How to Make Notes For UPSC: A Beginners Guide
Making your notes while preparing for UPSC in your way is a very important part of any candidate’s preparation.
The UPSC syllabus is very vast. So, one has to make notes according to it. NCERT books help a lot in making notes because NCERT books are published for school students; they are in a very easily understandable form.
Along with making notes, you can also join a good IAS coaching institute for UPSC preparations. They have expert faculty members with years of experience. They can guide you in your UPSC preparation.
Some notes making strategies that will help candidates prepare for the UPSC are mentioned below.
How to Make Notes For UPSC?
Making your notes in your way is a very important thing in UPSC exam preparation. Candidates must make their notes short, crisp, and clear. Notes should be in a point-to-point manner.
1. Making Notes from Books
Firstly, when reading books, mark the points with a pen, pencil, or highlighter that you think are important. Afterward, read the chapter again and note the points you had marked before.
Note these points in your own words, not the words of the book.
2. Note Down Your Points in Bullet Form
Make a list of all of your notes in bullet form. Writing answers in points or making notes in bullet form is the way you will also write in answer sheets of UPSC.
It’s a good way to keep your notes and write notes point to point. So the points are short and easy to understand. As the UPSC examination is very tough, you will have very little time to prepare for revisions.
Short points will be easy to remember and read again when revising a day before or an hour before writing the UPSC exam.
3. Getting your Work Digital
Making your notes digital makes the work digital and saves a lot of time. Jotting work should always be done on a digital platform instead of making it into notebooks or registers.
There are a lot of corrections and editing while making notes. And there are also always a lot of updates in your notes. So updating and editing your notes is not easy in notebooks, but it’s a lot easier in a digital platform like a word file, notepad, PowerPoint presentation, etc.
So, to make notes quicker and updated, candidates should always choose a digital platform to make notes on, before they write down their notes in actual notebooks or papers.
4. Making Notes On Loose Sheets
If you are not comfortable with digital notes or don’t have any electronic devices to get your work digital, you can opt for a pen and paperwork.
There is one more trick to avoid errors in notes and update problems. You can use loose sheets while making notes, like A4-sized papers or file papers, to make notes.
So, to update any points or to correct any mistakes in the notes, you can just add one more sheet between the pages to update or correct points.
This will replace the use of registers or other notebooks. As in registers or notebooks, you can’t just add a new page like in A4 size sheets and file papers.
So, this is the best choice for preparing notes for UPSC.
5. Make Your Points Short
Always remember to make your points short and clear in the context of your understanding in your notes. It’s always hard to remember lengthy points as compared to short ones.
Making points short will also give you the benefit of remembering your notes and revising them easily at the time of the examination. Make your notes point to point, not confusing.
6. Separate Notes for Current Affairs
One of the most important topics in the UPSC is current affairs. So, make your separate notes for current affairs.
In current affairs, also make your notes simple and point-to-point. And remember to make notes in your way of understanding. Relate situations and problems mentioned in newspapers and magazines to the real world.
Think about what to do to solve the problem and what the actual cause of the problem is. It will then be easier to think of solutions. Write your notes in this way.
This way of making notes will help you a lot when writing answers in the UPSC competitive examination for the current affairs questions.
7. Use Flowcharts or Hierarchy Charts in Notes
It’s always recommended to use flowcharts or hierarchy charts in your notes. Diagrams help a lot with remembering things.
Flowcharts and diagrams can be mostly used in the case of polity subjects, as this subject includes government systems and their models. Flowcharts also help save time and are also good for representation.
8. Keep Updating Your Notes
It is important to remember to update your notes as needed or if any changes are required. Updating your notes will keep you notes up-to-date and will help you better prepare for your preparations.
9. Template Answers
This is also a good strategy to use in order to prepare better for the exam.
What you have to do here is just think of questions that could be asked in relation to the point you just have to note down in your notes and also think of its answer.
Always point out questions that could be asked about the points or concepts that you have in your notes, and think of their solutions and write them down.
Conclusion
So, this is all about how to make notes for UPSC for good preparation. Note-making plays an important role during the revision. It will save you time. You can join any coaching for better preparations for IAS as they will guide you better to make your notes in a short and point-to-point way.
