problems of self study 1

when i say self study i presume your optionals are set, because i meet many aspirants who are in a dilemma of which optional to chose and whether their choice is correct!please make up your mind and do not indulge in statistical wizardry as its a sheer waste of time in a rapidly changing exam.i can promise you,chose any two optionals,come in top 5 in both and irrespective of your optionals you will sail through with a modest performance in common papers.too much dithering on optionals confuses a person,and a confused person can not study.
now that i presume the optionals are decided let me address the problems that come with self study:
1.how to pace yourself to ensure you complete the vast portions in all papers.
2.how to check your own progress in study.
3.how to keep your head about yourself though you lag behind on both counts(which most will).
 the only advice i can offer is enumerated serially:
1.pace is personal.lots of things determine it.your potential,time on hand to study,your grasping,reading speed,retention,choice of optionals,stage of preparation,method of study and so on.however,i presume all of you have a copy of  the syllabus(if not go to www.upsc.gov.in) and some books or notes to study from.check for yourself how much time a identifiable part (but important part) of the syllabus takes to complete.i will use an analogy of history,i may check how many days it takes to complete Indian national movement,or maybe rule of the Mughals by doing it,and then see how many  such parts the syllabus entails.multiply the time taken by th number of such parts that remain,and as a safety measure add one third the final figure to come up with a conservative estimate.
repeating my example,i took say 10 days for Indian National movement,there are 20 such topics in the syllabus of history,means i will take,
20 *10= 200 days for the all the topics.since all are not uniform,as a safety valve i add 1/3*200= 70 (app) to the figure to come up with my final figure of 270 days(at current speed).
dont be scared by the figure,the example was hypothetical,but do up your calculations to invariably find you are lagging behind the ideal speed.
once you have figures for GS and both optionals squeeze them in the number of days at your disposal and you have a ready plan with signposts ready to follow to pace your study and complete the portion before the due time.
2.how do you check progress?first,if you prepare the above plan you have the pre-designated portions in place so you know instantly if you are on track.also,you may join a test series.but most are only active during a certain part of the year,are expensive,ask irrelevant questions,give shaky feedback,and take a lot of time for the feedback,what do you do?
download all the question papers you can,and make a folder.study each paper divide it into sectors of study from your syllabus.For eg In history,all questions asked on 1857 group aside,all questions on 1909 reforms group aside and so on.apply the same logic to your optional.that would mean you have prepared question banks from your syllabus on each topic from the questions asked thus far.
once you do feel like checking yourself,ask a friend or anyone else to pick some random questions from the relevant question bank,and jot down 5-8 questions.see how you answer them,and if you are happy with the answers.that should tell you what to revise and with what attention.  

3.the last of my questions was the most important of all.When you prepare on your own you are unaware of the competition,in an empty world of your own.

an empty mind is the devils workshop.you begin to worry if you not joining a coaching class was wise,was it the reason you are lagging behind,of miraculous coaching given to other candidates which gibes them an edge.your friends in coaching classes brag and discuss on topics irrelevant and  not likely to come at all,but not knowing that adds to your pressure.this is the time when your productive time is being eaten away by stray thoughts.

how you check that is again a personal thing.Try meditation,talking to yourself,writing a journal of record or any such thing that emphasizes the rational side of your mind.accept your situation and bring out the fighter in you.instead of worrying about the edge gained by others,study to give yourself one.as i said methods vary,but each will have to do something to keep his mind in a stable frame to maximize his output in study.

i dint mean to scare anyone and push them to coaching classes,but to hint at what ordeals await if one takes this path.knowing in advance helps to factor in the problems and not be taken by surprise by them.these are by no means all the problems,just a small part of the common ones,and many others wait to vex your heads.after reading the problems if one feels they are too much to take,i advice them to go on and join a coaching class.what is paramount is a peaceful mind,so that it can absorb.if joining a coaching class does that for you,then by all means go ahead.

never in the whole time doubt your ability,and gods grace for these are the two things that will pull you through eventually.

all the best and happy studying!