UPSC Preparation Tips

Hello, in this article we will talk about the UPSC exam preparation tips. 

We know that every year UPSC conducts IAS and other civil services exams in our country. Lakhs of students have a hope of becoming an officer and serve our country. The post of an IAS officer is considered to be the biggest among all others.

As the post is big so is the competition. To confirm your seat in the list you need proper strategy and preparation tips that must be followed in order to be ahead in the queue of aspirants.

The article will not only deal with the tips for UPSC preparation for a normal candidate but also the UPSC preparation tips for working professionals along with the UPSC preparation tips from toppers.

So, let’s begin the discussion.

UPSC Preparation Tips

UPSC conducts civil services exam that is amongst the toughest of all the competitive exams conducted in the country. The exam is conducted in three stages, preliminary, mains, and the interview round.

UPSC Tips For Prelims And Mains Exam

The UPSC preliminary is the first stage of the selection procedure. The student needs to qualify the cut-off to be eligible for the next round. 

There are two papers that are objective in nature. Most of us think that the pre-exam is highly competitive but in fact, this is not so tough with proper study and tips. 

In the following section, we have discussed the important UPSC exam preparation tips for the prelims and mains exams.

Also Read: IAS Eligibility Criteria

1. Time Table

It is very important to have a timetable and working according to it. Many students have a question about how to make a timetable?

Starting from the morning, you need to wake up early and go for a walk, eat dry fruits, and study for 2-3 hours after you reach home. You can take a little gap now and do your daily works and after taking lunch you need to study for another 3 hours. In the evening go for a walk or do something to entertain yourself. As you start feeling energetic again study for 3-4 hours.

The above one is just to help you make a good timetable and let you know the importance of studying 8- 10 hours in a day.

2. Basic concept

It is important to start your preparation 9-10 months before the pre-exam. To get sufficient time to make a foundation for yourself and for the starting weeks build concepts with in-depth reading.

Without clearing the basics you should never move ahead. Otherwise, you will face a lot of difficulties in the future.

Would like to add a UPSC preparation tip from the topper here, even if it takes some time, give it to clear the basic concept. Else it would ruin your hard work in the long term.

3. Notes

Making notes is an art and not everyone is an artist.

Your notes must be in good handwriting and written in such a way that they are helpful while revising.

Most of the students learn the art at the coaching and we should indeed join good coaching for better preparation. I would recommend you to join The Thought Tree in Jaipur as it is one of the best coaching available in the market for UPSC preparation.

Also Read: History Books for UPSC

4. Current Affairs

It is important to revise the current affairs daily as they are an important segment of the UPSC exam.

You should read the newspaper daily, can follow some Youtube channels, websites for getting the knowledge of current affairs.

Not only about the happening in our country but also the important International happenings. We know that UPSC is designed to check the in-depth knowledge of a student so current affairs help in serving our country well.

5. Previous year Papers

As and when you are done with the complete course and revision you can proceed for solving the previous year papers as they are quite useful in knowing the question patterns and UPSC comes up with some unexpected things in the paper that you will get an idea about before sitting for the paper.

Mocks are equally important as they guide the student to know his strength and weakness and prepare well for the weak points in the available time and have a better chance of selection.

6. Self-motivation

This is more important than others motivating you. The self-motivation that you give yourself is the best success mantra. 

Don’t focus on what people will say, what people are doing, and what will happen next? Just focus on your work and don’t compare yourself with anyone. You are one in a million and everyone has different strengths and weaknesses.

There is a tip from topper that when you will start growing in your life, you will face a lot of hardships, and people will try and pull you down. Getting over this situation will make you tuff and a better person and success would be more amazing for you.

We have so far discussed the tips for every general student preparing for the exam. Now, we shall move on to the UPSC preparation tips for working professionals.

UPSC Preparation Tips for Working Professionals

Not every aspirant needs to have full-time for his preparation. Some may be working and also preparing meanwhile.

Some of you might be thinking that Is it possible to prepare while working?

The answer is simply, Yes. It is going to be a little tough but nothing is impossible. Every year some students are selected who are working and preparing. They are not just qualified in the exam but also top the list.

There is a UPSC preparation tip from topper, it doesn’t matter you are working or having full-time to prepare, you only need to put in complete efforts whenever you study and success is the final outcome of the hard work we do.

Working professionals face many challenges for preparation. Let us see what are the challenges faced by them.

Challenges

1. The first is obviously the time. The working people had to do 8-10 hours of work and after the hectic schedule, they have to take out time to study.
2. The second is focus and lack of energy. They may face a lot of people during the day that may make them lethargic and even leave them in a bad mood.
3. Another one is that you may want to leave the job and give full focus to study but some personal problems and other factors may not allow you to do so.

There are some benefits also for the working professionals.

Benefits

• What can be better than preparing from limited resources in a limited time? It may feel like a blessing in disguise.
• You have a backup job all ready for you. So you don’t need to be conscious about the backup plans and if and but questions. This makes you more focused on the exam.
• The working people have a better self-confidence than other competitors as they have faced the professional life.
• You have your financial support so need not depend on others. This also helps as you can prepare for long times.
• The working professionals have an extra advantage over other candidates in the interview round as they have more hard work than a candidate who had more time for preparation.

Now, let us move on to the tips and strategies for working professionals.

Tips and Strategies

• To begin with, you should never quit a job. Instead, you can take a few leaves before sitting in the pre-exam. You can also take a break before the mains exam and rejoin after the exam.
• Try to keep yourself away from social media. If possible, avoid it completely. This will help you save some time for your studies.
• Start your preparation at least 9 months before the pre-exam. Few weeks for building a foundation and after that try to cover both pre and mains together. However, you may leave some topics that are in mains if there is a lack of time.
• Study every subject daily and at least take out 5-6 hours for studying. Revise daily and try to be continuous in your study don’t leave gaps of any day without studying.
• Weekends are most important as you get complete days during that time. Allow yourself according to that and prepare a different timetable for weekends. Utilize the most of it.
• Don’t have too many books for each subject and do limited study from limited material. There is a UPSC preparation tip from topper that does selective study according to topics mentioned in the syllabus not work according to books as they waste a lot of time that we don’t even know while preparing.
• After giving your pre-exam, if you are confident about getting good marks. Take some leaves from the job and start preparing from the answer writing for the mains.
• There are various coaching that provides weekend batches and online courses for the UPSC exam. The Thought Tree helps and guides the students for the UPSC exam and gives useful last-minute tips and strategies for the exam.

Interview tips

It is also an important stage in the UPSC exam. You are judged and awarded marks for your appearance, gratitude, attitude in the hall. You should be confident in the answers that you give and your nervousness can lead to your failure.

You can watch many mock interview videos on websites and on Youtube channels that are available free of cost for everyone. Apart from this, you can also give mock interviews at different coaching centres for analyzing your performance before the actual interview.

Be honest to yourself and don’t hesitate to say a NO to the questions you don’t know the answer for. 

Conclusion

We have discussed UPSC exam preparation tips in the article. Nothing is guaranteed but doing something better than others helps and gives you more chances of getting successful.

I hope that you have gained a lot of knowledge from the article and try to apply the same in your preparation. 

These tips for UPSC preparation will surely make you ahead of many aspirants and will make you confident for your selection. 

Don’t be afraid of any challenges that come in your life. Focus on your goal and work on achieving the goal with full enthusiasm.

All the best for your preparation!