PROCBSE

ENDGAME
FOR IIT-JEE
WRITTEN AFTER ANALYSING 142 IITIANS
15 SUCCESS STORIES SELF STUDY VS COACHING TIME TABLE OF 10
7 PILLARS OF SUCCESS BEST BOOKS IITIANS
HOW TO STAY CONSISTENT BEST COACHING LAST WEEK PLAN
5 SCIENTIFIC AND ANCIENT HOW TO CRACK JEE WITH LAST DAY PLAN
REVISION METHODS SELF STUDIES ONLY DISTRACTIONS AND
HABITS OF IITIANS YEARLY MONTHLY AND SOLUTIONS
HOW IITIANS CREATE THEIR WEEKLY PLANNING HABITS OF IITIANS
NOTES TO DO AND DON'T TO DO SCREEN ADDICTION
LASER SHARP FOCUS SECRETS NO ONE TOLD P*RN ADDICTION

INCLUDES SUMMARY OF HYPERFOCUS, EAT THAT

FROG AND ATOMIC HABITS BECAUSE THESE
BOOKS CAN HELP A LOT IN YOUR JOURNEY
 ENDGAME
FOR IIT-JEE
2024-25 EDITION
SUCCESS IS NO ACCIDENT. IT IS HARD
WORK, PERSEVERANCE, LEARNING,
STUDYING, SACRIFICE AND MOST OF
ALL, LOVE OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING
OR LEARNING TO DO.
CONTENTS
Stories
1) 5 Valuable Success Stories 1-27
2) Success stories of 10 28-43
toppers

Secrets behind Success

3) 7 Pillars of success 48-61
4) 5 Scientific and ancient 62-69
learning and rivision
Techniques

5) How IITIANS makes Notes 70-74

6) Best Game changing choices 75-83
Coaching vs Self study
Best Books
Best coachings

7) How to crack JEE with self 84-98

studies only
8) Planning and Time 99-119
management
Creating Yearly, Weekly
and Monthly Plan
Daily To-Do and Don’t
Do list
Time table of 11 IITIANS
during preparation

9) Habits Of IITIANS 120-128

10 ) Plan for Final Days 129-136
Eliminating Distractions
11) 5 Most Common 137-149
Distractions and Solutions

Bonus KeyPoints of best

Productivity Books
12) Hyper Focus 150-184
( Recommended to increase
Focus )

13) Eat That Frog ( Suggested 185-192

to get rid of procrastination )

14) Atomic Habits 193-205

( Recommended For Everyone )
 CHAPTER 1
5 VALUABLE IITIANS STORIES

IF YOU WANT TO SHINE LIKE THE SUN , FIRST LEARN

TO BURN LIKE THE SUN

1
NOTE : TO MAKE THESE STORIES MORE EXITING AND
INFLUENTIAL WE HAVE PRESENT THEM IN THE BOOK FROM
SPEAKER 1 PERSPECTIVE

1) Story of Vansh Yadav

Introduction: Currently perusing B. Tech in Chemical Engineering, Indian
Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB) (Expected 2026)

My class 10 exams were over on 18 Mar 2020. I didn't know what to do with life
next. After exams were over, i started playing games, watching YouTube all day
long and all the stuff. Then , the game changer COVID came This happens for
exactly three months… i wasted my time in all those things.
I suddenly realised on 19 June, what I'm doing with my life and asked myself
what to do next…
From the very beginning, i was interested in maths a lot… on 19 June, i asked
one of my neighbour class 11 Maths NCERT books and i decided to do it's 1st
chapter (Set theory).. I was from below average family background, i couldn't
afford coaching and all those things.. I started learning from NCERT book
itself, but kucch bhi samajh na aaya… And, i don't why….

literally why I search

Sets class 11
on YouTube and guess what this changed my life forever.
This is the video that came on top

2
I downloaded the video (i always used to download and then watch)
I watched the lecture and literally enjoyed studying for the first time in my life…
I then solved NCERT and got all problems at once… The next day, i
downloaded entire playlist (3 more lectures and 2 DPP) and watched them on a
single day (20 June) and also solved NCERT. And i attempted JEE PYQs too.

The third day was terrible, i downloaded UnD from same channel and tried to
watch it, but I was even not able to understand wtf educator is saying. I didn't
even understood a thing. Icried a lot that day, on the 3rd day of my preparation.
I still remembered i slept that day crying hard.

Next day, my brother downloaded Basic Mathematics for me..(it is a part of

physics) and i learned it very easily (as it was actually maths).. this gave me
confidence that I can study physics too.
These things continued till 15 July. The Day my 10th result came… 97 in
maths… i decided i will prepare for jee.. My Bua (Father's sister) congratulate
me on 10th result and asked what i want…

I replied 'i want books to study further’.

I send all the books to them (recommended by YouTube teachers and my
brother)… and those books were

HC verma ( both volumes ) For physics

Cengage all parts for maths ( JEE advanced )
Balaji publications for chemistry
Arihant 41 Pyqs ( chapter wise + topic wise ) For all subjects

I finally received all of my books on 25 Jul, the day from which i started to call
my myself JEEian. Then, i got next shock, mole concept i didn't got that…
decided will not study chemistry anymore. I was studying only Physics and
maths till then since I was not getting chemistry. As far as i remembered, till
August end i did till projectile in physics and trigonometry in maths.

September 2020
Then things goes on and i discovered VT sir on YouTube, started learning
Inorganic chemistry from him…

October 2020
I discovered Prince sir pirated etoos lectures .

3
Till oct end my condition was
Chem — Till thermo (gaseous state not done)
Maths — trigo done and algebra (almost completed except complex num)
Phy — was doing COM that time..

Things went all like this, i joined regular school, since classes were online, no
problem, i didn't used to join them.

February 2021
Now till Feb, i didn't solved even a single mock test…
Chem — entire 11th done except oc
Math — Full 11th + algebra of 12th almost done
Phy — almost everything done

I gave mock test (free wala) on Unacademy App (hey, I'm not promoting it)
I got only 120 out of 300 in first one. I gave 4 mock before entering 12th and
guess what my marks were 84,95,120 and 143.

Now, i had to change teachers.

Phy class 12th — I got Alakh sir lakshy batch (got for free on TG)

Chem and maths class 12th — unacademy jee

I was now focusing on syllabus completion instead of perfection, used to do less
num of problems ( a big mistake) Again , i did not give mock test regularly…
And btw, i was too distracted, i used to study 6–7 hrs only (apart from lectures)
i somedays, watched lectures for more than 8 hrs too to complete syllabus early.
I had no friend who was studying for JEE, so i never felt the competition and
used to watch IIT Vlogs… And i also follows Ashish Arora sir and Anup sir for
startegies.

I was targeting IIT and JEE Adv only… and whenever I learn a chap, i used to
solve its 2019 adv PYQ (in my book, it was as a full paper in the end).
Now came June 2021, i got bored of JEE and all the stuff..
Went for a vacation for entire month and didn't touched books.
i used to procastinate a lot, never completed any weekly Target and used to play
games (even played for 10hrs in a day).
But on average, i study approx 6 hrs (only self-study)
September 2021
Physics done informally

4
Maths done informally
Chem — in OC, i didn't know anything everything else was done.
But when I start revising, i realised I forgot everything, i do not used to revise (a
big mistake again) and focus to learn next chapter…
i went to depression
Even my class 11 short notes were very bad.
I mean they were too bad to revise from...
I almost forgot 11th physics and some chaps of 11th chem (maths was good)..
I decided that i know concepts what i need is revision, i decided i will watch one
Shots and make short notes again. and followed PG Revision Checklist
Did all of them and by end of 2021, everything was fine and revised with great
short notes.. i was able to solve adv problems too. Then comes the mock time, i
decided to attempted NTA abhyaas' first mock on 2nd Jan 2022… my score
was 132 (decent wrt first full syllabus test).. In Second, i scored 156 and from
then , i attempt around 20 tests and my average score was 184.

Then, boards and all those stuff begins, i couldn't focus on JEE study due to
school practicals , lab manual and boards. On 8 April, I purchase Allen Major
Test Series, but due to boards, i attempted very less no. of tests.. my marks were
like this..

5
Average in all mocks ~ around 18_
And then comes the D-Day, i did many silly mistakes and finally got something
like this.

Finally what I will say is, everything was worth it!

CRL — 7692

After mains, i was exhausted and was not able to focus on studies and Next day
was my JEE Adv. and even without that much dedication after JEE mains i still
managed to cracked it and i am currently perusing B. Tech in Chemical
Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB) and i would be
graduated by 2026.

6
2) Story of Kunj Bhesaniya
Introduction: JEE Advanced'23 AIR 49, pursuing B.tech in Computer Science
and Engineering from IIT Guwaghati

Class 11th
I was in class 11th when I started preparing for JEE from ALLEN Ahmedabad .
As there was pendamic at that time my initial classes were in online mode for
nearly 2 months. In starting I was afraid of chemistry a little bit due to some
entirely new topics. Physics was my favorite so it was going smoothly and yeah,
maths was somewhat tricky for me. As time passed I was used to all 3 subjects
due to a lot of practice and then everything was going smoothly. I was getting
good marks in coaching tests. But, after a few more months, there was AIT of
coaching and the level of paper was very high. I scored below my expectations. I
realized that whatever I was doing was not sufficient for Advanced level, so I
started practicing some harder questions more and assured myself that all the
concepts were cleared at a deeper level. At the end of the 11th ( in mid-jan), I
revised the whole syllabus and practiced from extra books and tests. I got 1 and
half month for it along with the test series.

Class 12th
My 12th syllabus started in March. I was following all the same things as
followed in 11th. I had given 1 hour for 11th revision and 6–7 hr for 12th. I was
in the normal batch in class11th. Due to my consistent performance, I was
recommended by my teachers for giving shuffling test of star batch. I got
selected for it and started preparing there at the end of May. Due to syllabus
differences, I had to cover some topics by giving extra time besides current
topics. My physics syllabus was completed in August.So in physics, I was
practicing materials given by SKS sir (my physics teacher and mentor. Sir has
guided me till Adv. in every tough situation I faced). In maths & chem, I was
focused on completing the syllabus. At the start of November, our full syllabus
tests were started, still, our chemistry syllabus was not completed. I was getting
medium-range scores, It was a peak stressful month for me as many things were
going on, tests + organic covering at high speed& its practice + revision of
other topics + some topics of maths which were left. We all were hoping that
mains 1st attempt would be in April as NTA hadn't released the dates till
December. Then suddenly NTA bombed on 14 or 15 Dec (not remember
exactly) the 1st attempt will be in January.

7
I was well prepared in maths and physics. But, in chemistry, the syllabus was still
not covered and besides that I had CBSE practicals and preboards in January
which were compulsory. I gave more time to chemistry in the last days and
maintained my confidence in physics and maths.

JEE Mains 1st attempt

And the final day comes for mains. My exam was on 25th Jan. The last mocks I
had given were not great for me. I was a bit worried but maintained my
calmness as I believed myself whatever I had learned was enough. My shift was
in the afternoon, I started my paper with physics, my favourite. Maths was so
lengthy that I had given half the time to it. The paper was satisfactory for me
and the result came. I got 99.9944732 percentile and missed 100 percentile just
by one silly mistake. I was very happy with the result and somewhat regretted a
single mistake. As the main focus was advanced, I didn't care for 2nd attempt
and shifted the whole prep. for advanced after boards.

Boards
For boards I started prep for English and PE 10 days before exams. In the other
3 I was well prepared. Boards went very well for me and I had not much
expectations in boards just hoped for 90+%. Still shockingly, I got 96% in
boards. It was all above what I expected due to the English paper.

JEE Advanced final days

Finally, I had 45–50 days in hand for JEE advanced. I started revision again and
gave mock tests. In Last month I was giving 3 tests in one day (9hr per day) two
times a week and on other days I solved materials given by coaching and
revising all the short notes I have made and formula sheets. I was scoring
medium to high in tests and expecting to be in the top 100–150. Still, top 100
seemed difficult to me but I assured myself daily before sleeping that i would
make it. I stopped studying before a day of exam.

EXAM DAY
Finally, The day came for which I was preparing all the two years of my life. I
was confident but somewhat shivering due to exam pressure as at last whole of
my prep was getting tested on that 6 hours. I sat in front of my screen and
entered all the details. As 9 clocked, I was literally not able to handle the mouse
well my hands were trembling. The first que. was based on the basics of
kinematics and momentum. Still, I wasted more time as I rechecked it 2–3 times.

8
Then as 3–4 questions passed I got confidence and then I could calm down
myself. 1st paper went well and left some ques in maths. Then in 2nd paper,
again physics, and chemistry were easy (except chimney problem). In maths,
more questions were from my weak topics. Still, I was able to do decent and left
4 questions.

RESULT
I was not expecting to be top 100 initially as my 2nd paper went below
expectations. I didn't want to check ans key of coaching. Still, my teacher told
me to not lose hope as if it was difficult then it would be for all. Then the
official anskey came and I checked it. Still was not sure of my rank as the paper
was easy so it is expected that scores will be high for top ranks.
The final result came on 18th June. I was traveling at that time. I opened the
result and I got AIR 49 with 301/360. It was a dream come true moment for me
as I dreamed of studying at IIT Bombay and today I am writing this answer
from there .

9
3) Gunjan Dhanuka
Introduction: JEE Adv 2020 AIR 469 | IIT Guwahati CSE

Prologue
When in class 10th, I had made up my mind to pursue a career in STEM
because I didn’t want to be learning “who killed whom and when” all through my
life, nor be analysing the hidden meaning beneath Shakespearean Dramas. But
more than absolutely hating Social Sciences, I loved Science and Computers
deeply. My parents got me a PC in class 6th, and I am very grateful that they
did. It was using that computer that my interest in Tech arose and eventually led
me to pick CSE a few years later down the line.

So, being one of the “toppers” of my school, there were expectations and
dreams of not only me but my parents, teachers, and even friends, that I would
make into something big in my life. At that point in time, I didn’t know much
about IITs but knew that I wanted to make a career in technology, and these are
the best in business here in India. I gave a bunch of entrance tests for various
coachings. Got scholarships in most of them. Picked Allen just because of its
elegance and trust factor.

Many of the other answers to this question talk about NTSE and Olympiads.
Well NTSE wasn’t really fair to me and I don’t exactly know what happened,
but none of the applicants from our centre were selected for Stage 2 even
though many of us clearly scored above cutoff. Weird stuff ik
So immediately after giving my ICSE Board Exams, I packed my bags
and off to Kota - the city of dreams…

The Beginning

I was allotted in the TOP-1 batch which was considered to be just below the
coveted Star batches at Allen in hierarchy. I was happy with what I got but had
⭐
definitely made my mind to go the Star Batch after the first test for sure.
So classes were going on smooth and I was trying my best to grasp each and
everything that was being thrown at me. The batch size was huge (about 120
students) and it was difficult to catch up once you had missed something in the
lecture. I wasn’t much comfortable talking to teachers or asking doubts in the
class, but that didn’t make much of a difference for me then.

10
Made notes, revised them at hostel, solved a few of the homework problems
that were given, spent nights watching anime or web series. Sab theek hi to chal
raha tha. Or so I thought.

Am I Good Enough?
In the first shuffling test, I secured a rank of 74/1200 in my phase which was
quite decent but only the top 30 were allowed to shift to the “Star” batch. This
hit me. Also I was being constantly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of
knowledge the kids around me had. I came there thinking that ICSE would put
me ahead of the crowd, but wait! These people already knew half the calculus
and were integrating terms which I couldn’t even differentiate . In the next few
tests, my ranks started falling gradually. I wasn’t completing my homework or
revising properly after class, and as a result, I wasn’t too confident in any of the
topics that were being taught then. I was a back bencher and mostly yawned in
the classes, and watched livestreams in my hostel. I had swayed from my goal. I
then scored very very low marks in test, and was ranked somewhere around 400
in my phase of 1200 students. That was an all-time low for me to soak in. 📉
It’s Never Too Late
There was another shuffling test, and I somehow managed to stay in the same
batch. But there were a lot of new, motivated and successful students who had
come from “lower” batches into ours by doing a lot of hard work. To get back
on track, I started sitting on the front rows. This way I would have to focus on
the class and maybe the people around me would motivate me to work harder.
Boom! That’s exactly what happened. I befriended a lot of new people esp.,
Pranjal, Aryan and Satvik. Their work ethic, notes, humility, humor (or the lack
thereof :-p) was a breath of fresh air for me. Perhaps these people were the best
part of my Kota journey, and I am deeply grateful to them. So yes, I started
listening in the class, even asking a few doubts here and there, completing all my
homework, discussing solutions in the breaks and just having fun while studying.
I was now really enjoying it! My grades started to improve and I could feel the
positivity in my life. I was back on track!
I was having a good time, scoring good grades and was focussing on getting
promoted a Star Batch somehow for class 12th. There is only a single new Star
batch which students can get into, TMAS. My friends would sometimes secure
Batch Rank 1–5 and I would look at them with awe and think, inka toh Star
Batch me ho jayega, par mera kya?

11
The Real Preparation

All those uncertainties were put to rest when we received the results for the new
batch. All 4 of us had made it into TMAS . We were thrilled and proud of
whatever we had done in that one year.

Also, on the vacations after the 11th, I bid farewell to my smartphone. I

switched to good loyal Nokia Keypad (orange because I like colourful things :) ).
But since I enjoyed reading and talking to my parents on a video call, I decided
to keep the smartphone and use it only on Sundays. Basically a cheat day for me.
And switching to the Nokia was definitely one of the best decisions I made then.
It boosted my productivity, I was no longer scrolling endlessly or checking the
screen every now and then, and I could keep hold of my time! It was all falling
into place.

The teachers I got in 12th were simply awesome, and I was really fortunate to be
taught by them. JJ Sir and Paul Sir were my favourites! JJ Sir would come into
the class composedly and beautifully teach the intuition behind equations. He
would often impart life values, and I would just admire him and keep smiling
looking at him. If he wasn’t a teacher, I am sure he would have been a saint. Big
Fan Sir!

There isn’t much to tell about my class 12th. My routine was more or less this:

6:20 AM : Wake Up
7 AM : Breakfast and morning routine completed
7 AM - 1 PM : Study for approx 6.5 hours (with a 30 min break anywhere in
between)
1 - 2 PM : Bath, lunch and get ready for classes
2 PM - 8 PM : Classes at Allen
8 PM - 9 PM : Daily class tests (reserved for Star batches at Allen)
9 PM - 11:30 PM : Dinner, call home. Fit in a bit of class notes revision if time
remains.
11:30 PM : Sleep

I was actually finding stuff to study for 7 hours. I would solve all homework,
review the classwork, solve any problems that were unsolved before, read a few
reference texts and maybe even revise something for the always upcoming test. I
was among the top 5 of my batch now,

12
 from someone who barely made it into this Star Batch. Subtle flex there, but I
am still very proud of my 2019-self.

I came back to my hometown Bhagalpur in December of 2019, to give my

practicals and for the January JEE Mains. I scored decent marks in JEE Mains
Jan attempt (99.97 percentile) and that meant I could go back to Kota after
Boards, and prepare rigorously with only JEE Advanced on my mind. Well
nature had other plans.

Just one day before I was about to leave for Kota (after CBSE Maths exam),
Lockdown was declared throughout the nation. Coaching centers were closed,
and I was stuck at home. Our teachers reacted quickly and soon shifted to
Zoom for taking revision or discussion sessions. I too was completely focused
and was giving my best at this time. I had started a podcast for helping others
learn Inorganic Chemistry and was receiving a very warm response. Things were
going better than I thought.

Then the exam was postponed.

FED UP
One postponement was okay for me to handle. I understood that conducting
the exam was logistically not possible and there exists a world beyond JEE too. I
tried to do my best to maintain focus and keep up with the pace of others. But
as soon as another postponement was announced, I had enough of it. I literally
was fed up of all of this! I wanted to study Computer Science and here I am stuck
for 2 years and God knows how longer, reciting Inorganic Chemistry like an
absolute madman. I installed Python on my PC and started practicing
programming, solving Project Euler problems to keep myself sane. I was
spending my day laying here and there. Sometimes I would join the family in
watching an OTT or keep playing PES for long durations. I didn’t feel the
NEED to study... Why study if the exam is going to be postponed anyway?

But these few days of chill and frustration were bursts in otherwise long months
of day and night effort to stay motivated and not lose whatever I had gained
over the past year and a half. It was perhaps the third time I was revising the
syllabus from scratch and starting with Trigonometry would always piss me off .
Solving the revision sheets, resolving the coaching materials, revising class notes for the n-th
time.

13
I did all of this in Kota happily and never felt the burden, but now I was. It was
my friends, batchmates, teachers and the overall ambience of Kota that mentally
transforms you.

There was a vast desert of uncertainty ahead of the exam, but my IIT dream
would often appear as a mirage and remind me of the destination I set out for.
Even though I cannot see the end, I know I am closer to it with every step I
take. Resting is important, but I cannot stop.

The Redemption
After a long wait, the dates for JEE Mains September were released. I gave the
exam just as a large-scale mock before the JEE Advanced. And boy, oh boy, had
I deteriorated! When the results came out, my Sept rank was approximately 3x
my Jan rank. This was a hard-kicked football in my face, and I had to wake up
before it was too late. We are in the Endgame now!
That very day, I fixed a routine for myself. The same way I did in Kota. I would
write whatever I had to do in the day on the whiteboard and not even touch my
phone or PC till I completed those. We were told to practice giving mock tests
wearing masks, since that would be the norm in the exam as well. Day after day,
I was ticking chapters off the revision list, watching videos to clear off any holes
in the concepts and giving mock tests almost daily! I was rising back up through
the ranks of my batch and was very hopeful that all this would pay off in the
end.

Then came the day of JEE Advanced 2020, after months of hide and seek, I was
finally going to end this once and for all. ( I have documented the entire exam
day in a separate answer, so would cut some slack here ). The exam didn’t go as
good as I wanted it to be, and I was honestly scared of the results. But at least it
was over. I could rest, for now at least.
It felt so awkward suddenly having nothing to do. The thought which I had in
mind for every single day for the past 2.5 hours was now done. I didn’t know
what was going to happen, but I am glad I tried.

The Results
When the results were announced, I got to know that I had secured AIR 469 in
JEE Advanced 2020, and I was pretty much numb to the result. Didn’t know
whether I had to be happy or not. Had I gotten a rank below 400, I would have
straight gone for IITR CSE. But now I was confused. After a lot of deliberation
and discussion, I chose IIT Guwahati CSE, and I am very glad I did.

14
So this was my JEE Story. While it might seem I was the protagonist of the
story, there are a lot of people behind the scenes who made it all possible. My
parents, my near and dear friends and the ones who love me, my hardworking
teachers, my hostelmates, and everyone who at any point of time prayed for me
or made me feel better. Thanks from the bottom of my heart. While writing this
answer, tears rolled down my eyes multiple times, sometimes remembering the
good old friendship back there or about the phases I went through. JEE Prep
was a life-changing journey for me, and even today when I feel lost or think if
this is all worth it, I recall my 2019-self and think about the dreams I saw for
myself back then. They didn’t stop with an admission in an IIT. I have a lot
more to learn and conquer.

15
4) Subham Kumar
Introduction: JEE Advanced 2023 Air 4114

Lockdown
So like many of the aspirants I was about to start my journey just after 10th. But
as luck would have it, just a few days after my exam, the infamous pandemic
struck locking us all up in our houses. I was certainly aware of jee but apart from
the knowledge of the exam being really tough I had no idea about anything else
related to it. I didn't really know the importance of the exam tbf at that time. So
when lockdown happened, I didn't join any coaching for the prep.

I had already taken admission in a dummy school in kota (which had both pros
and cons in my case) so I didn't have to attend any classes and exams in 11th. So
just like any teenager surrounded by temptations, I stopped studying anything
and started enjoying the days. For the whole 11th, I didn't study a single thing
tbvh (which I do regret but I won't say that it's overpowering).

Then came 12th

I was aware that I had boards and I couldn't escape it so I started studying
slowly. But since I was so used to not studying that it took some time to adjust. I
didn't do much for boards as I knew the kind of things they ask so I focused on
preparing those instead.
I did end up scoring 97 percent in the end. ;)

Now, I was really sure that I am going to take a drop for jee as I had
enlightenment in this regard . I was already in kota for my boards so I decided to
take admission in Allen!! The very next day of my final exam me and my father
went there and applied for the leader course (Dropper batch).

Drop year (11th June 2022)

I enter this huge class bustling with students filled with excitement. There were
about 300 students in my batch which is a LOT!!
I had a lot of doubts going in my mind.
How am I going to compete with these many kids?
What if the teachers aren't good? What if they don't solve my doubts? I don't
know a single thing from 11th and very little about 12th… will I be able to
understand a single thing?

16
was filled with self doubt. And also the very first day everyone looks like a
scholar to you (which later actually turns out are not) but yeah I did go through
all those emotions in the initial days. I was not able able give answer to a single
question teachers asked. After a few days i decided that i am gonna take a
strategic place in the front in such a way that I'm close enough to the teachers to
notice me but far enough to not become a target of their questioning
.
The classes began and I slowly started getting grasp of it. It wasn't easy though. I
was really dedicated to the process. I just had one goal i.e to give my best each
and everyday!
Then came mains 1 which I didn't give. And soon after that the second attempt
which I gave as my teachers suggested everyone to atleast try.
It went horribly but also i wasnt shocked. Ended up scoring 49 percentile. I was
a bit upset though as some of my batchmated qualified for advanced.

17
Now, after this massive failure I decided not to give up that quickly on myself. I
went ahead and started preparing with a better mindset this time. The first
monthly test happened which was just one paper based on advanced pattern,
and I came first in my batch! That seriously was unbelievable. “A guy who
wasn't known to anybody suddenly came first in the batch” this suddenly turned
some attention towards me. Teachers started noticing me this time. I was really
motivated by this small achievement of mine. I went head on in this game. And
by God's grace I came first yet again!
I would like to add that my mother was staying with me in kota which
according to me played the most vital part in this journey. I can't be more
thankful to her for this.

This stint of mine continued. I started ranking either 1st or 2nd in my batch in
the monthly tests due to which all my teachers became really supportive towards
me. They never said no to clearing any doubts (Not just for me but to every
student irrespective of their performance). I'm really happy that I got a chance
to learn from these amazing teachers.
I continued working hard. Apart from 6 hours of classes (which later turned to
approx 8 hours) I used to study for about 7–8 hours on my own completing all
the work given by the teachers and revising everything to the t.
Everything was going well but nta couldn't bear the happiness of students .
While we were in class- it was the month of december- we got this news
NTA is going to hold JEE Main from 24th January. Second attempt will be
held from in the month of April

Everyone was Thunderstruck. No that's not an exaggeration! We got like 8

month in total and that too effectively only 7 month removing the holidays we
got because of the mains and advanced! Our syllabus was still just 65 percent
done. I was sure that this attempt isn't going to go that well but still decided to
try and give my best anyways. Teachers started going at the speed of a race
horse. We were going at a highly accelerated speed in the hopes of covering the
important chapters. I increased my study hours and was fully focused on it.
1st Feb 2023
Then came mains 1… My exam did go well but my shift turned out to be the
easiest among all which resulted in me scoring 97.6 percentile in the first
attempt. It wasn't that good taking in view the competition. No good nit branch
is available even at this.
I was motivated yet again by this and again went into the mode of not getting up
from my study table. I slept for 5 30 to 6 hours a day and attended classes (as we

18
were yet to complete our syllabus) and studied for the rest. I knew I wouldn't get
another chance at this so had to go all in. We were grinding day in and day out
and finally managed to finish the syllabus on 15th March at a speed which only
god knows how we survived. Now was the time for self study and mocks

6th April 2022

This my was second mains. The very first shift! I was afraid but confident this
time. I went to my exam centre with a positive attitude. The paper was quite
easy yet again and I performed well. I knew this time that it will be better.
I started preparing for advanced after taking 2 3 days of rest. But the
anxiousness of result was really bothering me. I kept checking for updates every
freaking day!! Every youtube channel came up with a new date of result and I
would wait till 2 am to see the result! Finally it came on 29th after almost a
month long wait. I scored 99.18 percentile this time! I was a bit shocked to see
the inflation in rank but was quite satisfies to be honest.

19
Now I was finally content with my performance and shifted my focus back to
advanced.

I started revising all the notes. Started reading NCERT for Ioc. Doing the JA
section of my modules. I relied completely on my modules and notes
throughout the year. Didn't buy a single additional book. Gave all the weekly
mocks of Allen all India tests.

All the modules, races, sheets, notes that I used within a year

Always wanted to create this with the pens used within a year
Then came the exam day or as people call it the D day.

20
4th June 2023
I went to jaipur a day before my exam with my mother(I was alloted a centre in
its outskirts). I didn't study the day before cept a few small chem topics. I went
to the temple and then came back to my room and slept early to get enough
sleep.

The next day, I wasn't really that nervous. I wouldn't go in depth of the day as it
might take a whole other answer .
To summarise, the paper went decent. I did mess up on a lot of places due to
lack of patience I would say. I was not really satisfied with the exam as I knew I
could have done better.
The response sheets were uploaded and I matched my answers .
I scored 155 combined in both the papers ( 80 + 75 )
I could have easily scored 175 but messed up 5 integer types in hurry. But I was
really happy that I would be getting a good rank. I didn't go on rank predictors
as I knew they wouldn't be accurate and might just add into my impatience and
fear.
I enjoyed the next few days binging and watching movies. Did give few mocks
for bitsat in between.

18 June 2023
I deliberately slept late so it would wake up only after 10. As soon as I woke up I
checked my phone and VOILA!!

(6 marks were bonus in phy paper 2)

I was ecstatic! Ik its not a GREAT rank. But for
soemone who prepared for only 9 10 months, i
would say its pretty good.(On a side note I did
expect a better rank but looking at the inflation of
this years exams.. I was mentally prepared.)
All the hardwork and sacrifices did pay off. Let's
see how the counselling goes
For all the droppers, it's not that difficult. But it
does take a lot of strength to continue and fight
till the very end!!
I hope this motivates people who scored low in
12th to not give up as it all forms the building
blocks of your path to the dream of being an
IITian!

21
5) Story of Kamaldeep Singh
Introduction: JEE Advanced 2023 Air 4114

I was a good student in academics. I got 97% in my 10TH board exams and
everyone was happy with it. My father then asked me to join Commerce Stream
because he thought it is a stream which will never fade away. But I forcefully
joined Non Medical because I wanted to give JEE exam not because to join IIT
but to see How to prepare for a highly competitive exam.

I joined a coaching class in April 2018 “Career Launcher” or “CL” and after 1 week I told
my father that I am not comfortable in CL as syllabus was going very slow(1 chapter in a
month that too at NCERT level).But I had given whole 2 yrs fee(1.35 lakhs) in two
installments so it wasn't possible to leave now. I had to adjust there in the classes .Also in
school matters got worse.I was earlier an ICSE student in 10th But in 11th i was
a CBSE student now.Syllabus also became difficult and I was least concerned
about studies at that time.C’mon a student works really hard for his 10th board
and now you want him to work harder.

After my September Half yearly exams of class 11 I got 82% and that was a
blow on me. Yes I know people get even worse than it but I was even more sad
because in exams I was blank in chapters like Thermodynamics,Cordinate
Geometry,Parabola etc which were already taught to me in CL. My
performance in CL was not great 100/360 was an average for me.

I cursed myself that I came in this hellhole of IITJEE .People laughed on me

and my decreasing performance. In my 11th finals I wasn’t satisfied with
my class 11. I was only on WhatsApp and not on Instagram etc. even then I deleted my
WhatsApp account thinking it would help me focus. After 11th finals I got around 14
days leave. While my school and coaching friends were enjoying I was
completing my backlog of HC verma, Weak chapters of 11th just to gain some
confidence.

