UPSC CSE preparation needs complete focus and concentration for an aspirant to be able to crack it, and distractions, big or small, will always be there. And while the preparation is tough, succumbing to distraction is very easy. IAS officer Divya Mittal, who regularly offers tips on Twitter on self-improvement, has this time tweeted on conquering distractions and staying ahead in life.
Ms. Mittal secured AIR 68 in 2012 in UPSC CSE and became an IAS officer. But before that, she also passed out from IIM and IIT. She is now District Magistrate of Mirzapur and often shares lessons learnt on her journey on Twitter, and her most recent thread was on how to overcome distractions and get great focus. In a long Twitter thread on how to tackle distractions, she shared some great tips and tricks based on her experiences of cracking some of the toughest exams of India.
REDUCE MOBILE USAGE
She starts off her thread by stressing on the need to reduce mobile usage, as it is one of the biggest distractions in today’s time. She also suggests that aspirant should keep a tab on mobile usage by measuring the screen time.
“Measure: Check your phone usage and apps you spent time on every week. Many times you don’t even know how much time you are wasting on mobile apps. Android users can use free apps.”
STEP TO REDUCE
She then suggest ways to do it.
“Physical distance: Keep the phone with the internet switched off and away from you while studying. You can also keep it locked and with a parent/ friend. Heavens will not fall while you are studying and if it is something urgent, you will get the message.”
TECHIE SOLUTION
In her next tweet, she gives a technological solution, giving examples of apps like ‘Blackout’ to shut down the internet for study time.
“Use apps like Blackout to block internet for at least 6 hours every day. Force yourself to study in that time. It is not a free app, but it is very effective. Once it blacks out the phone, you can’t go back for the period.”
EARLY MORNING STUDY
She also suggests the tried and tested early morning study. She said, “Keep the alarm away from you, on loud volume. Most likely once you get up from the bed to switch off the alarm, you will decide to not go back to sleep and study. Early morning study is the best these days especially as it has lesser distractions.”
HOW TO INCREASE FOCUS
To increase focus, she suggests studying in short sessions and then taking a break for some time. She believes that one cannot maintain focus for longer at one go.
“Keep short focused Sessions.
– Do 90-minute/2 hr intensely focused sessions.
– Take 15 min break after every session.”
“You cannot maintain focus for longer than that at one go. Measure the session. Till the alarm goes off, don’t do anything else but study.”
MEDITATION
In her next tweet, she talks about practising meditation to stay focussed. “Practice Tratak meditation. This is known to increase focus. Fix your eyes on an object. This can be the flame of a candle, a pencil, a spot on the wall.”
BINAURAL BEATS
Next, she offers some modern methods, like listening to sound vibrations.
“Binaural beats:
Listening to Binaural beats which are sound vibrations of 40 Hz helps in
a) Enhances focus
b) Decreases amount of time it takes to get into a focused state
These can be obtained from YouTube.”
EXERCISE OUTDOOR
Apart from these modern methods, physical appearance is also important, and for that, one needsto exercise daily and spend time outdoors. She says: “Exercise and Outdoor:
– Exercise preferably outside, at least a 20 minutes’ walk.
– Get close to nature – go to a park and walk/sit.
– Get some sunlight even if for 5-10 minutes.
NUTRITION
Talking about nutrition next, she says that it is important to maintain a healthy and balanced diet. “While studying, we forget to take care of nutrition. A balanced diet helps in increasing focus. Also reduces the need to munch on snacks.”
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
She concludes her thread by saying that “while these are simple tips, sometimes small things make a huge difference when done repeatedly. Best of luck for whatever you are trying to focus for!
Ms. Mittal’s thread has since gone viral and many IAS officers have also shared it. In fact, 1985-batch IAS officer SN Tripathi, who is currently Director General of Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), invited her to the institute. Till last count, her thread got around 6,000 retweets and more than 30,000 likes.
