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Working professional seeking SSC CGL prep advice: How to manage study time?

Nayagam P

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Career Counsellor - Answered on Oct 09, 2024

Nayagam is a certified career counsellor and the founder of EduJob360.
He started his career as an HR professional and has over 10 years of experience in tutoring and mentoring students from Classes 8 to 12, helping them choose the right stream, course and college/university.
He also counsels students on how to prepare for entrance exams for getting admission into reputed universities /colleges for their graduate/postgraduate courses.
He has guided both fresh graduates and experienced professionals on how to write a resume, how to prepare for job interviews and how to negotiate their salary when joining a new job.
Nayagam has published an eBook, Professional Resume Writing Without Googling.
He has a postgraduate degree in human resources from Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Delhi, a postgraduate diploma in labour law from Madras University, a postgraduate diploma in school counselling from Symbiosis, Pune, and a certification in child psychology from Counsel India.
He has also completed his master’s degree in career counselling from ICCC-Mindler and Counsel, India.
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Ekta Question by Ekta on Oct 04, 2024Hindi
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Career

I wanted to start preparation for SSC CGL. Please Guide me .. How to manage time for studing ? I am working. My office timing is from 10 to 7. I live alone , i have ti prepare dinner also.

Ans: Ekta, (1) First of all, 10-15 days, do a thorough research (if already not done) about SSC CGL Exam such as (a) Number of applicants (b) Vacancies (c) Success Rate (d) Exam Pattern (e) Preparation Strategies (f) Sources for Preparation & (g) Minimum number of months required to prepare for the same (2) You have mentioned your office timings is 10 to 7. By the time you reach home, you will be mentally/physically tired and have to prepare your dinner also. So, you will get hardly 2 to 2.5 hours at night (assuming you will go to bed by 10.30). As concentration power will not be that much, you should plan for studying next day morning and / or you can revise whatever you have prepared till date (3) Smart work is more important than hard work. (a) As you are also working and have to prepare for SSC CGL, you should definitely have minimum 6.5 to 7-hours sleep so that you can focus on both. (b) Involve in some physical activities (like yoga or meditation or simple physical exercises at home) for 20-30 minutes daily either morning or evening (c) As you are loving alone & self-cooking, always make sure that you eat healthy food (d) NEVER study continuously for / beyond 45 minutes. Study for 45 minutes and take a break of 10-minutes and continue studying for 45-minutes to fully focus and get maximum output. (e) Try to have your short notes and keep revising them frequently which you can do in the evening after your office hours (f) Try to practice as many questions as possible (offline or online) & keep analysing your speed and accuracy (g) If possible, have separate note-book for wrongly answered and skipped questions. If time does not permit, mark it with a red pen to revise them again and again. (h) Fully utilise your weekends & holidays to cover maximum syllabus. (4) MOST IMPORTANT: Practice time-bound tests to ensure speed and accuracy. All the BEST for Your Prosperous Future, Ekta.

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Nayagam P

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Career Counsellor - Answered on Jul 11, 2025

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Sir i want to know how can I manage my time because I have coaching of about 1:25 to 8:15 along with this i want to revise 11th and current study revision with test series
Ans: Irfan, To make the most of limited study time around your 1:25 pm–8:15 pm coaching block, adopt a structured daily routine that blends new learning, revision and regular mock testing. Begin your day with a short, high-intensity review: Wake by 6:00 am and spend 60 minutes revising the previous day’s weakest topics in Physics, Chemistry or Maths, using concise note-cards and formula sheets. After breakfast, allocate 8:00 am–1:00 pm to focused school-and-coaching homework: divide this into alternating 45-minute study sprints (Pomodoro technique), interspersed with 5-minute active breaks to sustain concentration. During your 1:25 pm–8:15 pm coaching, please consider each session as a mini-lecture: make clear margin notes and highlight concepts for focused self-study. From 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm, dedicate two blocks: first (60 minutes) to immediately revise new coaching material, and second (30 minutes) to solve a mini-test of 10–15 questions drawn from your test-series schedule. Reserve 10:30 pm–11:00 pm for light conceptual review before sleep; this “pre-sleep recall” enhances retention. Weekends should emphasize full-length mock tests under timed conditions, followed by detailed error analysis to refine your test strategy and time allocation. Maintain at least seven hours of sleep and include short physical activity breaks to optimize cognitive function and avoid burnout.

recommendation Craft your personal timetable around these principles—early-morning revision, Pomodoro-driven self-study, immediate coaching follow-up, and disciplined mock-test practice—to ensure comprehensive coverage of 11th-grade material and January JEE Main readiness, while steadily building towards May/June JEE Advanced. All the BEST for Admission & a Prosperous Future!

