Balancing a full-time job while preparing for competitive exams, such as the UPSC EPFO, can keep you up at night. If you are aspiring to secure a position in some reputable government organization, exams like the UPSC EPFO can pave your way to enter these organizations as a valuable employee.
However, it would require you to prepare with dedication but your professional commitments can take a lot of work to handle alongside the preparation. In this blog, we will explore five effective tips to help you effectively manage your time and energy between your job and preparation.
- Create a Structured Study Plan
Begin with developing an optimal structured study plan that has your routine cut out for work and study. You should have your daily and weekly targets included in it which you have to strictly adhere to but it should not have any space for any unrealistic targets that end up making you burnt out.
Stick to this study plan religiously. Keep 8-9 hours separately for work and include 2-3 hours spree for studies in the rest of the hours of the day.
Tip: Break down the syllabus into tiny realistic targets which you may be motivated to complete and fix a day for each topic or subject.
For example, Mondays can be used for General English, Tuesdays for Indian Polity, and so forth. Dividing your syllabus into small sections and covering them daily will help you cover your course, not leaving you with undue pressure while keeping up with work commitments.
- Utilize Your Free Time Wisely
No matter how busy you are at work, you will always find pockets of free time throughout your day in the office. This may be your lunch break or time taken by you to commute daily to the office and back home.
These small breaks can be effectively used for studying. Prepare small study materials that have very short notes that can be covered or revised at a glance.
You can also make use of mobile apps such as some note-making apps or a general awareness application and use them to study instead of doomscrolling your Instagram.
Tip: Prepare some flashcards or install some note-making mobile apps for quick revisions on topics. Remember, these small chunks of time used for studying can save you a lot of time when you sit for stretched hours of study. Also, keep checking the recruitment section. For eg. the UPSC EPFO recruitment page for any active or upcoming vacancy in EPFO.
- Incorporate Technology in Your Preparation
Unlike older times when you had to scourge hundreds of books, compile them, and take notes of them, today technology has made things easier for aspirants like you.
Not leveraging technology for studying today can put you behind other aspirants who are using tech to increase their study efficiency. A plethora of online resources, educational apps, and video lectures all over the internet can save you from spending a fortune on thick books.
Complex topics that might look like something straight out of rocket science can be easily done by searching them up on YouTube or Google. Websites like Knowledge Glow offer free reading materials and tools that will not only save you time but also guide you through your preparation.
Tip: Hundreds of online forums or study groups where people have productive discussions on all kinds of topics may add value to your preparation. Learn from them and share your learnings too.
Engaging with others can make you better understand the topics and a healthy competition with them will keep you motivated.
- Prioritize Health and Well-being
Without good health and mental well-being, you can’t think of clearing any exam. A healthy body and a sound mind are required to evoke motivation to study. And this can’t be more true in a situation where you are trying to maintain a balance between work and study.
Not taking enough care of your body and mind can lead to stress and stress can take away your ability to focus and may lead to you procrastinating your studies. Getting yourself to exercise every day, avoiding junk food, and sleeping 8 hours a day will ensure that you stay healthy.
Tip: Taking short breaks during your study sessions can be a great way to relax and recharge. Meditation or light exercise in these small breaks can clear your mind and help restore your concentration.
- Set Realistic Goals
It may happen that when you start your preparation, you will want to cover everything at once. Or maybe you miss your studies one day and to cover for the previous day, you try to cover the pendency the next day.
This may lead to you trying to meet unrealistic goals that would result in burnout. Setting realistic goals and following consistency will prevent you from falling into this trap.
Progressing consistently is more important than being perfect at everything. When you keep covering individual topics one by one or score well in any mock test, mark these as small victories at the end of the week and celebrate them by going to a movie or a cafe on the weekends.
Tip: Do exam analysis of previous year’s papers for the government exam that you are targeting eg. UPSC EPFO exam analysis from previous years. This will let you know what exactly you need to focus on and you would avoid spending time on irrelevant topics unnecessarily.
Conclusion
No doubt, balancing work with UPSC EPFO exam preparation is challenging, but you can do it with ease with a bit of planning and good strategies.
Following a structured study plan, utilizing free time wisely, incorporating technology into your learning process, focusing on health, setting realistic goals, etc can put you on a path where you could see yourself being an officer or an executive at the end of the journey.
To know more about how to prepare for government exams like UPSC EPFO you should check out competitive exam articles available on Knowledge Glow that provide great resources to the students preparing for different competitive exams.
