The UPSC CSE has recently seen huge number of working professionals appearing for the exam and even clearing it comprehensively. Preparing for UPSC while working, either full-time or part-time, is an arduous task. It requires a lot more than just studying. After all, taking out time for studies and those too enduring hours at office is quite difficult. But, we believe if you are firm and resolute enough to take the decision to appear for the exam, you can well and truly qualify as well. Peep into some of the tips and strategies, a working professional can adopt in order to enhance his UPSC Preparation i.e. Strategy to Crack UPSC CSE 2020 for working professionals:
- An Integrated Approach:
Before starting, a concrete plan should be in place for you to refer at any point of time. Your biggest hurdle is paucity of time and so the approach should be an integrated one i.e. covering both mains and prelims together. Start your preparation with mains as only a handful of topics will be exclusively for Prelims such as General Science, Ancient & Medieval History. - Inculcate the ‘Split Target’ Plan:
Chalk out a definite milestone chart by splitting the syllabus into small targets, to be completed with a stipulated time. The targets can be daily, weekly or monthly based, whichever you are comfortable with. Completing the targets within the specified time will make you grow in confidence. And once you start gaining confidence, half the battle is won. - Learn from ‘Mistakes’:
If you appeared for the exams previously then analyze your weak links and mistakes and try to improve upon it. “You can be permitted to commit new mistakes and learn from it, but repeating the same mistakes is a cardinal sin”. Use the experience you have gained over the previous attempts. Analyze the previous year questions and understand the dynamics of UPSC. - ‘Rationality’ over anything:
Preparing for UPSC while working posses different set of challenges for the aspirants. This is where your perseverance and character can help you. There is should be rational thinking behind anything you do concerning with the exam, be it dividing time for different subjects, choosing the optional papers or anything think twice before acting. Take for example, choosing of an optional paper. Choose such a paper, that you are most interested in and preferably short in syllabus. - Collection of Books in not Advisable:
Avoid stacking a pile of books or resources. Get only the recommended standard books and stick to them. It is better that you a read a single book ten times rather than fretting over ten books for a particular subject. This will do nothing more than imposing more pressure on you. UPSC only demands you to be acquainted with all the things going around in India and the world. You need not be “King of all trades”. Being “Jack of all” will suffice. - Make use of your free time:
This is very critical to manage but if you can pull this off then instant results are up for grab. During office hours, make use of whatever spare time to go through some of the resources or study materials. Take for example, you can complete the newspaper while travelling to office, be it physical reading or listening to the newspaper analysis made available by various online websites. This practice will help you save precious time to be invested in other things. - Use the Internet:
Instead of purchasing newspapers, you can subscribe to their PDF versions and get a look at it over the whole day. Prepare your notes with online tools and store it in your drives so that you can access them whenever you like. - Attempt Mock Test Series:
Whatever you study for the exam will be futile if you do not put it to test before the actual exam. Take up mock test series once you are done with the syllabus. Attempt VIAPTS 2020 and test your UPSC proficiency with us.
The most important aspect of preparation is your approach and attitude towards it. You have to decisive in whatever you do, paucity of time is inevitable and there is no time to go for the trial and error method. You just get to keep your cool, not getting stressed or panicked by looking at other aspirants. Believe in yourself and have faith in your strategy, rest will take its own course.
The article is a shout out to all those aspirants who are tussling between their jobs and UPSC preparation. Just hang in there, stay focused and keep going, success will come sooner or later.