Now 12th begins, Every DAMN person pressurizes you in 12th .In 12th
things started worsening for me because you get backlogs a lot and you want to
neglect school but my father never allowed me take a holiday .My Schedule
was 2:30 pm at home(School was 3km from home, then 2:45pm leave for
CL(CL was 5kms from my home)on cycle ,then at 7:30 pm I used to reach
home, even then my school was so horrible that they gave homework

22
Which if you didn't your parents would be called. By now I was losing
hope of even qualifying cutoff .It was in November 2019 I gave my first full Jee
mock and I got 18/360 in PHY -2.
I couldn't find screenshot of mock test otherwise I would have shown you.I was
devasted. Finally on 7 Jan shift 1 I gave my Jee attempt

This is what I got .Not at all good even though I tried to put all my efforts in it.
I received a lot of scolding form my father. my father abused me and said “kisi
kaam ka ladka nahi hai tu kam se kam 90 percentile to le ata”.Even my friends
who never prepared for jee and were social media addicts got 85 percentile in
exam.All I could do was get decent percent in my board exams now. Board
exams went fine. I got 93.4% here. Again not very good here as well compared
to my Class 10.

At this time Corona’s 1st wave comes in .It was around March 2020 when the
April attempt was pushed further. I didn't know when it would occur. All I
could do was prepare for it. This time I had plenty of time. I tried my level best
to follow the timetable I made .In the morning I woke up at 6 and at 6:10 I used
to cry everyday thinking” kaha phas gya”.My school friends were having time of
their lives enjoying to the fullest level while I was studying from 6am to 10 pm
with no noticeable results.That time mentally challenging for me. Now exams
happened in September 2020 and my result was…

This broke my spirit. Even my father didn't say anything to me now as himself
saw me that I HAD PUT the efforts. I belong to OBC category so I cleared
Advanced cutoff but as you know I didn't clear . IT WAS OCTOBER 2020
.Two options ahead -

1)join a college
2) drop.

My father wanted me join a college as he thought “JEE iske bas ka nahi”,I didn't
want to join a college as for me first thing that comes in mind is FEES. You
know the fees in pvt colleges in way high and I couldn't study in a place

23
where my father works really hard just to pay my fees .It is not in my morals.
I decided to drop a year that is not acceptable to relatives and neighbors. Offline
classes were closed everywhere and i had to shift online. I was scared .I searched
a lot at the most inexpensive was UNACADEMY. Wait ,Wait I am not going to
promote Unacademy neither I am paid by Unacademy.I joined expert batch and
the exam was scheduled for FEB 2021.Now things were improving particularly
chemistry. But again I was sad because I had taken a step down in my academic
life of Dropping. The problem with dropper is that all his friends are enjoying
freshers party while a dropper is working is ass off to study. Questions like “iss
baar nahi hua to kya hoga to kya hoga” used to come in my mind.With that JEE
MAIN 2021 FEB attempt came and my results were..

Dammit Improved but not a satisfactory improvement. I was losing my mind

now. Also I had my SSB (interview for selection in armed forces)in which again
I was not recommended. When I failed in SSB it was the lowest point in my life,
I thought that I was worthless. All hopes gone. My preparation for JEE was also
not good and the Next attempt was 3 months away. Now I became serious.
At that time in March 2021 2nd wave came and all exams were postponed. Now
I wouldn't waste this opportunity now .My father was also suffering from Covid
now I had to go daily to check on him and bring his medicines. To compensate
for time lost in visiting and bringing medicines for my father,I used to sleep 2
hrs less daily.

I knew this was my chance and now I WILL NOT WASTE IT AGAIN.A wave
of seriousness hit me. I became so serious at that time even in sleep I used to
solve questions and find ways and means of solving it by other ways.
My social life was ZERO no friends, no phonecalls nothing. I was on this track
alone. I used to feel sad when others would ask my parents “Ladka kya kar raha
hai” to which they would say “ Isne kahi admission nahi liya paper ki taiyari kar
raha hai”

24
Once my father’s friend mocked me by saying “Beta college jane ka plan hai bhi
ya ab ghar rehke store kholna hai”.But now those remarks didn't bother me as I
was confident now. For the first time ever I gave mock tests, Yes you read it
right I never gave mock test earlier because I was afraid of the score. But take
tests not for score but to find mistakes and improve them because in the end
you need the best score on your exam day and that's all that matters. I gave 2021
papers and 2020 JEE main papers as mock test and my initial score was
84/360.but gradually it reached to a steady 150/360 in 4 months time.
By this time my fear of “What will happen if I fail"was gone.I was happy with
my preparation but even more happier as now I know what is REAL
HARDWORK.

Now in July 2021 3rd attempt was taken. I was confident this time. While in
exam hall chemistry and physics were very good for me I was not able to solve
even a single question from maths.Yes not even a single one!!I was scared at that
time but then my heart said”if you do not perform here people will say” ladka
padhta bahut tha lekin number nahi la pata tha” you see you become a SOB
story". And didn't want this to happen with me.Confidence again came back and
now I was able to handle maths. After exam I didn't check for answer keys,
analysis and other things as they put and undue pressure on you and i still had
the last attempt waiting. Finally I got 96 percentile in my JEE main 3rd attempt.
I was very happy with it. As i knew that I will get some NIT at this percentile.
Now for 4th attempt I was tension free as I only wanted a good college and not
CS/IT as most people. Now in the 4th attempt I got 98.8 percentile. How you
may ask

two reasons
1)The paper was a difficult shift and
2) I was under no pressure hence I commited no mistakes.
Finally I was happy after a looong time. For Advanced 2021 I qualified the exam
with around 15000 rank but that was expected as I never studied properly for
Advanced. I was allotted EEE in NITK,Surathkal in JOSSA round and now my
father is really happy for me.
In this whole journey I had a good friend Sarthak Pandey(now in Kanpur) who
used to call me in two months asking about my preparation. I would like to
thank my teachers for their support.
I know it was a long answer but as I said I wanted to write my heart out.
Few points for the readers,

25
It is never too late to start
Don't ever give up- Warriors don't quit
Never feel scared of Mock Test-This the major reason why I failed in first
attempt You learn a lot from journey rather than destination
Studying for JEE is equal to a penance(tapasya).

Importance of hard work is taught to you at an early age by this preparation.

I know many of you will say to me -“IIT to nahi hua na” but in the long run the
learning from this preparation is the most important. Thanks for reading this
extremely long answer. I hope my answer gave you the necessary dose of
motivation. I would be really happy to read your motivational story one day dear
Reader.I will feel very happy if my story motivated you to work hard for your
goal.May all of you succeed in life.

26
 CHAPTER 2
10 TOPPERS SUCCESS STORIES

SUCCESS IS NOT THE KEY TO HAPPINESS. HAPPINESS

IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS. IF YOU LOVE WHAT YOU ARE
DOING, YOU WILL BE SUCCESSFUL.

27
1) The Journey of Vavilala Chidvilas Reddy
Introduction: Vavilala Chidvilas Reddy's remarkable achievement is securing the
top rank in the IIT JEE Advanced 2023 examination.

Family Background and Early Years

Vavilala Chidvilas Reddy is a smart student from Telangana. His parents,
Rajeshwar Reddy and Nagalaxmi Reddy teach math at a school. He did well in
exams, like JEE Main where he got AIR 15. He also did great in other
competitions. He studied in CBSE Board and scored high marks. Now, he
wants to go to IIT Bombay to study Computer Science.

The Secret to Success

Consistency was the key to Vavilala Chidvilas Reddy's success in the JEE
Advanced exam. For nearly four years, he stuck to a consistent study routine,
spending regular hours learning and revising. Despite being just 17, he's a math
whiz who loves science too. He attributes his achievement to the unwavering
support of his family, teachers, and mentors. Inspired by his older brother,
currently in his final year at BITS Pilani, Vavilala aims to follow suit.
Consistency in his efforts and support from loved ones paved his path to
success in the prestigious exam.

Preparation Strategy for JEE Advanced

Reddy began preparing for JEE Advanced in 11th grade, starting early to build a
strong foundation. His strategy focused on understanding concepts, practicing,
and maintaining self-discipline. He solved past papers and mock tests to
improve his problem-solving skills and understand exam patterns, which
contributed to his success.

Suggestions for Future JEE Aspirants

Reddy thinks it's better to understand things instead of just remembering them.
He tells others who want to do well in JEE to learn the basics well in every
subject. He says practicing regularly, understanding everything, and being
disciplined are important to do well in any test.

Conclusion: Vavilala Chidvilas Reddy succeeded in JEE by studying hard and

understanding concepts. He encourages others to do the same, seeking support
from family, teachers, and mentors, emphasizing practice, understanding, and
discipline..

28
2) Story of Kalpit Veerwal
1. Early Academic Success and Ambitions: From a young age, Kalpit
Veerwal demonstrated a keen interest in studies and learning, achieving notable
success in exams like NTSE, Olympiads, and securing Rank 1 in some.

2. Academic Triumph in IIT JEE: Rising to prominence by securing AIR 1 in

JEE with a perfect score, Kalpit gained admission to IIT Bombay CSE, where
his ambition shifted towards entrepreneurship.

3. Venturing into Online Education: Kalpit embarked on sharing study habits

and strategies online through platforms like Quora and a personal blog, later
expanding to YouTube with a focus on education.

4. Entrepreneurial Leap: Opting out of campus internships to concentrate on

growing his online presence, Kalpit successfully developed and launched an
online course for class 12 students, marking the inception of a profitable
education business.

5. Navigating Challenges and Scaling: Overcoming challenges, including the

lockdown, Kalpit expanded course offerings and team. His business stabilized,
turning profitable with consistent growth in student numbers.

6. Financial Diversification: Leveraging profits to invest in diverse ventures

like stocks, real estate, and startups, Kalpit created a personal venture fund.

7. Diversification and Stability: Recognizing the risk of over-reliance on a

single business, Kalpit diversified income streams by launching consulting
services and software products. No single income source exceeds 30% of total
revenue, ensuring stability in uncertain economic climates.

8. Key Success Factors: Kalpit attributes his success to starting early,

maintaining consistent effort, and resilience in the face of challenges. He
encourages taking calculated risks, pursuing strengths, and persevering without
looking back.

29
3) Story of Pranav Goyal
Pranav is a smart and diligent boy from Panchkula, Haryana. Ever since he was
little, he has shown a keen interest in learning new things and excelling in
school. He loves solving puzzles and figuring out how things work.

Big Achievement:
One day, Pranav faced a big challenge - the JEE Advanced exam, a tough test
for students who want to study engineering. But Pranav wasn't afraid. He
studied very hard and put in his best effort. When the results came out,
everyone was amazed - Pranav had scored the highest marks! He became the
topper, and everyone celebrated his incredible achievement.

Preparation Time:
Pranav didn't become a topper overnight. He spent months preparing for the
exam. Every day, he would wake up early and study for hours. He asked his
teachers lots of questions whenever he didn't understand something. They were
always there to help him, and Pranav was grateful for their support.

Pranav's Family:
Pranav comes from a loving family. His dad works hard at a medicine company,
and his mom runs her own business. They always encouraged Pranav to follow
his dreams and gave him the support he needed to succeed. Pranav also has his
grandparents and a little brother who look up to him as a role model.

Why Pranav Loves Engineering:

Pranav has always been fascinated by how things work. He loves tinkering with
gadgets and computers, trying to understand their inner workings. That's why he
decided to become an engineer. He knew that by studying engineering, he could
learn even more about the world around him and make a difference.

Challenges and Solutions:

Studying for the JEE Advanced exam wasn't easy. Pranav faced many challenges
along the way, especially in subjects like Chemistry. Some topics seemed
confusing at first, but Pranav didn't give up. He kept practicing and asking
questions until he understood everything. He also used mock tests and sample
papers to test his knowledge and improve his skills

30
Thankful Heart:
Pranav knows that he couldn't have achieved his success alone. He's grateful to
his teachers, parents, and everyone who supported him along the way. They
believed in him even when he doubted himself, and Pranav will always be
thankful for their love and encouragement.

Message to Friends:
Pranav wants to inspire other kids who dream of becoming engineers. He wants
them to know that with hard work, determination, and support from loved ones,
anything is possible. No dream is too big to achieve, and Pranav hopes that his
story will encourage others to never give up on their dreams.

31
4) Story of Kartikay Gupta
Introduction: Kartikey Gupta, hailing from Chandrapur, Maharashtra, achieved
an extraordinary feat by securing AIR-1 in JEE Advanced 2019. His journey to
success is a testament to dedication and focused preparation.

Academic Journey: Studying at Allen Career Institute's Mumbai branch,

Kartikey exhibited brilliance early on, securing AIR-18 in JEE Main 2019 with a
perfect score and emerging as the Second Topper in Maharashtra. Additionally,
he attained a commendable 93.7% in his Class 12th exams.

Preparation Strategy: Kartikey's success mantra revolved around diligence and

clarity. He diligently cleared doubts, ensuring he didn't sleep without resolving
uncertainties. With a focus on the CS branch at IIT Bombay, Kartikey aimed
high but never anticipated clinching AIR-1. Regular self-study of 6-7 hours,
complemented by weekly tests for self-analysis, formed the cornerstone of his
preparation.

Stress-Free Studying: Emphasizing the importance of a relaxed mind, Kartikey

advised aspirants to study without stress. He underscored the significance of
physical and mental relaxation during preparation, advocating for self-
competition to identify and improve weak areas. Kartikey's disciplined approach
included breaks and relaxation after every two hours of study.

Digital Detox and Role Model: Kartikey's dedication extended beyond

academics. He consciously stayed away from social media, opting for a regular
keypad phone over a smartphone. Inspired by the legendary mathematician
Srinivasa Ramanujan, Kartikey's dream of pursuing engineering in the CS branch
at IIT Bombay is now on the verge of realization. His idolization of Ramanujan
reflects his profound admiration for mathematical brilliance.

Achievements and Family Background:

In addition to his remarkable JEE Advanced feat, Kartikey excelled in various
Olympiads and qualified for KVPY multiple times. Hailing from a supportive
family, with his father working as a general manager in the paper industry and
his mother as a dedicated homemaker, Kartikey's elder brother pursues
engineering in the CS branch from Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan Sardar Patel
Institute of Technology, Mumbai.

32
Conclusion: Kartikey Gupta's journey epitomizes the fusion of perseverance,
meticulous preparation, and unwavering determination. His remarkable
achievements serve as a beacon of inspiration for aspirants, showcasing the
transformative power of focused efforts and resilience in the pursuit of
academic excellence.

5) Story of Chirag Falor

Top Rank and Unconventional Choice:
Chirag Falor, a bright young talent from Pune, has clinched the top spot in this
year's JEE Advanced. However, defying expectations, he has decided to forgo
studying at any Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Instead, he has already
secured admission to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) in the United States.

Exceptional Achievements:
Falor's academic prowess extends beyond JEE Advanced. He achieved a perfect
score of 100 percentile in JEE-Mains, showcasing his exceptional aptitude in
engineering entrance exams. Furthermore, his stellar performance led to
admission at MIT in March, albeit online due to the global pandemic.

Preparation and Persistence:

Falor's journey to success wasn't effortless. He dedicated four years to preparing
for the rigorous JEE exams, acknowledging the vast syllabus and demanding
nature of the assessments. Despite securing admission to MIT, Falor opted not
to skip the JEE Advanced, demonstrating his commitment to his preparation.

Balancing Act:
Managing both MIT classes and JEE Advanced preparation required impeccable
time management. Falor diligently attended MIT classes online during the night,
while devoting his days to preparing for the IIT exams. His ability to juggle
these commitments reflects his determination and discipline.

Past Accolades and Recognition:

Falor's academic brilliance extends beyond engineering exams. He garnered
international acclaim, receiving a gold medal at the International Olympiad on
Astronomy and Astrophysics in 2019. Additionally, his achievements in
American Mathematics and Homi Bhabha Balvaidnyanik competition further
solidify his reputation as a prodigious talent.

33
Future Endeavors and International Recognition:
With admission to MIT secured, Falor plans to pursue his academic journey
abroad, returning to the US in January next year. His decision underscores the
global recognition of his talent and potential.

Adapting to Challenges Amidst Pandemic:

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Falor's success in JEE Advanced stands as a
testament to his resilience. Despite the challenging circumstances, he excelled,
showcasing his adaptability and determination.

Conclusion:
Chirag Falor's journey is a testament to the power of persistence, dedication, and
unconventional choices. His decision to pursue excellence at MIT, alongside his
remarkable achievements in engineering and beyond, exemplifies his
commitment to academic excellence and personal

34
6) The Story of Mridul Aggarwal
Remarkable Achievement: Jaipur's own Mridul Agarwal has made history by
clinching the top spot in the IIT entrance exam, JEE-Advanced. His exceptional
performance earned him the highest-ever percentile of 96%, setting a new
benchmark for aspirants.

Unprecedented Dual Triumph: Agarwal's success isn't just noteworthy; it's

unparalleled. He becomes the first candidate in JEE history to secure the top
positions in both the JEE-Mains and JEE-Advanced exams, showcasing his
unparalleled academic brilliance.

Outstanding Performance: Scoring an impressive 348 out of 360 marks in the

JEE-Advanced, Agarwal's stellar performance underscores his dedication and
commitment to excellence in academics.

Inclusive Participation: Among the 41,862 candidates qualifying in JEE-

Advanced this year, a notable mention goes to the 6,452 female candidates,
highlighting the increasing inclusivity in the competitive exam.

Factors Behind Success: Agarwal attributes his achievement to a combination

of factors including self-motivation, hard work, a constructive approach towards
mistakes, and the support of his well-wishers. His emphasis on effort, time, and
energy reflects his disciplined approach to success.

Future Aspirations: With his eyes set on the future, Agarwal aims to pursue B
Tech in the computer science department at IIT Bombay. He envisions
furthering his studies at renowned international institutions such as MIT,
aspiring to contribute to the advancement of technology and education in India.

Message to Aspirants: Offering words of wisdom to future aspirants, Agarwal

advocates for focus, resilience, and a learning attitude. He encourages them to
stay grounded, free from pressure, and committed to their goals.

Notable Female Topper: Among the female candidates, Kavya Chopra from
the Delhi zone emerges as the top scorer with an impressive 286 marks out of
360, further highlighting the diverse talent pool in the competition.

35
Conduct of the Exam:
This year, IIT-Kharagpur took charge of conducting the exam, which serves as
the qualifying test for admission to the prestigious Indian Institutes of
Technology (IITs). While the JEE-Mains acts as a gateway to engineering
colleges nationwide, it also serves as a prerequisite for JEE-Advanced.

Story 7) Story of RK Shishir

Top Rank in JEE Advanced:
R K Shishir from Karnataka has emerged as the top scorer in the prestigious IIT
entrance exam, JEE-Advanced, the results of which were declared by IIT
Bombay on September 11. His outstanding performance not only secured him
the top position but also earned him accolades in state-level pharmacy admission
exams and JEE Main.

Quality over Quantity:

Despite his achievements, Shishir reveals that he didn't adhere to the
conventional study schedule of 12-14 hours per day. He emphasizes the
significance of the quality of practice over the quantity of hours, advocating for
regular breaks to maintain concentration and enhance effectiveness in studies.

Diligent Preparation:
A student at Narayana eTechno School Vidyaranyapura, Shishir has been
diligently preparing for the JEE exam for the past two years. His disciplined
approach, combined with strategic breaks during study sessions, reflects his
commitment to excellence.

Versatile Achievements:
Shishir's success transcends the realm of engineering exams. He also secured the
top rank in KCET under the pharmaceutical category, with an impressive score
of 178 out of 180 and a perfect CET percentage of 100. Additionally, he
excelled in his CBSE Class 12 board exams, scoring an outstanding 97.9%.

Performance in JEE Advanced:

According to IIT Bombay, which conducted the exam, Shishir obtained a
commendable score of 314 out of 360 marks in JEE Advanced. His exceptional
performance solidifies his position as a formidable contender in the competitive
landscape.

36
Top Female Performer:
Tanishka Kabra from the Delhi zone stands out as the top female performer,
securing an impressive 277 marks in JEE Advanced and claiming the 16th all-
India rank among female candidates.

Significant Qualification Figures:

Over 1.5 lakh candidates appeared for the exam, with over 40,000 candidates
qualifying. The criteria for qualification include meeting subject-wise as well as
aggregate qualifying marks, as explained by a senior IIT Bombay official.

Conclusion:
R K Shishir's journey to success serves as an inspiration, highlighting the
importance of diligence, strategic studying, and versatile excellence. His
remarkable achievements underscore the potential for greatness within every
dedicated student, showcasing the transformative power of focused efforts and
perseverance in pursuit of academic excellence.

37
8) Story of Aman Bansal
1. Surprise and Gratitude: Aman Bansal expresses his surprise and gratitude
for achieving the top rank in JEE Advanced 2016. He plans to celebrate with his
supportive parents and friends who aided him during his preparation.

2. Diligent Preparation: Despite uncertainty, Aman maintained a disciplined

approach, setting daily/weekly targets throughout the year-long preparation for
JEE Advanced. His focus was on staying on track and completing the syllabus
efficiently.

3. Passion for Math and Chemistry: Aman's exceptional performance in

mathematics and chemistry during his Class 12 exams showcased his love for
these subjects. His passion fueled his dedication to excel in competitive exams.

4. Facing Challenges with Confidence: Reflecting on the difficulty level of

JEE Advanced 2016, Aman remained confident due to his thorough
preparation. He emphasized the importance of hard work in overcoming
challenges, regardless of background.

5. The Wisdom of Hard Work: Aman's message to future aspirants

emphasized the transformative power of hard work. He encouraged them to
persevere relentlessly and not be deterred by their background, highlighting the
significance of dedication.

6. Balancing Mains and Advanced: Aman's impressive scores in both JEE

Main and JEE Advanced underscored his adeptness at navigating through the
exams. While he found JEE Main more complicated due to its lengthier
questions, he tackled JEE Advanced with ease.

7. Dreams of the Future: Expressing his aspirations to join IIT Bombay and
specialize in computer science, Aman envisioned a future filled with research
endeavors. Despite remaining undecided on the specific subject, he looked
forward to contributing to technological advancements.

8. Words of Wisdom and Beyond Academics: Aman's parting advice for

future JEE aspirants emphasized the importance of preparing comprehensively
for both conceptual understanding and factual knowledge. Beyond academics,
he found solace in hobbies like chess, guitar, maintaining a balanced lifestyle.

38
9) Story of Sarvesh Mehtani
1. Unconventional Stress Relief: Sarvesh Mehtani, the topper of JEE
(Advanced) 2015, found an unusual stress-relief method—watching animation
films like Doraemon on TV. He incorporated this into his daily routine during
his preparation for the tough exams, prioritizing mental well-being alongside
studies.

2. Dedication and Focus: Despite attending school, Mehtani devoted seven to

eight hours daily to studying for the IIT JEE exams. His commitment to his goal
of pursuing computer science in IIT Bombay required serious effort to ward off
distractions and maintain focus.

3. Sacrifices for Success: Mehtani willingly gave up his smartphone in favor of

a basic phone for making calls, recognizing the potential distractions that
smartphones and social media posed. He also sacrificed swanky phones and
WhatsApp chats to stay organized and focused on his studies.

4. Acknowledging Teacher's Influence: Mehtani credits his teachers for his

achievement, emphasizing the importance of their guidance and the relevance of
NCERT textbooks in his preparation. He highlights the role of his educators in
shaping his academic journey towards success.

5. Persistence and Hard Work: Mehtani's message to aspiring engineers

emphasizes the significance of perseverance and diligent effort. He advises
against procrastination, stressing the importance of clearing doubts promptly
and maintaining organizational skills to excel in academics.

6. Academic Excellence and Supportive Environment: Mehtani's

outstanding academic record, including a score of 95.4% in Class 12 and a
perfect CGPA of 10 in Class 10, showcases his consistent dedication to
academic excellence. He acknowledges the support of his parents and teachers
in pursuing the non-medical stream and aiming for admission to top institutions.

7. Celebrating Success: For Mehtani's parents, his achievement brings

immense joy and pride. They express their happiness, highlighting the
significance of this accomplishment in their lives and relishing the moment as
one of the happiest they've experienced in Panchkula.

39
10) Story of Satvat Jagwani
1. Journey to Success: Satvat Jagwani, a native of Satna in Madhya Pradesh,
was drawn to Kota in 2013 by the allure of coaching majors. Initially unaware of
his potential, Jagwani's remarkable progress in studies astonished both himself
and others. Eventually, he achieved the top rank in the country's most esteemed
exam, scoring an impressive 469 out of 504 marks.

2. Heroic Reception:
Despite being a shy and introverted individual, Jagwani found himself thrust
into the spotlight overnight, becoming a hero among IIT aspirants. His arrival in
Kota was met with a rockstar-like welcome, with over 1,000 students eagerly
awaiting his presence and clamoring for a glimpse of him.

3. Unconventional Achievements:
Jagwani's journey to the top is marked by unconventional achievements. Despite
scoring an average of 86.6% in the Class XII Science CBSE board exam, his
exceptional performance in the IIT entrance exams set him apart. Notably, his
prowess in physics, evident by his perfect score in JEE-Mains, contrasts with his
board exam marks in the subject.

4. Passion for Mathematics:

Born into a family of doctors, Jagwani's passion for mathematics led him to
pursue engineering over medicine. Renowned as a "matha-magician" in the
classroom, he possesses a remarkable ability to solve complex math puzzles
within seconds, impressing both peers and teachers alike.

5. Proficiency in Computer Science:

In addition to mathematics, Jagwani exhibits a keen interest in computer science.
He enjoys solving mathematical puzzles online, delving into computer
programming, and mastering languages like Java and operating systems like
Linux. His proficiency in these areas has led him to develop numerous computer
programs related to mathematics.

6. Career Ambitions:
Despite his affinity for both mathematics and computers, Jagwani ultimately
decided to pursue Computer Science from IIT-Bombay after months of
deliberation. Additionally, he harbors aspirations for research in mathematics
abroad, having appeared in the SAT exam to explore further opportunities.

40
Common practices among above 10 stories :
Early Start and Consistent Effort: Many of the aspirants, such as Vavilala
Chidvilas Reddy, Kartikay Gupta, and Sarvesh Mehtani, began their
preparation early, often as early as 11th grade. They maintained a consistent
study routine, dedicating several hours daily to learning and revision.

Strong Foundation in Basics: All of the aspirants emphasized the

importance of understanding concepts thoroughly rather than rote
memorization. They focused on building a strong foundation in the basics
of each subject, which helped them tackle complex problems effectively.

Practice and Problem-Solving Skills: Practicing regularly and solving a

variety of problems, including past papers and mock tests, was a common
strategy among the aspirants. This helped them improve their problem-
solving skills, understand exam patterns, and manage time effectively during
the actual exam.

Support System: Family, teachers, and mentors played a crucial role in the
success of the aspirants. Whether it was providing emotional support,
guidance, or clarifying doubts, having a strong support system motivated
and encouraged them throughout their journey.

Adaptability and Resilience: Many aspirants faced challenges along the way,
such as the COVID-19 pandemic, academic pressure, or personal doubts.
However, they demonstrated adaptability and resilience, overcoming
obstacles with determination and perseverance.

Balanced Lifestyle: Despite their rigorous study schedules, several aspirants,

like Aman Bansal and Satvat Jagwani, emphasized the importance of
maintaining a balanced lifestyle. They engaged in hobbies, took breaks, and
prioritized mental well-being alongside academic pursuits.

Clear Goals and Ambitions: Each aspirant had a clear goal in mind, whether
it was securing admission to a specific IIT, pursuing a particular branch of
engineering, or venturing into entrepreneurship. Their determination and
focus on their goals drove them to work hard and strive for success.

41
 CHAPTER 3
THE 7 PILLARS OF SUCCESS

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SUCCESSFUL PERSON

AND OTHERS IS NOT A LACK OF STRENGTH, NOT A
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE, BUT RATHER A LACK IN WILL.

42
Introduction
Welcome to the second chapter of "Endgame for IIT-JEE," where we delve
into the crucial aspect of strategic studying. Just as a skilled chess player
meticulously plans their moves to secure victory in the endgame, so too must
IIT-JEE aspirants craft a well-thought-out strategy to achieve success in one of
the most challenging academic competitions in the world.

As we journey deeper into the world of IIT-JEE preparation, we arrive at a

pivotal juncture where success is not just about hard work but also about smart
strategies. In this chapter, we'll explore the intricate web of studying techniques,
time management skills, and problem-solving strategies that pave the way to
triumph in the IIT-JEE arena.

In this chapter, we embark on a journey to uncover the secrets behind effective

studying methods employed by top achievers in the realm of IIT-JEE. From
understanding the importance of time management to honing problem-solving
skills, we will explore the key components that constitute a winning strategy.

rawing inspiration from the experiences of past toppers and the collective
wisdom of seasoned educators, we will navigate through the maze of study
techniques, learning approaches, and mindset shifts necessary to navigate the
rigorous landscape of IIT-JEE preparation.

Whether you're a seasoned aspirant seeking to refine your approach or a

newcomer eager to embark on the path to IIT success, this chapter promises to
equip you with invaluable insights and actionable strategies to optimize your
study routine and propel you closer to your goal of conquering the IIT-JEE
endgame. So, sharpen your pencils, ignite your passion for learning, and let's
embark on this transformative journey together towards academic excellence
and triumph.

43
1) Starting Early
Getting a head start in preparing for the IIT-JEE exam can make a big
difference. Starting early gives you more time to learn the basics well and
gradually tackle harder topics as you go along.

When you start preparing for the IIT-JEE exam early, you're giving yourself the
gift of time. You can take things at a comfortable pace, really understanding the
basics before moving on to more complex stuff. This helps you build a strong
foundation in all the subjects you need to know.

Starting early also lets you identify any areas where you might be struggling
sooner. You can ask for help from teachers or friends to clear up any confusion
and make sure you're on the right track. This way, you can feel more confident
and prepared as you continue your journey.

Moreover, starting early allows you to approach your studies in a relaxed and
stress-free manner. Instead of cramming at the last minute, you can spread out
your learning over a longer period. This means you can take breaks when you
need them, preventing burnout and keeping your mind fresh and focused.

Additionally, early preparation gives you the flexibility to explore different study
methods and resources. You can experiment with different techniques to see
what works best for you, whether it's making flashcards, watching educational
videos, or joining study groups. This way, you can tailor your study approach to
suit your learning style and maximize your understanding of the material.

Let's take the example of Vavilala Chidvilas Reddy. He started preparing for the
IIT-JEE exam when he was in the 11th grade. By starting early, he had plenty of
time to really understand the basics of math, physics, and chemistry. He didn't
rush through anything; instead, he took his time to make sure he knew each
topic well.

As he moved into his 12th-grade year, Reddy's early preparation paid off. He felt
more confident and ready to tackle the challenging exam. And when the time
came, he was able to score the highest marks in the JEE Advanced exam.

44
GSo, Reddy's story shows us the importance of starting early. When you begin
your preparation ahead of time, you give yourself the best chance to succeed. It's
like building a strong foundation for a house – the stronger the foundation, the
better the house will stand.

We Consider the journey of Kartikey Gupta, who started preparing for the IIT-
JEE exam early in his high school years. By beginning his preparation ahead of
time, Kartikey was able to adopt a balanced and sustainable study routine. He
didn't feel overwhelmed by the pressure of the exam because he had ample time
to cover the syllabus thoroughly and revise at his own pace.

As Kartikey progressed through his preparation, he discovered the study

methods that worked best for him. He found that solving practice problems
regularly and reviewing his notes daily helped reinforce his understanding of key
concepts. By experimenting with different approaches, Kartikey was able to
refine his study strategy and optimize his preparation for the exam.

In conclusion, starting early in your preparation for the IIT-JEE exam offers
numerous advantages. From building a strong foundation to reducing stress and
finding the study methods that suit you best, early preparation sets the stage for
success. By taking advantage of the extra time you have, you can approach the
exam with confidence and maximize your chances of achieving your academic
goals.

45
2) Consistent Study Routine:
One of the foundational and most important pillars of success in any endeavor,
including preparing for the IIT-JEE, is the establishment of a consistent study
routine. This entails setting aside dedicated and regular hours each day to engage
with the study material, practice problems, and revising concepts.

Explaining it further: Keeping up with your studies regularly is really important.

When you have a set schedule for studying, it helps you stay on track and
remember things better. It's like building a habit of studying every day. This way,
you won't miss out on any topics, and you'll feel more confident about what
you've learned.

