Taruni Pandey is an officer in training with the Indian Communications Finance Services (IP&TAFS) in the Ministry of Communications.

She cleared the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Service Exam (CSE) in 2021, bringing much joy to her family in Jamtara, Jharkhand.

Taruni accomplished this feat through a self-devised strategy that included meticulous planning, detailed note-taking, and a strict timetable.

She referred to YouTube videos and prepared notes based on them. With just four months of preparation for the prelims and two months for the mains, she cleared her UPSC CSE prelims and secured rank 14 in the Consolidated Reserve List in the CSE mains 2021.

Always a proponent of self-study, the 35-year-old relied on putting things on paper. Her timetable was not based on strict timings but rather on a to-do list.

“I made weekly and monthly plans. The most important thing to remember is to be flexible as things change at any given point in time. I used to have a daily target of finishing, say, a chapter or a particular portion of a subject,” Taruni says.

Her daily plan included a mix of subjects — one arts and one science — which helped break the monotony.

Taruni stuck a cardboard sheet with her plan, listing the subjects and organising them into six columns. “The first column was study, second notes, third was revision one, fourth was revision two, fifth was crisp notes, and sixth was final revision. For each subject, I would place a tick once I completed each step,” she adds.

She made detailed notes to aid in quick revision. She made schematic or diagrammatic notes and acronyms for each subject.

Here are Taruni’s tips to keep your mind calm:

1. Study smarter and study harder

Solve previous years’ question (PYQ) papers and understand the topics UPSC has loved all these years.

“By PYQs, I don’t mean just the questions but also the options. Observe why a question has been asked, rather than just seeing what has been asked, to understand the psyche of the question paper setter,” she says.

2. Don’t stop, but learn when to let go

Taruni quit her MBBS after two years due to a health problem. She urges aspirants to make their own decisions when it comes to quitting or giving the exam another shot.

“Listen to your conscience without paying any heed to the outside world and their set formats of success and failure, and you will get the correct answer. Move ahead with minimal regrets because zero regrets don’t exist for mere humans like us,” she adds.

3. Be mindful

Do something that connects you to something bigger than your goal. “Meditate, take a walk in nature, sit under the moon, listen to birds and so on. It keeps you grounded,” Taruni adds.

4. Write it on paper!

Taruni has always jotted down her dreams and plans. She urges aspirants to write their feelings too.