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There’s a chapter you have left on the backburner – probably it’s one on the endangered flora and fauna and you had promised yourself to cover it as soon as you could. And there’s an optional subject that you needed to quickly revise on lest you forget the basics – after all IAS prelims is not the end of the game, right? Wait, weren’t you going to stick to the rule of reading daily news on the app or web and make quick short notes, daily?

Can you imagine how much less guilt, stress, and frustration you would feel if you could somehow just make yourself do the things you don’t want to do when you are actually supposed to do them? Not to mention how much confident and pumped up you might just feel?

The good news here is that we are bringing in 2 effective solutions to help you overcome the lethargy and procrastination and skyrocket your preparation to the optimum level. For any of these strategies to be effective, figure out the correct set of reason-solution for your case: 

Reason #1: You are putting something off because you don’t “feel” like doing it

Solution: Ignore your feelings. They’re getting in your way.

When we say things like “I just can’t get out of bed early in the morning, ” or “I just can’t get myself to study polity and cram environment,” what we really mean is that we can’t get ourselves to feel like doing these things. After all, no one is tying you to bed every morning. The books are not some 1000 page mythological tomes that you need a sage to initiate you into reading them.

Physically, nothing prevents you to get up early and dive into the complex problems but mentally, you need that ‘kick’, that ‘feel’ to drive you, right?

Swami Vivekananda famously said,

Even the greatest fool can accomplish a task if it were after his or her heart. But the intelligent ones are those who can convert every work into one that suits their taste.

Think about that for a minute, because it’s really important. Somewhere along the way, we’ve all bought into the idea – without consciously realizing it – that to be motivated and effective we need to feel like we want to take action. 

This is 100% nonsense. Need another inspirational quote?

Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.

The quote above is from painter Chuck Close, who says he’s never had “painter’s block” in his life. The “just show up and get to work” motto is a great creed to live by, especially if you are up against a daunting task of clearing the IAS exam.

Reason #2: You are putting something off because it’s hard, boring, or otherwise unpleasant

Solution: Use if-then planning

Next time, I will make myself start working on this sooner. Next time, I will start with the boring subject first and then go on to the easy revision modules. Next time, I will make sure that I don’t sleep before revising the daily news.

And the “next time” never comes…

Studies show that people routinely overestimate their capacity for self-control and IAS aspirants are no exceptions to the rule. Don’t think of yourselves as Iron man/ Wonder woman as yet. You are not going to wake up one day and assume a machine like focus and complete the geography backlog in one sitting.

Do yourself a favor, and embrace the fact that your willpower is limited, and that it may not always match your fictitious challenges and whims. Instead build some if-then loops for yourself to force yourself into some rewarding habits.

Write down your own 10 commandments.

• If it is 2pm, then I will stop what I’m doing and start revising the articles and FR, FD module of Indian Polity
• If my economics teacher evades my doubt, I am going to put up a written request in his hand to resolve it the first thing in next class
• If it is 11 pm and I feel like sleeping, I will make sure to revise the news nuggets in next 10 minutes and then hit the bed
• If it’s an off day at coaching, I will give at least 3 hours to the optional paper revision and not drift off to meaningless prattle

You can make more If-then modules and stick them up on your wall for quick reinforcements.

If-then modules help to rescue your willpower dilemmas by ensuring that you’ve made the right decision way ahead of the critical moment. Hopefully, this will help you increase your productivity and goal attainment hit rate more than what it used to be.

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References: Harvard Business Review | Lifehacker

Time for some serious study? Visit these collections to get yourself started

How to Clear IAS? Ias exam preparation tips and Tutorials


Toppers Speak – Civilsdaily


The Constitution of India| Constitutional Provisions In India


To know how to best use Civilsdaily for your IAS Prep,
How to best use Civilsdaily for my IAS Prep? – Civilsdaily

Pre 2011

1. The Brahmaputra, Irrawady and Mekong rivers originate in Tibet and flow through narrow and parallel mountain ranges in their upper reaches. Of these rivers, Brahmaputra makes a “U” turn in its course to flow into India. This “U” turn is due to 

(a.) Uplift of folded Himalayan series

(b.) Syntaxial bending of geologically young Himalayas

(c.) Geo-tectonic disturbance in the tertiary folded mountain chains

(d.) Both (a) and (b) above

• NCERT
• Brahmpaputra take a famous U turn near Mount Namcha Barwa, also known as Great Bend. The U Turn is because of the 180° bend of the Himalayan structural trend

2. La Nina is suspected to have caused recent floods in Australia. How is La Nina different from El Nino? 

1. La Nina is characterised by unusually cold ocean temperature in equatorial Indian Ocean whereas El Nino is characterised by unusually warm ocean temperature in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
2. El Nino has adverse effect on south-west monsoon of India, but La Nina has no effect on monsoon climate.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a.) 1 only

(b.) 2 only

(c.) Both 1 and 2

(d.) Neither 1 nor 2

• El Nino and la nina are opposite of each other. So warm current in El Nino, cold current in la nina but both would happen in Pacific so 1st statement is wrong
• As they are opposite if el nino affects monsoons adversely, la nina would affect monsoon positively

Learning – learn factors affecting monsoon, role of jet streams, burst of monsoon, El nino, El nono modoki,  la nina, Indian ocean dipole

3. Westerlies in southern hemisphere are stronger and persistent than in northern hemisphere. Why?

1. Southern hemisphere has less landmass as compared to northern hemisphere.
2. Coriolis force is higher in southern hemisphere as compared to northern hemisphere

Which of-the statements given above is/are correct?

