5 Tips to Prepare Effective Notes for Prelims Test Series 2020

Prelims Test Series 2020

The UPSC CSE 2020 is just six months away and all the aspirants must be fretting hard over completing the vast UPSC syllabus in time to continue with the revisions.

Aspirants will be having numerous strategies in place of their own for learning and syllabus completion, but one of the most recommended strategies will be to prepare effective notes for the topics you study. These notes will not only help you with the Prelims exams but also for the Mains exam you need not go through the whole basic books over again. They can be gauged with the notes. Following are some useful tips to prepare effective notes for the UPSC Prelims Test Series 2020:

  1. Studying and Note-making should go hand-in-hand:
    Notes can be prepared both at the classroom and with self-study at home. Making class notes while at classroom helps you to get along the topics taught over there, it is equally important for you to create your own notes on various topics concerned with the exam, be it any static topic or current affairs. The notes should not be a copy-paste work. It should be selective and only containing relevant information. It becomes much easier during revisions, if you have neat handwritten notes at your disposal.
  2. Notes should be Organized:
    As mentioned above, it should not contain stories. It should be crisp, precise and to-the-point. Being organized helps big time. Create separate copies for separate subjects or you can also club them into different files. Make use of tables and flowcharts for better understanding.
  3. Keep it as Simple as Possible:
    Notes are an aid to your UPSC preparation. There are to enhance your knowledge on a particular topic. Make use of simple language, nothing complex. Once you go through a topic, draft it down in your own words. Such a habit will make you retain the learned things for longer period of time.
  4. No place for Personal Biasness:
    Always remember you preparing to become a future bureaucrat. The notes you prepare should be strictly exam-relevant only. May be you have a peculiar interest in Environment paper and want to explore deep but it is advisable to refrain from such. UPSC is an exam which demands you to be a “Jack of all and king of none”. Be very particular about this.
  5. Room to include new Information:
    Make sure the class notes you prepare should always contain some space towards the end after each topic. This way you can include new information every time something pops in the news or you discover some more exam relevant information and update the notes accordingly. This particular holds good for your current affairs notes.

Class note making is a very effective way to retain things which you have learnt. Moreover, it helps you in the answer writing aspect of the exam. At the end of the day, while it will be an ardent task to go through the heavy books once again during revisions, note making helps you make that job a lot easier.

We hope, these tips are pretty clear for you to understand as to how you can get into preparing good notes. So start preparing your own class notes, keep on updating it and see the changes for yourself.

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