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TipsforHowtomakenotesforCivilServicesExams,HowtoPrepareNotes

HowtoPrepareNotes
Appearingforanycompetitiveexamrequiresalotofpreparation.Studentsshouldbereadytofacethis
challengeinthebestpossibleway.Thoughthereisnoonewayofstudying,therearewaystostudy
moreeffectivelyandwithlessstressandmoreenjoyment.Itisimportanttoknowhowtomakeuseof
thesourcesavailabletoyouinthebestpossibleway.Itiswisetotakeathreeprongedapproachto
preparation,readingtolearn,makingeffectivenotesandabletowriteanswerstovariouskindsof
questions.
Studentsareoftenfacedwiththedauntingtaskofmakingvoluminousnotes.Nowthequestionarises
astowhymakenotesatall.Thereareseveralgoodreasons,oneisthatyoucannotmakenotes
withoutunderstandingthegiventopic,sinceyouhavetopickouttheimportantpointsandtryto
summarisethem.Nextisthatwritingdownanyinformationhelpsyoutorememberitbetter.Thirdly,it
makesagoodpracticeforthinkingandwritingoutessays.Fourth,itwillpromptyoutoreviseyourwork
sinceitdoesnottakealongtimetogothroughasetofwellmadenotes.Lastly,ithelpsyouinyourfinal
revisionbyremindingyouofthemostimportantpointsofeachtopic.
Thenextquestioniswhenshouldonemakenotes?Oneshouldmakenotesfromtheverybeginning
assoonasyouhavedoneyourstudyingwhenthematerialisfreshinmind.Thishelpstofixitinyour
memory.Itisbettertomakenotesfromallpossiblesources,fromwhatyouread,whatyouhearand
fromwhatyoudo.Aftermakingthefirstbriefnotes,itcanbeexpandedandorganisedproperly.You
canthenkeepaddinginformationtoitfromtimetotime.Oneimportantthingtorememberistonever
treatasetofnotesasthefinalversion.
Therearedifferentmethodsofmakingnotesandoneshoulddecidewhichmethodsuitsyouthe
best.Therearetwotypesofmakingnotes,oneistheLINEARNOTESandtheotherPATTERNNOTES.

LetusstartwithLinearnotesfirst,itisamethodinwhichyoucondensethematerialyouhaveread
usingheadingsandsubheadingsandjottingdownthemostimportantpoints.Thismethodworksbest
whenmakingnotesfromabookwherethematerialisalreadyproperlyorganised.Butone
disadvantageofthismethodisthatyouendupcopyingalotofmaterialfromthebookwhichdefeats
theverypurposeofcondensing.
Therightwaytousethismethodistouseloosesheetsofpaperinsteadofanexercisebooksinceitis
easiertokeepaddinginformation.Itisagoodideatoleavespaceoneachsheetofpaperforadditional
information.Anotherwaytomakeyournotesmoreinterestingistousecolors,blockletters,making
boxesandhighlightingasandwhennecessary.Allthiswillimmediatelydrawourattentiontotheactual
contentsofournotesandmakeitmoreclearandcomprehensible.
WenowcometoPatternNotes.Forthiswehavetobeginthetopicatthecentreofthepage.Eachline
radiatingfromitrepresentsabranchofthemainidea.Eachpointiswrittenasbrieflyaspossibleusing
akeywordoraphrase.ItisabettermethodtoadoptbecauseitismoreflexiblethanmakingLinear
notes.Onecanaddextrainformationtoitatanypointwithoutanyproblem.Secondadvantageisthat
wecanseethewholepatternatonegowithoutactuallyturningthepages.Thirdlywecanindicatethe
linksbetweendifferenttopicsmoreeasilythanwecandoinalinearmethod.Anotheradvantageof
patternnotesisthatitisexceptionallyusefulwhenmakingnotesfrommemoryforrevisionasyoukeep
jottingdownpointsasandwhentheyoccurtoyou.Thismakesiteasiertoreviseforexamsandwriting
outessaysasonlybriefkeywordsareused.Lastly,itiseasiertorememberasnotesismadeina
shapeformat.
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TipsforHowtomakenotesforCivilServicesExams,HowtoPrepareNotes

Butthismethodhassomedisadvantagesaswell.Iftherearetoomanyfactsandtoomuchof
information,yourpatternbecomesmessyandovercrowded.Usingkeywordscanremindyouofbasic
ideasbutwhenitcomestorememberingdetails,thismethodcannotbesufficient.Thereforethemost
effectivewayofmakinggoodnotesfromthesourcesavailableistouseacombinationofthesetwo
methods.Oneimportantthingtorememberisthatformanysubjectsyournoteswillhavetoinclude
diagramsandsketchmaps.Theymustbeaccurateandlabelledveryclearly.
ForexamplewhilemakingnotesforScience,thegenerallayouthastofollowtheonegivenbyyour
teacherwithaslittlevariationaspossible.Therearefourbasicstageswhichshouldalwaysbethere,
Purpose,Method,ResultandConclusionIfthereisadescriptionitwillhavetoincludeadiagramandif
itisrecordeddata,itwillrequireatableoragraph.
Whatevermethodyoudecidetofollow,onethingtorememberistokeepyournoteshandyatalltimes
andinaproperfile.Itisagoodideatousecoloredflagstodemarcatedifferenttopics.Withsuch
systematicpreparation,astudentcanfacethechallengeofanycompetitiveexamwithconfidence.

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