Information Overload - how to handle?

geeta

I seem to be drowning in books and notes, magazines. plus regular updates from blog subscriptions - mrunal, insights, foreign affairs.
I have tried to cut down on blogs but even the most basic ones flood your inbox with notes that just seem so so important. I feel i'll miss out on something imp if i don't read them. And then my optional/ static books go for a toss
How is everyone else processing it all?
Any Time mgt/ resource mgt tips people? Please

woman

Its the same for all. In such an exam, you can't know everything. Have your priorities and stick to them. Just hope that if you miss something, UPSC misses it too :P

Confused_soul

Do not try to cover everything. You will end up with nothing.
Cover the static portion of gs, optional, current affairs and mrunal.

F0EHAMMER

A simple tip :

Instead of focussing on that UPSC might ask anything under the sun and therefore going on an endless information collecting spree , try focussing on the syllabus given in the notification .Once you have covered each topic given in the notification you needn't worry about anything .
Even if you cover everything under the sun , UPSC will sure find something under the shade to confuse you in the examination .So as they say , Keep calm and prepare the entire syllabus , leave the rest on God .

geeta

Its the same for all. In such an exam, you can't know everything. Have your priorities and stick to them. Just hope that if you miss something, UPSC misses it too :P

no hope of that ... in college, anything i did NOT study, was tested.... Always.
My friend on the other hand, was a special snowflake. it was like as if the teachers consulted him before setting the paper lest any question inconvenience him.

AnandSom

Structure information. Try to fit in your notes into a structure which seems logical to you. That's how large data is handled. Read about data structure on wiki. Revision is the key.

woman

Its the same for all. In such an exam, you can't know everything. Have your priorities and stick to them. Just hope that if you miss something, UPSC misses it too :P

no hope of that ... in college, anything i did NOT study, was tested.... Always.
My friend on the other hand, was a special snowflake. it was like as if the teachers consulted him before setting the paper lest any question inconvenience him.

lol .. consult that guy then. And let me know too :P

eternalsearch

Its the same for all. In such an exam, you can't know everything. Have your priorities and stick to them. Just hope that if you miss something, UPSC misses it too :P

no hope of that ... in college, anything i did NOT study, was tested.... Always.
My friend on the other hand, was a special snowflake. it was like as if the teachers consulted him before setting the paper lest any question inconvenience him.

kindly let us know what you are not studying....:P

mango_dolly

Joh haal dil ka udhar ho raha hai .. woh haal dil ka idhar ho raha hai !! :P
(replace dil with dimaag)

Jokes apart .. I think we need to draw a line .. Like I did yesterday while studying about Cold War .. I did not get into intricacies of Cuban Missile Crisis (apart from knowing what it was and its implications) .. or for that matter knowing each and every high tension times of cold war is not required .. just know what were they !

Moreover in GS answers you need to write generic answers .. no specialised views etc .. else the examiner won't understand and/or appreciate your answer. So while writing something on PPP, if you start getting into payback period and NPV and now SPV structure should be etc, examiner will not understand anything chances are there that he/she might mark you less.

So float on the surface .. get overview of things (for GS atleast) and this way you can eschew information overload ! So can put more emphasis on revision though ..

Mistborn

A small doubt regarding the mains. There is no mention of ancient or medieval history for mains. Only culture part from ancient to modern times. So, will it be prudent to ignore the economic, social and administrative aspects of those times as well? Will reduce lots of load, I think!

Neanderthal

Safely ignore revenue policies, administrative practices et al of the Medieval Period at least. Study Ancient India cursorily for any new facets- Ghatyantra, Merchant association during Imperial Cholas and such.

Don't go wild after it, @Mistborn . Read, assimilate, move on.