While working as a full-time resident doctor, Dr Nagarjun (Arjun) B Gowda cleared UPSC CSE with an All India Rank (AIR) of 418 in 2018.

The IAS officer shares a few tips to help aspirants understand how best one can manage time, make a schedule, and stick to it while juggling a full-time job.

1. Chose a job that permits you time to study “A very hectic job profile might end up paying well but will leave you with little to no time for your preparation. So, pick a job that gives you ample time for preparation,” he says.

2. Find ways of making time to study “As an aspirant who is working and preparing simultaneously, making the most of the time on hand is extremely important,” says Dr Arjun, who would spend an hour each morning before he left for the hospital going through the newspaper.

3. Time is of the essence — do not waste it During the break hours at work, Dr Arjun would go through current affairs material and often pick topics that he had already prepared for revising the same.

4. Leverage technology to your advantage Dr Arjun mentions subscribing to a few news apps helped him a great deal. “Even if I had a few minutes to spare, I would read an article or two from these apps to stay updated,” he says.

5. Practise solving test series “Getting into the habit of solving test series will help aspirants assess how strong their command over the topic is. It is important to not just solve the test papers but analysing mistakes is equally essential,” he says.

6. Find ways to unwind “While this may be difficult, if you are working full time and preparing, it becomes necessary to find avenues to unwind every now and then,” he says.

Dr Arjun says that he would watch a movie once every fortnight. And the second half of every Sunday was kept free for him to meet friends, go out, and just unwind without having to think about preparation and the impending examination.

Resource list used by Dr Arjun: Lastly, the IAS officer shares a few resource lists that he used for his preparation. He says he referred to the NCERT textbook for history, geography, and economics.

He also referred to Modern History by Spectrum, Polity by Lakshmikanth, and miscellaneous reading material like the Oxford school atlas for maps, budget, economic survey, Yojana monthly magazine and a summary of the India Year Book.