From science, history, and geography to economics, politics, and more, the UPSC CSE syllabus encompasses a wide range of subjects.

Considering the vast syllabus of one of India’s most challenging exams, creating concise notes helps aspirants break down complex concepts into simpler ones and create a roadmap for effective revision.

With about two months left until the UPSC Mains exam 2024, IPS officer Rishabh Bhola shares valuable tips and techniques to prepare notes that aspirants can easily refer to during the stage of preparation and examination.

1. Firstly, read the entire book thoroughly. After the first reading, start underlining crucial information to include in your notes.

2. Keep one primary source for revision and add all new learnings into these notes.

3. Organise notes according to the syllabus and continuously update them with new points.

Talking about the length of the notes per subject, IPS Rishabh says, “It’s very subjective. However, for bigger subjects, my notes were around 35 pages, and for smaller subjects, around 10 to 12 pages.”

4. Collect words that can be applied to most questions. For instance, decentralisation, politicisation, and representation merged with words of the syllabus, like historical, social, geographical, ethical, political, etc.

“Make a chart of words that can be used together. For example, social with decentralisation, politicisation, democracy, representation; political with decentralisation, politicisation, democracy, representation; and geographical with decentralisation, politicisation, representation,” IPS Rishabh explains.

5. Make mind maps like notes covering the 360 degrees of a particular topic – when, where, what, how, its impact, future, challenges, etc.