Consistency is key when it comes to effective studying. By adhering to a

consistent study routine, aspirants can create a structured framework that
facilitates efficient learning and retention. Consistency helps in building
momentum and ensures that no aspect of the syllabus is overlooked or
neglected. Moreover, it fosters a sense of discipline and commitment, instilling
valuable habits that are essential for long-term academic success.

Following a routine also makes you feel responsible for your studies. You know
you have to study at certain times, so you're more likely to stick to it and not get
distracted. Over time, studying regularly helps you understand things better,
solve problems easier, and feel more sure of yourself.

Example: Let's look at Vavilala Chidvilas Reddy's story. He did really well in the
JEE Advanced exam by sticking to a study routine for four years. Every day, he
spent consistent hours studying, which helped him cover all the subjects well,
revise what he learned, and get better at solving problems. When the exam day
came, all his hard work paid off, and he got the top rank in the JEE Advanced
exam.

So, Vavilala Chidvilas Reddy's story teaches us that keeping a regular study
routine is super important for doing well in exams. It's all about sticking to your
plan and making studying a part of your daily life. With consistent effort, you'll
be well-prepared to ace any challenge that comes your way.

NOTE : WE WILL DICUSSS ABOUT CREATING EFFECIENT

ROUTINE IN CHAPTER 7

46
Consistency vs motivation
Consistency and motivation are two essential pillars in any endeavor, including
IIT-JEE preparation.

Consistency:
Why It Matters:
Solid Foundation: Consistent effort builds a strong foundation. Regular
practice ensures that concepts become ingrained, leading to better
understanding and retention.
Avoids Last-Minute Panic: Consistency minimizes the need for frantic
last-minute cramming. Steady progress reduces stress during exams.
Cumulative Effect: Small, consistent efforts accumulate over time,
resulting in significant progress.

Motivation:
Why It Matters:
Sustains Effort: Motivation fuels your persistence. When you’re
motivated, studying becomes less of a chore.
Overcomes Challenges: Motivation helps you push through difficulties.
It’s the spark that ignites action.
Connects to Passion: Passionate learners are inherently motivated. Find
what excites you about your studies.

The Balance:
Ideal Scenario: Striking a balance between consistency and motivation is
crucial. Consistency provides stability, while motivation infuses passion.
Feedback Loop: Consistent effort often leads to motivation, and motivation
fuels consistent action.
Self-Awareness: Understand when you need a push (motivation) and when
you need to stay the course (consistency).

Remember, both consistency and motivation are allies on your journey. Use
them wisely, and you’ll inch closer to your IIT-JEE dreams.

Remember It’s not consistency vs motivation like most YouTubers says It’s
Consistency+Motivation, In the end they are co-related If you are consitent then
you will stay motivated spontaneously.

47
How to stay consistent?
1. Prepare a Timetable:
Create a detailed timetable that outlines your study tasks, subjects, and
revision schedules.
Plan your day in advance, allocating specific time slots for each activity.
Regularly update and adjust your timetable as needed.
2. One Day at a Time:
Consistency is a habit that develops over time.
Start early to avoid rushing through the syllabus.
Cover small portions of the syllabus each day, gradually increasing your
workload.
3. Take Breaks:
JEE preparation shouldn’t feel like punishment.
Schedule breaks to recharge and refresh your mind.
Engage in activities you enjoy during leisure time.
4.
5. Track Your Progress:
Regularly assess your syllabus coverage and performance.
Identify areas where you need improvement and adjust your study plan
accordingly.
6. Self-Evaluation:
Reflect on your study habits and identify areas for growth.
Stay positive even during challenging times.
7. Stay Physically Active:
Regular exercise improves concentration and reduces stress.
Take short breaks for stretching or a quick walk.
Physical activity enhances overall well-being.
8. Sleep Well:
Quality sleep is essential for memory consolidation.
Aim for 7-8 hours of restful sleep each night.
Avoid late-night cramming; it hampers retention.
9. Positive Visualization:
Imagine yourself confidently solving JEE questions.
Visualize success during the exam.

48
3) Understanding Concepts vs Rote Memorization
When it comes to preparing for exams like the IIT-JEE, there's a big difference
between understanding concepts and just memorizing facts. Understanding
means really getting to grips with how things work, while memorization is more
about learning things by heart without really understanding them.

Let's break it down a bit further. When you understand a concept, you're able to
see the bigger picture. You know why things are the way they are and how
different pieces fit together. This deeper level of understanding makes it easier
to solve problems because you can apply what you know to new situations.

On the other hand, rote memorization is like learning things by rote, without
really thinking about what they mean. You might be able to repeat facts or
formulas, but you might not actually understand how or why they work. This
can make it harder to solve problems because you're just relying on memory
rather than real understanding.

Demerits of Rote Memorization:

1. Superficial Understanding: Rote memorization often leads to a superficial

understanding of the subject, where students can recite facts but lack a
deeper comprehension of how things work.
2. Limited Application: Memorized information is often limited in its
application. Students may struggle to apply their knowledge to new or
unfamiliar contexts, as they haven't developed a solid understanding of
underlying principles.
3. Inflexibility: Rote memorization can make students inflexible in their
problem-solving approaches. Without a deep understanding of concepts,
they may resort to memorized formulas or techniques even when they are
not applicable.
4. Lack of Retention: Information that is memorized without understanding
is more prone to being forgotten over time. Students may struggle to recall
facts or formulas when they haven't internalized the underlying concepts.
5. Reduced Creativity: Rote memorization tends to stifle creativity and
critical thinking skills. Students focus on memorizing information rather
than engaging with the material in a meaningful way, limiting their ability to
think critically and solve problems creatively.

49
Why understanding concepts are better?

1. Deeper Comprehension: Understanding concepts allows for a deeper and

more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. Instead of just
memorizing isolated facts, students grasp the underlying principles and
connections between different topics.
2. Application of Knowledge: When students understand concepts, they can
apply their knowledge to solve complex problems and real-world situations.
This practical application enhances their problem-solving skills and prepares
them for challenges beyond the exam.
3. Long-Term Retention: Concepts that are understood are more likely to be
retained in the long term compared to information that is rote memorized.
This ensures that students have a solid foundation for future learning and
career pursuits.
4. Adaptability: With a thorough understanding of concepts, students can
adapt to changes in exam formats or syllabi more easily. They are equipped
to tackle unfamiliar questions by applying their conceptual understanding
rather than relying solely on memorized information.
5. Critical Thinking: Understanding concepts fosters critical thinking skills as
students learn to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information. They
develop a deeper appreciation for the subject matter and become more
engaged and active learners.

Take the example of Kartikey Gupta, who topped the JEE Advanced exam.
Kartikey didn't just memorize formulas and facts; he really understood the
concepts behind them. This meant that when he faced a problem in the exam,
he could approach it with confidence because he knew the underlying principles.

In fact, many successful IITians agree that understanding concepts is far more
important than rote memorization. Remember that rote memorisation may have
helped you in passing Board exams but there is not even 1% possibility of
cracking JEE with rote memorisation . And when you're studying something as
complex as engineering, understanding is key.

Consider the story of Sarvesh Mehtani, another IIT-JEE topper. He emphasizes

the importance of understanding concepts, saying that it's the only way to truly
master a subject.

50
Rote memorization might help you in the short term, but it won't help you in
the long run. It's like building a house on shaky ground; sooner or later, it's
going to collapse.

In conclusion, understanding concepts is crucial for success in exams like the

IIT-JEE. It's not enough to just memorize facts and figures; you need to really
understand how things work. By focusing on understanding rather than rote
memorization, you'll not only do better in exams but also develop a deeper
appreciation for the subject.

SUMMARY : THERE IS NOT EVEN 1% POSSIBILITY OF EVEN

HAVING AVERAGE PERFORMANCE WITH ROTE
MEMORISATION ALL YOU’LL GET THROUGH IT IS A BIG
FAILURE

How to understand concepts?

1. Identify the Root of Confusion:
Reflect on what specifically confuses you about the concept. Break it
down into smaller parts.
Ask questions related to the “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” and
“why” aspects of the topic.
Be honest with yourself about what you don’t understand.
2. Seek Help and Be Humble:
Don’t hesitate to ask for assistance. Reach out to someone with
expertise or a different perspective.
Remember that everyone seeks help at some point. Prioritize
understanding over independence.
3. Write Down What You Do Understand:
Jot down the aspects of the concept that you grasp well. This helps you
identify gaps in your understanding.
Remind yourself that you’re not entirely lost—you have some
knowledge.
4. Simplify and Deconstruct:
Divide the concept into smaller, digestible sections.
Understand the core components or fundamental principles.
5. Seek Multiple Explanations:
If one source isn’t working, explore other explanations.
Different viewpoints can provide clarity.

51
How to understand concepts?
6. Use Active Learning Techniques:
Passive reading or listening may not be enough. Engage actively with
the material.
Take notes, ask questions, and seek clarification.
7. Apply the Feynman Technique:
Named after physicist Richard Feynman, this technique involves:
Identifying the concept.
Explaining it in simple language.
Reviewing any gaps.
Reorganizing and summarizing the information1.

52
4) Regular Practice and Revision
Regular practice and revision are like the backbone of your study routine when
preparing for exams like the IIT-JEE. It's all about consistently working on
problems and going over what you've learned to make sure it sticks, consistency
and regular revision+practice is the key reason to advise coachings over self
studies.

Imagine learning to play a musical instrument. If you only practice once in a

while, you won't make much progress. But if you practice regularly, you'll start
to see improvement. The same goes for studying. Regular practice and revision
keep your mind sharp and help you remember what you've learned.

Revision Success

Is To
When you practice regularly, you're not just going over the same material again
and again. You're actively engaging with it, trying out different problems, and
finding new ways to approach them. This active involvement is key to really
understanding the subject and being able to apply your knowledge in different
situations.

Let's take the example of Aman Bansal, who achieved the top rank in JEE
Advanced 2016. Aman had a disciplined approach to his studies, which included
regular practice and revision sessions. Every day, he would set aside time to go
over what he'd learned, working through problems and reinforcing his
understanding of key concepts.

Aman didn't just passively review his notes; he actively engaged with the
material, challenging himself with difficult problems and seeking out new ways
to solve them. This consistent practice not only helped him prepare for the
exam but also deepened his understanding of the subject.
By making practice and revision a regular part of his study routine, Aman was
able to consolidate his learning and build a strong foundation for success in the
IIT-JEE exam. His story shows us the importance of consistency and
persistence in achieving our goals.

53
Now, let's delve deeper into why regular practice and revision are so
essential for success in exams like the IIT-JEE.

Reinforcement of Learning:
Regular practice through solving problems and revising topics helps reinforce
what you've learned. When you encounter a concept or problem multiple times,
it becomes more ingrained in your memory, making it easier to recall during the
exam.

Enhancement of Retention:
Repeated exposure to material through regular revision enhances retention. By
revisiting topics at intervals, you strengthen your memory and ensure that
information stays fresh in your mind.

Identification of Weak Areas:

Regular practice allows you to identify areas where you may be struggling. When
you encounter difficulty with a particular concept or type of problem, it signals a
need for further review and clarification.

Improvement of Problem-Solving Skills:

Practicing regularly exposes you to a variety of problem-solving techniques and
scenarios. Over time, you become more adept at applying different strategies to
solve problems efficiently and accurately.

Confidence Building:
As you practice and revise regularly, you gain confidence in your abilities. The
more familiar you become with the material, the more assured you feel in
tackling challenging questions and navigating exam situations.

In summary, regular practice and revision are essential components of effective

exam preparation. By incorporating these habits into your study routine, you not
only reinforce your learning but also enhance your problem-solving skills, boost
your confidence, and ultimately increase your chances of success in exams like
the IIT-JEE.

WE WOULD DISCUSS ABOUT SOME BEST LEARNING AND

REVISION METHODS IN CHAPTER 3

54
5) Setting Clear goals and Objectives
Introduction: In the pursuit of academic excellence, setting clear goals and
objectives is paramount. These goals provide direction, motivation, and a sense
of purpose to your study efforts. In this guide, we'll explore the importance of
setting specific and achievable goals and how they can pave the way for success.
To illustrate this concept, we'll draw inspiration from the story of Kalpit
Veerwal, whose ambitious goal of securing admission to IIT Bombay's
Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) program fueled his focused
preparation and goal-oriented approach.

Understanding the Significance of Clear Goals: Clear goals serve as the compass
that guides your academic journey. Without them, you may find yourself adrift,
unsure of where to focus your efforts or how to measure your progress. By
setting specific, achievable goals, you provide yourself with a roadmap to
success, outlining the steps needed to reach your desired destination.

Elaboration: When you set clear goals and objectives, you give yourself
something tangible to strive towards. Instead of vague aspirations, such as
"doing well" in the IIT JEE, you define precise targets, such as achieving a
certain percentile score or securing admission to a particular program. These
goals provide clarity and focus, enabling you to prioritize your study efforts
effectively.

Moreover, clear goals serve as powerful motivators. When you have a

compelling goal in mind, you're more likely to stay committed and disciplined in
your study routine. Each study session becomes an opportunity to make
progress towards your goal, driving you to work harder and persevere through
challenges.

Example: Kalpit Veerwal's story serves as a testament to the transformative

power of clear goals. With his sights set on securing admission to IIT Bombay's
CSE program, Kalpit made it his mission to achieve a perfect score in the IIT
JEE. This ambitious goal became the driving force behind his study efforts,
shaping his daily routine and study strategies.

Instead of approaching his preparation aimlessly, Kalpit meticulously planned

his study schedule around his goal.

55
He identified his strengths and weaknesses, focusing his attention on areas
where he needed improvement while maintaining his proficiency in subjects he
excelled in.

Kalpit's goal-oriented approach enabled him to prioritize his study tasks

effectively, ensuring that he made the most of his study time.

Moreover, Kalpit's clear goal of securing admission to IIT Bombay CSE

motivated him to go above and beyond in his preparation. He sought out
additional resources, engaged in rigorous practice sessions, and sought guidance
from mentors and teachers to maximize his chances of success. With each
milestone he achieved in his preparation, Kalpit drew closer to his ultimate goal,
fueling his determination and resilience.

Conclusion: In the pursuit of academic excellence, setting clear goals and

objectives is essential. By defining specific, achievable goals, you provide
yourself with direction, motivation, and a sense of purpose in your study efforts.
Whether it's aiming for a target score, securing admission to a prestigious
institution, or pursuing a particular academic program, clear goals serve as
guiding lights that illuminate your path to success. As you embark on your
academic journey, let the story of achievers like Kalpit Veerwal inspire you to set
ambitious goals and pursue them with passion and determination.

WE WOULD DISCUSS ABOUT PLANING, SCHEDULE, TIME

TABLE, ROAD MAP AND TIME MANAGEMENT IN CHAPTER 7

56
6) Time management
Managing your time effectively is like being the captain of your own ship. It's
about making sure you're using your time wisely and getting the most out of
every moment. This is especially important when you're preparing for exams like
the IIT-JEE, where there's a lot of ground to cover and not much time to do it
in.

When you practice regularly, you're not just going over the same material again
and again. You're actively engaging with it, trying out different problems, and
finding new ways to approach them. This active involvement is key to really
understanding the subject and being able to apply your knowledge in different
situations.

Let's take the example of Aman Bansal, who

achieved the top rank in JEE Advanced 2016.
Aman had a disciplined approach to his studies,
which included regular practice and revision
sessions. Every day, he would set aside time to go
over what he'd learned, working through problems
and reinforcing his understanding of key concepts

Aman didn't just passively review his notes; he actively engaged with the
material, challenging himself with difficult problems and seeking out new ways
to solve them. This consistent practice not only helped him prepare for the
exam but also deepened his understanding of the subject.

By making practice and revision a regular part of his study routine, Aman was
able to consolidate his learning and build a strong foundation for success in the
IIT-JEE exam. His story shows us the importance of consistency and
persistence in achieving our goals.

WE WOULD DISCUSS ABOUT PLANING, SCHEDULE, TIME

TABLE, ROAD MAP AND TIME MANAGEMENT IN CHAPTER 7

57
Effective time management is crucial for success in IIT-JEE (Indian
Institutes of Technology Joint Entrance Examination) preparation. Let’s
delve into why it matters and how it can significantly impact your chances
of success:

1. Comprehensive Syllabus Coverage:

IIT-JEE exams encompass an extensive syllabus, and it’s impossible to
master it overnight.
Time management allows you to systematically study all topics and
concepts.
By allocating time effectively, you can ensure that you cover the entire
syllabus before the exam.
2. Deep Understanding of Concepts:
IIT-JEE isn’t just about memorizing formulas; it requires a profound
understanding of concepts.
Proper time allocation enables you to dedicate more time to
understanding the material and solving problems.
This enhances your grasp of the subject matter.
3. Stress Reduction:
Stress and anxiety are common during IIT-JEE preparation.
Effective time management helps you create a realistic study plan.
A well-structured plan prevents overwhelm, reduces stress levels, and
improves overall performance.
4. Strategic Revision:
Regular revision is critical for retaining concepts.
Allocate time specifically for revision to reinforce your understanding.
A well-managed schedule ensures you’re well-prepared for the exam.

Tips for Effective Time Management during IIT-JEE Preparation:

Create a Realistic Study Plan:
Analyze the syllabus and break it down into smaller parts.
Allocate time for each topic systematically.
Prioritize Your Studies:
Not all topics carry equal weightage in the exam.
Focus more on high-weightage areas.
Avoid Procrastination:
Start studying promptly and avoid delays.
Divide study sessions into manageable chunks.

58
7) Effective Note-taking and good environment
Effective note-taking and organization are fundamental skills that can
significantly enhance your study efficiency and academic performance. By taking
organized notes and maintaining a structured study environment, you not only
facilitate comprehension during learning but also streamline the revision
process. In this guide, we'll delve into the importance of effective note-taking
and organization and explore how these practices can optimize your study
routine.

To illustrate this concept, we'll draw inspiration from the study habits of
Kartikey Gupta, whose disciplined approach to self-study and meticulous note-
taking exemplifies the benefits of organization.

Understanding the Significance of Effective Note-taking and Organization:

Notes serve as a tangible record of your learning journey, capturing key
concepts, insights, and observations from lectures, textbooks, and other study
materials. When taken and organized effectively, notes become invaluable
resources that aid comprehension, retention, and revision. Additionally,
maintaining a structured study environment minimizes distractions and
maximizes focus, enabling you to make the most of your study sessions.

Elaboration: Effective note-taking involves capturing essential information in a

clear, concise manner while actively engaging with the material. Instead of
transcribing every word, focus on identifying and summarizing key points,
definitions, and examples. Use techniques such as outlining, mind mapping, or
Cornell note-taking to organize information logically and facilitate
understanding.

Furthermore, organization extends beyond note-taking to encompass your study

environment and materials. Keep your study space tidy and clutter-free, with all
necessary supplies and resources readily accessible. Use folders, binders, or
digital tools to categorize and store your notes, textbooks, and reference
materials systematically.

By investing time in note-taking and organization, you create a framework for

effective learning and revision. Structured notes serve as anchors that guide your
review process, helping you recall information more efficiently and identify areas
that require further study.

59
Additionally, a well-organized study environment promotes focus and minimizes
distractions, enabling you to maintain productivity and concentration during
study sessions.

Example: Kartikey Gupta's study routine exemplifies the importance of effective

note-taking and organization in academic success. As a diligent student
preparing for the IIT JEE, Kartikey maintained a structured study environment
conducive to learning. He designated a quiet corner of his room as his study
space, free from distractions and interruptions.

During his study sessions, Kartikey took meticulous notes, condensing complex
concepts and formulas into concise summaries. He employed the Cornell note-
taking method, dividing his notebook into sections for key points, questions,
and summaries. This organized approach allowed Kartikey to engage actively
with the material while creating a comprehensive record of his learning.

Furthermore, Kartikey regularly reviewed and revised his notes, integrating new
information with previously learned concepts. He utilized flashcards, concept
maps, and self-assessment quizzes to reinforce his understanding and identify
areas for improvement. Kartikey's disciplined approach to note-taking and
organization enabled him to maintain clarity and focus throughout his
preparation, ultimately contributing to his success in the IIT JEE.

WE WOULD DISCUSS ABOUT NOTE TAKING IN DETAIL IN

CHAPTER 5

60
In conclusion of the chapter 2 the 7 pillars of success for JEE aspirants
are -

1. Consistency
2. Early Start
3. Conceptual Understanding
4. Regular revision and practice
5. Clear goals and roadmap
6. Time management
7. Notes and Organised study environment

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 CHAPTER 4
BEYOND THE BASICS : 5
TRAILBLAZING LEARNING +
REVISION TECHNIQUES

THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE

BEAUTY OF THEIR DREAMS.

62
Chapter 3 : Beyond the basics
Welcome to the second chapter of our journey towards mastering the IIT-JEE –
"Beyond the Basics: 5 Trailblazing Learning + Revision Techniques." In this
chapter, we will explore innovative and effective strategies to take your study
routine to the next level. While mastering the basics is crucial, it's equally
important to adopt advanced techniques that enhance your understanding,
retention, and recall of key concepts.

As you progress on your IIT-JEE preparation journey, you'll encounter

increasingly complex topics and challenges. To conquer these hurdles and excel
in the exam, you need more than just rote memorization and passive learning.
You need techniques that engage your mind, stimulate critical thinking, and
foster a deeper understanding of the material. That's where trailblazing learning
and revision techniques come into play.

In this chapter, we'll introduce you to

five innovative techniques that have
been proven to enhance learning,
boost retention, and improve exam
performance. From Memory palaces
and Reverse learning and Feynman
technique, these techniques offer a
fresh perspective on studying and
revision. By incorporating these
methods into your study routine, you
can supercharge your learning and
maximize your chances of success in
the IIT-JEE.

So, whether you're looking to revamp your study routine or simply add some
new tools to your arsenal, join us as we explore five trailblazing learning and
revision techniques that will take your preparation to new heights. Get ready to
think outside the box, challenge your mind, and unleash your full potential – the
journey towards mastering the IIT-JEE continues here.

63
5 Trailblazing Learning + Revision Techniques.
1) The Feynman Technique with a Twist: The Feynman Technique involves
explaining concepts as if you were teaching them to a child. However, add a
twist by recording yourself explaining the concepts and then listening to the
recording. This reinforces your understanding and allows you to identify areas
where your explanation may be unclear.

Original Technique was popularized by physicist Richard Feynman. Richard

Feynman, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, was known not only for his
groundbreaking work in theoretical physics but also for his exceptional ability to
explain complex scientific concepts in simple terms.

Here's how you can add a twist to the Feynman Technique:

1. Record Yourself: Instead of just explaining the concepts to yourself or a
hypothetical child, take it a step further by recording your explanations. You
can use a voice recorder on your phone or any other recording device.
2. Explain in Detail: When recording, make sure to explain the concepts in
detail, covering all relevant aspects and providing examples or analogies to
aid understanding. Speak clearly and concisely, ensuring that your
explanations are coherent and easy to follow.
3. Listen to the Recording: After recording your explanations, listen to the
recording attentively. This step is crucial as it allows you to review your
explanations from an external perspective.
4. Self-Evaluation: As you listen to the recording, pay close attention to the
clarity and coherence of your explanations. Take note of any areas where
your explanation may be unclear or where you struggle to articulate certain
points.
5. Identify Areas for Improvement: Use the recording as a tool for self-
evaluation. Identify specific areas where your understanding may be lacking
or where you need to improve your explanation. This could include
misunderstood concepts, weak analogies, or unclear explanations.
6. Reiterate and Refine: Based on your self-evaluation, go back and reiterate
your explanations, focusing on the areas that need improvement. Try to
clarify any misunderstandings or ambiguities, and refine your explanations
to make them more effective.
7. Repeat as Necessary: Repeat the process of recording, listening, and self-
evaluation as many times as needed until you feel confident in your
understanding and ability to explain the concepts clearly.

64
2. Memory Palaces 2.0 (With mordern Editings) : The ancient Memory
Palace technique gets a modern makeover with cutting-edge enhancements to
supercharge your revision process. Imagine transforming your familiar spaces
into dynamic hubs of learning, where every corner holds the key to unlocking
your memory's full potential.

The Memory Palace technique, also known as the Method of Loci, has ancient
roots dating back to ancient Greece and Rome (around 5th century BCE) . It
was popularized by orators and rhetoricians as a mnemonic device to aid in
memorizing speeches, presentations, and other forms of public discourse.

How we can use this ancient method in mordern times?

1. Phone Backgrounds: Use formulas or important information as

wallpapers on your phone to see them often and remember them better.
2. App Locks with Formulas: Instead of regular passwords, use formulas or
equations to unlock your apps. This helps you remember the formulas while
keeping your apps secure.
3. Augmented Reality Flashcards: Use flashcards that show extra
information when you look at them with your phone or tablet. This makes
learning more fun and easier to remember.
4. Bonus trick (most useful) : There is an app on playstore named as “stay
focused” you can use that app to set target based goals .

For example : On this method when you block Instagram (or any app) with time
frame for 3 hours and added and education app as goal then you won’t be able
to open Instagram ( or any app you selected ) until you complete your 3 hours
goal on the educational app you selected.

3) Dual Coding : One of the early proponents of the idea was Allan Paivio, a
Canadian psychologist who introduced the Dual Coding Theory in the 1970s.
Paivio proposed that information can be processed through two distinct
channels: a verbal channel for processing language-based information and a
visual channel for processing imagery-based information. According to Paivio,
when information is presented in both verbal and visual formats, it can be more
easily encoded, leading to better memory retention.

65
So what is Dual coding?
Dual Coding is a way of remembering things better by using both words and
pictures together. Imagine you're learning something new, like a science concept
or a math formula. Instead of just writing down words, you can also draw simple
pictures or diagrams to go along with your notes. This helps your brain to
remember the information more effectively because it's getting two kinds of
reminders: words and images. So, when you need to recall what you've learned,
you have a better chance of remembering it because you've encoded it in two
different ways—verbally with words and visually with pictures. It's like giving
your brain extra help to remember stuff!.

How to utilize Dual Coding:

1. Verbal and Visual Integration: When you study a concept or topic, don't
just rely on written notes or textbooks. Instead, actively engage with the
material by creating doodles, sketches, or diagrams alongside your notes.
For example, if you're learning about the solar system, draw a simple
diagram with labels for each planet.
2. Conceptual Mapping: Use visual representations to map out relationships
between different ideas or concepts. Create mind maps, flowcharts, or
concept diagrams to illustrate connections and hierarchies within the
material. This spatial organization helps reinforce understanding and
facilitates memory retrieval.
3. Active Engagement: Actively engage with the material as you create visual
representations. Instead of passively copying information, think critically
about how to translate abstract concepts into concrete visuals. This process
of interpretation and synthesis deepens your understanding and enhances
memory consolidation.
4. Dual Retrieval Cues: When it's time to recall the information, having both
verbal and visual cues increases the likelihood of successful retrieval. If
you're struggling to remember a specific detail, visualizing the
corresponding image or diagram can trigger the associated verbal
information, and vice versa.
5. Technology Integration: Leverage digital tools and technology to enhance
your dual coding efforts. Use drawing apps, graphic organizers, or
multimedia software to create interactive visualizations and animations.
Incorporating technology into your dual coding practice adds an extra layer
of engagement and creativity.

66
4. Reverse Learning : Reverse learning is a unique approach where instead of
starting with the problem statement or the question, you begin with the solution
or conclusion, and then work backward to understand how it was reached or
derived. This method flips the traditional learning process on its head,
encouraging learners to deconstruct complex problems or concepts from their
endpoint to their origin.

In mathematics and logic, the idea of working backward to solve problems has
long been employed. One early example is the method of proof by
contradiction, attributed to ancient Greek mathematicians like Euclid and
Pythagoras. This method involves assuming the negation of what you want to
prove, then showing that this assumption leads to a contradiction. By reasoning
backward from the contradiction, you can confirm the original statement's truth.

Here's how reverse learning works:

1. Starting at the End: Rather than jumping straight into solving a problem or
grasping a concept from the beginning, reverse learning prompts you to
begin with the end result. For example, if you're faced with a math problem,
you would first look at the solution or answer provided.
2. Tracing Backwards: Once you have the solution in hand, the next step is to
trace back through the steps or reasoning that led to that solution. This
involves dissecting the problem or concept step-by-step, unraveling the
logic or methodology used to arrive at the conclusion.
3. Understanding the Process: As you work backward, you gain insight into
the underlying principles, strategies, and techniques employed to solve the
problem or arrive at the conclusion. This process allows you to understand
not only what the solution is but also why it is the solution.
4. Identifying Patterns and Relationships: Reverse learning encourages you to
look for patterns, relationships, and connections between different steps or
components of the problem-solving process. By analyzing how each step
contributes to the overall solution, you develop a deeper understanding of
the interplay between various elements.
5. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: Engaging in reverse learning
enhances critical thinking and problem-solving skills by requiring you to
analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information in a systematic manner. It
challenges you to think creatively and strategically about how to navigate
through complex problems or concepts.
6. Holistic Understanding: Reverse learning promotes a holistic understanding
of the subject matter by emphasizing the importance of viewing problems
or concepts from multiple perspectives. Instead of focusing solely on the
67
 final answer, you gain a comprehensive understanding of the entire problem-
solving process.

7. Iterative Learning Process: Reverse learning is often an iterative process,

where you may need to revisit and review different stages multiple times to fully
grasp the material. Each iteration deepens your understanding and reinforces key
concepts, leading to mastery over time.

8.Application to Real-World Scenarios: The skills developed through reverse

learning are highly transferable to real-world scenarios, where complex problems
often require a backward-thinking approach to unravel their intricacies and
arrive at effective solutions.

5. Storytelling : Storytelling is a powerful technique where you turn complex or

abstract ideas into interesting stories or narratives. Instead of just studying facts
and figures, you create a story that connects all the information together. By
doing this, you make the material more memorable and easier to remember,
especially when it comes time to recall it during last days before JEE exam.

The origin of storytelling can be traced back to the earliest forms of human
communication, long before the advent of written language. Ancient
civilizations relied on oral traditions to pass down knowledge, history, and
cultural values from one generation to the next. These oral traditions often took
the form of myths, legends, folktales, and epic poems, which were shared
through spoken word and performance.

Here's how storytelling works:

1. Engaging Narratives: Instead of memorizing isolated facts, you create a
narrative that brings the information to life. You might imagine characters,
settings, and plot twists that relate to the concepts you're learning.
2. Making Connections: Stories help you connect different pieces of
information together. Just like in a novel, each part of the story builds on
what came before, helping you understand how everything fits together.
3. Visual Imagery: As you create your story, you can visualize scenes and
images in your mind. These mental pictures help you remember details and
make the material more vivid and real.
4. Emotional Impact: Stories often evoke emotions, which can make the
material more memorable. By adding drama, humor, or suspense to your
narrative, you create stronger associations that stick in your mind.

68
5. Contextual Understanding: Stories provide context for the information you're
learning. Instead of just memorizing facts, you understand why they're
important and how they relate to real-life situations.
6.Personal Connection: You can personalize your stories by relating them to
your own experiences or interests. This makes the material more relevant and
meaningful to you, increasing your motivation to learn and remember it.
7. Repetition without Repetition: By repeating key concepts throughout your
story, you reinforce them in your memory without it feeling like rote
memorization. Each time you recall the story, you reinforce your understanding
of the material.
8. Retention and Recall: When it's time to recall the information, you can
mentally replay your story to remember the key points. The cohesive narrative
structure helps trigger your memory and retrieve the information more easily.

Overall, storytelling is a fun and effective way to learn and remember complex
ideas. By transforming abstract concepts into engaging narratives, you create
memorable associations that stick with you long after you've finished studying.
So, the next time you're faced with a challenging topic, try turning it into a story
—it might just make all the difference!

69
 CHAPTER 5
NOTES MAKING

THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE

BEAUTY OF THEIR DREAMS.

70
Tips for notes making
Introduction:
Mayank Jain, an IIT Delhi graduate and Deputy Manager at Bhilai Steel Plant,
shares his successful approach to IIT-JEE preparation, focusing on effective
revision techniques. Despite the challenge of the vast syllabus, Mayank revised
all subjects twice within seven days, attributing his achievement to his innovative
short notes technique.

Challenge: IIT aspirants often struggle with the vast syllabus, making thorough
revision seem daunting and impossible.

