The effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort makes all the difference. This article is written with a special focus on doing smart work for IAS preparation. The importance of this discussion is at a time when there are a wide variety of resources available around every aspirant to make him/her get confused. UPSC IAS Smart Work for Preparation. How to Get Your Priorities Right?
Hard work vs UPSC IAS Smart Work
In school, we would have come across both hard workers and smart workers.
Hard workers would study the entire year, make notes on almost everything, and prepare hard for examinations. However, when final results come, some ‘dark horses’ emerge to top the list, often overtaking the hard workers, surprising everybody.
Yes, they are the smart workers.
The smart worker completes the most important tasks first. They prioritise their actions. If the effort is not worth the return, they may even don’t do it.
In contrast, hard workers try hard and attempt to learn almost everything. In the process, they tend to devote more time on unimportant topics and materials, resulting in the loss of valuable time.
Smart workers would pay more attention to their final goal and clear the examinations in flying colours spending less time, energy and money!
Know what to study and what not
There is no shortage of books, materials, or coaching in the market, but there is no proper guidance regarding what to study and what not. The root concept of smart work for clearing IAS exam lies in the same – knowing what to study and what not.
If you are a beginner (or veteran) who is confused about the right strategies, we strongly recommend you to download our ebook (PDF) – “UPSC Civil Services Exam – The Beginner’s Guide to Success”. You can download it for FREE!
You may also check the article Strategy and Books for Early Birds To Knowledgekart Blog for IAS Exam if ‘civils’ is a long-term plan.
If you are thinking that you need to read N number of books (the big ones you know, with near size of a pillow where N is a variable which starts only from the smallest possible 3 digit number), attend IAS classroom coaching at ABC institute, BCD institute, and XYZ institute for specialized classes for each subject, browse 15-20 websites and prepare notes from 5-10 newspapers and magazines each day to Knowledgekart IAS, you are probably wrong.
The exaggerated actions highlighted above are Utopian cases, which are neither practical nor necessary to clear Civil Services Exam. Even if an imaginary person does all that is stated above, there is still a chance that he/she, not clear Prelims/Mains. UPSC IAS Smart Work for IAS Preparation
What matters in the UPSC Exams is the Quality of Learning and not the Quantity!
What matters in UPSC IAS preparation is not the quantity (volume) of materials one had gone through, but the quality of learning and revision done.
Equally important as knowledge (or conceptual understanding) is another factor – Skill. To clear an exam like UPSC CSE, you need to develop your exam skills. Aspirants should also develop personalized strategies knowing their strengths and weaknesses, as general strategies might not work in individual cases. UPSC IAS Smart Work
Techniques to boost your UPSC Marks within a short time!
‘Collector’ or ‘Book Collector’?
As books in physical form are an indispensable prerequisite for IAS preparation, candidates should not worry spending a few bucks on the necessary books for UPSC exams. In fact, from the very beginning aspirants should keep aside a sum of around Rs. 5000-10,000 entirely for basic books, magazines and newspapers. UPSC IAS Smart Work
But what are the essential books for IAS preparation? Don’t worry. We are coming to that.
Book-Buying Habit of Aspirants – Two Extreme Cases
Two versions of candidates can be observed if we keenly analyze the book-buying habit of aspirants.
The first group are extremely reluctant to spend on books, though they are happy to spend thousands on coaching classes (without any use), drinks, the latest gadgets or parties. Instead of the original books, the depend on pirated PDFs, photocopies, and the coaching class notes.
The second version of aspirants considers being a book collector as the prerequisite for becoming an actual collector. Rooms of these guys can at any time beat any central library in terms of quantity of materials 🙂
Choose the middle path!
We at ClearIAS.com suggest a middle path. Though books are lifelong assets and the money spend on books can be seen as an investment, you should also consider the time factor. You have only limited time and UPSC does not expect you to read all the textbooks and magazines available in the market.
So candidates are advised to adopt a basic minimum program in the case of books and study materials that should be bought. Depending upon on time available, you may expand your book base from this basic minimum.
We have listed out 30-40 books recommended by toppers (considering the requirements of Prelims, Mains, and Interview). Once you begin, you may not buy all of them together. Start with 1-2 books for each subject. However, get NCERT textbooks for all subjects from class 6-12.
Even the minimum book list (listed below) might look exhaustive for some of the aspirants, but unfortunately, we can’t help that. The one year long UPSC exam cycle expects you to go through at least these basics. After all, you are doing smart work for IAS, and not any school exams! 🙂
Smart Work for IAS Preparation
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