Tejas Agnihotri - Current Affairs Strategy

*Current Affairs Strategy*

I've kept it very simple and precise.

I used to read The Hindu very diligently. It's fine if you're not mechanically regular with it. If you miss a few days, don't fret. It happens with everyone. Just get back on track ASAP. Apart from that, I used to read The Indian Express' Explained page.

Before prelims, I used to go through PT365s. Before mains, I used to go through Mains 365s.

I made notes from newspapers (I'll share a snapshot of it and explain my methodology soon). I didn't make any notes out of PT365s. For Mains 365, I again very selectively made notes (glimpses of which I'll post soon).

If you're a beginner and reading The Hindu (for eg) takes a lot of time, or if you can't figure out which articles are important or not, there are a couple of things you can do. You can browse YouTube for daily newspaper analysis (a lot of people post such videos, they are usually 30 minutes long. Watch these videos at 2x to save time). Now, you can either watch these videos first and then start reading the newspaper for a more focused approach (remember to trust your judgement, these videos might miss on some important articles that you should have read. So if you feel an article is important, glance through it).

Or you can first read the newspaper and then watch these videos to figure out the articles that you missed on.

But keep in mind, these videos are only training wheels. You should try to wean off them in a couple of months.

I could not read monthly magazines due to my bulky optional, but if you're reading monthly mags, you can skip PT365s.

Don't run after a lot of materials. It will only become harder to revise and that in turn would drive your confidence down. Stick to one newspaper, stick to one compilation. If you have the bandwidth, feel free to expand your horizons. I just want to say that it's neither necessary nor sufficient to read from multiple sources. There will always be one more material that you can read.

We need to understand that there are basically two "kinds" of memories at play. Recall and Recognition.

Recognition memory dominates the prelims landscape. The answers are in front of you and you only need to "recognise" them.

Mains on the other hand utilizes more of our recall memory because we have to create answers from memory (and recall things).

That is why mains requires more revisions than prelims. And that is why limiting your sources is important so as to make revisions easier.