CSE — The countdown begins!

With UPSC announcing the dates for the year 2025 for both Prelims and Mains  (May 25 and August 22 respectively), the countdown has begun for the aspirants.

UPSC preparation can be a tedious task if not approached in a structured manner. Since the syllabus is both wide and deep and covers diverse topics, it is imperative to understand the significance and pattern of the previous years’ papers and prepare according to your strengths.

The syllabus recommends multiple books, newspapers, and a lot of literature which may be overwhelming. You may not have enough time to go over each topic line by line, but in this day and age, you may couple hard work with certain AI tools that would truncate the preparation time and also increase efficiency.

Approach it in a backward engineered, structured manner.

Here is how you divide your three months’ time frame:

Month 1: Create mind maps and study guides

This phase aims at building your reading and memorising skills so that you are able to grasp main concepts and make key notes.

Start with NCERT of Grades VI-X for  understanding the topics for its easy language and move  to specialised books on History viz; Ancient India by RS Sharma, India's Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra, Certificate Physical Geography by G.C. Leong,"Indian Polity" by M. Laxmikanth,Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh,Science and Technology by Ravi P. Agarwal to name a few to get more information added on those topics.Create mind maps and visual cues, blurbs that become capsules for you for last minute photographs in your mind. You may use plain sheets and Atlas to create blurbs.

AI tip: To name a few, tools such as mindmapAI, Coggle that have both free and paid subscriptions can create mind maps from uploaded text using its AI capabilities.

For CSAT, focus on practicing Data Interpretation, Analytical Reasoning, and English Comprehension by setting a 2-hour block each day for focused CSAT practice.Since it is a qualifying paper, you must score a minimum of 33%.

Month 2: Intensively learn and place these mind maps into a memory palace

Once your mind maps and study capsules are ready, in month 2, you may need to do a surgical strike on the topics you feel need an immersive deep dive. For this, associate these mind maps into a memory palace by associating the main topics with names of persons or things. Remember, do this for topics where you have difficulty remembering and you need to do a surgical strike.

Focus on previous years' questions and try to match them with topics studied.

Also, focus on revising current affairs of the past 2 years such as important policies, government schemes, international relations, government reforms that keep coming up in monthly magazines like Yojana, Kurukshetra, and newspapers like The Hindu or Indian Express. You may also download apps like Flipboard, Inshorts etc for quick updates and create folders for easy access.

Keep practising the mock CSAT and identify your weak areas here too. The topics that need a daily dive are Constitution, Preamble, Schedules, Emergency Provisions, Judiciary, and Federalism. Identifying your weak areas here would serve as a dipstick for your last month plans and preparations.

AI tip: Using tools like bard by Google, you can analyse trends in current affairs and gain insights that would save your time

Month 3: Simulate and appear for Mock tests

Appearing for mock tests would help you overcome your initial fear of taking the test. It's like simulating the entire experience. Attempt at least one full-length mock test per week in the last three months. Analyze each test thoroughly to improve accuracy and speed.You can know precisely how much time you can spend on a question besides learning the art of an intelligent elimination thinking pattern that would allow you to hit the nail on the head and avoid negative marking.

You can also use AI tools like Perplexity to create a preparation schedule for you. You may choose to increase frequency of revisions for areas / topics that you feel need more time. It will require a rigorous and consistent approach to complete such a vast syllabus in 3 months but it is absolutely achievable.

Therefore, begin with the end in mind- plan, act and achieve success in the forthcoming UPSC exam and  pick up your planner and act on your dreams!

The writer is a Career Coach and Business Consultant