Achievement: Mayank revised all three subjects twice within seven days, defying
the notion that comprehensive revision is unattainable.

Technique: Short Notes Mayank's innovative approach involves creating highly

condensed short notes, covering all subjects in just 60 pages.

Creating Short Notes:

Use a separate notebook and write notes of these 4 :

Formulas
Reaction names
Laws
Key concepts

Continually update and refine notes as you progress through studies.

Utilizing Short Notes:

Randomly select a page and attempt to recall associated concepts,

applications, problem-solving techniques, mistakes, and doubts.
Improve recall and recognition abilities through repeated engagement with
short notes.
Revisit short notes at least 20 times to solidify understanding and familiarity
with all subjects.

Results: Mayank's rigorous revision regimen, coupled with the short

notes technique, led to an impressive AIR 121 in the IIT-JEE.

71
Tips for notes making
Introduction:
Mayank Jain, an IIT Delhi graduate and Deputy Manager at Bhilai Steel Plant,
shares his successful approach to IIT-JEE preparation, focusing on effective
revision techniques. Despite the challenge of the vast syllabus, Mayank revised
all subjects twice within seven days, attributing his achievement to his innovative
short notes technique.

Challenge: IIT aspirants often struggle with the vast syllabus, making thorough
revision seem daunting and impossible.

Achievement: Mayank revised all three subjects twice within seven days, defying
the notion that comprehensive revision is unattainable.

Technique: Short Notes Mayank's innovative approach involves creating highly

condensed short notes, covering all subjects in just 60 pages.

Creating Short Notes:

Use a separate notebook and write notes of these 4 :

Formulas
Reaction names
Laws
Key concepts

Continually update and refine notes as you progress through studies.

Utilizing Short Notes:

Randomly select a page and attempt to recall associated concepts,

applications, problem-solving techniques, mistakes, and doubts.
Improve recall and recognition abilities through repeated engagement with
short notes.
Revisit short notes at least 20 times to solidify understanding and familiarity
with all subjects.

Results: Mayank's rigorous revision regimen, coupled with the short

notes technique, led to an impressive AIR 121 in the IIT-JEE.

72
2)
Introduction : An IIT Bombay’s student, whose name remains hidden upon
request, shares some helpful advice for JEE aspirants, making the process easier
to understand for all.

He starts with a warning: if you're not taking notes while studying for JEE, you
might find yourself in a tough spot later on. As the exam date approaches, you'll
have loads of material to review, and without notes, you'll end up flipping
through books frantically. Instead, he suggests jotting down important stuff as
you go. That way, when it's time to revise, everything you need is right there in
your notes, saving you a ton of time and hassle.

The student stresses how crucial good notes are, not just for JEE but also for
other exams like the CBSE boards. When you write things down, your brain
tends to remember them better. So, having all the important concepts written
down means you'll have them handy whenever you need to revise.
To help students make effective notes, he offers some simple tips:

1. Use Colors: Different colors can help you remember things better. Try
highlighting key points with different colors to make them stand out.
2. Keep Subjects Separate: Don't mix up your notes from different subjects.
Keep them organized by subject to avoid confusion. And don't forget to
make an index page to help you find stuff quickly.
3. Add Your Own Insights: Instead of just copying stuff from your
textbooks, try to add your own explanations and insights. This way, your
notes become more than just a copy-paste job.
4. Write in Your Own Language: It's easier to remember stuff if you write it
in a language you're comfortable with. So, feel free to use Hindi, English, or
whatever language works best for you.
5. Review Regularly: Don't just write your notes and forget about them.
Make it a habit to review them regularly. This way, you'll remember things
better, and you won't be stressed out during last-minute revision sessions.
6. Color Code Chemistry: If chemistry is giving you a hard time, try using
colors to help you remember different compounds. It's like a little cheat
code for your brain.
7. Create Memory Maps: Visual aids can be super helpful for remembering
stuff. Try making simple diagrams or mind maps to help you visualize
complex concepts.

73
n addition to these tips, the student also suggests some general pointers:

Keep Things Organized: Divide your notes into sections to make them
easier to understand.
Include References: If your notes can't cover everything, make sure to
include references to your textbooks so you can look up more info if you
need to.
Use Good Quality Notebooks: Invest in a good-quality notebook to make
sure your notes stay safe and sound.

With these handy tips in hand, students can tackle their JEE preparation with
confidence, knowing that their notes will be their trusty companions along the
way.

74
 CHAPTER 6
BEST GAME CHANGING CHOICES

THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE

BEAUTY OF THEIR DREAMS.

75
1) Coaching vs Self study
Self study vs coaching for JEE questions has puzzled almost every engineering
aspirant when they set their aim for JEE Main. For some students, the option of
self-study is better, while others find coaching as an inevitable part of their
preparation journey. As the competition in the JEE exam becomes rigorous, it is
very important to decide which one to prefer among Self-Study vs. Coaching for
JEE to start preparing at the earliest.

Self-Study for JEE

For many students, the option of self-study for JEE seems suitable as they look
for flexibility and want to learn as per their individual learning styles. A majority
of self-study supporters follow a common methodology of downloading the
JEE syllabus, solving the previous year’s question paper, memorizing the
NCERTs, and preparing a study plan as per the available time following expert
tips and topper stories.

In addition to this, the free resources that are available online are used at
convenience to bridge the learning gap and understand difficult concepts. While
this self-study approach seems to resolve the puzzle of self-study vs. coaching
for JEE for them, it may not be completely perfect as the pros and cons of this
approach are analyzed.

Self-Study for JEE: Pros

The benefits of self-study over coaching for JEE are highly dependent on the
individual intelligence and availability of time for the target year of JEE. Here
are the pros that make self-study an attractive option for JEE:
Flexible: One of the major pros of self-study is that it allows students to
create their own study schedule as per their requirements and time
availability for JEE.
Cost Efficient: The reason why students prefer self-study over coaching for
JEE preparation is that this option is usually assumed as budget-friendly
compared to the expenses associated with many coaching institutes.
Self Development: Another benefit of self-study is that it offers the
opportunity for self-development by making students responsible and
disciple for themselves during JEE preparation.

Self-Study for JEE: Cons

The option of Self-Study must be an individual choice but it must be taken after

76
Considering all advantages and disadvantages attached with this option. Here are
the major cons associated with choosing self-study over coaching for JEE:
Directionless Study: One of the major cons of self-study is that the
preparation is directionless due to a lack of appropriate guidance from a
mentor. At times, it can be difficult to stay on track and motivated when
self-studying for JEE.
Procrastination: This is another major concern associated with self-study
as many times due to demotivation, lack of motivation, or any other reason
student may procrastinate missing their targets for JEE.
Learning Gaps: The knowledge gap can be there if any difficult concept
consumes significant time for JEE aspirants. Further, doubts can also
increase the learning gap if not resolved on time.
No Accountability: This is the reason why the coaching option is
recommended as there is less accountability in self-study. Students can find
it difficult to evaluate their test results and be accountable for lower scores
or missed targets.

Solutions of the Cons

1. Direction : Make a fully organised plan for your your preparation ( we
would discuss about planning in details in upcoming chapters.
2. Procrastination: The only permanent to avoid Procrastination in long
term is will power itself if you are preparing for JEE you should even think
100x before even wasting a single day, However, these are some tips that
may help you to avoid procrastination :

Having clear Monthly + Weekly plans

daily to Do list ( Gonna discuss in detail in planning chapter )
Eliminate distractions
Practising weekly dopamine Detox

3. Learning Gaps : Can be easily fullfilled through Youtube and Quora.

4. Accountability : Be mature enough to be accountable fot yout mistakes
and failures work on your failures and improve them.

77
Coaching for JEE
The option of coaching is recommended as it offers structured guidance to
prepare for the challenging JEE exam over the self-study option. The expert
mentorship ensures that students get the best guidance without worrying about
material selection, dilemmas of the mock test, or understanding evolving
patterns of JEE while preparing.
Coaching aims at simplifying the JEE preparation so that students enjoy their
preparation. While cost factors remain a hurdle for a category of students
nowadays students are offered affordable preparation by coaching institutes like
Physics Wallah Vidyapeeth. The decision to prefer coaching over self-study
must also weigh the pros and cons of this option.

Coaching for JEE: Pros

The major benefit of preferring coaching over self-study is the opportunity to be

mentored by industry experts who have years of experience in JEE teaching.
Here are the pros which make coaching a better option:
Expert Guidance: In the coaching option the students have to simply follow
the instructions of their mentors who are highly experienced in the JEE
education field. The mentors take responsibility for making JEE preparation
easy with interactive teaching and individual-focused study plans.
Structured Curriculum: The curriculum of JEE is structured in coaching
making preparation align with the target year of the aspirant ensuring no
learning gap remains in study.
Timely Evaluation: One of the major benefits of JEE coaching is that it
offers timely evaluation with regular topic-wise and full-length mock tests.
Post-test feedback significantly improves the learning track of student
benefiting them in their preparation for JEE.
Competitive Environment: This is another aspect attached to coaching as
students get the competitive environment as they interact and compete with
the same peer group that would appear for the JEE exam with them.

Coaching for JEE: Cons

As no option is truly perfect, so is the decision of coaching over self-study as
this option also has a few cons attached which need to be understood well. Here
are the cons of coaching options that must be known:
Cost Issue: Not all coaching options are affordable for JEE students.
majority are of them are un affordable for middle class families

78
 Rigid Schedule: The coaching generally follows a fixed schedule .
Variable Quality: It is highly challenging to find a quality coaching option
among the plethora of institutions that have emerged. Also, not all are able
to maintain the uniform quality of teaching for all subjects of JEE.

Solution for Cons

1. Cost issues : Can be solved with online coaching like Physics wallah .
2. Rigid schedule : No solution you have to face stress and time management
issues for years.
3. Variable Quality : Always go for well reputed and famous coaching.

Self-Study vs. Coaching for JEE: Which One to Choose?

As the decision to choose the best option among self-study vs. coaching for JEE
must be derived from individual requirements a sincere JEE aspirant must
consider all associated pros and cons equally. With the rise of modern teaching
methods, the affordability constraints are no more to hamper the JEE
aspirations of engineering aspirants.

Conclusion
Both options are equally good having their own pros and cons so the student
can take a call based on their preference.

Advice
If you think you have enough will power to stay consistent with self study
then it’s a great option.
If you can afford big coaching institutes like Allen, FITJEE or Resonance
than you can go for there is not so much problems with self studies.

79
2) Best Books
This answer is taken from konarak sharma got Air-644 in JEE ADVANCED
2019 and AIR-432 IN JEE MAINS 2019 Currently studying Computer Science
and Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Varanasi (IIT BHU)

See there are 2 scenarios

1. You have joined some national level institute like Allen or fiitjee and you are
in one of their top batches , You need no other book other than what your
teachers tell you, but promise yourself that you will complete each and every
of their assignments and that will suffice. A student in top batch fails to get
the desired rank only when he becomes lazy and doesn't complete the
assignment. Avoid it.
2. If you Are not in above case then books need to be your best friend.

PHYSICS
for physics first of all understand theory then apply it. Read HCV. Great
book. Do each and every question of HCV, understand it and I guarantee
you 70 percent marks in jee advanced. Great book.
Now you know HCV, read class 12 physics NCERT and fluid chapter from
class 11 for sure. Preferably read entire NCERT of class 11 too.
Now you are done with concepts. Pick up a great book for 12 level. IE
IRODOV….. Don't rush for solutions…enjoy it. The mechanics part is
good. Very good….. Doing it you will feel its too tough, but with time you
will starting going….. Fight with question…. If you can't do a question once
don't leave it there…try each question at least in two different sittings…
electro is simple, JEE level.. Do selected questions of heat and SHM,
optics…no modern..
Now you are set in physics…now it's your call If you want to practice upto
normal thought pick up ashish arora or anurag mishra or BM sharma.any
will do
But if you want to increase your horizons, see physics in another light, want
to increase your concentration power and prepare for full marks in jee
attack krotov and advanced problems in school physics or pathfinder.
Personally recommend this option. Loved these books.

CHEMISTRY
Bro its a very very very important subject. It will make or break rank. Myself
was miserable at it so can tell you how much it will cost you. Study it.

80
 All the NCERT are important
I didn't read theory of physical chemistry from anywhere but have heard
that p bahadur is fine. For practice go for N awasthi. For even tougher
problems go for neeraj Kumar of Pearson. If u solve these two full marks
guaranteed
For inorganic chemistry read NCERT, I repeat read NCERT can't stress
this point enough Don't go for random books NCERT I lost marks in jee
coz didn't remember a line cram up each line Read JD Lee of chemical
bonding, coordination, salt, metallurgy. Do this and great marks guaranteed.
Organic Well remove whatever u have heard about it Learn with an open
mind and its very easy, learn with preconceived notions it's horrible Study
organic with mechanisms In starting follow Solomon, sykes later go to
Morriston, LG vade, etc. Practice easier questions first that is first solve
modules then go to MS chauhan. No guarantees The time you spend with
books here will dtermine your marks Great subject you will either love it or
hate it. No middle way.

MATHS
Well one of the most important subject. Well usually the belief is that it is all
about practice. Dude we couldn't be more wrong. Maths has an underlying
beauty, a symmetry, a process. Study theory. Study proof. Study how do we
proceed further. Try and think how do we tackle a problem. How do we
join the dots of a problem.
Arihant series is good overall. If you complete it and do material of well
known coaching, you will cross a threshold level. For next level do bansals
old material or Allen's SRGBT or fiitjee GMP, or aakash success magnet.
Do any of these for maths for sure. Try for physics too. If you have finished
of one institute, pick up another's.
TESTS, No one can tell you how important these are. Give a 6 hour test.
Then analyse where u went wrong. Write down all the mistakes. Pledge to
never repeat them. Remove one type of mistakes in each tests. This is what
will decide your rank.

Some Advices from my side as an elder brother

MEDITATE daily.
READ BOOKS LIKE “DEEP WORK” before u start preparation.
Friends I didn't follow all the things said above. But if you do you will surely
be in Iit Delhi cse. Work hard. Its best part of your life. You will do it.

81
This question is also answered by Vansh Yadav currently doing B. Tech
in Chemical Engineering From Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
(IITB) he answered :

So, first of all, it's a humble request from my side to follow what your teachers
are recommending or simply do coaching material of traditional offline coaching
you are enrolled in.

NOTE : Many people are gonna suggest you cengage but remember
that they are the hardest books availabe for JEE advanced you are not
even gonna understand 1 page of it without completing basics first

So, Let me tell what and how much i solved.

A. Chemistry
i) Inorganic Chemistry — Only NCERT
(Read 2–3 times each chapter and ignored block chemistry)

ii) Physical Chemistry — Narendar Awasthi

Solved 100% of level 1 and level 2, around 45% and level 3 nil.
It was the book i enjoyed even solving all day long (More than HCV too)

iii) Organic Chemistry — MS Chauhan

For GOC, i solved 100% level 1 and 80% level 2
For others topics, i solved around 30%. Plus NCERT 100%.

B. Maths — Cengage For JEE (Advanced)

How much i solved? In 2 yrs, i could only solve that much :
Intext Questions and SCQ — 100%
Others — 40%
DPP — 10%
Total — 45%

C. Physics — Concepts of Physics (HC VERMA)

Solved almost 95%
Physics (tougher side): IE Irodov

NOTE : PYQS ARE MOST IMPORTANT

82
3) Best coachings
For this we are gonna give direct to the points answers, According to MR.
Mohit marathe ( currently studying in IIT Varanasi ) Best faculties are :

MATHS

Rajesh Ramrakhyani(aka RK Sir) (FIITJEE, Delhi; Now in ALLEN,

Ahmedabad)
Mohit Tyagi (Resonance, Jaipur)
Deepak Sharma (FIITJEE, Delhi)

PHYSICS

Ashish Arora (ALLEN, Jaipur)

Arbind (FIITJEE, Delhi; Now in ALLEN, Jaipur)
Nitin Vijay (Motion IITJEE, Kota)
Sudeept Chaturvedi (ALLEN, Kota)
Nehchal Singh (ALLEN, Surat)

CHEMISTRY

Narendra Avasthi (Vibrant Academy, Kota)

MS Chauhan (Vibrant Academy, Kota)
Gaurav Tiwari (FIITJEE, Delhi)

After talking with 30+ IITIANS most reputed reputed among them are :

Allen
FIITJEE
Resonance
PW ( Online ) For middle class students

NOTE : TOP BATCHES OF THE REPUTED OFFLINE INSTITUTES

GENERALLY GIVE BETTER RESULTS THEN BOTTOM ONE’S.

After all just remember lakhs of students are going to same coachings and
following same study materials but in the self study and dedication is the
thing that makes difference.

83
 CHAPTER 7
HOW TO SELF STUDY

THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE

BEAUTY OF THEIR DREAMS.

84
1) Advice By Sushil Chaudhry
I belong to Dalmia Nagar very small town.
Once I was a child I said to my mom I didn't want to study in this school, I
want to study in model school. Basically, my school was the government. There
was no uniform for children and want to study English medium school.
Do you know what my mom replied “We couldn't afford”
This was the first time I was introduced to the reality of the world.some people
get resources easily. Some have to fight for getting resources.some have to find
an alternative.

I was a child who never demanded any things from parents. Whatever I got I
accepted happily. I completed my primary schooling from a state government
school. I didn't take any tuition in this period. When I passed eight
standards..what I knew about English that only alphabet's.
so, Bro, I studied from the first standard to twelfth standard in the government
school. where many students of five standards even not able to read Hindi
books properly. many students go for the mid-day meal, not for study. a teacher
likes to seat.

till nine standards my writing is hardly able to read by anyone. I was even not
able to pronounce simple words of English. At the 10th standard, I join tuition.
only five students came for tuition. I was one of them. All were dumb like
me.the teacher was supposed to teach math and science. but the teacher left us
in the middle. I had no option I started self preparing for the board exam.
When the result came I was the topper of my school. some of the classmates
who took the best coaching possible still not able to get such marks.
during the 10th standard, I learned how to do self-study and how much it is
effective.

one of our neighbors offers me a tuition job. I accepted happily. within a month
I had four tuition offers. I started earning nearly 3000 per month. but man life is
full of uncertainty.nobody knows what can happen in the next second.we are
human. we always like positive things. but our life is not run the way we want. I
lost my younger sibling in the accident. I was dead from inside. for me, it took
one year to live a normal life

Again I didn't study in the 11th standard. On the 12th I join Physics and Math
coaching. and parallelly I also did coaching to students.

85
I never took chemistry tuition. I had no smartphone so I had no accessed to the
digital world. when I late after giving tuition I skipped my coaching.
I heard the first time IIT JEE exam when I join the coaching. At that time I was
not really interested because I think that it was not my cup of tea .i just sit in the
jee exam without any preparation so I end up with 88 marks.
one of my richest relatives said to my mom that why your son is wasting time by
preparing the engineering exam. tell him to prepare for the general exam like
SSC

I was so upset. but after a month I started self-preparation again. I bought

second-hand study material for the preparation of jee. I also used to give tuition
in this period also. I used to study daily for 4–5 hours.
I gave exam I clear both jee mains and advance .it was really shocking for
everyone how he managed to qualify JEE EXAM where the chance of
qualification is very low even you prepare from the top coaching institute.
I also give the state engineering exam in which we have to go through two-
phase. I had this as an alternative. I was also under the top ten in the state in this
exam.

my OBC AIR 3000, It is enough to get a seat in IIT. but I like computers so I
took admission in IIIT.
so Belief in yourself, never lose hope, work continuously don't blame you have
not this facility so you can't do anything
Currently, I am in the Final Year of my Bachelor's. I also Placed in a good
company with a decent package.

so only the thing works for me, confidence and positivity.

in the first attempt, I got 88. Many people do not try again. they make opinions
about themselves like they are an average guy and IIT JEE is not made for
them.
just give 100 percent even you fail there may be another thing made for you.
analyze your mistake and reconsider your strategy, never lose hope you are made
for something.

86
2) Advice by Manish Gupta ( AIR 117 )
you have to be very smart to work it out. Let me be a little more elaborative. I
am writing the answer for JEE advance.

You would need a few books to cover up concepts and basic problems. Get
the right set of books which cover theory as well as solved Examples. Try to
solve few books completely then solving a lot of books incompletely.

Prefer getting a correspondence material. I recommend Resonance material.

Set up your study hours. Minimum of 7 hours of self study is required. This
is non negotiable.

Plan your course in such a way that you complete syllabus before October
of your class XII.

Take help from videos on YouTube and other sources. Your concepts
should be properly clear. Solve a lot of Examples.

Keep a mentor to motivate and guide you. He/she can be your seniour or
brother or some online guru. Make sure he has some experience with IIT
JEE.

If possible associate yourself with self study groups where you can discuss
concepts weekly or biweekly.

Do write a test series. Be confident and give your best.

You learn concepts and build confidence. Test will break you then you
relearn and become more confidence. Do this till you are ready for JEE.

You can take any test series but don't forget to write FIITJEE open test if
you are serious for JEE advance.

Be calm, Keep your ego aside and work silently for 2 years. Your
seriousness will reward you Luck is a dividend of hard work. Stay lucky.

87
3) Advice by bhargav kulkarni
Generally cracking JEE w/o Choaching is Not as simple as it sounds but still
possible. Having secured AIR 2759, thought of answering it. I never even had a
thought of going to a coaching centre. So I started my preparation from
December 2016. I always loved maths, and physics by 11th had also become
way interesting. Chemistry was also not that big a problem.

So I really didn't need any motivation for self study. It was just the love for the
subjects that drove me. Though I sometimes got frustrated along the way, but
kept reminding me of having a command over the subjects.

Physics was not a problem for me. Didn't stress on the topics included for JEE
Main and not Advanced exam. HCV and previous years questions were
sufficient. For maths I practiced coordinate geometry more than other streams.
Calculus was fun too. Algebra was a last minute bite for me.

I laid stress on physical chemistry as it was scoring (book by RC Mukherjee

should be sufficient). Restricted to NCERT for inorganic and referred to some
books for organic(I wrote those in another answer).

Also practiced 6 mock Advanced tests online.

If you don't find enough time, start by setting daily goals for each subjects. Once
you are comfortable by setting your time table, set weekly goals and follow
them. You will be more efficient that way and also feel confident about your
preparation.

So guys, the most important thing is to stay hungry for more knowledge and
always be interested to test your brain to it's fullest. It would not only help you
clear JEE, but much more things in life. Also remember, JEE is only an exam
not your life, you'll get to know it in time. Dont push yourself beyond your
limits…

88
4) Advice by Amruth Arvi
Intro - He is B.tech graduate from Indian Institute of Technology,
Madras (IITM) batch 2020

Well to begin with, my factory was me. (though i did go to some coaching
institute towards the end for writing mock exam). yet my prep was of my own!
I’m a dropper, I’m a kvian, that actually sums up my JEE journey!
no one can perceive the kind of pressure that piles up with every minute that
passes by, but that did not meant broke down,quite the opposite actually. quite
weird right. you will get to that eventually as you scroll down.
i suppose you have heard about 13 reasons why! mine is a similar title!

11 - (reasons and steps)!

The same old - ban the mobile(to max extent possible)! but believe me
mobiles have major impact on your time. though you may be following
these byjus or some other sites and apps for your prep. At the same time its
a time rob, as simple to state it! 2 years- it does seem a big period right! but
if your favorite food item is rasgulla- you’ll notice, the time it took you to
savor in 4 rasgullas will be more than these two years. Give your minds to
work. but some concepts may not be at the grasp of one’s mind. at such
cases you can use byjus or hashlearn etc.
1. 2. Keep minimal contact with relatives! - Trust me this period of two years
will have more events than your life witnessed so far. cousins marriage, get-
together , family trips what not! hard wire yourself with the will to go on,
never look back. skip all the events unless “it just cannot be skipped event”
passes by-even here minimize amount of days.

Proper SLEEP and FOOD - we all know the saying “ EARLY TO BED
AND EARLY TO RISE , MAKES A MAN HEALTHY AND
WEALTHY”. this is the Only truth taught to us in our childhood. there are
scientific reasons to support the statement. do not at any cost miss your
breakfast.people say night offers peace to study but the inner conflict with
sleep is one battle that cant be won.
2. Don’t have those 14–16 hour studies per day - no matter how good your IQ
is you cannot take in that much amount of heat at tender age.

89
rather have those 6–7 hour sleep ,3 hours altogether for nature duties and
quenching your hunger. two hours( one hour in the morning and one in the
evening) for relaxation.

Short Notes- one of the most important aspect of preparation for

chemistry. as of mine i got 90 marks in mains and 60 marks(paper 1+paper
2) in advanced direct from my own short notes.
two for inorganic- inclusive of the qualitative analysis
one for organic(reactions,agents, exceptions,CSM,TAR so on and so
forth)
one for physical( formulae)
one for maths- formulae from BT, P & C, INTEGRATION,
COORDINATE GEOMETRY so on and so forth.

Self Assessment - study all the three subjects everyday, accordingly split the
time. Do every week assessment of the week’s study through means of
exam or revision. similarly towards the end of the month conduct exams
and monitor your progress in the particular topic.

1st year - get the understanding of all the topics in all the subjects with
considerable depth. list out your strengths and weaknesses from the same
and now schedule accordingly giving more time to weakness but always
polish your strengths to shine even brighter through means of previous
papers or solution sets so on.

2nd year ( except the final 5 months of exam) get done with physics at least
touching new topics at least 4–5 months before the commencement of
exams. I repeat do not at any cost touch new topics of physics 4 months
from exam- it’ll only lead to an exponential enhancing of dilemma. you can
always touch maths and chemistry but selected topics.
last 4–5 months.
keep revising concepts of physics.
keep practicing maths.
keep referring to the short notes and do problems in physical
chemistry.
try out various models of sums.(not the last month)
keep writing exam at end of every week but should but of total portion.
rectify your mistakes from exams

90
ast month - most important period, what you will do in this period will
decide your road to be taken. DO NOT try out new models. keep revisiting
notes. keep yourself in one piece. for Christ sake do not crack under
pressure. be your own mental support. just take the extra step how heavy it
may seem. do meditation if needed. just go forth, glory awaits you!
parents - the warmth, the pride your father or mother will experience every
time they say my son is an iitian, that is the sole reason you need to walk the
final step and then into the path of majesty. but dont this be your weakness-
many students break down stating ‘ I COULD’NT DO IT PA- I
COULD’NT REACH YOUR EXPECTATIONS’ but let this be your
voice, my father trusts in me! my mother trusts in me! this will catapult you
to your destination.

91
5) Advice by IITB Student ( name hidden )
If you have determination, then you can do anything you want.
Since 2012, when the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Main and JEE Advanced
replaced AIEEE and IITJEE, the process of applying for India’s Institutes of
Information Technology (IIT) has changed. With these changes, many students
who aspire to enter an IIT begin to prepare for the JEE Main years before they
take the exam.

This interview to PROCBSE is intended for students who for whatever reason
have not already been studying for months, but who want to score high enough
on the JEE Main to be selected for the JEE Advanced. With focus, hard work,
and determination, it is possible to score well on the JEE Main and go on to the
JEE Advanced.

Read on to find out how.

What Will Be Covered
* First Steps
* How a Course Can Help
* Ten Tips to Focus Your Study Plas

First Steps
1. The very first step is to get focused. Your final result is a comparative rank
against long term planners, who have been preparing months, if not years.
Only a concentrated, industrious, and planned study plan will yield the
desired score and rank.
2. After studying IIT JEE and AIEEE question paper patterns, I have
observed an abundance of numerical problems. In all the three subjects—
physics, chemistry, and mathematics—a candidate is most likely to scale the
cut-off if he/she is adept at solving numerical problems.
3. Focus on improving your problem-solving speed, which requires
continuous practice. Drill yourself with regular numerical problem practice.
By the time you go for the actual exam, you will have developed a knack for
recognizing the type of problem at once, just by looking at it.

Ten Tips to Focus on Your Study Plan

1. Solve at least 40-80 numerical problems daily. Including physics, chemistry

and, mathematics.
92
Set time limits for questions. Practice to improve speed on problem-solving.

3. Start with the difficult areas first. Keep notes on the hardest sections and
work your way to the easier material.

4. Prioritize by topic. Develop your strategy to prioritize your subjects in

accordance to your requirements..

5. Analyze your mistakes. Find the points that you often face difficulty with and
which slow you down.

6. Never quit until you have achieved daily target. Once you have solved your
daily problems, make tomorrow's plan.

7. Practice logical thinking. Build your solutions step-by-step with contextual

thinking. Discard stray thoughts.

8. Until the exam ends, don't give up. Keep up your routine and resolve to keep
trying.

9. Use your board exam syllabus. Material from the board exams will be
included on both JEE Main and JEE Advanced.

10. Consult test papers from previous years. Obtain copies of test papers from
the past 10-15 years and solve the questions.
That's all…

At last I want to say that nothing is impossible…If you have full confidence
over yourself, you can do anything . Determination is the only skill which differs
one person from others. So keep doing hard work.You will sure achieve
success..

93
6) Advice by Aakash Jaiswal
Intro : He is B.tech Graduate in Mineral Engineering from Indian
Institute of Technology, Dhanbad

Most people go for coaching institutes for IITJEE preparation, I was one of
them. It was overall a good experience there. They provide that competitive
environment which pushes you to work harder but for some people, that's not
good. Coming to your question, as you have decided to study on your own and
not joining any coaching institute. The first thing it's not gonna be easy. There
are certain things you need to keep in mind while starting.

1. Take a note of complete JEE syllabus, dividing them into physics,

chemistry, and maths.
2. Keep in mind that one doesn't qualify JEE because he learned the topics he
wasn't good at but he qualified the exam because he mastered the topics he
was good at.
3. People generally put too much time in the topics they don't have any idea of
and at the end, they get short on time.
4. JEE isn't about knowing every topic, it's about understanding the concepts
and topics (not every).
5. Many students fail because of lack of proper planning. You need to plan
your study.
6. Don't leave any doubt any question any topic for tomorrow. It needs to be
done now.

If you want to study on your own then you need some help. Going to coaching
institutes costs too much and more importantly, they aren't worth it. Another
thing that you can do is opt for e-learning. We live in the time of computer
machines and the internet so why not use it for our utmost benefits. There are
video lectures available which are of great help. There are topics which students
don't understand even when taught by teachers in coaching institutes. That
topics vary from person to person. Benefits of e-learning are it's very cheap and
you can watch it as many times as you want. So if you didn't get it the first time
you can watch it again. One that I'll recommend is Kaysons video lectures. They
got very highly experienced teachers of the field.

When we opt for e-learning, we need to know that it too requires hard work and
without hard work, you can't qualify JEE.

94
s not easy to qualify JEE with the self-study but with some proper help, you can
do it. Use the video lectures properly and solve as many questions as you can. In
these video lectures, every topic is explained in such depth that everything is
covered and it's made in such a way that each and every student can understand
it. JEE is all about your grip on concepts and your basics so it's very important
to get your basics done. Keep the check on your progress, that's very important.
Sometimes we get lost in a topic or chapter in depth and we lose track of time,
which in the end creates problems, so it's very important to follow the timetable.
Set timings of your studies, divide your study time for studying theory part and
for practicing questions. You just need to take the right step and victory will be
yours.

95
7) Advice from Genshkumar Metta
I think I was also in the same situation as you are now, four years ago. Though
my parents are not illiterate. They are well educated but they knew almost
nothing about the course and syllabus of IIT Advanced or JEE. So I was on my
own. It was very difficult time full of uncertainty that will I be able to make it or
not. But those uncertainties won’t stop anyone to crack the exam. So first of all
remove all the uncertainties from your mind

But the main thing is don't forget that course of IIT JEE is all comprises of your
11 & 12 syllabus only , so while you are preparing for any other exam with your
syllabus don't forget that it will be very useful and needed in very coming future.
So prepare in that aspect . Then it really don't need any extra preparation or help
if coaching centres.