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Latest Questions
Nayagam P

Nayagam P P  |10854 Answers  |Ask -

Career Counsellor - Answered on Dec 14, 2025

Asked by Anonymous - Dec 12, 2025Hindi
Career
Hello, I am currently in Class 12 and preparing for JEE. I have not yet completed even 50% of the syllabus properly, but I aim to score around '110' marks. Could you suggest an effective strategy to achieve this? I know the target is relatively low, but I have category reservation, so it should be sufficient.
Ans: With category reservation (SC/ST/OBC), a score of 110 marks is absolutely achievable and realistic. Based on 2025 data, SC candidates qualified with approximately 60-65 percentile, and ST candidates with 45-55 percentile. Your target requires scoring just 37-40% marks, which is significantly lower than general category standards. This gives you a genuine advantage. Immediate Action Plan (December 2025 - January 2026): 4-5 Weeks. Week 1-2: High-Weightage Chapter Focus. Stop trying to complete the entire syllabus. Instead, focus exclusively on high-scoring chapters that carry maximum weightage: Physics (Modern Physics, Current Electricity, Work-Power-Energy, Rotation, Magnetism), Chemistry (Chemical Bonding, Thermodynamics, Coordination Compounds, Electrochemistry), and Maths (Integration, Differentiation, Vectors, 3D Geometry, Probability). These chapters alone can yield 80-100+ marks if practiced properly. Ignore topics you haven't studied yet. Week 2-3: Previous Year Questions (PYQs). Solve JEE Main PYQs from the last 10 years (2015-2025) for chapters you're studying. PYQs reveal question patterns and difficulty levels. Focus on understanding why answers are correct, not memorizing solutions. Week 3-4: Mock Tests & Error Analysis. Take 2-3 full-length mock tests weekly under timed conditions. This is crucial because mock tests build exam confidence, reveal time management weaknesses, and error analysis prevents repeated mistakes. Maintain an error notebook documenting every mistake—this becomes your revision guide. Week 4-5: Revision & Formula Consolidation. Create concise formula sheets for each subject. Spend 30 minutes daily reviewing formulas and key concepts. Avoid learning new topics entirely at this stage. Study Schedule (Daily): 7-8 Hours. Morning (5:00-7:30 AM): Physics concepts + 30 PYQs. Break (7:30-8:30 AM): Breakfast & rest. Mid-morning (8:30-11:00): Chemistry concepts + 20 PYQs. Lunch (11:00-1:00 PM): Full break. Afternoon (1:00-3:30 PM): Maths concepts + 30 PYQs. Evening (3:30-5:00 PM): Mock test or error review. Night (7:00-9:00 PM): Formula revision & weak area focus. Strategic Approach for 110 Marks: Attempt only confident questions and avoid negative marking by skipping difficult questions. Do easy questions first—in the exam, attempt all basic-level questions before attempting medium or hard ones. Focus on quality over quantity as 30 well-practiced questions beat 100 random questions. Master NCERT concepts as most JEE questions test NCERT concepts applied smartly. April 2026 Session Advantage. If January doesn't deliver desired results, April gives you a second chance with 3+ months to prepare. Use January as a practice attempt to identify weak areas, then focus intensively on those in February-March. Realistic Timeline: January 2026 target is 95-110 marks (achievable with focused 50% syllabus), while April 2026 target is 120-130 marks (with complete syllabus + experience). Your reservation benefit means you need only approximately 90-105 marks to qualify and secure admission to quality engineering colleges. Stop comparing yourself to general category cutoffs. Most Importantly: Consistency beats perfection. Study 6 focused hours daily rather than 12 distracted hours. Your 110-mark target is realistic—execute this plan with discipline. All the BEST for Your JEE 2026!

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Dr Dipankar

Dr Dipankar Dutta  |1841 Answers  |Ask -

Tech Careers and Skill Development Expert - Answered on Dec 13, 2025

Asked by Anonymous - Dec 12, 2025
Career
Dear Sir/Madam, I am currently a 1st year UG student studying engineering in Sairam Engineering College, But there the lack of exposure and strict academics feels so rigid and I don't like it that. It's like they don't gaf about skills but just wants us to memorize things and score a good CGPA, the only skill they want is you to memorize things and pass, there's even special class for students who don't perform well in academics and it is compulsory for them to attend or else the student and his/her parents needs to face authorities who lashes out. My question is when did engineering became something that requires good academics instead of actual learning and skill set. In sairam they provides us a coding platform in which we need to gain the required points for each semester which is ridiculous cuz most of the students here just look at the solution to code instead of actual debugging. I am passionate about engineering so I want to learn and experiment things instead of just memorizing, so I actually consider dropping out and I want to give jee a try and maybe viteee , srmjeee But i heard some people say SRM may provide exposure but not that good in placements. I may not be excellent at studies but my marks are decent. So gimme some insights about SRM and recommend me other colleges/universities which are good at exposure
Ans: First — your frustration is valid

What you are experiencing at Sairam is not engineering, it is rote-based credential production.

“When did engineering become memorizing instead of learning?”

Sadly, this shift happened decades ago in most Tier-3 private colleges in India.

About “coding platforms & points” – your observation is sharp

You are absolutely right:

Mandatory coding points → students copy solutions

Copying ≠ learning

Debugging & thinking are missing

This is pseudo-skill education — it looks modern but produces shallow engineers.

The fact that you noticed this in 1st year already puts you ahead of 80% students.

Should you DROP OUT and prepare for JEE / VITEEE / SRMJEEE?

Although VIT/SRM is better than Sairam Engineering College, but you may face the same problem. You will not face this type of problem only in some top IITs, but getting seat in those IITs will be difficult.
Instead of dropping immediately, consider:

???? Strategy:

Stay enrolled (degree security)

Reduce emotional investment in college rules

Use:

GitHub

Open-source projects

Hackathons

Internships (remote)

Hardware / software self-projects

This way:

College = formality

Learning = self-driven

Risk = minimal

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