realise all this when my gums and my forehead start paining. Does anyone else face this problem? How are you dealing with it? I so want to get rid of it.
Hey, I think this problem is called TMJ something-something (Google will help here :P). While I have no personal experience with this particular issue, I sometimes find myself unconsciously clenching my jaw when I’m concentrating on something, like while solving a mock.
While I’ve never actually had my jaw locked or anything (phew), by digging a bit on this issue, I know that it can be quite painful. The fact that you mention it becoming a problem only times of stress could mean that yours too, is triggered by clenching your jaw unconsciously.
I’ll say it is definitely worth a doctor’s visit who will probably check your bite, and maybe your teeth alignment and stuff too, to see if there’s something else triggering it.
For me, personally, it took a lot of deliberate practice and being mindful of not clenching my jaw to finally stop it. Consider this, at no point when your mouth is at rest, should your upper and lower teeth touch. This was a good rule to abide by. Also, yeah meditating and keeping off stress as much as possible helps big time, since this is just another form of adaptive stress mechanism.
TLDR: Go get it looked at by a doctor. But more importantly, de-stress.
Good morning gentle peeps, targets for 4.8.21:
ancient India- morning slot
Test
economy- 3/4
test analysis
PSIR- state
august 2020 C/A
CSAT
daily C/A
editorial- IE+ Hindu
That’s all folks. Let’s pray for the bread to be fresh and our lunch to be amazing. :)
Didn’t manage to do PSIR which has become a usual victim to prelims prep. I think I might have to stop planning PSIR into my schedule from now on. I really hope this doesn’t come back to bite me in my bread cheeks. 🤞🏻
Good morning Guys :)
Early start to the day from my side. Hope I make the most out of it. Now is not the right time to have stupid mood swings and waste times. Targets for 4/8/21
- Geography current affairs
- Places in news and mapping
- Finish the NCERT
Keeping the targets few, so that I don't get another panic attack and waste the whole day.
All the best guys.Jaan laga do ya jaane do!!
Great day today.. All targets done along with some other revisions here and there.
I have figured out whenever I feel sleepy, I play Game of thrones or Harry Potter soundtrack and it is so much fun studying listening to that...
On a side note, my evening walk surprised me with a sight of 7 adorable puppies born to that female dog..
Best part of the day... Wish I could take all of them home. Here is one of them. :)
Total time studied ->7 hours 2 mins
Fluids ->60% done;
Environment ->60% done
CA revision ->not done
Newspaper ->done
Today I couldn't focus much. Even when I sat to study, my speed was much slower than usual. Plus a friend has his Personality Test tomorrow so I spent a couple of hours helping him with some last minute prep.
All this meant I fell a lot short of my targets
@Rsiasgoal Welcome to the thread!
So I thought that being away from Forum and this thread may reinvigorate the animal spirits but alas!I have struggled to put in decent amount of hours on a regular basis starting this July. I need to pick up again and the amount of zeal that I see on this thread is tremendous.
So the targets for 4th August 2021(Day 10)
Between 7 and 10- Complete Machiavelli
Between 10-2- GS 2
Between 3- 9- GS Notes
Between 9-11- PYQs of PSIR
11-11:45- Newspaper.
So I started pretty decently in the morning today. Finished Machiavelli as well a decent portion of Target 2. But then, all the enthusiasm went into a drain when the UPS backup went off(There was no electricity since 2 am last night). After that,I only managed to read newspapers and cover today's CA. So for
Day 11(5th August)
Targets of 4th August+ Hobbes(if possible) since tomorrow is an action packed day at Olympics.
To PSIR folks@LetsGetThisBread @sstarrr @balwintejas and others,
So while reading IGNOU notes on Machiavelli, I came across this thing"Machiavelli was the first pragmatist in the history of political thought".It wasn't explained much. I tried googling it around and came across conflicting justifications. So how to approach if a question around this aspect of Machiavellian thought comes up in the exam?
Good night folks!
T28 3 Aug 2021NewsMock.Polity Rev (3/5)Okayish day yesterday.
Today I am at a loss for how to best use test series solutions. How do you do it, my dear forumites? Highlight solutions, write on book or maintain dairy of errors? Enlighten pls...
I usually do three things
1) If the question is from a particular topic I already have studied from my material (standard books/notes for static; CA magazines for current), I'll go to the relevant page of the material and write in the margins if there's some new info. This helps me mentally locate the info in its correct place while revising, and helps with easier recollection.
2) If it's something new, or some topic which I might have studied but don't remember from exactly where (which happens always with current affairs questions), I'll underline/highlight in the booklet itself. I have tried making separate notes in the past but it takes a lot of time. It's more efficient to directly revise from there.
3) In the booklet, I circle/tick-mark those questions I got wrong/unattempted or having some new info. So when I'm revising the test series, I'll skip many questions and just do those that are relevant (i.e. those that are marked). This again saves time.
Write your comment…