Note point to be remembered :

While you are joining in intermediate college make sure that college should have
foundation of IIT cources , then only you can cover your both 11 ,12 & IIT
syllabus at a time and You can crack your exam result
Preparing for IIT Advance(or JEE) requires three things:

1. Self control.
a) Don't watch a lot of movies. One movie per week is fine as it will relax you a
little bit and help you concentrate even better.
b) Don't get addicted to video games. (They are nothing but time sinks).
c) Don't get into relationships and other such stuff.
d) Avoid facebook, Whatsapp etc. as much as you can. (I am not saying that you
should kill your social life. Just don't waste your time on these things. Limited
use of facebook and Whatsapp is encouraged so that u can remain in touch with
your friends).

2. Burning Desire to get into IIT.

This is very important to get yourself motivated and remain motivated for
upcoming Two years (which is a very long time). Don't let that spark fade away.
3. 6 hrs of SELF Study daily.
This is most important of above three points. Actually 1 and 2 are required so
that you can study for about 6 hrs daily. (Here I mean dedicated 6 hrs of study
for that you will have to have sitting of about 8 hrs ). You should solve about at
least 30 numericals daily.

96
hese quotes might prove to be your best friends. Have a look at them when you
are feeling low.
"The darkest hour is just before the dawn"
"A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner"
"Success and excuse do not walk together"

And as Einstein says "I am not smarter, I just stay with the problems longer" .
Follow this for every difficult question. Don't look for the solutions and try to
do it on your own.

Note. I don't think that you need to go any coaching Institutes if u joined in a
good Institute for your 11 & 12 th .(There are a lot of good intermediate
institutes opened in every nook and corner of almost every major city but only a
few of them are really good and worth to join). So please do a little bit of
research about ur intermediate institute like previous years selection, reputation
of teachers etc. ).

97
8) Advice by Tanvee moghe
Intro : Sudied Geological Technology at IITR ( Indian Institute of
Technology, Roorkee )

Here are few tips that would be very beneficial to you if you choose to self study
instead of joining any institute for the purpose :

1. Be determined and focused . It is easier to lose track when there is no one

to control us or guide us over and over , so rather try to avoid all the
distractions and focus on one goal.
2. Follow a time table. This would help you to utilise your time in a proper
manner and also you can divide your study hours as per the subjects you are
good and bad at respectively ( depending on what needs more time as per
your understanding level)
3. Try using video lecture series that are available online for IIT JEE
preparation. These can be really helpful as :

They are specially constructed according to the order in which various

topics should be covered.
Some topics which we find difficult to understand through books can be
easily be grasped or atleast made a bit clearer through these videos.
Some of the websites also offer worksheets and doubt clearing sessions
related to the topics they teach which are beneficial when we come to the
application part of theoretical subjects that we study.
They are available at comparatively cheap prices and are a far better option
then random youtube videos .

4. Follow the four essential steps. READ, PRACTISE, TEST, ANALYSE.

5. Go through good books and practise many questions to make your
application part strong.

6. Take various test series to know where you stand amongst your competition
and analyse your mistakes after every test .
Hope this helps. All the best !!

98
 CHAPTER 8
PLANNING AND TIME MANAGEMENT

THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE

BEAUTY OF THEIR DREAMS.

99
1) How to make a Detailed Study plan
Note : Avoid School they are just waste of time if are joining any coaching
institution directly go for dummy’s

1) FULL JEE PLAN

Step 1 : Buy a notebook separately For planning

Step 2 : In first page make 5 Sections
Section 1 Chemistry
Section 2 Physics
Section 3 Maths
Section 4 Revision
Section 5 Mock tests
Step 3 : Write name of each and every chapter under syllabus of JEE Mains
+ Advanced
Step 4 : Write how many Mock tests you are aiming to solve before Exam
and how many Times you are aiming to do complete revision of syllabus
before exams.

( Note : we can only consider a chapter completed once we have completed

understanding It’s Concepts, Solved It’s PYQs/Book youa re reffering to and
Arranged IT’s Notes )

In short You have write each and everything you are aiming to do related
to preparation For JEE

2) 1 Year Plan

Use the same Notebook

Create Same sections
Write down everything you wanna complete within 1st Year section wise (
Must aim to complete JEE mains Full syllabus with mock tests + some
chapters of JEE Advanced also)

3) 6 Month plan
Use same notebook again
Create same sections
Write down everything you want to cover in first 6 month

100
Note: Must take regular mock tests after clearing Basics

4) Create Monthly plan

Use same notebook again

Create same sections
Write down everything you want to cover in first 1 Month

5) Create Daily To do and a Do not do List

( Explaining Further in detail in this chapter )

6) Put your Do to list in our time table.

( IITIANS time tables are given to give inspiration )

Note : If you are from Top batches of Reputed Coachings you should
follow their curriculum

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2) Sample plan
Note : this plan is taken from supriya Gupta B.Tech in Electrical
Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi Dont’t copy
paste this plan A-Z for yourself you can take inspiration from this plan to
make a 2 year plan for yourself

Locking AIR under 100 in JEE 2025 demands dedication, strategic planning,
and the right guidance. Buckle up, because we're about to craft your 2-year
roadmap to JEE glory!

Year 1 (Class 11):

Foundation Building (Months 1-6):

Build a strong conceptual base: Focus on understanding core principles, not
just memorizing formulas. Practice applying them to diverse problems.
Join a reputed coaching institute ( If you can afford )
Develop problem-solving skills: Start with basic problems and gradually
progress to tougher ones. Explore different solution approaches.
Develop time management skills: Practice solving questions under timed
conditions to simulate the actual exam pressure.

Consolidate & Practice (Months 7-12):

Focus on key topics: Analyze previous year papers and identify high-
weightage topics. Prioritize mastering them.
Take mock tests regularly: Analyze your performance, identify weak areas,
and work on improvement strategies.
Join online communities: Connect with fellow JEE aspirants for
motivation,knowledge sharing, and healthy competition.

Year 2 (Class 12):

Sharpen Your Sword (Months 13-18):

Deep dive into advanced concepts: Explore advanced topics beyond
NCERT and practice challenging problems.
Focus on weak areas: Identify and address your remaining weak areas
through targeted practice and doubt-clearing sessions.
Intensify mock tests: Increase the frequency and difficulty of mock tests to
get exam-ready. Analyze them rigorously.

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 Maintain physical and mental well-being: Prioritize sleep, exercise, and stress
management techniques to stay focused and energized.

Final Lap (Months 19-24):

Revise thoroughly: Revisit key concepts, formulas, and important problems.
Use spaced repetition techniques for better retention.
Practice previous year papers: Solve past JEE papers under timed
conditions to get familiar with the exam pattern and question types.
Stay calm and motivated: Don't panic or lose confidence. Trust your
preparation and visualize your success.

Remember: This is just a roadmap, not a rigid script. Adapt it to your

learning style and pace. Consistency, dedication, and the right guidance
are key. With Ahaguru by your side, you can turn your dream of AIR
under 100 into reality!

Some Tips from side :

Avoid having multiple books and materials for the same subject in your
preparation. An IIT JEE coaching study material that covers the syllabus is
usually enough.
Remove all the distractions that can affect your studies.
Build up equal interest for all the three PCM subjects.
It is advisable that you don’t ‘measure’ the number of hours you study. You
should instead study with full concentration whenever you open your book
for a study session. However, as per recorded data, a minimum of 4-6 hours
per day can be considered good for JEE preparation.
Have a clear understanding of the concepts so that it will become easier to
solve the different types of questions in the exam.
Try to incorporate problem-solving in your daily study session. Only
covering the theory will not be enough. Try to come up with or reach the
solution in the fastest time.
If there are any, try applying simple tricks in solving problems. Always focus
on balancing speed and accuracy.
Make notes of important terms, formulas, and reactions. Try to include your
own shortcuts and tricks.
Have all past year’s JEE questions and start solving them.
Attempt mock tests as it will help you get a clear idea of the exam, the
question paper pattern, types of questions, difficulty level and more.

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Always analyse your performance and especially your mistakes. Once you
identify the weak areas, work on improving them for the next round.
Consistency is to be maintained.
Another important aspect is to include a specific revision slot in your JEE
study schedule.
Clear your doubts and questions at the earliest. Take help from teachers,
mentors and even your friends.

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3) Do not do list
Everyone knows and talks about making a To do list but people rarely talk about
this useful tool that make To do list 3X more productive .... And that useful tool
is A don’t Do list ..

In Simple Words Don’t Do list is just opposite of To do list in this list

you have to mention tasks that you should not do during the day and it is
a really efffective way to avoid distractions

Permanent things for your do

not Do lists ( Do not listen to
some random people telling
these things are ok as i
included it after Discussing Addictive games like BGMI,
with more than 50 IITIANS Free fire and Call Of Duty
and More than 30 Aspirants
Reels and YT shorts ( Biggest
who failed to reach IIT”S
evil for your preparation )

Online Group

18+ Videos

Music in morning

Watching motivational videos

daily

Watching Sports

Smoking and Drinking

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10 Time Tables Used By IITIANS
1) Time table of Prakhar Bindal

Intro :
AIR 230 JEE Advanced 2017 (293/366)
AIR 184 JEE Mains 2017 (310/360)
96% CBSE Boards 2017
Graduated from kharagpur

Time Table :
Wake up at 6–6:30 am (He love morning studies)
Go for a walk for freshening up
7:30-10:00 Study session 1
Then he used to have breakfast+TV.
11:00-12:00 Online tests
12:00-2:00 - Study session 2
2:00-4:00 - Lunch and Sleep .
4:30-7:00 - Study session 3
7:00–7:30 - Break
7:30-9:00- Family time and dinner
9:00-10:30 - Another study slot
10:30-11:00 Planning next day
11 pm- Sleeping time

2) Time table of Rohan Jain

Intro :
CSE 15 IITK
MBA from IIM Ahmadabad 2017

Time Table ( Written in 1st Speaker perspective fot better understanding )

During my time, there was no JEE Mains. It used to be JEE for the IITs, and
AIEEE for the NITs and other colleges.
I went to school as less as I could, because I was concentrating primarily on JEE
preparation. My schedule during the two years of preparation (Class 11th and
12th) used to be something like this:
Wake up at 8 am. Have breakfast while reading a novel
Start studying from 10 am till 2 pm.

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 Have lunch while reading the novel. Then study till 6 pm.
Go out to play Badminton for 2 hours. Come back tired, have some Coke.
Then dinner, once again with the novel
Then study till around 2 am in the night. Keep drinking lots of cold coffee
that my dad would always keep in a big jug on my table, so I could stay
awake and concentrate
Have some well-deserved sleep

JEE preparation is not easy. It is like a long journey. While I studied a lot, I also
ensured that I had enough time to follow my hobbies, such as reading novels
and playing Badminton. This kept me refreshed all the time.
On the days when I went to school, the schedule was slightly different, of
course. But I remember I used to just sit at the back seat, away from the
teacher’s eye, going through my JEE material.

I had coaching classes at Vidyamandir only once a week, that too for just 3
hours. So that also didn’t affect the schedule so much.
JEE preparation is a long marathon. Everyone has their own comfortable pace
of studying. Those who try to sprint very fast by just studying all the time might
get exhausted towards the end. I preferred a more stable and balanced pace.

3) Time table of Arjav Modi

Intro :
B.tech from IIT Kanpur

Time Table ( Written in 1st Speaker perspective fot better understanding )

I enrolled in Resonance Institute,Surat. My schedule was fixed for the whole

12th standard! We have classes on 3 days a week. We have a facility of Study
hours there. So, most of my studies used to be there. I will answer this question
in 4 parts.

ClassDay: Wake up at 5:30. Do daily chores and all. 6–8:30 study. 9:30 reaching
coaching. Study from 9:30–12. Lunch. Then again study from 12:30–2:30.(In
Study hours) Then clearing doubts from faculties. Then 3:30–8:20-Class. Then
Dinner and family time till 10 pm. Then I study till 11:30 and then sleep for 6
hours.

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NonClass Day: Wake up at 5:30. Do daily chores and all. 6–8:30 study. 9:30
reaching coaching(For Study hours). Study from 9:30 to 8 with 3 breaks. Half an
hour for lunch at 12. One hour for recreation at 2:30. And a 20 minute break for
snacks at 6. And the same schedule at home till 11:30. I used to do homework
before the class and give the whole nonclass day to revision and practice.
Sunday: Wake up at 6. Study from 6:30–8. Then reaching Coaching. Study from
9–11 then 15 minute break. 11:15–1:15 study. 45 minutes Lunch break. Study
from 2–5 and then go home and enjoy.(just joking-the same schedule)

PaperDay: We used to have exams every third Sunday.

Mains) Wake up. Revise notes. Exam time: 9–12. Check the paper and solve
it again. List down the mistakes and then do homework or revision of
NonTest Topics.
Advanced) Wake up. Revise notes. Exam time: 9–5. Solve paper and find
mistakes.

So, on class days, I used to study for 8 hours and on nonclass day, I used to
study for almost 11–12 hours.

On Sundays, I used to study for at least 8–9 hours.

JEE preparations needs Hard work and Dedication. Here, Your Intellingent also
has some part. But the only thing needed to beat an Intellingent student is
HardWork. All the Best for A Wonderful Journey of JEE preparations and All
The Best for it, too.

4) Time table of Aman goel

Intro :
B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering From Indian Institute of
Technology, Bombay (IITB)

Time Table ( Written in 1st Speaker perspective fot better understanding )

Wake up at about 7.00 AM.

Freshen up, have breakfast - ready for study by somewhere around 7.45 AM
(Edit - my mother read this answer and she told me that it is 6.45 AM and
not 7.45 AM. Moms are moms :’))

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 Continuous study session till 11.00 AM. During the morning session, I used
to focus a lot on 2 things:
Areas where I was weak.
Areas that were new to me.

Over time, I had realized that my most efficient and most productive study
time was morning from 8.00 AM - 11.00 AM and so, that was the reason
that I used this time for weaker areas and new concepts.

Take a break till about 12.00 PM.

Continue for another couple of hours till 2.00 PM.
Take a break till 3.00 PM.

FIITJEE classes used to be from 4.00 - 8.00 on Mondays, Wednesdays and

Fridays. So, if it was a coaching day, I used to leave by 3.00 PM. If it was a
non-coaching day, another study session from 3.00 - 5.00 PM.
By 5.00, much of the day used to be over unless I had something more to
study. For instance, there were days when I had to solve FIITJEE material
like GMP, RTPF, AITS papers, etc. That was basically additional work. In
such situations, I used to take another 2-hour long session from 6.00 PM -
8.00 PM.

I never studied after 8.00 PM partly because I used to get exhausted and
partly because my dad didn’t appreciate it since studying at night may lead
to poor eyesight (dads are dads).
After 8.00 PM, the activities usually included dinner, sitting with parents,
browsing the internet, playing something (GTA fan here!), etc. Sometimes I
also used to hangout with a couple of friends after 8.00 PM. However, that
was quite rare.

The best part here is that since I did not actively attend the school (I was
enrolled in a dummy school), I got lots of time during the morning which I
could use entirely for my JEE preparation. That helped me to maintain a
balanced lifestyle. I feel sad to say that most schools in India at the 11th and
12th standard level least concerned about the competitive exam results. They
care only about marks in the board exams. Talking specifically about engineering
- board exams marks do not matter (at least they didn’t matter during my year).
They did matter for JEE Main, but then I was targeting JEE Advanced.

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Of course, there was that “20 percentile criteria”. However, the cutoff for that
was barely 78% (CBSE board). By all standards, it is easy to score that (in
CBSE).

When creating your schedule, keep a note of the following points:

Most productive hours: some people prefer studying during the day (like
me). Others prefer studying at night. You should try both for say 3 days and
find out which one suits you better. You should then stick to it. Do not
blindly follow any advice. I remember I also tried studying late at night
following a few friends. But now I realize that it was stupid of me to do that
because my peak efficiency hours were from 8.00 AM to 11.00 AM.
School: if your school isn’t the best school, don’t try to oblige them by
being a 100% attendance student. Remember, for them, its a career of yet
another student. For you, it’s your own single career. I hate to say it but the
fact is that you need to be a bit selfish about your career.
Self-study: you should try to create the timetable in such a way that you get
ample of time for self-study. I personally believe that the best learning
happens when you actually sit down and delve into a concept. There were
many students in my coaching who were much sharper than me and they
understood things much faster. Therefore, at times, I could not keep up
with the pace at which the teacher was teaching. In such situations, I always
used to go back home and properly spend time understanding that topic on
my own. That always resulted in better understanding. You should
incorporate such a thing on your timetable.

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5) Time Table of Akash tiwari
Intro :
B.tech from IIT Kharagpur
AIR 262 in advanced
AIR 2203 in mains

Time Table ( Written in 1st Speaker perspective fot better understanding )

I was in the TP01(11th) and TOA1(12th) Batch of allen kota. Also my rank in
advancced 2017 is 262.

Class 11th.
1. In class 11th a lot of free time is availible to you in allen as they teach (at
least in my year) very less chemistry in 11th. So in this year i mostly focused
on maths and physics.
2. Dont study at night hours. I see it has become a trend to study in night. But
if you are new here and used to study morning then continue.

In my case-

Class 11th
6:45–7:00- get up, quick shower and get fresh(proper showers on sundays)
7:00–9:00-doing homework of the subject in which more work was given
9:00–9:30 breakfast
9:30–12:30- more homework and reviewing things to be discussed today, review
previous home test and class test, calling freinds to ask doubts.
12:30–1:00 -lunch
1:00 - 2:00/3:30- attempt new home tests if time left do next questions of sheet
in advance.
2:00/3:30–7:00- classes
7:00–8:00- class test/quiz
8:30–9:00- dinner
9:00–9:30- talk to parents, relax
9:30–11:30 -review stuff discussed today and a little bit of homework.

Class 12
6:30 - get up and stuff
6:50 - 8:45- homework
8:45–9:00 breakfast

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9:00–12:30- homework and review tests and stuff to be discussed
12:30–1:00- lunch
1:45–2:45- class test​/quiz
3:00–8:00- classes
8:00–8:30 sometimes tests of chemistry
8:30–9:00- dinner most of the times otherwise 9:00–9:30
9:00–11:30- homework then sleep

You wont get time to do anything besides homework and review in class 12th.
In this preparation honework is the soul. And homwork is nothing without
review after discussion in class.

These are the official timings. But 99% of the time the last class is extended by
15 minutes-45 minutes

At the end of preparation , allen starts *score* score 1 which is a month long
programme from December-january and score 2 after J-M too which include
tests.

In this programme the schedule is decided by allen. You go to classes and study
and the respective teacher is present. Everyone sits quietly and studies and if any
doubts you raise your hand and the teacher comes to you.they also give Target s
according to a schedule prepared by them.

6) Time Table of Govind Lahoti

Intro :
Studies in IIT Bombay
AIR 3 in JEE advanced 2014

Time Table ( Written in 1st Speaker perspective fot better understanding )

8:30AM - 12:30PM: Classes

12:30PM - 2:00PM: Lunch + Rest
2:00PM - 7:00PM: Study
7:00PM - 9:00PM: Dinner + Recreation
9:00PM - 11:00PM: Study

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7 ) Time table of Rahul bhardwaj
Intro :
Btech in Computer Science, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB)
2021

Time Table ( Written in 1st Speaker perspective fot better understanding )

8:00 Wake Up
9 :00-10:30 Revision
10:30-14:00-practise (mostly maths)
14:00-14:30-lunch
14:30-16:30 He used to feel sleepy, so did some chem
16:30 to 18:30-solved physics
18:30 to 20:00 - evening walk with friends
20:00 to 21:00- used to do physical chem
21:00 to 22:00-dinner and after that TV for some time
22:00 to 23:30

that part of the day when he used could fall asleep any moment, so
inorganic seemed to be the best thing to do.

00:00 - sleep

Some key points-

1)One thing He always ensured and He think is very important is atleast 8 hours
of sleep. You should never compromise on that.

2)The timetable He wrote above is only an average one, as he have already

mentioned. The point is, you don't need to put pressure on yourself to strictly
follow a certain timetable, neither should you be so carefree that you are not
keeping track of how you are spending your day.

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8 ) Time table of Anshul Garg
Intro :
B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT KGP)

Time Table ( Written in 1st Speaker perspective fot better understanding )

Daily: Atleast 100-150 questions should be done (PCM Combined)

Weekly: Notes of the new topics covered in the week should be revised properly
.
Monthly: All the notes should be revised.
You should study in a target based manner. Take up a chapter and keep giving
its test till you score atleast 90% in it. Once you score so, move ahead with the
next chapter. That is how one should proceed.

And talking about strategy, I have written about it many times. But still since
you have asked it again, I will be happy to share it again.. If you still have some
doubts left, feel free to connect.

I prepared in a little different way. But as I went to IIT Kharagpur, I talked to so

many people who had various ranks. I learnt a lot of things from their
preparation journey.

Then following my passion, as it was coming right from within me, I started
teaching Kids for IIT JEE.And having taught so many aspirants and IITians..
This is what I now recommend to all the sincere aspirants to follow for their
preparation (and yes, I keep learning and its an ever evolving strategy):

The Complete IIT JEE Guide:

1. Be sincere in your efforts (Half hearted efforts do not give fruitful results!)
2. Practice from limited and standard books like SL Arora HC VERMA, etc.
Don’t go for too many books. Do limited books, and do it more number of
times. Become perfect in them. The end objective is to gain confidence. If you
are able to get good marks and have gained confidence That’s it. You are there..
One should create a balance between doing and non-doing
One should not over-do anything! Over-doing brings dullness and self-doubt.

3. Get a good Guru, if you can find ! Guru is the person who knows what
should be done and what should not be done. He/she is the best guide.

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4.Physics: Start with HC Verma. Then go ahead with IIT JEE Questions
directly. Don’t go for any other crap books. Also other books from Arihant and
GRB are good. You can use them .. However if u have time left after doing
previous years, you can solve Irodov, Resnick, Krotov etc ! But I tell you, these
don’t help much. Use Arihant and GRB Books. That will help you more.

Practice previous year IIT JEE questions MANY TIMES (You can use Arihant
40 years for that ! ) . Become perfect in them. Solve other people’s doubts. That
will help you score better :) (Whatever we give to the world comes back many
times. Example: If you keep smiling, then people smile at you. That’s the law of
nature. You give Soan Papdi in Diwali to people and Soan Papdi will only come
back. World is nothing but a reflection of you. Whatever you start thinking,
starts manifesting. So always be positive. Be Happy and Spread the knowledge
and it will come back to you !)

People run after so many modules and crap test series (which are many times
intentionally made tough by coaching institutes just to show off and students
lose confidence after that. Just know one thing in life: Most important rule:
WHATEVER YOU DO, WHATEVER HAPPENS, NEVER LOSE YOUR
CONFIDENCE. Even if you fall, stand up again. And only those people fail,
who try!). Instead you should focus on limited material and do it more number
of times!! Many questions ask only basic concepts but a good clarity in them.
Self study is definitely most important. But one thing I would like to say, even
diamonds need to be polished to shine. So coaching brings that effect. If you
have potential, a good coach can help you perform on that potential. So find
one good Guru for yourself if you can!

Time Management: Never look at what the clock is ticking.. You should study in
a target based manner. A good candidate should do atleast 100-120 questions
per day (PCM Combined) (and whatever time it takes. If it takes 2 hours, well
enough. Enjoy after that. But if it requires whole day, be ready to give it. After
all, its about your dream and your whole life!) . And every week, one should
revise all his/her self made notes. If that happens whole year, marks my words:
Result is guaranteed.. J Also, don’t be so harsh on yourself. Life is a combination
of being rigid and being flexible. You can take a day off every week in this
process. That’s not a problem at all. Mind should be happy too.. Otherwise if
you just overuse it without giving it enjoyment and rest, then one day your mind
will ditch you! It won’t listen to you ! So keeping the mind happy is also very
imp.

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Also from every chapter atleast 150-200 questions are a must to gain
confidence..
More to remember:

1. Mantra: Arise awake and stop not till the goal is reached :) ~Swami
Vivekananda
2. This is what Bruce Lee used to say: I do not fear the man who has practiced
10 thousand kicks once but the one who has practiced 1 kick 10 thousand times
! :) So do limited things and become prefect in them !
3. Also, I recommend all my students to practice Sudarshan Kriya of the Art of
Living. It gives you very good clarity of mind and keeps you focused in exams.
In fact Nishita Purohit (AIIMS Rank 1) used to practice it daily !

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9) Time Table of Ayush Dubey

Intro :
B.tech from IIT Bombay ( Aero space )

Time Table ( Written in Speaker 1 perspective for better understanding )

My coaching classes were from 8am to 2 pm. Though it wasn't for Mains I was
preparing (I was preparing for advance), I can share my schedule which was as
follows (pretty much the same is applicable for Mains too):

7:30am to 2:00pm - Classes (I used to be early)

3:30 pm - Reached home (My classes was a bit far, I used to commute by
train)
4:15pm- 6/6:30pm -Revise the things taught on that day.

6:30-7:30 pm -Leaisure time

7:30pm - 9:45pm - Studying the previously taught stuffs/backlogs/revising
or trying to get a headstart by starting a new lesson not covered till then.
9:45-10:30pm- Dinner and rest

10:30 to 12am- Revise/Cover up anything remaining. Also, try studying

stuffs for the next day lectures.
12am (roughly) - sleep
6am - wake up, get ready and catch the train

I assume most of you won't have that much travelling to do, so you can sleep
for around 7-8 hours to relax yourself.
But you can also lessen it slightly and study in that time to gain additional edge.

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10) Time table of Aadarsh Singh ( Dropper )
Intro :
B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Time Table ( Written in 1st Speaker perspective fot better understanding )

Talking about my timetable. Well, being a dropper, I used to follow one till a
week before mains exam. Here it is.

8:00 - 9:00 A.M. wake up, freshen up and breakfast

9:00–1:30 practise physics… actual time depends on the class, as I have morning
class in this slot 3 times a week.
1:30–2:00 P.M. Lunch
2:00–2:30 P.M Nap ( there was always my friend to wake me up after half an
hour) … it is necessary to keep me going.
2:30–6:30 P.M. practise chemistry… in this slot I have a class of 2 hours three
times a week. After this half an hour just go wasted in Bakar sessions.
7:00–8:30 P.M. had a class again three times a week… or had discussions of
problems and topics which I not understand well with friends.
8:30–9:30 P.M. dinner followed by another Bakar session.
9:30–12:00 P.M. practise maths as it was my favourite, it helps me to stay
awake… but the fact is who can study maths the whole night. So, I used to have
another nap of half an hour ( again there was my friend to wake me up… if I
didn't woke up, he pour water on my face… that type of selfless friendship we
had ).
12:30–3:00 continue the maths session but this time some big and complex
problems to keep me engaged. Then I got exhausted and feel sleepy.
3:00–4:00 A.M. fall sleep anytime after reviewing the whole day.

So, in this I got effectively 7–9 hours of self study. And a 5–6 hours of
sleep. But the time in between mains and advanced, I changed it
significantly…. No more naps, no more classes… but the Bakar sessions
still exist. This is the time that will decide whether you deserve a 100 or 1k
or 10k. So plan this time effectively. Here as I planned it.

5:00–6:00 A.M. woke and freshen up ( this time it took longer as a shower was
must… before I used to had that thrice a week).
6:00- 8:45 A.M. practise some hard-core problems of chemistry. And took
breakfast depending on the mood.

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9:00–12:00 had test by myself or of the test series.
12:00–1:00 evaluate the test, analyse the mistakes and find any room of
improvement.
12:00–1:00 P.M. lunch with the discussions of problems with the friends
followed by a Bakar session of an hour.
2:00–5:00 P.M. practise physics or had second paper of test series three times a
week. Followed by its evaluation and analysis.
5:00–8:00 P.M. again practise physics and after that had discussions of problems
which lead to an another Bakar session.
8:00–9:00 P.M. dinner, used to have less to keep me healthy and fit followed by
a 10 minutes walk and then a glass of milk.
9:00–10:00 P.M. some revision of maths ( yes you read it right )… actually I
achieved a proficiency in maths. And I scored the maximum in maths which I
think will not change much by my practise. The test which I had daily was the
only thing I used to solve in the name of maths.

Bonus Time Table

6:00 AM Wake up and get ready to study

6:30-7:30 Morning Walk
7:30-10:00 Learn New Topics
10:00-11:00 Breakfast/Newspaper
11:00-2:00 study new topics
2:00-3:00 Lunch and Relax
3:00-6:00 Practice PYQs
6:00 PM-6:45 PM
Take a Break
6:45-8:45 Study (Finish one topic)
8:45-9:30 Dinner/Watch TV/ spend time with family
9:30-11:30 Complete your Revision
11:30 Relax Your Mind with Meditation Activities and go to sleep

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 CHAPTER 9
HABITS OF IITIANS

THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE

BEAUTY OF THEIR DREAMS.

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1) Must have habits according to Mayank Jain
1. Maintain good sleeping habits:
It is very important to take a good sleep before any exam.
Revise what you were learning before going to sleep.
You must take at least 7 hour sleep daily and only 15 min nap in evening.
Read more at Good Learning Habits: Importance of Sleep in Learning

2. Analyze your Exams & Mock Tests (Learn from your mistake)
Whenever you attempt any mock test. You analyze it on same day for mistakes
and weakness.
Read more at Good Learning Habits: Analyze your Exams (Learn from your
mistake)

3. Prepare for revision

IIT JEE needs a long preparation. As we proceeds further in our preparation,
old chapters fades away. For efficient preparation and sure success, consistent
revision is necessary.
write only stimuli words in short. You may write:
1. Just formula.
2. Only name of the reaction or just reaction
3. Name if the law.
4. Name of the concept.

Visit these notes time to time and try recall everything related to those concept
and revise chapters within minutes.

Stay Away from these mistakes:

1. Revision is not the last day hustle or not for last one month, You need a
continuous revision.
2. Do not pile up backlog. Maintain your pace with coaching classes.
3. Biggest mistake any IIT JEE aspirant can have: Keep your doubt to yourself
and hesitate to ask doubts. If you do not know something, take it as an
opportunity to learn and learn it from any source possible. The best way to
do it by maintaining a doubt book and revisit this doubt book from time to
time. Read more about doubt book .
4. Correct your aim: Never aim for the output or result. Result is out of our
Control.

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 There are many out of control factors which may affect your result but you
can control your efforts. Have aim to work hard, work smart and achieve
work related goals. Read more at Correct Your Aim: Have an effort
oriented aim not a result oriented.
No social media of any kind. This includes Quora, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.
No girlfriend/ Boy friend.
No group study but group discussion is must.

The goal of IIT JEE is to select good students. Students, who are creative &
innovative, who can apply a concept in many different ways, who can think new
ideas and use them to create new concepts, who can learn a theory with all his
positive and negative and use it for research.
Most important, They want student, who can learn.
What skills examiner wants to test ?
Creativity
Problem solving skills
Learning skills
Working with the exceptions of a theory
Mathematical thinking

What Skills they do not want to test ? So do not work on them

Spellings.
Memory: No rote learning is needed. No need to to remember bulky facts
like value of constants, bulky definitions and fancy words.

Avoiding Silly Mistakes

Analysis of the exam is the best strategy to know your mistakes.

Analyze your exam in details, look for mistake; It will improve your chances of
not committing the mistake again.
Note down your mistake
Identify the reason for mistake and attack that reason.
If a mistake is recurring, do some serious work about it.

I have analyzed many silly mistakes and complied their probable reasons and
steps to avoid them.
Mistake in simple maths calculations: We commit these mistakes when we are
working in dual mode.

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 In dual mode we are simultaneously thinking about something and working on
the maths calculation. In dual mode our unconscious mind takes over and do
the maths calculations.

Do a lot of practice to train your unconscious mind and avoid these

mistakes. Make a habit to do all the calculation by pen and paper.
If your mind floats on unnecessary thoughts during exams. Just take a
10 second break, close your eyes, shake you one finger very gently and
go back to exam again.

Jumbled sign: Mistake of putting wrong +/- sign to quantities.

Define a convention to put +/- and you always follow it.
E.g. In projectile motion upward is + and downward is -
E.g. In rotation any vector comes out of the paper, towards you is
considered positive.
Whenever your teacher teaches you a concept, ask him to tell you
the convention to follow.
Never solve any problem which involves vectors without a diagram.
First draw a diagram, mark all vectors in it with its direction than start
solving the problem.
Always remember x*x = 4 has two solutions x = 2 & x= -2.
Also remember √2 = +1.414; Surd has only positive value.

