There is a saying in English “Early Bird catches the worm” and it applies perfectly on the preparation for Civil Services Examination. The difficulty level of this exam is high and its syllabus is like an ocean. Many new aspirants need quality time to understand the syllabus of civil services examination.

This article is for those early birds who are all set to take the UPSC Civil Services Exam 2020. You may feel that still there is a lot of time that you have for the preparation of this exam and its true too.

But you must be aware that many IAS serious aspirants start their preparation after 10+2 only. And In this exam, you will have to compete with those applicants too who have appeared it this exam before and aware of all the small details of the syllabus.  

Considering the vast syllabus of UPSC Civil Services exam and limited time, you will have to start your preparation from this moment only.  Early preparation for the civil services exam gives you enough time to revise all the studied topics. The earlier you start the more time you will get to practice.  

Here we have comprised 9 effective tips for Civil Services aspirants to help them to clear the IAS exam.

• Know Everything

Before making your mind to appear in the UPSC IAS exam, first gather all the information about the eligibility, available number of attempts for this exam. This one is a prestigious examination and it has some complex terms and condition like the number of attempts. Read all the information related to the IAS exam then plan your preparation.

• Be Focused

Civil Services examination is a long journey that starts with prelim and winds up at the interview. During this journey, you will feel attracted to other government job examination or you may feel bored. If you will witness any of this emotion then take a break of a few hours from your studies.

When you give 1.5 years in the preparation of only one exam then it happens and you may feel the aforementioned emotions or negative feelings. If the focus of your mind will be in the right direction then it will not be very difficult to come out from these types of situations.

• Syllabus

As you are willing to start your preparation for IAS exam from 2019 so you will have sufficient time with you, use it to understand the syllabus of UPSC. As we stated above that the syllabus of civil services exam is huge and until you know it deeply you can not choose the right matter to study for your IAS Preparation.

You can paste the UPSC syllabus for civil services exam in front of your study chair so that while reading some book or newspaper or preparing for an exam you can check whether it will help you in the exam or not.

• Proper Planning

No matter how much time you have only the proper planning can win you the game. You need to adhere to your study schedule from day one of your preparation. When you have huge time then it happens sometimes that you get careless with your preparation. Civil Services examination is a tough exam and you cannot afford the carelessness of a single day.

While making a study plan for the preparation of UPSC, keep in mind the long preparation duration you have. Do not over stress yourself with a hectic study schedule and start your preparation with 6 study hours in a day and increase it gradually.

• Start from the scratch

As you are making your mind to appear in UPSC civil services examination 2020 so need to revamp your old study habits. Now you will have to start reading The Hindu newspaper for the main National events. Maybe you are habitual to start your day with newspaper but now your lookout needs to change and instead of reading all the news like a book worm focus only on the important news from the IAS exam perspective.

Read the news based on bills proposed or pass in the Parliament. The verdicts of the supreme court and high court are also important and in UPSC Civil Services exam questions from recent verdicts may ask.

• Collect the Study Material

You must be aware of the importance of the study material in any examination. You will write the same thing in the exam that you have learned from your study material. So it becomes important to get the best and authentic books for you to prepare for IAS exam 2020.

You can start your studies with NCERT books. These books have authentic data and an easy way to start your journey of IAS Examination. While studying the NCERT books keep the syllabus for UPSC Civil services exam in mind and do not waste your time on any other topics.

• Make your own Notes

We remember those things for a long time which we have written somewhere. Same applies in the preparation of UPSC IAS examination too. Many time students just read the matter from the study material and think that they have gulped it but it’s only for a short time and soon the reading matter get vanished from the aspirant’s mind. The best way to keep the learned matter in mind is to write it.  

Self-made study notes give another benefit to the aspirants. They can read these notes just before the examination and when you write something in your own words then it becomes easy to understand it. And the UPSC IAS examination is all about the understanding with the subject.

• Previous Years Papers  

Many candidates prefer to look at the previous years’ question papers after completing their preparation for the exam. Here we will suggest you don’t do this practice. In fact, we would recommend you to look and understand the question papers of UPSC of previous years before starting your preparation.

An advanced sneak peek in the UPSC Civil Services question papers prepares you and your mind to face the coming challenges.  

• Practice! Practice! Practice!

As they say, that practice makes a man perfect but the facts say that only the right practice makes a man perfect. So you need to do a right practice by solving the mock test and previous years’ question papers,

The previous years’ question papers are the perfect tool for practicing as they will give you an idea about the exam pattern and pressure that you feels in the exam room.

Winding it Up

IAS aspirants need to understand that the post they want to achieve demands lots of passion and analytical thinking. With the help of the aforementioned suggestions, you will clear the prelim and main exam of the UPSC Civil Services but to clear the interviews your thought process will help you.

To wind up this article we would suggest you not to let the fear come in your mind about being pass or fail in this exam. Sometimes we get scared of not to get ‘pass’ or get dicey on our own capabilities. This is a negative feeling and as an exam aspirant, you need to get rid of it.