(a.) 1 only

(b.) 2 only

(c.) Both 1 and 2

(d.) Neither 1 nor 2

• 1st statement is factually true. Very less landmass very few countries in southern hemisphere.
• Less landmass meaning vast expanse of ocean, less friction to movement of westerlies, stronger westerlies
• 2nd statement is factually incorrect. Coriols force depends on latitude not on hemisphere

4. The jet aircrafts fly very easily and smoothly in the lower stratosphere. What could be the appropriate explanation?

1. There are no clouds or water vapour in the lower stratosphere.
2. There are no vertical winds in the lower stratosphere.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct in this context?

(a.) 1 only

(b.) 2 only

(c.) Both 1 and 2

(d.) Neither 1 nor 2

• No clouds or water vapour, sweeping statement, red flag, pause and think
• No vertical winds, red flag, pause and think
• Because the temperature in the tropopause and lower stratosphere is largely constant with increasing altitude, very little convection <verticall wind> and its resultant turbulence occurs there
• Clouds and water vapour occur in lower stratosphere
• Obviously you can say there is some turbulence but bhawnayen samjho

5. Among the following States, which one has the most suitable climatic conditions for the cultivation of a large variety of orchids with minimum cost of production, and can develop an export oriented industry in this field?

(a.) Andhra Pradesh

(b.) Arunachal Pradesh

(c.) Madhya Pradesh

(d.)Uttar Pradesh

Orchids – North east India

6. With reference to micro-irrigation, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. Fertilizer/nutrient loss can be reduced.
2. It is the only means of irrigation in dry land farming.
3. In some areas of farming, receding of ground water table can be checked.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a.) 1 only

(b.) 2 and 3 only

(c.) 1 and 3 only

(d.) 1, 2 and 3

• 2nd statement, only means of irrigation, red flag, pause and think. Obviously even prior to the technology of micro irrigation, dry lands were irrigated by canals and Wells
• Exclude 2 and look at 3, if it’s more efficient method of irrigation, water wastage would be less and receding of water tables would be prevented

Learning – Fertigation, Micro-irrigation, Rainfed farming v/s dryland farming

7. If a tropical rain forest is removed, it does not regenerate quickly as compared to a tropical deciduous forest. This is because

(a.) the soil of rain forest is deficient in nutrients

(b.) propagules of the trees in a rain forest have poor viability

(c.) the rain forest species are slow-growing

(d.) exotic species invade the fertile soil of rain forest

• Covered in titbits
• Very high rainfall, leaching of minerals and nutrients, soil deficient in nutrients

8. The lower Gangetic plain is characterized by humid climate with high temperature throughout the year. Which one among the following pairs of crops is most suitable for this region?

(a.) Paddy and cotton

(b.) Wheat and Jute

(c.) Paddy and Jute

(d.) Wheat and cotton

• Paddy in Bihar, Jute in West bengal
• Wheat is rabi crop, mainly in northern India , Cotton in central India

9. A state in India has the following characteristics:

1. Its northern part is arid and semi-arid.
2. Its central part produces cotton.
3. Cultivation of cash crops is predominant over food crops.

Which one of the following states has all of the above characteristics?

(a.) Andhra Pradesh

(b.) Gujarat

(c.) Karnataka

(d.) Tamil Nadu

• Cotton – Gujarat, Mahrashtra
• Gujarat’s northern part is arid

10. Salinization occurs when the irrigation water accumulated in the soil evaporates, leaving behind salts and minerals. What are the effects of salinization on the irrigated land? 

(a.) It greatly increases the crop production

(b.) It makes some soils impermeable

(c.) It raises the water table

(d.) It fills the air spaces in the soil with water

• a is clearly wrong, if it were so, salinization would be such a great thing
• B and c are sort of contradictory, one has to be true
• Soil becomes impermeable as sodium and other ions are absorbed by clay particles

11. Two important rivers — one with its source in Jharkhand (and known by a different name in Odisha), and another, with its source in Odisha — merge at a place only a short distance from the coast of Bay of Bengal before flowing into the sea. This is an important site of wildlife and biodiversity and a protected area. Which one of the following could be this?

(a.) Bhitarkanika

(b.) Chandipur-on-sea

(c.) Gopalpur-on-sea

(d.) Simlipal

• Map based question
• Bhitarkanika has been asked so many times

12. The Himalayan Range is Very rich in species diversity. Which one among the following is the most appropriate reason for this phenomenon?

(a.) It has a high rainfall that supports luxuriant vegetative growth

(b.) It is a confluence of different bio-geographical zones

(c.) Exotic and invasive species have not been introduced in this region

(d.) It has less human interference

B seems like most correct right answer <all other options also true but they are not specific to himalayas>

13. The 2004 Tsunami made people realize that mangroves can serve as a reliable safety hedge against coastal calamities. How do mangroves function as a safety hedge?

(a.) The mangrove swamps separate the human settlements from the sea by a wide zone in which people neither live nor venture out

(b.) The mangroves provide both food and medicines which people are in need of after any natural disaster

(c.) The mangrove trees are tall with dense canopies and serve as art excellent shelter during a cyclone or tsunami

(d.) The mangrove trees do not get uprooted by storms and tides because of their extensive roots

• A and c are rubbish
• B obviously illogical
• D is the only logical answer

Learning – Mangroves, Halophilic plants, Carnivorous plants