Try to find trick in a simple question: Sometime we make a question

unnecessary complicated. We have a high esteem for some exam or a person
and believe that they will never ask a simple question. Sometime they ask simple
questions.
If a question is simple, It is simple no need to make it complicated.
Solve old year paper and you will see that simple questions are being asked.
Once I have asked one of 11th class student a series of three questions. 1)
2*4 = ? 2) 15*7 + 5 = ? 3) 252/9 = ?. She answered one problem wrong.
She was thinking I will never ask such a easy question and tried to look for a
trick.

Wrong interpretation of the question: It is the silliest mistake. Possible reason

for this mistake may be overconfidence, hurry or overwhelmed by the feeling
"Ohh I can do it".
Always read question carefully. Whenever I go for any exam my mom always tell
me "Beta question dhaayan se padna."

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Translation: Son, read questions carefully.). I will also tell you same line, "Beta
question dhaayan se padna."

When we prepare for IIT JEE or any other competitive exam, we learn a
concept than we practice related problems but many students practice problems
in very unproductive manner. In this post I will present you the best way to
practice problems and how can you learn from your mistakes.

Technique-1:
Solve these questions
10 + 25 = ?
50 * 8 + 100 = ?
135/9 = ?
Those were easy ??? Yes !!
Had you learn anything,
If I ask you 1 million such questions, Will you learn anything ?
No you will not learn anything. Your speed of calculation may improve but you
will not learn anything new.

If I will give you 10 problems. Problems which will force you to think or ask a
friends or open a book. Then you will definitely learn something new and
improve your understanding of the concept.
Practice is necessary but look for the problems you are not able to solve and
take it as an opportunity to learn. This does not mean you go for very tough
problems and start solving Irodov or JD Lee. You should not go outside IIT
JEE syllabus.

Instead take some good book or material which is confined to IIT JEE syllabus
and solve it thoroughly. Solve each and every problem in it. If you stuck, do not
move further without knowing answer to these questions
1. Why I was not able to solve the problem? What extra knowledge I should
have to solve it ?
2. How to solve it ?
3. How can I use this new concept to solve other problems ?
4. Maintain a doubt book and write all your doubts in it and visit them from
time to time.

Refer to book, class notes or ask teacher/ friends to understand the new
concept.

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If you practice problems in this manner and maintain a good doubt book you
will improve bit by bit and reach the top of the ladder.

Technique-2
The next technique is to create your own problems.
When you learn about "how our mind learn any concept"; you will be amazed to
find out:

"Our mind will easily grasp a concept if we think about it from different angles.
More variety of thinking approach will ensure better understanding and long
lasting imprint in our mind."

I have created many technique to evaluate a concept from different angles, and
learn in different ways. One of those technique is "creating your own problems".
In this technique, Take a problem you have already solved and try to make that
problem complex and create new tough questions. Your goal is to maintain the
problem solvable.
Just add complexity to the problem and imagine different scenarios . Target of
this exercise is to think about the concepts from different angles.
If you are able to create questions this will boost your confidence.
Examples of this technique:

Problem:
if x+1/x=6�+1/�=6 find x2+1/x2�2+1/�2
This question we asked to our 8th class students, We taught them how to use
identity (a+b)2=a2+b2+2ab(�+�)2=�2+�2+2��
Two days later one of the student came and discussed, we can use this method
to find value of x3+1/x3�3+1/�3 & x3−1/x3�3−1/�3 &
x4+1/x4�4+1/�4 expressions.\

She has created 3 problems with more complexity.

This exercise has boosted her confidence in mathematics
She will never forget this method.
She can apply this methods to some other problems,

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During JEE preparation, consider a day is wasted if you had not solved any of
your doubt in that day. This doubt may be a problem, may be a concept you
didn't understand or may be just a confusion.

If you have solved your doubt and learnt something new, you have improved a
bit. This consistent improvement will make you successful one day.
If you improve one percent every day, In a year you will be 37 times better. So
contribute this 1% today by solving your doubt. If you keep your doubt with
you this will only deteriorate you.

Now we know that it is very important to solve our doubts but how can we
efficiently do it.
I have used a very effective technique. I will share it with you.
"Keep A Doubt Book"

What is a Doubt Book ?

Doubt book, it is nothing but a register or a copy where you write your all
doubts, mistakes and their solutions.

How to maintain a doubt book ?

Whenever you have any doubt, write it in the Doubt Book. First try all by
yourself to solve doubt by referring to books but if you cannot solve it than
ask someone. After you solved your doubt also write its solution in the
book.
Whenever you did any mistake, write it in the book. Contemplate why had
you done the mistake, How can you avoid it and what other places this
mistake can occur?

Do not try to organize the doubt book by chapters. Just write mistakes and
doubts as they occur. This scattered doubt book has an advantage.
How to use the Doubt Book ?

Now you have a book witch has a catalog of your weak points. This book can
have a very vital role in your improvement.
As you had some doubts and you did some mistakes, chances are you may
repeat them. The more you think about them, more you read them and more
you see them, Your chances to repeat those will reduce.

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The purpose of this doubt book is to see your mistakes and doubts again and
again to reduce the chances to repeat them.

So how to use it,

Just pick your doubt book
Open any random page.
Read from it and try to recall what mistake or doubt you had.
Try to recall how you did the mistake and how you solved. Why did you had
the doubt and how you came to the solution of it. Try to imagine & recall as
much as possible.

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importance of sleep in learning:
Wash away toxins
When we are awake, some toxins are created in our brain. With these toxins
you cannot think very clearly. When we sleep cells in our brain shrinks. This
create more space and increase fluid flow. This more flow washes these
toxins and clean our brain. After a good sleep we feel fresh and we can
think clearly.
It is very important to take a good sleep before any exam.
Too little sleep over a long time can cause headaches, depression and heart
disease. So less sleep will only harm you in a longer run.
Sleep is important part of the learning process and memory
During sleep our mind tidies up ideas and concepts you were learning by
erasing less important parts and strengthening the parts you want to learn.
During sleep our mind rehearses some of the tougher parts of whatever we
are learning by going over and over neural pattern and strengthen them.
As our mind rehears what we were learning. It is a good idea to plant a seed
to dream. Revise what you were learning before going to sleep. It will
increase chances of dreaming about it and will increase you learning.
Dreaming about what you are learning will substantially increase your ability
to understanding.

Body clock and sleep

People experience different level of sleepiness and alertness through out the day.
Two factors causes surges in level of sleepiness and alertness. First how long we
were awake and second our internal body clock.
Our internal body clock, adjust itself as sleeping habit changes. If we study in
night and sleep in day time. It is very likely our level of sleepiness will be high
during exam. No matter how prepared you are for exams but this sleepiness will
decrease your efficiently.
It is highly advised to maintain normal sleep pattern. That is 7-8 hour sleep in
night and just 15 minute nap in evening.

If you want to efficiently perform during learning phase and exams, you must
follow these guidelines:
1. It is very important to take a good sleep before any exam.
2. Revise what you were learning before going to sleep.
3. You must take atleast 7 hour sleep daily and only 15 min nap in evening.

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 CHAPTER 10
FINAL DAYS REVISION

THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE

BEAUTY OF THEIR DREAMS.

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1) Last week Revision
1) Stradegy from Rakshit Tiwari B.tech in Mathematics and Computing,
Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IITG ) Graduated 2020

One week before JEE Mains 2015,

Me : Oh! I have practiced a lot. This week should be just for revision of past
concepts and relaxing my mind as much as I can. I don’t think I need a
notebook this week to “write and improve” myself.
I attempted near about 80 questions out of 90 finally in JEE mains that year out
of which 17 were wrong answers.
Final score - 235
The reason behind so many silly mistakes :
1. Relaxing more than I required because of “overconfidence”.
2. Low accuracy rate because I skipped my practice sessions.
3. The wrong mentality at the crucial time.

Now one week before JEE Mains 2016,

Me : Oh! I have practiced a lot. This week should be just for revising past
concepts and probably! uh! more practice, I guess. Well, I do need that because
there is no stopping to improvement.
But what should I practice now?
Oh! How about past 15 years JEE mains papers? :)
I again attempted 80 questions out of 90 finally out of which only 4–5 were
wrong answers.
Final score - 296
The reason behind such a high accuracy rate and good score :
1. I relaxed as much it was required by my body.
2. I kept practicing and improving even at the most crucial time.
3. And most importantly, I had the right mentality. :)
I guess this sums up things very nicely.

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2) Advice from Gunjan Dhanuka AIR 469 in JEE mains 2020

This is the one time when I have seen a lot of aspirants, including some of my
friends, completely mess up whatever they had prepared for the past two-three
years. I won’t be talking about which chapters to study or what questions can
come. My main focus through this answer is to throw light upon what factors
are most often ignored.

The following bullets are what I noticed help me secure a good percentile in
JEE Main 2020 (of course, I assume you have studied properly and are well
prepared for the examination):-

VERY IMPORTANT - Take 7–8 hours proper sleep at night and try and
wake up early by 7 AM latest. This is because half of you will have to give
the exam in the morning shift and you have to wake up by this time if you
want to make it in time to the exam center.
Stop Sleeping in the afternoon if you still have that habit. You will feel
very drowsy during the exam if you get the evening shift.

Make a small diary/notepad where you note whatever concepts/topics you

feel are lacking. Also do note any and all formulas you don’t recall while
solving any question. This will help you be sure that you have covered
everything there it is.
Solve Previous Year Papers as much as possible. They give you a good idea
of what to expect and are often different from the tests coaching takes.
Also, make a habit to ignore questions if you feel some data is wrong or
there is some discrepancy. Highly required skill for JEE Main.

Try and give the mock tests/prev year papers in the time slots of the
examination (9–12 AM and 2–5 PM). Your body clock needs to be adjusted
for the examination. If you aren’t already doing this, start today.
Have good and nutritious food. Since most of you are at home, I believe
this is already true. Try and include fruits in your diet and avoid any outside
foods. You sure don’t want to be sitting with a stomach ache in the exam. If
you have any health issue (fever or ache), get it addressed immediately
before it worsens. Don’t think that your time will be wasted.

Don’t go for any new study material or books. Believe in yourself!

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3) Advice from Nikhil ( Student in IIT Kharagpur )

It is important to remember that these 7 days are crucial, so it is important to

utilize this time effectively and manage it well; this way, students can give their
best during the examination. With good time management and consistent
efforts, they will be able to achieve a better score in JEE.

You must focus on marks and accuracy if you want to improve your
performance for JEE Mains in less than a month. Here are several steps that you
can take to reach this objective:

Keep revising and practicing: During these last 7 days, it is important to

focus on revising and practicing the material you have already covered.
Time management is crucial in this case and directly affects your
performance.
Don't try new topics: Avoid trying to learn new topics during these last 7
days. Instead, focus on revising what you have already studied and be
confident in your knowledge. It is alright if you score a better 300; the most
important thing is to give your best effort.

Chemistry: Focus on NCERT and your notes. Make sure you understand
the basics of each chapter.
Mathematics: Keep a mathematics handbook with basic formulas handy,
and practice solving problems to improve your speed and accuracy.
Physics: This subject heavily depends on conceptual understanding, so
focus on remembering formulas and revising them regularly.
Refer to previous year's papers: These papers will provide you with a wide
range of practice questions and help you understand the types of questions
that are likely to appear on the exam.
Take Daily Test: Solve one practice test daily between 9 am and 12 pm,
simulating the exam conditions.

Try to follow a specific pattern for attempting the test, such as PCM, CPM,
MPC, or any other. It is best to go with the PCM approach.
After each test, check the answer key, calculate your marks, and analyze the
areas where you consistently face problems. Review your notes and try to
solve the same problems again. You will see an improvement in your
performance.

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Day Before Exam
1) Experience of Prakhar Bindal ( Graduated from IITK )

The last day before JEE Mains/Advanced is probably one of the most
important days of your JEE journey. Things you do on the last day before the
exam can affect your performance on the D-DAY . so it is necessary to spend
the last day carefully so that you can give your best on the next day.

Day before JEE Mains

I Never took JEE Mains too seriously (Note that this does not mean that i did
not prepared for Mains . It was just that i was confident of clearing JEE
Advanced with a good rank and therefore mains was just a qualifying exam for
me so i had a pretty light mood day before mains and was chilled out with
absolutely no tension or worries).
So i basically woke up in the morning and followed my usual schedule of studies
till 2 pm in the afternoon . After that i had lunch , Listened some Motivational
songs, watched a movie and got my bag packed for the next day.

Note that i did not studied after 2 pm the day before mains .
Before i went to sleep i got call from my teachers and close relatives to wish me
luck. After thanking them i put the mobile phone on silent mode and went to
sleep at 10 pm . But as expected i could not sleep that night . Something was
going into my mind , I Don’t know what . I Certainly realised it was 1 am but i
was still awake . somehow i slept after that and woke up at 5 in the morning as
the centre was quite far away from my home .

Day Before JEE Advanced

Now this was something really serious for me . It was the exam for which i was
preparing for last 2 years and given my everything for the sake of this exam .
As usual i woke up in the morning but i didn’t felt like studying that day. I Tried
to study in the morning but i could not focus my mind . Millions of thoughts
regarding the exam next day were there in my mind.
I Talked to my parents and decided that i won’t study any more . so basically i
studied for just like 45 minutes on the day before advanced and that was too
only for the sake of formula revision . Therefore i had a lot of free time as i left
studying at like 11 in the morning . So in order to pass my time I called my
friends who were also going to appear in jee the next day.
None of them was studying and we basically discussed our JEE preparation

133
Journey and remembered some awesome memories we made in the class and
bond we developed among ourselves and with our teachers. This made me
forget about all my worries and tension and i completely forgot that i was going
to appear for jee the next day.

After that i had lunch and again i was feeling bored. So i watched my one of my
favourite movies of all time ‘3 Idiots’ on my laptop. Being emotionally
connected to that movie i again completely forgot about JEE .

I Didn’t knew that i slept for like an hour or so after the completion of movie .
I Woke up at like 7 pm . Then i Packed my bag for the next day and went onto a
small walk with my parents. Again i went to sleep early at like 9:30 pm but
miraculously this time i was able to sleep by 10 pm and enjoyed a full 8 hour
sleep before one of the biggest encounters of my life.

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2) Experience of Aniket Sanghi ( B.tech from IITK )

MISTAKE I DID :

The day before JEE mains, I studied more than 10hours!

Reason?
I thought that the more I will do, the better I will perform!?! We all have a
normal tendency to think that way! After all we are part of this Indian
Educational System!
What happened next?
I was feeling so stressed and exhausted in the paper that I even left 10 questions
and that too simple questions (I gave JEE in 2017, which is known for the
easiest JEE paper ever! -_-)!

LESSON LEARNED!

JEE is a Journey , not a one day GamePlay

So, the day before JEE Advanced -
I spent most of the time doing stuffs that I love!
Spent time with my family.
Surrounded myself with all sort of positivity that I could.
Studied a bit as going totally off the regular schedule can also be dangerous.
Avoided watching movies and listening to music as I thought that may get
hold of my mind the next day!

And the next day I was feeling very relaxed and confident and from my side
exam went fine . I was satisfied after giving the paper!

At last I want to say something to every candidate for any Exam of LIFE :

You have worked really hard for the exam. And that’s why you are here.
Believe in yourself!
Remember hard work always pays off!!
Keep confidence in yourself and Stay calm!
You surely gonna ROCK!!!
We all are waiting to welcome you all in your dream colleges :)

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3) Advice by Anshul Garg ( Also pursued B.tech from IITK )

First of all, have this fire:

Make use of objective approach like dimensional analysis etc to solve

questions..

And remember:
1. Don’t get stuck in any question in the first 1 hour.
2. First 1 hour is to maintain flow. So see that you have a good flow. Just do
random questions which you are confident about. Don’t do it line wise
manner in the starting.
3. Always be confident. Don’t think at any time that things are not working..
Think that I am the best.. And I can do it ,,
4. A good candidate is always in this sense “ Arre yaar kya hoga”. So be
relaxed with this thought. Everyone gets this thought. The one who realizes
that everyone is feeling the same is at peace.

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 CHAPTER 11
COMMON DISTRACTIONS

THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE

BEAUTY OF THEIR DREAMS.

137
1) Social Media addiction
Best Solution :
Delete all the social apps you are using ( Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook )

Reason - Trying to leaving Their addiction while having them installed in

phone is same as a weed addict trying to quit weed while keeping it in his fridge.

Apps like Instagram are generating Billion of dollars each year by making
you to spend your whole day in mobile screen scrolling their reels and they
spend million of dollars each year to make you spend each second of your
day in their apps, These apps are backed by psychological methods hence
It’s next to impossible to avoid addiction while using them.

According to researches each reel or short video we scroll on social media

releases more amount of dopamine ( Pleasure hormone ) compared to
Amount of dopamine released in solving 50 Numerical problems that’s the
simple and very natural reason why social media users suffers to focus on
their preparation consistently because 1 minute of scrolling reels is releasing
more dopamine than you are gonna release while spending your whole day
in Studying.

FOMO - Fear Of missing Out ( Secret tool of these Companies )

FOMO may have entered our lexicon during the advent of social media, but
Erin Vogel, Ph.D., a social psychologist and an associate professor at the
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, emphasizes that the feeling of
missing out has existed much longer. “Humans want to feel like we’re included
like we belong to a group,” she says.

Another way that psychologists have studied FOMO is by focusing on how a

feeling of “belonging” can influence our self-esteem, continues Dr. Vogel.
“When we feel as if we’re part of a community and others approve of us, we feel
better about ourselves. When we don’t get that sense of community approval,
we feel worse about ourselves,” she says.

When it comes to the first use of the acronym FOMO, the credit is often given
to Patrick McGinnis, a writer who used it in an article he wrote for the Harvard
Business School magazine,

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The Harbus, in 2004 (McGinnis is now a venture capitalist, best-selling author
and has a podcast called FOMO Sapiens.) In his article, McGinnis used “fear of
missing out” to describe why people often overschedule themselves.

Symptoms of FOMO

Obsessively checking social media to see what others are doing

Experiencing negative feelings when comparing one’s life to what others
seem to be doing on social media
Feeling mentally exhausted from social media

Other symptoms of FOMO, according to Erin Vogel, Ph.D, a social

psychologist and an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma Health
Sciences Center, can include

Overscheduling (trying to be everywhere at all times)

Withdrawing from others
Feeling physically tired
Feeling sad, anxious or depressed
Difficulty concentrating
Having trouble sleeping

When it comes to an actual age range, teens and youth are more at risk
for experiencing FOMO. “Younger people are considerably more at risk
due to the increased amount of time spent online coupled with a
heightened sensitivity to and need for social approval and
belongingness,” says Dr. Dattilo

Now Let’s Come to the topic FOMO is the actual reason why most you are not
gonna delete your social media apps and accounts even after reading this book
Because once you uninstall these apps you are gonna feel like :

“ I won’t be able to know what my friends are doing if i deleted these apps”
“ I would miss out latest trends and Controversies “
“ I would miss trending memes and songs “
“ I would not be able to understand jokes of my friends on trending topics”

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If you are thinking about similar FOMO thoughts while deleting and
leaving social media just remember These things :

After 2 Years no one would care about how many friends you had and how
many Instagram stories you watched of your friends.
No one would care what was your snap score.
No one would care how many trends and controversies you watched.
No one would care how many memes you watched hoe many trending
songs you listened.
No one would care about how many online groups joined.
No one would care you even had an account on social media or not.

But everyone would care about much you worked for your career, How much
success you have achieved.

140
2) Porn Addiction
1) Why is Porn so addictive and why it make us unable to focus on study
and other tasks

What is dopamine?
Dopamine is a chemical released in the brain that makes you feel good! Having
the right amount of dopamine is important for the body and brain. It is
responsible for allowing you to feel pleasure, satisfaction, and motivation, and it
means when you feel good, it is because you have a surge of dopamine in your
brain.
Dopamine is the center of the reward system and pleasure system of our brain.
Our brain gets motivated while seeking these awards. The pleasure system is
responsible for our enjoyment of those rewards. Dopamine release keeps the
brain happy and satisfied.
Let us now get into the nitty-gritty of how porn can have an effect on our brain:

Answer : the over arousal to the brain from excessive pornography use can still
severely impact everyday functioning. When someone watches pornography
excessively, dopamine becomes depleted. The brain will eventually shut down its
dopamine release to protect itself from overstimulation.

Ultimately, pornography can change the way the brain functions. The brain will
begin to rely on the very thing that gives it pleasure and stimulation. Like drugs
or alcohol, the brain will become dependent on pornography, and sex or
intimacy may no longer be pleasurable for the individual. While pornography is
no longer viewed as a taboo subject for many, the overuse of pornography can
blur the lines between what is and is not realistic in sex. This mentality can be
harmful for many reasons as it can negatively impact interpersonal relationships
and decrease one’s own enjoyment in physical connection.

The widely accepted addictive drug nicotine, found in cigarettes,

increases dopamine production to 200%. Sexual intercourse increases
dopamine to 250%. The use of pornography increases dopamine output
even higher than nicotine and maintains that output for far longer.

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2) How to get rid of Porn Addiction

1. Identifying and Removing the trigger : It is important to recognize the

situations that urges us to watch porn. Avoiding that situation can be a way
to overcome. For example if being alone prompts one to watch porn, it is
essential that one avoids being alone. So making a change in the immediate
environment and being around people would be of help and for many
people that trigger can be soft porn ( Seductive dances or clips ) used in
movies and also used by social media influencers to get attention of the
people so block alll the creators from social media who creates soft porn
and mark their videos as “Not Interested” or best solution can be deleting
social media apps itself.

2. Put Porn blockers or Put a parental lock on your phone and computer.
If you have someone you trust, let them know about your addiction and ask
them to install a parental lock software onto your device. It won’t be foolproof,
but a parental lock with a password will make it that much harder for you to
access x-rated sites on your phone or computer.[ If you don’t want to tell
anyone about your addiction, install the parental lock yourself. You’ll know the
password, but the few minutes it takes to input it and get around the parental
lock might be enough to wake you up and discourage you from watching any
porn.

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3) When ever you feel that you are triggered do an out bursting physical
activity : When ever you get triggered to watch porn and getting thoughts of it
just perform an out bursting physical activity till you are exhausted like running
till get tired ot doing Pushups for 30 minutes or any other physical activity that
can make you exhaust.

Note : Porn triggers are even more hard to avoid than nicotine triggers so
whenever you get triggered do not even waste a second and start performing out
busting physical activity instantly

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3) Teen Age Relationships
Do not fall in teenage relationships at any cost because it’s worst problem is not
about Time consumption but it is about emotional dis-balance it creates an
argument with your GF/BF may result in wasting whole day because of stress
hormones released in your brain and whenever that relationship will end ( In is
93% of cases these relationships would end within 2 years ) you are gonna face
emotional dis balances as much as for months and Introvert students with small
or no friend circle or no friend circle or students who are generally socially
isolated would even fall in depression that can completely ruin their years.

Note :
According to researches introverts are way more likely to trapped in
depression or other mental issues as compared to extroverts who have good
friend circle

Bonus Advice :
The fact mentioned above is not to make introverts insecure but it is
mentioned to warn them to not to fall in these relationships specially.
I met more than 50 IITIANs while working for this book and each and
every of them call themselves Introverts.

Moving to the topic some of more side effects are :

Emotional instability: Teenagers may experience intense emotions and may

have difficulty controlling or expressing them. This can lead to mood
swings, depression, or anxiety.
Distraction from other important aspects of life: Teenagers may become so
focused on their romantic relationships that they neglect other important
aspects of their lives, such as schoolwork, hobbies, and friendships.
Risky behavior: Teenagers may engage in risky behaviors, such as
experimenting with drugs or alcohol, as a result of their romantic
relationships.

In if you are already in relationship with someone while reading this chapter you
do not need to break your relationship as it would create a lot of emotional
imbalances and even regrets this chapter is for those are not in relationships yet
and they should stay away from it till their Career’s Journey.

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Advice for those who are already in Relationship

Do not break it after reading this chapter because if your relationship is

going good than this break up may result in Lifetime regret.
Balance time you can spend 3-4 hours with your GF/BF during sunday but
as for normal days do not waste more than 1 hour.
Act mature.
Fix your chatting time ( not more than 1 hour ) and avoid chatting
unnecessarily out of that fix time block.

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4) Smoking and Drinking Addiction
If you are not an addict then never ever smoke or drink thinking that “I
would Do It Only Once” most of teenagers falls in this because of the
though “ I would only do it once “.

Remember Smoking and Drinking is not cool : Because of these shitty

Bollywood and gangster movies teenagers generally think that if they smoke
or drink they would look cool but in reality no good person would like to
include these “addicts” in their friend circle imagine you are an IITIAN
would to like to make a friend circle with all smoking and alcohol addicts
who start to do drama in the roads under influence of alcohol would you
think that they are cool ?

And if you are already Addicted try to quit this addiction as soon as
possible and if you are unable to quit go to a therapist.

Reason : You guys already knows physical and mental side effects of
these addictions.

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5) Gaming addiction
Best Solution :
Delete all the Addictive games ( Free fire, BGMI, Call of duty, Etc )

Reason - Trying to leaving Their addiction while having them installed in

phone is same as a weed addict trying to quit weed while keeping it in his fridge.

Same Side effects as social media addiction

FOMO - Fear Of missing Out ( Secret tool of these Companies )

Another way that psychologists have studied FOMO is by focusing on how a

feeling of “belonging” can influence our self-esteem, continues Dr. Vogel.
“When we feel as if we’re part of a community and others approve of us, we feel
better about ourselves. When we don’t get that sense of community approval,
we feel worse about ourselves,” she says.

When it comes to the first use of the acronym FOMO, the credit is often given
to Patrick McGinnis, a writer who used it in an article he wrote for the Harvard
Business School magazine,

If you are thinking about similar FOMO thoughts while deleting and
leaving social media just remember These things :

After 2 Years no one would care What was your KD ratio in these games.
No one would care what was your Headshot Rate.
No one would care how good was your gameplay.
No one would care how much knowledge you have of these games.
No one would care about how good you squad was.
No one would care you even care about you even played that game or not.

But everyone would care about much you worked for your career, How much
success you have achieved.

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6) Screen Addiction ( game changer )
Screen Addiction is the real Evil responsible for

Social media addiction

Porn addiction
Fomo
Dopamine overload
Lack in focus and concentration

Best solution to get rid of screen addiction

Use your phone in black and white mode

Using phone in black and white can help a lot as lack of colours cutoff major
amount of dopamine you receive from screens making screen less addictive.

Install l apps like stay focused

With these apps you can add limit to apps that are distracting you and also block
keywords from your search .

Turn on Focused mode

Most of devices have focused mode in their setting by enabling it you cant be
able to access any distracting app that you have included in the list

Deleting distracting Apss.

Deleting distracting apps like Instagram,games, Etc can also help a lot.

Try a 60 days Screen Detox

In these 60 days you don’t have to spend even 1 minute on screens ( exceptional
over important works like calls, Lectures, Etc ) but without any reason you don’t
even have to spend 1 minute on screen for 60 days and mark my words after
these 60 days your life yould be gonna changed completely .

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 CHAPTER 12
SUMMARY OF HYPER FOCUS
(MUST READ IF YOU CANT
STAY FOCUSED )

THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE

BEAUTY OF THEIR DREAMS.

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Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey – Summary and Notes
If you’d like to read the whole thing yourself and support the author, you
can buy the book through amazon flipkart or any other online/Offline
store.

Main Takeaways
Deliberately setting intentions before sitting down to work is hugely effective for
staying on task and being resistant to distractions.
Hyperfocus vs. Scatterfocus: Both are crucial. Hyperfocus allows you to stay
focused on one problem and execute; Scatterfocus (i.e. the “diffuse mode” from
A Mind for Numbers) allows for creativity and new insights. It is worthwhile to
learn how to deliberately enter both modes multiple times a day.
Chris’ writing on creating a distraction-free ritual was probably the most
actionable thing for me in this book.
Now, onto the notes.
Italicized text indicates my own thoughts and observations.

Chapter 0: Why Focus Matters

In any given moment, we are always focusing on something.
Chris leaves his phone at home even when going to the diner to write, in
order to do so distraction-free
Get the phone out of your immediate vicinity for most of the day. This
is a theme that I think will crop up more and more in this book, and
something I’m become more convicted about.
No wi-fi at the diner.
“Constant connectivity is one of the worst disruptions to our focus and
productivity.”
One of the best ways to foster creativity and additional productivity is
learning to unfocus – to step back and gain some space, uninterrupted by
something vying for your attention.
Pay attention to nothing and let the mind wander.
Studies show we go an average of 40 seconds when working on a computer
before becoming distracted or interrupted
Difference: Interruptions happen to us. Distractions are caused by us.

Chapter 0.5: How to Better Focus on This Book

Put your phone out of sight

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 “When your brain is even slightly resisting a task, it will look for more
novel things to focus on.”
Phones provide a constant stream of tiny dopamine hits and novelty.
They’re a great way to escape from the task providing resistance.
Experiment: Pay attention to when, and the number of times, you pull
out your phone in a day. Why do you do it?
I’ve noticed a pattern – when I wake up, I go through my morning
routine and make breakfast. Then I eat it while watching YT
videos, and tend to keep watching them long after. I waste so
much time this way. I think my brain uses breakfast as an excuse to
seek novelty, and to avoid my tough work.
Mind your environment
Make a distractions list
I started this while reading this chapter, using my green moleskine. I
ended up with a lot of great ideas for videos, along with other listed
distractions.
Question whether the book is worth consuming at all
Have some Caffeine before reading
If early enough in the day – Caffeine can take 8-14 hours to metabolize
out of your system
Trade-off – you have to pay for this gained energy imbalance later in
the day, but it’s often worth it.
Grab a pen and highlighter. Mark up the book.
When you notice your focus wavering, step back and do something
mindless. Get a reset.

Chapter 1: Switching Off Autopilot Mode

As many as 40% of our actions are habits. They don’t require conscious
thought or heavy deliberation.
While reading, it’s worth periodically asking: What percentage of my
attention am I devoting to this book?
I marked 85% – I was working hard to pay attention, but my mind kept
drifting to new tidbits I’d like to add to videos. Reading books like this
keeps stimulating new ideas all the time.
Research shows the eyes scan the page more slowly when the mind is
wandering – e.g. the mind and eyes are “tightly coupled.”
Four types of tasks
Quadrant formed by two axis
Unattractive/attractive work

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 Productive/unproductive work
Necessary Work
Productive/Unattractive
Things you have to do. Team meetings, budget balancing
Purposeful Work
Productive/Attractive
The “tasks you’re put on earth to do” – things that are challenging,
that provide a lot of satisfaction to you and value to the world.
Unnecessary Work
Unattractive/Unproductive
Rearranging papers on your desk. Things you really don’t do unless
your brain is resisting a more challenging task.
“Procrastiworking”
Distracting Work
Attractive/Unproductive
Stimulating, yet unproductive “tasks” – social media, checking
email and Slack, etc.
Each day, all four quadrants (task types) compete for our attention. The
more we’re on autopilot, the more time we’ll spend in the wrong quadrants.
Takeaway: Be more intentional about where you place your focus. Take
more reset breaks in order to gain this ability back (recharge it) when
needed throughout the day.

Chapter 2: The Limits of Your Attention

“There’s a finite limit to how many things we can focus on.”
Brain receives 11 million “bits” of info every second, according to Timothy
Wilson, psych prof at University of Virginia
Mind can only consciously process 40 of those.
Csikszentmihalyi: The simple act of decoding a conversation (parsing the
language so we understand it) consumes about half our attentional
resources.
Working memory: After focusing on something, we can only hold so much
of it in working memory. The average is four bits.
Some people can naturally hold more – often up to 7 without other aids
Chunking can aide working memory by bundling bits together through
meaning – e.g. names in a list could be bundled if some of them are
your friends or people you talk to often, or if some start with the same
letter.

