According to the latest updates, this year in NEET 2024 a shocking increase has been seen in the registrations as compared to last year that is 2023. A total of 24,06,079 students applied for the exam in NEET 2024 which is far more than the number of candidates who applied in 2023 which is 20.87 lakh (Source of Data) . The same goes for another toughest competitive exam which is UPSC. The UPSC Prelims 2024 has seen over 13.4 lakh candidates participating in the examination which was held on June 16, 2024.
These are just two exams but the data is the same for many other competitive exams. I am not here to demotivate you, I am here to help you. I am just showing you the reality. But at the end of this blog you will definitely get answers to many problems.
I am going to share a proper approach on How to prepare for competitive exams in 2024. It is going to be a detailed guide on how to study, various methods to follow, online tools to boost productivity, how to avoid distractions and alot more. Let’s get started.
Amazing Study Tips To Prepare For Competitive Exams
Preparing for a competitive exam might be tough but following the right approach can help you crack them. These are 9 amazing study tips you should keep in mind to prepare for a competitive exam.
Know your syllabus –
Many students usually do this. They start preparing before knowing their exam syllabus. Don’t make this mistake. Before starting your preparation understand your syllabus completely. Right it down on a paper or anywhere you study with. By understanding your syllabus you will get complete knowledge about the subjects you want to study, the topics and even the difficulties.
Make an effective study plan –
Make an effective study plan. I am not telling you to make a schedule of your complete day (when to wake up, when to study, when to eat). By making an effective study plan what i mean to say is, to divide your syllabus. Before you start studying, make your daily , weekly or monthly goals. You should have a plan that on this day i need to study this much. Make targets and complete them.
Start with difficult things –
Start with difficult topics. You agree or not , we all have some shortcomings. There are topics which we can’t understand easily. Which takes more time, and is tough for us. The biggest flex about self studying is that we know those topics which we find difficult. So prioritize them. Complete them first. Believe me you will get another level of satisfaction and motivation.
Arrange Study Materials –
Don’t go for different resources. This is one of the biggest mistakes students make. They follow different study materials and then get confused. Follow less resources for conceptual learning and understanding . You can use different study materials for practical learning or question solving. But firstly stick to single resources. It will not only help you at the time of revision but also help you in avoiding confusion. If you are using Youtube (the biggest video platform) for studying then follow a single channel for a particular subject don’t try to overlearn from different channels.
Revision –
Don’t forget about reviewing and revising your concepts. Students start studying and after some days forget about what they studied a month or two ago. Avoid it. Revise your concepts on a weekly basis. Decide one day just for your revision. For example , study and learn for 6 days from monday to saturday and on sunday revise everything in short from monday to saturday.
Make Handwritten Notes –
Either you are using a laptop or an ipad or even pen and paper, make your own notes. Don’t underestimate the power of your own notes. Writing and learning is known as an amazing method for preparing for any exam. You will understand the concepts nicely and your notes will be easy to understand. When doing revision you will quickly relate to what you have written , resulting in time saving.
Seek guidance –
Take help from your teachers, seniors, relatives or anyone who can help you. Don’t feel ashamed of asking for help from others. Even sometimes friends can make you understand a topic which you will find difficult. Just remember to take knowledge from wherever you can. It will help you in one way or the other.
Solve Previous Year Papers –
Practice makes a man perfect, we all have heard that. But we always forget to implement it. While preparing for a competitive exam, knowing the type of paper and questions that come in the exam is very much important. Solve as much Previous Year Papers as you can. There are a lot of chances that the questions can be of the same type. You will also get an idea about how tough the paper can come. You can analyze your paper with the help of PYQs.
By doing this you will remember everything nicely at the time of exam. Then repeat the same process and at the end of the month, revise all the things you studied in the whole month.
Tools To Boost Productivity While Preparing
Being productive while studying might be challenging but following the right approach can help you win that. These are some Free tools that you can use to boost your productivity while preparing for competitive exams. They all are easily available, user friendly and free to use.
Todoist –
Use a To Do List to make checklists of the task you need to complete. By using it you will not forget the important tasks and miss them. It can be used in offline mode also you just need to download the app. It is free to use. And has no limit. You can also enable notifications to remind you.
Forest –
From the last 3-4 years this has been the go to tool for focusing while doing study or work. Highly recommended by many students. It avoids distraction and helps you focus better. There is a timer in the app which adds extra speciality to it.
Youtube Playlist Length Calculator –
A perfect tool to improve your productivity while studying. As students, if we are preparing by ourselves we usually study from youtube and google. And the struggles with studying through youtube is not hidden from anyone. This tool calculates the complete duration of any playlist present on youtube. By this we can make our study schedule and boost our productivity.
Evernote –
If you like making notes digitally on your laptop or ipad, this one is best for you. It is a note taking and task management application. You can add images , infographics in your notes through this. You can download those notes in the form of PDF and use them anytime you want. You can share your notes directly to your friends through it.
Google Calendar –
Time is money for students. Each and every minute counts. To utilize your time wisely, you need something. And this pool is the best tool for tracking your progress , test dates, submissions and project deadlines. It is a perfect tool that helps you stay on top of your plans , at home, at work and everywhere in between.
How To Avoid Distraction While Studying
Distractions are the only reasons why people can’t study. And avoiding distractions is not that easy. You need to take action and work hard to stay away from them. There are various ways by which you can avoid distractions and here are some of the top of them.
Create a study environment
Create a study environment according to you. Some people like studying at night, while others prefer studying in the mornings. Decide the time and place which you feel comfortable at. Make your study space clean before starting to study. A clean table brings good vibes. Don’t mess up, only keep things you need on your table.
Use Pomodoro technique
Use the 20-80 method. Pomodoro technique has proven best for studying effectively. By using this technique you can stay productive and can easily avoid burnout. You can use it for time management. Not only this it helps you in better focusing on the task that you are doing.
Put your Phone away
Your Phone is your biggest distraction. Technology is a boon for us, but when this technology is not used correctly it can become our weakness. Don’t let your mobile phones become your distractions. Keep it away while studying. Nothing is more important than your future. While studying, give your phone to your parents or keep it in another room.
Bonus Tips –
Take Breaks – Don’t overburden yourself. Take necessary breaks whenever needed. Just as a laptop needs charging , your body needs it to. Recharge yourself, and bounce back stronger.
Also read – our time managment skill blog that help lot in your prepration.
Reward Yourself – Reward yourself, whether it is a small task or a big achievement. After completing it, reward yourself with small things. It can be a mini cake or a chocolate. Anything you like, trust me it will push you harder to work more.
Final Words
I hope you like reading this blog about How to prepare for competitive exams in 2024 where we covered everything clearly in detail. I have shared tools to boost productivity, amazing techniques to study while preparing and how to avoid distraction.
And don’t forget to use the bonus tips that I shared with you at the end of the blog. If i missed out anything which you think is important feel free to comment it down. Make a better plan for watching youtube channel, if you follow any playlist then take help of our youtube playlist length calculatore to calculate length and make time table according this
Happy studying !