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Popular culture has tons of examples of groups of information ranging
from 2-7 bits.
Pairs – Calvin and Hobbes
Three – Third time’s the charm
Seven – 7 Wonders of the world
It’s harder to find lots of examples that involve more discrete bits
Attentional space and working memory are like a computer’s RAM.
RAM capacity scales with power usage – with more active RAM, a
computer uses more power.
This is why Apple resisted upping the RAM capacity of the iPhone –
lower battery time would result.
Some scientists say that additional working memory or attentional space in
the brain would be more “biologically expensive”.
The brain already consumes 20% of calories ingested, even though it
accounts for only 2-3% of body mass.
Sentence structure matters for attention and comprehension. One study
found that the period at the end of a sentence marks the point at which the
brain stops loading things into attentional space and summarizes what has
been loaded to that point so that it fits better into working memory and can
be synthesized.
Meta-awareness: Becoming aware of what you are thinking about.
Useful skill for managing your attention and thoughts.
Better you get at this, the better you become at bringing your attention
back to your intended area of focus when it wanders.
Noticing what is in the attentional space makes you a better thinker and
problem-solver.
Study found that people asked to solve a mystery while reading a
detective novel – those whose minds wandered consciously solved
it more successfully then those who did not pay attention to where
their minds wandered.
Mindfulness: Not judging what you’re thinking about.
Memory of the attentional space lasts on average 10 seconds. Very
ephemeral.
Tasks that pair well
Some tasks do not fill the entire attentional space. Typically, these are
habitual tasks.
Habits only require attention when initiated, or when you need to make a
course correction during one.

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We can multitask really well if the tasks are habit-based, or if only one task
is mildly complex.
Multitasking with habit-based tasks is helped by the brain – it directs blood
toward the basil ganglia (which is concerned with habits) and away from the
prefrontal cortex (the logic center).
Assess: If you can do your most productive tasks out of habit, then you’re
probably not challenging yourself enough. It’s time to delegate those tasks
to someone else, or automate them.
Multi-tasking does not work when the tasks being juggle exceed the capacity
of attentional space. Two complex tasks will do this.
3 combinations of tasks that can fit within attentional space
A few small, habit-based tasks
Initiating the habit requires attention, but after that, it’s on
autopilot.
One task that requires most of our focus, along with a habit-based task
One complex task
Good to leave a bit of attentional space to spare when doing a complex
task. It:
Leaves room to reflect on the best way to finish the task
Greater awareness of where you should be directing your attention.
Increased ability to redirect attention when it wanders.
Intention: “Intention enables us to prioritize so we don’t overload our
attentional space.”
Noticing that you’re feeling overwhelmed is a good cue for checking in on
what’s occupying your attentional space.
Brain’s novelty bias – when you switch tasks, you’re rewarded with a
dopamine hit. Managing your time and motivation
“Continually seeking novel stimuli makes us feel more productive –
after all, we’re doing more in the moment. But again, just because we’re
busier doesn’t mean we’re getting more accomplished.”
Early ancestors were well-served by this, because it allowed them to
keep constant tabs on a changing, dangerous environment.
Productivity: Chris’ definition of productivity: Productivity means
accomplishing what we intend to.
Bailey: “Productivity is not about cramming more into our days but
about doing the right thing in each moment.”
Letting your attentional space overflow negatively affects your memory.
Bailey: “Technology speeds up time by tempting us in each moment to fill
our attention to the brim.”

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Multitasking relies more on basil ganglia. When we focus on one thing, the
brain engages the hippocampus more, which works to store the details of
what we learn and allow us to recall them.
While multi-tasking may feel productive in the moment, it’s highly
unproductive from a learning standpoint. If you can’t remember what
you learn, then you have to go learn it again. “Do it right, or do it
again,” as my dad likes to say.
When we fill our attentional space up to the brim:
It takes us longer to switch smoothly between tasks
We’re less able to filter out irrelevant information in the environment
The worse we get at suppressing the urge to switch to irrelevant things
in the first place
On average, we work for only 40 seconds when working on a computer
before either being interrupted or distracted.
Distraction is when we interrupt ourselves.
How apt are you to do that? Observe your behavior.
Best work happens well beyond that 40-second mark.
Attentional residue: Coined by Sophie Leroy, prof of organizational
behavior at University of Washington
When we switch tasks, it usually doesn’t happen perfectly. We have
lingering thoughts about the previous task, which gunk up the attention
space that should be devoted to the task at hand.
Switching is easier and more effective (less attentional residue) when:
We finish a task – especially if there was time pressure or a deadline
that forced us to “turn it in”, which prevents us from wondering if we
could have done more or done it differently.
“Time pressure narrows our focus on the task, restricting us from
considering a number of more creative ways to complete it.”
This is both good and bad
We disengage and reset between tasks – take a break, take a walk,
meditate.
Best time to take a break is after finishing a big task. So combine
the two.
Bailey: “Intention is the bouncer of your attentional space – it lets in the
productive objects of attention and keeps the distractions out.”
To put the concepts from this chapter into practice:
Set intentions more often.
Modify environment to be less distracting.
Overcome mental resistance to doing tough tasks

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 Eliminate distractions before they derail you
Clear the distractions inside your own head
Following these tenants will provide a lot of benefits. This one stood out to
me:
Bailey: “Develop deeper relationships and friendships as you spend
more attention, not just time, with people.”
Pay attention to:
How much of your time you spend intentionally
How long you can hold your focus in one sitting
How long your mind wanders before you catch it.

Chapter 3: The Power of Hyperfocus

Getting started on a difficult task often includes a hurdle that must be
overcome at the beginning; but after that is cleared, it is easy to keep going
for some time.
Hyperfocus
Chris gives several different definitions of his term “hyperfocus” in this
book
Originally this term comes from ADHD literature and research. People
with ADHD do not lack the ability to focus – in fact, many times they
are able to focus more intensely than others. They lack control over
when to focus.
First meaning – Hyperfocus is intense focus paired with deliberate
attention.
Which is, itself, set through intention.
Deliberate, undistracted, and quick to refocus
Leads you to be completely immersed in your work
Most important aspect: “…that only one productive or meaningful task
consumes your attentional space.”
The more demands there are on your time, the more critical it is to
hyperfocus
Counterintuitive, as when we’re super-busy and overburdened, it feels
like we should be juggling lots of tasks.
Hyperfocus is for complex tasks, not habits. Two reasons why:
Requires willpower and mental energy to activate. We have a limited
store of this each day, so it’s best to use it on the complex things.
Habit-based tasks are easy to initiate on an almost automatic basis.

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 Performance on complex tasks increases through conscious focus.
However, performance on habit-based tasks decreases through this
focus.
When you try to exert conscious control over something that has
become unconscious or governed by muscle memory or instinct,
you become worse at it. Your conscious mind is actually a lot
weaker than your subconscious for these types of tasks. It’s slow,
clumsy, and can only focus on one element – which is usually not
enough. You clamp down on your subconscious mind’s ability to
handle things.
Example: When I was figure skating, I’d often try to consciously
think about a specific move I was practicing. Sometimes, I’d end
up performing worse than when I first tried it that day. I remember
this particularly well for two-foot spins. I’d do a couple at the start
of practice decently well, but then they’d get worse as I tried to
consciously think about each step. Of course, in sports and skills
like this, this is a necessary step to getting better. But it does take a
lot of mental energy and makes you worse overall in the moment.
This concept is also mentioned in Range: Why Generalists
Triumph in a Specialized World
Spotlight Effect: Phenomenon where you become self-conscious and
believe everyone is watching you, which causes you to change your
behavior – often in an unnatural way. In reality, people could not care
less.
I’ve read that men will change the way they walk when they believe
a woman is watching. More swagger, shoulders back more.
Benefits of hyperfocusing on complex tasks:
Since you’re focused on one task, you’ll have some attentional space to
spare. This will allow you to keep your original intention in mind, which
makes you less likely to be derailed by distractions.
Intention = awareness = greater resistance to distractions
There’s enough attention to think deeply about the way that you’re
working, and about the task itself.
Bailey: “One of the best ways to get more done – and done faster – is
by preventing yourself from focusing on the things that aren’t
important.” #Quotes
Four stages of Hyperfocus
Hyperfocus is what happens when you engage both with your thoughts
and with your external environment, and direct these types of

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engagements towards one singular thing, with intentionality.
Hyperfocus precedes the Flow State, coined by Csikszentmihalyi.
The odds of experiencing flow increase when fewer things are
competing for our attention. Therefore, hyperfocus is the state that
precedes flow.
We pass through four states when we begin to focus
We are focused (getting things done)
Mind begins to wander (assuming we are not distracted or
interrupted first)
We make a note of this wandering
We shift focus back to the original area of attention
Hyperfocus stages are based on this framework.
Choose an object of attention – something that will help you
accomplish something meaningful
Eliminate distractions – both external and internal
Focus on the chosen object of attention
Keep bringing your focus back to that object when the mind
wanders
Most important step: Setting an intention. You have to be intentional
about what you’re going to focus on.
Intention must precede attention.
Reason we fall victim to distractions: In the moment, they are more
attractive than our original object of focus.
Due to novelty bias, and the resistance to doing the hard task
In other words, System 1 loves these distractions, and System 2 is
too weak to reign in System 1 without a strong, previously-set
intention.
Distractions are much, much easier to deal with in advance than when
they pop up.
This includes internal distractions – mental wanderings and cringe-
inducing thoughts, resistance to tough tasks
Reminds me of this observation: In school, before I pull out gum,
no one in the class wanted any gum. They weren’t thinking about
it. But the MOMENT I pull out that pack of Juicy Fruit to get a
piece, anyone who sees it come out of my pocket instantly starts to
mooch. “Ooh can I have a piece? Pleeeeeeease I really want one!”
A desperate, almost fervent desire for the gum blossoms in the
mind of my classmates, who would sooner throw me off a cliff
than calmly accept that the gum is mine and that they, in fact, don’t

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 need a piece. Managing your time and motivation
Hyperfocus works better when we set an intention to focus for a
predetermined amount of time. Need to choose an amount that is
comfortable and feasible.
Mind-wandering
Research shows that the mind wanders for 47% of the day, on
average.
It takes, on average, 22 minutes to resume working after an
external distraction or interruption.
For internal distractions, that number goes up to 29 minutes.
Summation of the concept of hyperfocus: “Keep on important,
complex object of attention in your awareness as you work.”
Bailey: “Attention without intention is wasted energy.”
How to choose what to focus on
Use the quadrants – aim to focus primarily on Purposeful Work or
Necessary Work
The Rule of 3
Each day, choose three things that you intend to get done before
the day is over. These three tasks should be complex and
meaningful.
How to deal with small tasks that also need to get done?
Couple of ideas I have: First, have a batch day or admin day.
Once per week, aim to batch all the small tasks into one block
of time. You probably won’t be able to knock out everything,
but you’ll get a lot of them done. Second, an idea for my
whiteboard – maybe have a Rule of 3 section. Small tasks can
go in a different section. Then, either all three need to be done
before small tasks can be worked on, or the small tasks can be
used as palette-cleansers between the big tasks. They become a
way to take a break: E.g. I need to do a 45-minute writing
session, or film my video’s A-roll, before checking email for 15
minutes. Managing your time and motivation
Can also be useful to set 3 weekly intentions when doing week
planning, and to set personal intentions as well (non-work-related)
During busy days, reframe your intentions to be more active – e.g.
“Attend conference” could become “Connect with 5 new people”.

Look to the most consequential tasks

Most important tasks – hence the ones that should be what you

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 focus on – are the ones that have the greatest positive
consequences.
Look for second and third-order consequences as well, not just
immediate ones.
If I film my video now, then my editor can get a jump-start on
it, and he’ll have more time for complex edits before it’s due.
It’ll probably do better as a result.
Hourly awareness chime
Use a timer or some other cue to remind yourself to check your
attention at regular intervals throughout the day.
Can ask yourself things like:
Was my mind wandering?
Am I working on autopilot, or am I focusing on something
that was set with intention?
What’s the most consequential thing I could be doing right
now, and am I doing it?
Are there distractions around right now that are preventing me
from hyperfocusing?
We are more likely to catch our minds wandering if we reward
ourselves for doing so
Chris doesn’t use a timer or chime anymore. Instead he uses cues –
when he gets up to use the bathroom, when he leaves his desk to
get tea, when his phone rings.
How to set stronger intentions
Peter Gollwitzer is one of the foremost researchers in the field of
intention
Specific intentions are much more powerful than vague ones, and
greatly increase chances of success.
Gollwitzer and Brandstatter study with participants who went
home over Christmas break
They were asked to set an intention to achieve a difficult goal
during this time
62% of students who set a specific intention – an
“implementation intention”, in Gollwitzer’s words, achieved
their goal.
Only 22% of the students with vague intentions did.
Bailey: “Setting specific intentions can double or triple your
odds of success.”
However, even vague intentions increase changes of success by 20-

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 30% vs. no intention
Vague intentions and specific rewrites:
“Go to the gym” -> “Schedule and go to the gym on my lunch
break.”
“Quit working when I get home” -> “Put my phone on airplane
and my work laptop in another room, and stay disconnected for
the evening.”
“Go to bed at a reasonable time” -> “Set a bedtime alarm for
10pm. When it goes off, start winding down.”
Specificity – depends on the person and the task.
Tennis player set intentions that did not seem specific to the
researchers (e.g. “When I feel nervous…”) but they were still
effective because the players themselves knew the situations that
would cause these feelings.
“Specific means the person can identify the critical situation.”
Caveats about intentions
You have to care about the intention
Easy-to-accomplish intentions don’t need to be as specific
Starting a hyperfocus ritual
Start by “feeling out” how long you want to hyperfocus
Query your brain by suggesting times and seeing what kind of
resistance you have to those times. Maybe working for an hour
seems too hard. How about 15 minutes?
Over time, you’ll have less resistance and will be able to work for
longer.
Anticipate obstacles ahead of time
Schedule your hyperfocus chunks at the beginning of the week so
they can be places around meetings and other scheduled
obligations.
Set a timer
External commitment device is powerful
Hyperfocus
When you notice your mind wandering, bring it back to your
intended area of focus.
Don’t beat yourself up about this – it’s the way the mind was
intended to work.
If the timer rings but you’re on a roll, don’t stop. Keep going until
fatigue hits and you’re at the limits of your attention.
When to focus

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 Whenever you can
Around the constraints of your work
Bailey: “Productivity is often a process of understanding our
constraints.”
When you need to work on a complex task
Based on how much resistance to the task you’re feeling

Chapter 4: Taming Distractions

Many observations about distractions in this book came from research done
by Gloria Mark and Mary Czerwinski
Both specialize in in situ research, which is research done in actual
conditions and situations, rather than laboratory conditions
IM/Skype open – we interrupt ourselves on average every 35 seconds,
down from the normal average of 40
One study found that we switch between computer applications on average
566 times a day
For Facebook alone, the average is 21 checks a day. That average
includes people who didn’t use FB – for those that checked at least
once, the average went up to 38
Who are the people at the top end of that range and what are they
doing???
Costs of interruptions
An “unrelated” interruption (not having to do with the current task)
causes us to take on average 25 minutes to get back on task
Before resuming, we tend to work on 2.26 other tasks on average
Bailey: “We don’t simply attend to the distraction or interruption and
then return to the original task – we become distracted a second time
before doing so.”
Age and distractibility
As we age, our attentional space shrinks. This makes it more difficult to
get back on task; however, the flip side is that the mind wanders less
often.
Sex and distractability
Women experience fewer interruptions and generally distract
themselves less often. This is despite the fact that they work on more
projects at once. They are also reportedly happier and more engaged in
the workplace.
Perhaps men have adapted less successfully to a life of not stalking
around a forest trying to kill things…

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Why we love distractions
In the moment, a distraction is more enticing than the current task
we’re supposed to be working on.
When the brain is resisting a task – even slightly – it begins actively
hunting for some other thing to pay attention to.
Novelty bias compounds this – you get a dopamine hit when focusing
on something new.
Social media and other things provide small hits of validation
throughout the day.
The ego becomes another cause of distractions.
Bailey mentioned that one source of distraction for him was
checking the Amazon page for his first book to look at sales rank
or new reviews.
I’m also guilty of this; sometimes, when my brain is resisting a
task, I’ll bounce around the public living spaces for the works
I’ve already completed – comments sections, reviews for my
book on Amazon and Goodreads, analytics for my site and
videos. I’ll eventually run out, and it will feel hollow – like
there’s not enough validation. Ironically, I could get more by
simply getting to work and creating something new that’s
meaningful!
Bailey: “If I don’t disable computer distractions ahead of time, I might
as well wave good-bye to my productivity.”
Bailey makes the point that he does not have super-human self-
control, even though he’s a “productivity expert”. His experiment
turning off his website blocker proves that.
Rather, he is better than most people at managing his impulses
ahead of time.
Distractions will differ based on the type of work you’re doing.
Rote work – more likely to go to Facebook/social media or talk to
co-workers
Complex work – checking email
I wonder how close to the truth that is for me? I could probably
find out by using RescueTime or doing some kind of active time
tracking (probably a combo)
The four types of distractions
Distraction: Anything that directs us away from our intentions.
Two places of origination: Ourselves and others
Research shows that we interrupt ourselves just as often as we are

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 interrupted by other people.
Exception: Team leaders and managers are interrupted by other
people at least 60% of the time
Reminds me of when I interviewed Linus Sebastian, who spends
his day dealing with a near-constant stream of interruptions and
requests from his team.
Distractions form their own grid, with four types:
No Control/Annoying
Office visitors
Team members pinging me to ask about things they should already
know how to do
Loud colleagues (in the case of an open office)
Construction noises outside
Action: Deal with it, then get back on track.
Keep your original intention in mind when they happen, and bring
your attention back to it as soon as the interruption is done.
No Control/Fun
Fiance sharing a meme with me
Call from my mom
Action: Enjoy it!
Control/Annoying
Emails
Phone alerts
Text messages
Action: Prevent in advance (especially when needing to do deep
work. During other times, perhaps allow in limited quantities in
order to be available to others)
Control/Fun
Social media
Tiny Snek comics
Action: Prevent in advance

Distraction-Free Mode
Most distractions happen in the categories that we can control. The
best way to deal with these is to take care of them in advance.
Two modes of working
Distraction-free mode – intended for getting into hyperfocus
Useful for focus work
Reduced-distraction mode – work with manageable number of

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 distractions, but allow yourself to be available
Useful for collaborative work – you can’t spend all your time
in focused mode if you work with others.
Creating a distraction-free mode: “By removing every object of
attention that’s potentially more stimulating and attractive than what
you intend to do, you give your brain no choice but to work on that
task.”
Chris’ ritual for entering this mode:
Launch a distraction-blocker on his computer
Put computer into do-not-disturb mode
Put phone into do-not-disturb mode or put in another room
Grab a coffee (as long as it’s not too close to bedtime, since
Caffeine takes time to work its way out of your system
Put on noise-cancelling headphones if in a loud environment, like a
coffee shop or plane
When you are interrupted, reflect on what caused the interruption.
Make an observation so you can tweak your distraction-free ritual to
account for it in the future.
Creating your own distraction-free mode
Website and app blockers – Cold Turkey, Freedom, RescueTime
Shut off the internet altogether – disable wi-fi or unplug the
ethernet cord
Get out of the office – find a more suitable place to work
Be thoughtful. Don’t under- or over-estimate the social costs of
distraction free mode.
Sometimes you need to be available to team members or
family.
It’s also worth observing if you respond to interruptions from
others gracefully, or in a grumpy way.
On the flip side, you may overestimate the value of your own
prompt responses. Team members can often deal with waiting.
In fact, I find that it’s useful to observe the expectations
that your behavior has ingrained in others. If you typically
respond right away to a Slack message, then your team
becomes conditioned to expect a quick response, and may
bristle if made to wait. But, if you’ve trained them to
expect to wait a few hours, that will feel normal to them.
So, if their expectations are currently set where you don’t
want them, start re-training them by behaving differently.

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 You might encounter some pushback at first, to which
you can offer an explanation – “I’m trying to remain more
focused on my work.” – People are very receptive to
explanations (See The Mindlessness of Ostensibly
Thoughtful Action: The Role of “Placebic” Information in
Interpersonal Interaction, where explanations are used to
placate others when cutting in line). Over time, your new
response time becomes the new normal.
Treat yourself
After a distraction-free session, let yourself indulge in some
distractions during a break, or go get a snack or coffee.
Bailey: “Research shows that the more impulsive you are, the
more stress you become by blocking yourself from
distractions.”
Create a distraction-free mode for your team
Dale Partridge had custom desk lamps made for his team.
When one was on, that team member could not be
interrupted.
The components and intensity of the distraction-free mode you build
will depend on your work environment.
Bailey: “Productivity is a process of understanding and adapting to your
constraints.”

Music
Music that is ideal for productivity has two qualities
Sounds familiar
Relatively simple
Bailey likes to listen to the same song on repeat while working.
Research also suggests that silence is still better than all music, as any
much will require some amount of attention.
“Music is no competition for a quiet environment.”
I don’t know if I agree with this for all tasks. I find that I read best
in silence now, but when writing, I feel much more creative with
the right music. I get lost in it.
Use noise-cancelling headphones and music to drown out loud
coworkers or a noisy environment.
One study found that hearing one side of a phone conversation is
much more distracting than overhearing the whole thing; in the
former case, the brain tries to fill in the gaps, which requires even

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 more attention.
Music “impairs the performance of introverts more than extroverts”
Another finding that I’m a bit skeptical of – might need to look at
the research methodology later
Clearing your mind
Try to clear your head of “open loops” so they don’t distract you.
David Allen: “Our brains are for having ideas, not holding them.”
How to clear out the mind
Calendar for all events
Task list for all to-do’s
Distraction list for things that pop into your head or distract you
while working
Worry list for things you’re worried about
Externalizing these things allows you to work without worries, guilt, or
doubts.
Everyone is different: Some can use the bare minimum (calendar and
simple task list), while others will benefit from more externalization.
Working with purpose
Bailey: “Here is a fundamental truth about focus: your brain will
invariably resist more complex tasks, especially when you’re first
starting them – and when it does, you’ll look around for more novel
and stimulating things to do instead.”

Chapter 5: Making Hyperfocus a Habit

The mind wanders more often when we’re:
Feeling stressed
Stress comes when the demands of the situation exceed our ability
to cope with them. Fix this by breaking the task down, or working
in a less chaotic environment.
Feeling bored
Enable distraction-free mode and practice hyperfocus more often.
The more we do, the more we become accustomed to working
without as much stimulation.
Dealing with and thinking about personal concerns
Clear the open loops – use calendars, distraction lists, worry lists,
etc
Questioning whether or not we’re working on the most meaningful task
right now
Work with intention to fix this

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 Have unused attentional space
Use hyperfocus to work on more complex tasks.
The power of making your work harder
Smaller tasks that take up less attentional space will cause the mind to
wander more. Meditation is a good example – focusing only on your
breath will cause your mind to wander a lot.
Working to make your tasks more complex can be a way to enter into a
hyperfocused state.
In Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Csikszentmihalyi
notes that we’re most likely to enter a state of flow when the challenge
of completing a task is matched to our ability to do so, and when we’re
fully immersed in that task.
If it’s difficult to get immersed, question whether or not your tasks are
difficult or complex enough.
Parkinson’s Law: Work tends to fill the time allotted for it.
But when you disable distractions in advance and hyperfocus, this
may no longer be the case. You might find that your work now
gets done much more quickly.
Chris’ response to this, at first, was to get lax on his distraction-free
mode, which resulted in more context switches and busywork.
Later, he started taking on more complex tasks to fill that time –
working on a new book, doing more speaking gigs, taking more
coaching clients.
Why busywork gets set aside when you’re on a deadline: “There’s no
time available to contain its expansion.”
How to know if you have enough meaningful work on your plate
Track how much of your day is spent on busywork. If a high
proportion of the day is busywork, it means you’re probably not
challenging yourself with enough meaningful work.
Rote tasks
Microsoft research dept staff repeatedly mentioned that rote tasks
make people happier.
There’s immediate feedback, and these tasks are less aversive
They also give an immediate sense of accomplishment when
completed
No need to attempt to eliminate all rote tasks from your life if they
bring enjoyment
Increasing the size of your attentional space
Higher working memory reduces the wandering of the mind when

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we’re working on complex tasks
Brain training apps: Research has shown that these offer little benefit.
When you stop training, you lose the gains. And those gains
typically only show up in the specific task you’re training.
Meditation has been shown, through research, to increase working
memory capacity.
Most common form: Breathing meditation – sit quietly and focus on
your breath
This doesn’t consume your full attention, so the mind will
continually wander.
Bailey: “Each time you return your wandering mind to the details
of your breath, you heighten your executive functioning: how
much control you have over your attention.”
Over time, meditation makes you better at bringing your attention back
to your intention. Hyperfocus does the same thing. Both of these
practices compound.
One study found that participants in a meditation routine became able
to focus longer before their minds wandered, and that their minds
wandered less often overall.
Study focused on students studying for GRE
Meditators had a 16% increase in test scores
Meditation also shown to prevent “the deterioration of working
memory capacity during periods of high stress”
It is “the most validated technique for minimizing the disruptive effects
of mind wandering.”
Another study found that participants’ working memory capacity
increased by 30% on average after a few weeks of bi-weekly 45-minute
guided meditations.
Meditation method:
Determine your resistance level, which will help you choose an
amount of time to meditate
Sit in a chair, in a comfortable, upright posture
Notice the qualities of your breath. When the mind wanders, notice
that, then bring it back to those qualities.
Start by using an app like Headspace or Insight Timer, which can
guide you
Chris’ meditation rule: It doesn’t matter how long he meditates, just
that he does it every day.
Started with 5-minute sessions, now does about 30-minute

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 sessions.
Mindfulness – another practice that can increase working memory
capacity and attention
Be conscious of what is filling your mind, and of the circumstances
surrounding what you are currently doing.
Note whatever you’re thinking or feeling
Different from hyperfocus: “It’s about focusing on the
circumstances of the present, rather than becoming immersed in
them.”
A mindful shower
Involves paying attention to the circumstances of the shower –
how the water feels, its temperature, and the actions you take.
Most showers are not mindful; our minds are elsewhere, thinking
about other things
Bailey: “Here’s the key: The smaller the object of attention, the more
your mind will wander, but the more you’ll expand the size of your
attentional space as you focus on it.”
Meditation and mindfulness are so useful because they force you to
hold a single object of attention (usually a very small one) in your mind
for an extended amount of time.
They also help you step back from your thoughts, which helps you
keep a clearer head and lets you keep your intentions in mind.
Buddhist monk at a monastery Chris visits spent several weeks focusing
solely on the sensation of his breath on the tip of his nose. Chris tried
this, and then found that he was much more productive the next week
than he normally would have been.

Hyperfocus at home
Bailey notes that hyperfocus is actually a relaxed state (unless you’re on
a tight deadline). Your mind isn’t constantly seeking out other
environmental stimuli.
Try to hyperfocus at home by setting personal intentions, like having
more meaningful conversations with family or friends.
Powerful, but underutilized: Wait until the other person is finished
speaking before thinking about what you’ll say in response.
If you’re formulating your response while they’re talking, then you
aren’t truly listening.
Bailey: “It’s a remarkable thing when you spend not just quality time
with someone but quality attention as well.”

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 David Augsburger: “Being heard is so close to being loved that for the
average person, they are almost indistinguishable.”
Bailey: “The quality of your attention determines the quality of your
life.”
Four (more) ways to battle your resistance to hyperfocus
Resistance to doing a complex task is almost always concentrated at the
beginning of that task.
Bailey: “Starting provides enough momentum to carry out our
intentions.”
Battling this resistance:
Shrink the time period in which you’ll hyperfocus until you don’t
feel resistance to it.
Notice when you “don’t have time” for something. If you’re saying
this, do a “task swap” mental exercise. Ask yourself if you would
have the time for another task, like taking a surprise meeting with
your boss or checking Facebook (be honest with yourself about
how often and how long you spend each day on Facebook/social
media)
Keep practicing hyperfocus. Overtime, you strengthen your ability
to do it. It’s like a muscle.
Recharge – Take breaks when needed.

Chapter 7: Recharging Your Attention

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a
summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds
float across the blue sky, is by no means a waste of time.” – John Lubbock,
in The Use of Life
When You Should Recharge
Scatterfocus helps you to recharge, in addition to improving creativity
and ability to set intentions.
Three measures of the quality of your attention
Length of focus
Likelihood of being sidetracked by distractions
Propensity to work on auto-pilot, without intention
Lack of rest, sleep, or work breaks hurts all three of these measures
More often we scatterfocus, the more often we replenish mental energy,
and the more attentional space and focus we have for important tasks.
Sleep

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 Getting enough sleep can increase size of attentional space by up to
58%. Frequent work breaks have a similar effect.
Signs that you need to recharge
Switching tasks often, and being unable to focus on one thing for
any significant length of time
Working reactively, rather than intentionally
Working more slowly than normal (example: having to read over
things multiple times to comprehend them)
Choosing more mindless work, like emails and social media
Slipping into scatterfocus unintentionally
Taking More Refreshing Breaks
“The more you care, the more mileage you’ll get out of your attention”
Point doesn’t seem especially related to this section, but is a good
reminder nonetheless.
Refreshing work breaks need to be:
Low-effort and habit-based
Something you actually want to do
Something that isn’t a chore, unless you enjoy certain chores
Breaks should involve things that are “pleasurably effortless.”
Most people don’t take very refreshing work breaks
Breaks consisting of email/social media/news checks just force the
brain to focus on something else, rather than stepping back into
scatterfocus
Break activity ideas:
Nature walks
Footnote about the value of being in nature (e.g. Forest
Bathing or 森林浴 )
Spending time in nature helps you feel more recharged
People who spend time in nature:
Can be up to 50% better at creative problem-solving
tasks
Lower stress hormone levels (by about 16%)
Calmer
Elevated mood
One study concluded that people who live on blocks with
more trees had improvements to heart and metabolic
health equivalent to a $20,000 increase in income
Running outside
Going to the gym

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 Reading something fun
Listening to music/audiobooks/podcasts
Doing a creative, fun hobby – painting, photography, guitar
Timing
Two rules for breaks, based on research
Take one at least every 90 minutes
For each hour of work, break for 15 minutes
Why: Mental energy tends to ebb and flow in roughly 90-minute cycles.
This is governed by the sleep cycle, and continues when we are awake.
Take breaks also when you notice your focus waning, or after finishing
a large task
Pay attention to daily energy cycles, especially in the morning when dips
are more regularly spaced out. When these happen, step back into
scatterfocus by taking a break.
Energy levels in afternoon tend to stabilize and dip less predictably
Reasoning for 15 minutes for each hour rule
App Desktime used the data about apps being used on people’s
computers, and found that their most productive 10% of users
took a 17-minute break for every 52 minutes of work, on average.
This seems to be where the 52/17 Rule came from. Like many
things, it’s a rule with roots in a mere average figure gleaned
from a study. It’d be interesting to see the range of numbers
within that sample – 52/17 could include people who worked
for far, far longer. Averages can be deceiving.
Bailey: “The best time to take a break is before you need to.”
He makes what I believe is an inaccurate comparison to hydration,
stating the oft-quoted saying that feeling thirsty means you’re
already dehydrated. See: How to Stay Hydrated
Sleep
Chris’ pseudoscientific rule: For every hour of sleep lost, you lose two
hours of productivity.
Size of attentional space is reduced by up to 60% when we’re sleep
deprived
People who claim they can “get by” on less sleep than others likely:
Do work that doesn’t require a large attentional space
Are not working to their full potential
Sleep deficit makes us perceive our productivity as higher than it really
is.
Reminds me of Mike Tyson’s claim of being in the best shape of

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 Reading something fun
Listening to music/audiobooks/podcasts
Doing a creative, fun hobby – painting, photography, guitar
Timing
Two rules for breaks, based on research
Take one at least every 90 minutes
For each hour of work, break for 15 minutes
Why: Mental energy tends to ebb and flow in roughly 90-minute cycles.
This is governed by the sleep cycle, and continues when we are awake.
Take breaks also when you notice your focus waning, or after finishing
a large task
Pay attention to daily energy cycles, especially in the morning when dips
are more regularly spaced out. When these happen, step back into
scatterfocus by taking a break.
Energy levels in afternoon tend to stabilize and dip less predictably
Reasoning for 15 minutes for each hour rule
App Desktime used the data about apps being used on people’s
computers, and found that their most productive 10% of users
took a 17-minute break for every 52 minutes of work, on average.
This seems to be where the 52/17 Rule came from. Like many
things, it’s a rule with roots in a mere average figure gleaned
from a study. It’d be interesting to see the range of numbers
within that sample – 52/17 could include people who worked
for far, far longer. Averages can be deceiving.
Bailey: “The best time to take a break is before you need to.”
He makes what I believe is an inaccurate comparison to hydration,
stating the oft-quoted saying that feeling thirsty means you’re
already dehydrated.
Sleep
Chris’ pseudoscientific rule: For every hour of sleep lost, you lose two
hours of productivity.
Size of attentional space is reduced by up to 60% when we’re sleep
deprived
People who claim they can “get by” on less sleep than others likely:
Do work that doesn’t require a large attentional space
Are not working to their full potential
Sleep deficit makes us perceive our productivity as higher than it really
is.
Reminds me of Mike Tyson’s claim of being in the best shape of

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 his life at 53. It’s highly unlikely that he’s in better shape than he
was in his boxing prime. My thinking on this is that when we have
a recent low point with which to contrast our current state, we’ll
falsely believe this current state is our all-time peak – due to
recency bias and its effect on how we perceive that contrast, as well
as pride. In my recent training, I’ve started to falsely believe that
I’m getting in my best shape ever, when it’s clear that I’ve been in
better shape at other times. During my ninja training, I could do 15
chins in one set – I’m still not back to that level. And during
college, I bench pressed 300lbs at one point. Currently, I don’t
even have access to a gym where I could test my bench.
Dreaming and daydreaming are very similar – brain scans show activity
in same regions of the brain (though it is higher when actually
dreaming)
Bailey: “…dreaming is scatterfocus on steroids.”
Minds wander to many of the same places – regrets, fantasies,
anxieties about future
Mind defragments thoughts
Mind consolidates information into long-term memory
Mind fires randomly, which can lead to breakthroughs
Research shows that when we get less sleep, we:
Feel more work pressure
Focus for even shorter amounts of time (less than the avg. 40
seconds)
Visit social media more
Have more negative moods
Seek less demanding tasks
Spend more time online
These detriments are more pronounced for people aged 19-29, who
tend to go to bed the latest (around midnight on average)
Nighttime ritual – great way to get better sleep. Wind down at a certain
point in the evening with herbal tea, reading, cleanup, etc.
Rest is Not Idleness
Taking a break feels like you’re getting less work done – causes guilt.
However, breaks are needed for productivity.
Bailey: “Whenever we rest, we exchange our time for energy.” #Quotes
Reminds me of the tent in Don’t Starve – it is a mechanism in the
game for exchanging hunger for sanity and health. The whole game
is about keeping all three of these meters from depleting too much.

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 Also reminds me of Reigns, where managing several connected
metrics is even more important, since they can get too high as well
as too low.
Bailey, main idea of chapter: “Scatterfocus lets us recharge our ability to
hyperfocus, in addition to letting us plan for the future and become
more creative.”

Chapter 8: Connecting Dots

Becoming More Creative
Scatterfocus allows you to be more creative, in two ways:
Connecting more “dots”
Collecting more valuable dots
Dot: Any piece of information you hold in your mind.
Scatterfocus engages the brain’s default network, which engages all
kinds of different, interconnected parts of the brain in a seemingly
random way.
This helps us to gain creative insights by connecting disparate dots
we’ve gathered.
Footnote: Default network itself was discovered nearly at random.
Earlier, it was seen as background noise (and dismissed as such) in
brain experiments.
Insight Triggers
Our brains are designed to fixate on and remember things we’re in the
middle of more than things we’ve completed. This is often called the
Zeigarnik Effect.
For hyperfocus, this can be annoying, but it’s great for scatterfocus. If
we leave something open and switch to something else (like habit-based
scatterfocus), our brains will fixate on it more thoroughly and connect
more dots to it, yielding insights.
Potential insight triggers can come from
Wandering minds
External environment
Example
“Why is 8,549,176,320 one of the most unique 10-digit numbers in
the world?”
Funnily enough, my hubris got the best of me on this. As I
read this sentence, I immediately realized that the number
contained each digit from 0-9, and figured that was the answer.
That is only partly true, and I moved on too quickly before I

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 could ponder the real answer…
Stuck on the problem, you go do other things. Then, when
alphabetizing your bookshelf (a mostly mindless task that leaves
attentional space open), you put The 80/20 Principle on the shelf,
alphabetizing it by the word “Eight” (skipping “The”). Then it hits
you – the digits are arranged alphabetically. Dots provided by an
unrelated task became the insight trigger.
Famous thinkers, external cues, and insights
Archimedes’ overflowing bath gave him the insight for calculating
the volume of irregular objects
Newton saw a falling apple, which helped him develop his theory
of gravity
Feynman would sit at topless bars, writing down insights about
equations and theories as his mind wandered around more – ahem
– primal areas of light focus
Connecting Even More Dots
Scatter your attention in a richer environment
Practice scatterfocus by walking through bookstores or people-
watching at a diner. The richer the environment, the more potential
dots you can collect.
Working with a mix can be helpful – sometimes using richer
environments to collect lots of new dots, then more sparse ones to
encourage more introspective mind-wandering, which helps
collected dots become connected.
Write out the problems you’re trying to crack
When you write down the details of a problem, your mind has an
easier time processing them in the background.
One way to do this: Write out any problems you’re stuck on at the
end of the day alongside your Rule of 3 intentions for the next day.
Sleep on a problem
Thomas Edison and Salvador Dali would both take naps while
holding things (marbles for Edison, keys above a metal plate for
Dali). When they drifted off sufficiently, the items would drop and
wake them, often with new insights about problems.
Edison (maybe): “Never go to sleep without a request to your
subconscious.”
REM sleep is especially good at forming deep connections between
ideas

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 Sleep also helps you remember more:
It consolidates dots and experiences into long-term memories
Disposes of unneeded dots – the “noise” taken in throughout
the day.
Could Roam Research be improved using this insight?
Would there be a benefit to a feature that collected unused
pages and marked them for potential disposal? Perhaps a
feature that color-codes pages based on amount and
recency of unliked/linked references
Step back
Building a greater attentional space for hyperfocus means you’ll
likely spend more time hammering away at problems. The more
you build your attentional space, the more important it becomes to
intentionally step back.
Purposely delay creative decisions if you can. With time spend in
scatterfocus mode, you’ll come up with ways to improve them.
Intentionally leave tasks unfinished
Take advantage of the Zeigarnik Effect – leave tasks as an open
loop so you’ll come back to them more during scatterfocus.
Consume more valuable dots
Bailey: “We are what we consume.”
By being more deliberate about the information we take in, we give
our default networks better dots to connect to.

Chapter 9: Collecting Dots

Clustering
Collecting more valuable dots gives us more to connect
Focus is always filtered through what we already know – hence why the
quality of the information (dots) we intake is so important
Subjects that we’re more knowledgeable about take up less attentional
space
We are better at chunking the information in these areas
Example: Expert pianist can easily see groups of notes (perhaps as
the notes inside a chord), and break down a piece by elements like
melody, harmony, tempo, etc.
Interesting connection to Range – that book, in talking about
musical savants, mentioned that a savant who could recreate a
piece of music from memory after hearing it only once could not
do the same when they heard atonal music. It’s not that

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 the musician had a perfectly photographic memory; it’s that
they had a gargantuan amount of connect dots and chunks in
their memory, and a powerful ability to consult them. You can
see this in “normal” people as well – for instance, memorizing,
“This is a sentence that contains eight words.” is much easier
than memorizing, “Is contains eight sentence a that words
this.” Anyone fluent in a language has a huge library of chunks
that help them group words together in logical ways.
More dots also allows for more intuitive decisions, as we can
subconsciously call up on pre-existing knowledge
Bailey: “This is how intuition works: It’s the process of acting on
information we remember but don’t consciously retrieve.”
The Value of a Dot
Brain has near limitless storage space; however, attention is a much
more limited resource
As a result, we need to be deliberate in how we consume dots (and
about which dots we consume)
Bailey: “No two pieces of information are created equal.”
Reading books or having in-depth conversations yields more
valuable dots than watching reality TV
How to measure the value of a dot
Most valuable dots are both useful and entertaining
Useful – relevant long-term, practical/actionable, and helps
you work towards your goals
Entertaining – you stay engaged with them effortlessly
TED Talks are a great example
Consuming information that is related to something you already know
about lets you create a “constellation of dots” around a single idea
Consuming information completely unrelated to what you know is also
helpful; it can provide insight triggers, and help you to expand your
worldview and make sure you’re not only consuming information that
confirms your existing beliefs
When in doubt about consuming a particular “dot”, ask yourself how
your life will be different after doing so.
Collecting more valuable dots
In many cases, practicality of information is inversely correlated to its
entertainment value
I’d say the exception is when you’re obsessed with a topic; in that
stage, even the most detailed, mundane-seeming info could be

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 the musician had a perfectly photographic memory; it’s that
they had a gargantuan amount of connect dots and chunks in
their memory, and a powerful ability to consult them. You can
see this in “normal” people as well – for instance, memorizing,
“This is a sentence that contains eight words.” is much easier
than memorizing, “Is contains eight sentence a that words
this.” Anyone fluent in a language has a huge library of chunks
that help them group words together in logical ways.
More dots also allows for more intuitive decisions, as we can
subconsciously call up on pre-existing knowledge
Bailey: “This is how intuition works: It’s the process of acting on
information we remember but don’t consciously retrieve.”
The Value of a Dot
Brain has near limitless storage space; however, attention is a much
more limited resource
As a result, we need to be deliberate in how we consume dots (and
about which dots we consume)
Bailey: “No two pieces of information are created equal.”
Reading books or having in-depth conversations yields more
valuable dots than watching reality TV
How to measure the value of a dot
Most valuable dots are both useful and entertaining
Useful – relevant long-term, practical/actionable, and helps
you work towards your goals
Entertaining – you stay engaged with them effortlessly
TED Talks are a great example
Consuming information that is related to something you already know
about lets you create a “constellation of dots” around a single idea
Consuming information completely unrelated to what you know is also
helpful; it can provide insight triggers, and help you to expand your
worldview and make sure you’re not only consuming information that
confirms your existing beliefs
When in doubt about consuming a particular “dot”, ask yourself how
your life will be different after doing so.
Collecting more valuable dots
In many cases, practicality of information is inversely correlated to its
entertainment value
I’d say the exception is when you’re obsessed with a topic; in that
stage, even the most detailed, mundane-seeming info could be

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 riveting. But other than that, this rule seems to hold.
Four types of information
Useful
Dense
Actionable – helps you reach your long-term goals
Accurate
Examples: Academic journals, non-fiction books
Balanced
Useful and entertaining
Probably not as dense
Examples: novels, podcasts, documentaries, TED talks,
shorter online tutorials
Entertaining
Essentially “junk food” information
Examples: TV shows without much substance, social media,
gossip magazines
Trashy
Worst of the worst in entertainment category
Consumption rules:
When you have energy and high ability to focus, consume more
useful information
When you’re low on energy but still want to be productive,
consume balanced information
Consume entertaining information with intention, not mindlessly
Much like my “harm yourself deliberately” rule with junk food.
I don’t mindlessly buy Skittles from the gas station; if I’m
going to eat junk food, it’s going to be the good stuff –
homemade cookies, good whiskey, etc.
Cut down on consumption of trashy information
Do an audit on everything you consume over a period of days (maybe
carry a notebook and record consumption in the moment), then start
working to deliberately improve the quality of information/dots
consumed going forward.
The book lists 9 rules for improving the quality of dots consumed. I’m
not going to record them all here because many of them have been
briefly covered already.
Re-evaluate what you’re consuming as you’re consuming it.
Don’t fall victim to the sunk cost fallacy.
Like Magic

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 Complex constellations of dots can connect together in unfathomably
complex ways, and yield insights that we label as “genius”.
Arthur C. Clarke: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic.”
Malcom Gladwell: “Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good.
It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”
Practice and constant curiosity are the ingredients that will yield the
complex constellation of dots required to be a “genius”.
Mozart back-of-the-napkin math:
Wrote his first symphony at 8 years old
In This is Your Brain on Music, Daniel Levitin estimates that
Mozart may have started at age 2 and worked 32 hours a week on
average. At that rate, he’d have already hit the 10k hours of the
eponymous 10,000 Hour Rule in order to become an expert.
Note: A main argument of Range is that the 10k hour rule is
not necessarily applicable to everything. Narrow practice in a
defined area of discipline yields expertise only when the rules
of that discipline are in play. When they are taken away, the
expertise can melt away because the practitioner has not build
skill in adapting to changing circumstances (example: atonal
music).

Chapter 10: Working Together

Invest in Your Happiness
Investing in being truly happy and merely thinking positively are very
different. In fact, thinking positively can be harmful; forced positive
thinking can cause you to work less hard at actually achieving your
goals.
This is related to the findings in my “Don’t Talk About Your
Goals” video: Why You Shouldn’t Tell People About Your Goals
Letting your mind wander intentionally can boost happiness, allowing
you to get into scatterfocus without the guilt and worrying associated
with involuntary mind-wandering.
When you’re in a negative mood, write down your worries and the
problems you’re dealing with. The Zeigarnik Effect will cause you to
dwell on the open loops, which can keep you in a negative mood
longer.
Shawn Achor, in his book The Happiness Advantage:
Happy people are 31% more productive than people in a neutral or

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 negative mood
Strategies to improve average-day happiness levels:
Practice gratitude – write down things you’re grateful for at the
end of the day
Journaling
Meditation
Random acts of kindness
Work Around Your Energy Levels
Biological Prime Time – each of us has a “chronotype”; our bodies are
programmed to have different high and low-energy times, as well as a
propensity to sleep at certain times.
Track your energy levels to figure out when you should do your
highest-energy tasks.
Energy levels fluctuate during the week – people are least engaged on
Mondays and most engaged on Fridays
Really though? For most of my life, I’ve been the least engaged on
Fridays – it’s the weekly version of senioritis. I’m also quite
engaged on Mondays. Currently, Fridays are my most engaged day,
but that’s only because of a Friday Beeminder deadline for
uploading videos.
Drink Alcohol and Caffeine Strategically
Alcohol can boost creativity, but decreases focus
Caffeine does the opposite; it increases focus, but decreases creativity
and ability to scatterfocus.
Also boosts physical performance
Only effective until about 200mg consumed (single cup of coffee =
~125mg – roast type and brew method will change this)
Caffeine consumption in excess of 400mg causes anxiety and
decreased performance
Bailey: “As with most productivity advice, implementing individual
tactics with an awareness of how well they actually work for you is
key.”
Open Offices
Open environments cause people to interrupt us more often, and cause
us to distract ourselves 64% more often too
Interesting point: In open offices, people are typically more considerate
about when they interrupt.
Open offices also promote collaborative work

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 CHAPTER 13
SUMMARY OF EAT THAT
FROG (MUST READ IF YOU
ARE A PROCRASTINATOR )

THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE

BEAUTY OF THEIR DREAMS.

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Eat that frog by Brian Tracy ( Book summary )
If you’d like to read the whole thing yourself and support the author, you
can buy the book through amazon flipkart or any other online/Offline
store.

The Book in Three Sentences

1. Your ‘frog’ is your biggest, most important task
2. If you have two frogs, eat the ‘ugliest’ one first
3. If you have to eat a frog, don’t procrastinate on it

The Five Big Ideas

1. “The key to reaching high levels of performance and productivity is to
develop the lifelong habit of tackling your major task first thing each
morning.”
2. “Think about your goals and review them daily. Every morning when you
begin, take action on the most important task you can accomplish to
achieve your most important goal at the moment.”
3. “Think on paper.”
4. “Always work from a list.”
5. “Your ability to choose between the important and the unimportant is the
key determinant of your success in life and work.”

Summary
“Your ‘frog’ is your biggest, most important task, the one you are most
likely to procrastinate on if you don’t do something about it.”
“The first rule of frog eating is this: If you have to eat two frogs, eat the
ugliest one first.”
“Continually remind yourself that one of the most important decisions you
make each day is what you will do immediately and what you will do later if
you do it at all.”
“The second rule of frog eating is this: If you have to eat a live frog at all, it
doesn’t pay to sit and look at it for very long.”
“The key to reaching high levels of performance and productivity is to
develop the lifelong habit of tackling your major task first thing each
morning.”
1. Set the Table
“Think on paper.”

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 “One of the very worst uses of time is to do something very well that need
not be done at all.”
“Think about your goals and review them daily. Every morning when you
begin, take action on the most important task you can accomplish to
achieve your most important goal at the moment.”
2. Plan Every Day in Advance
“Always work from a list.”
“Make your list the night before for the workday ahead.”
“You need different lists for different purposes.”
“First, you should create a master list on which you write down everything
you can think of that you want to do sometime in the future.”
“Second, you should have a monthly list that you make at the end of the
month for the month ahead.”
“Third, you should have a weekly list where you plan your entire week in
advance.”
“Finally, you should transfer items from your monthly and weekly lists onto
your daily list.”
3. Apply the 80/20 Rule to Everything
“Before you begin work, always ask yourself, ‘Is this task in the top 20
percent of my activities or in the bottom 80 percent?’”
“Resist the temptation to clear up small things first.”
“Your ability to choose between the important and the unimportant is the
key determinant of your success in life and work.”
4. Consider the Consequences
“Long-term thinking improves short-term decision making.”
“In your work, having a clear idea of what is really important to you in the
long term makes it much easier for you to make better decisions about your
priorities in the short term.”
“Before starting on anything, you should always ask yourself, ‘What are the
potential consequences of doing or not doing this task?’”
“Future intent influences and often determines present actions.”
“Successful people are those who are willing to delay gratification and make
sacrifices in the short term so that they can enjoy far greater rewards in the
long term.”
“Motivation requires motive.”
“Thinking continually about the potential consequences of your choices,
decisions, and behaviors is one of the very best ways to determine your true
priorities in your work and personal life.”
The Law of Forced Efficiency: “There is never enough time to do

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 everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important
thing.”
“There will never be enough time to do everything you have to do.”
Ask yourself:
“What are my highest value activities?”
“What can I and only I do that if done well will make a real difference?”
“What is the most valuable use of my time right now?”
“What is my biggest frog of all at this moment?”
“Do first things first and second things not at all.”
5. Practice Creative Procrastination
“The difference between high performers and low performers is largely
determined by what they choose to procrastinate on.”
“To set proper priorities, you must set posteriorities as well.”
“A priority is something that you do more of and sooner, while a
posteriority is something that you do less of and later, if at all.”
“You can get your time and your life under control only to the degree to
which you discontinue lower-value activities.”
“Say no to anything that is not a high-value use of your time and your life.”
(Sam’s Note: this is similar to Derek Sivers’s, “If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no.”
rule from Anything You Want and Greg McKeown’s philosophy in
Essentialism.)
“Your job is to deliberately procrastinate on tasks that are of low value so
that you have more time for tasks that can make a big difference in your life
and work.”
“Continually review your life and work to find time-consuming tasks and
activities that you can abandon. Cut down on television watching and
instead spend the time with your family, read, exercise, or do something else
that enhances the quality of your life.”
“Look at your work activities and identify the tasks that you could delegate
or eliminate to free up more time for the work that really counts.”
“Ask yourself continually, ‘If I were not doing this already, knowing what I
now know, would I start doing it again today?’”

6. Use the ABCDE Method Continually

“You start with a list of everything you have to do for the coming day.
Think on paper. You then place an A, B, C, D, or E next to each item on
your list before you begin the first task.”
“An ‘A’ item is defined as something that is very important, something that you
must do. This is a task that will have serious positive or negative

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 consequences if you do it or fail to do it, like visiting a key customer or
finishing a report that your boss needs for an upcoming board meeting.”
“A ‘B’ item is defined as a task that you should do.”
“The rule is that you should never do a B task when an A task is left
undone.”
“A ‘C’ task is defined as something that would be nice to do but for which
there are no consequences at all, whether you do it or not.”
“A ‘D’ task is defined as something you can delegate to someone else.”
“An ‘E’ task is defined as something that you can eliminate altogether, and
it won’t make any real difference.”
7. Focus on Key Result Areas
“Your weakest key result area sets the height at which you can use all your
other skills and abilities.”
One of the greatest questions you will ever ask yourself: “What one skill, if I
developed and did it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest
positive impact on my career?”
8. Apply the Law of Three
“It is the quality of time at work that counts and the quantity of time at
home that matters.”
9. Prepare Thoroughly Before You Begin
Get everything you need at hand before you begin.
Brian’s personal rule is “Get it 80 percent right and then correct it later.”
10. Take It One Oil Barrel at a Time
Get your mind off the huge task in front of you and focus on a single action
that you can take.
11. Upgrade Your Key Skills
“Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field.”
12. Leverage Your Special Talents
Continually ask yourself these key questions:
“What am I really good at? What do I enjoy the most about my work?”
“What has been most responsible for my success in the past?”
“If I could do any job at all, what job would it be?”
13. Identify Your Key Constraints
Successful people always begin the analysis of constraints by asking the
question, “What is it in me that is holding me back?”
Keep asking, “What sets the speed at which I get the results I want?”
14. Put the Pressure on Yourself
“To reach your full potential, you must form the habit of putting the pressure
on yourself and not waiting for someone else to come along and

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 do it for you.”
Work as though you have only one day to get your most important jobs
done.
15. Maximize Your Personal Powers
“Whenever you feel overtired and overwhelmed with too much to do and
too little time, stop yourself and just say, ‘All I can do is all I can do.’”
“Take one full day off every week. During this day, either Saturday or
Sunday, absolutely refuse to read, clear correspondence, catch up on things
from the office, or do anything else that taxes your brain.”
Resolve today to improve your levels of health and energy by asking the
following questions:
“What am I doing physically that I should do more of? What am I doing
that I should do less of?”
“What am I not doing that I should start doing if I want to perform at my
best?”
“What am I doing today that affects my health that I should stop doing
altogether?”
16. Motivate Yourself into Action
Optimism is the most important quality you can develop for personal and
professional success and happiness.
Optimists have four special behaviors, all learned through practice and
repetition:
They look for the good in every situation
They always seek the valuable lesson in every setback or difficulty
They always look for the solution to every problem
They think and talk continually about their goals
17. Get Out of the Technological Time Sinks
“For you to stay calm, clearheaded, and capable of performing at your best,
you need to detach on a regular basis from the technology and
communication devices that can overwhelm you if you are not careful.”
“For you to be able to concentrate on those few things that make the most
difference in your business or personal life, you must discipline yourself to
treat technology as a servant, not as a master.”
“Resist the urge to start turning on communication devices as soon as you
wake up in the morning.”
Keep asking yourself:
“What’s important here?”
“What is important for me to accomplish at work?”
“What is important in my personal life?”

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 “If I could only do one or two of the activities, which ones would they be?”
“Very few things are so important that they cannot wait.”
18. Slice and Dice the Task
Cut a big task down to size using the “salami slice” method of getting work
done.
“With [the salami slice] method, you lay out the task in detail and then resolve to
do just one slice of the job for the time being, like eating a roll of salami one
slice at a time—or like eating an elephant one bite at a time.”
Another technique you can use to get yourself going is called the “Swiss cheese”
method of working.
“You use [the Swiss cheese] technique to get yourself into gear by resolving to
punch a hole in the task, like a hole in a block of Swiss cheese. You Swiss cheese
a task when you resolve to work for a specific time period on it. This may be as
little as five or ten minutes, after which you will stop and do something else.”
19. Create Large Chunks of Time
“Your ability to carve out and use these blocks of high-value, highly
productive time is central to your ability to make a significant contribution
to your work and to your life.”
“Make work appointments with yourself and then discipline yourself to
keep them. Set aside thirty-, sixty- and ninety-minute time segments that
you use to work on and complete important tasks.”
20. Develop a Sense of Urgency
Highly-effective people launch quickly and strongly toward their goals and
objectives.
“When you work on your most important tasks at a high and continuous
level of activity, you can actually enter into an amazing mental state called
‘flow.’”
“One of the ways you can trigger this state of flow is by developing a sense
of urgency.”
“With this ingrained sense of urgency, you develop a ‘bias for action.’”
“When you regularly take continuous action toward your most important
goals, you activate the Momentum Principle of success. This principle says
that although it may take tremendous amounts of energy to overcome
inertia and get started initially, it then takes far less energy to keep going.”
“One of the simplest and yet most powerful ways to get yourself started is
to repeat the words ‘Do it now! Do it now! Do it now!’ over and over to
yourself.”
21. Single Handle Every Task
“Every great achievement of humankind has been preceded by a long

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period of hard, concentrated work until the job was done.”
“Your ability to select your most important task, to begin it, and then to
concentrate on it single-mindedly until it is complete is the key to high levels
of performance and personal productivity.”
“Single handling requires that once you begin, you keep working at the task
without diversion or distraction until the job is 100 percent complete.”
“You keep urging yourself onward by repeating the words ‘Back to work!’
over and over whenever you are tempted to stop or do something else.”

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 CHAPTER 14
SUMMARY OF ATOMIC
HABITS ( RECOMMENDED
FOR EVERYONE )

THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE

BEAUTY OF THEIR DREAMS.

192
Atomic habits by james clear summary
The Book in Three Sentences
1. An atomic habit is a regular practice or routine that is not only small and
easy to do but is also the source of incredible power; a component of the
system of compound growth.
2. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to
change, but because you have the wrong system for change.
3. Changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into
remarkable results if you’re willing to stick with them for years.

The Five Big Ideas

1. Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.
2. If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your
system instead.
3. The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you
want to achieve, but on who you wish to become.
4. The Four Laws of Behavior Change are a simple set of rules we can use to
build better habits. They are (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3)
make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying.
5. Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior.

Atomic Habits Summary

Chapter 1: The Surprising Power of Tiny Habits

“Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”
“You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your
current results.”
“Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a
lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of
your eating habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits.
Your clutter is a lagging measure of your cleaning habits. You get what you
repeat.”
“Time magnifies the margin between success and failure. It will multiply
whatever you feed it. Good habits make time your ally. Bad habits make time
your enemy.”
“Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the
processes that lead to those results.”
“If you want to predict where you’ll end up in life, all you have to do is follow

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The curve of tiny gains or tiny losses, and see how your daily choices will
compound ten or twenty years down the line.”
“Breakthrough moments are often the result of many previous actions, which
build up the potential required to unleash a major change.”
If you find yourself struggling to build a good habit or break a bad one, it is not
because you have lost your ability to improve. It is often because you have not
yet crossed what James calls, the “Plateau of Latent Potential.”

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“When you finally break through the Plateau of Latent Potential, people will call
it an overnight success.”
“The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building
systems is to continue playing the game. True long-term thinking is goal-less
thinking. It’s not about any single accomplishment. It is about the cycle of
endless refinement and continuous improvement.”
“Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your
progress.”
“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.”
“Getting 1 percent better every day counts for a lot in the long-run.”
“Habits are a double-edged sword. They can work for you or against you, which
is why understanding the details is essential.”
“Small changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical
threshold. The most powerful outcomes of any compounding process are
delayed. You need to be patient.”
“An atomic habit is a little habit that is part of a larger system. Just as atoms are
the building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are the building blocks of
remarkable results.”
“If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your
system instead.”
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your
systems.”

Chapter 2: How Your Habits Shape Your Identity (and Vice Versa)
“Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons: (1) we try to change the
wrong thing and (2) we try to change our habits in the wrong way.”
“There are three layers of behavior change: a change in your outcomes, a change
in your processes, or a change in your identity.”

195
“When you finally break through the Plateau of Latent Potential, people will call
it an overnight success.”
“The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building
systems is to continue playing the game. True long-term thinking is goal-less
thinking. It’s not about any single accomplishment. It is about the cycle of
endless refinement and continuous improvement.”
“Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your
progress.”
“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.”
“Getting 1 percent better every day counts for a lot in the long-run.”
“Habits are a double-edged sword. They can work for you or against you, which
is why understanding the details is essential.”
“Small changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical
threshold. The most powerful outcomes of any compounding process are
delayed. You need to be patient.”
“An atomic habit is a little habit that is part of a larger system. Just as atoms are
the building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are the building blocks of
remarkable results.”
“If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your
system instead.”
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your
systems.”

Chapter 2: How Your Habits Shape Your Identity (and Vice Versa)
“Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons: (1) we try to change the
wrong thing and (2) we try to change our habits in the wrong way.”
“There are three layers of behavior change: a change in your outcomes, a change
in your processes, or a change in your identity.”

“Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about what you do. Identity is
about what you believe.”
“With outcome-based habits, the focus is on what you want to achieve. With
identity-based habits, the focus is on who you wish to become.”
“The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your
identity.”
“It is a simple two-step process: Decide the type of person you want to be.
Prove it to yourself with small wins.”
“Ask yourself, “Who is the type of person that could get the outcome I want?”
“The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want

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to achieve, but on who you wish to become.”
“Your identity emerges out of your habits. Every action is a vote for the type of
person you wish to become.”
“Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your
beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.”
“The real reason habits matter is not because they can get you better results
(although they can do that), but because they can change your beliefs about
yourself.”

Chapter 3: How to Build Better Habits in 4 Simple Steps

Whenever you want to change your behavior, ask yourself:
How can I make it obvious?
How can I make it attractive?
How can I make it easy?
How can I make it satisfying?
“A habit is a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become
automatic.”
“The ultimate purpose of habits is to solve the problems of life with as little
energy and effort as possible.”
“Any habit can be broken down into a feedback loop that involves four steps:
cue, craving, response, and reward.”
“The Four Laws of Behavior Change are a simple set of rules we can use to
build better habits. They are (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make
it easy, and (4) make it satisfying.”
Chapter 4: The Man Who Didn’t Look Right
“If you’re having trouble determining how to rate a particular habit, ask yourself:
‘Does this behavior help me become the type of person I wish to be? Does this
habit cast a vote for or against my desired identity?’”
“With enough practice, your brain will pick up on the cues that predict certain
outcomes without consciously thinking about it.”
“Once our habits become automatic, we stop paying attention to what we are
doing.”
“The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. You need to be
aware of your habits before you can change them.”
“Pointing-and-Calling raises your level of awareness from a nonconscious habit
to a more conscious level by verbalizing your actions.”
“The Habits Scorecard is a simple exercise you can use to become more aware
of your behavior.”
Chapter 5: The Best Way to Start a New Habit

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“The 1st Law of Behavior Change is make it obvious.”
“Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity.”
“The Diderot Effect states that obtaining a new possession often creates a spiral
of consumption that leads to additional purchases.”
“One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you
already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top. This is called
habit stacking.”

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“The habit stacking formula is: ‘After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW
HABIT].’”
“The two most common cues are time and location.”
“Creating an implementation intention is a strategy you can use to pair a new
habit with a specific time and location.”
“The implementation intention formula is: I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in
[LOCATION].”
“Habit stacking is a strategy you can use to pair a new habit with a current
habit.”
“The habit stacking formula is: After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW
HABIT].”

Chapter 6: Motivation is Overrated; Environment Often Matters More

“Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior.”
“Small changes in context can lead to large changes in behavior over time.”
“Every habit is initiated by a cue. We are more likely to notice cues that stand
out.”
“Make the cues of good habits obvious in your environment.”
“Gradually, your habits become associated not with a single trigger but with the
entire context surrounding the behavior. The context becomes the cue.”
“It is easier to build new habits in a new environment because you are not
fighting against old cues.”

Chapter 7: The Secret to Self-Control

“The inversion of the 1st Law of Behavior Change is make it invisible.”
“Once a habit is formed, it is unlikely to be forgotten.”
“People with high self-control tend to spend less time in tempting situations. It’s
easier to avoid temptation than resist it.”
“One of the most practical ways to eliminate a bad habit is to reduce exposure
to the cue that causes it.”
“Self-control is a short-term strategy, not a long-term one.”
Chapter 8: How to Make a Habit Irresistible
“The 2nd Law of Behavior Change is make it attractive.”
“The more attractive an opportunity is, the more likely it is to become habit-
forming.”
“Habits are a dopamine-driven feedback loop. When dopamine rises, so does
our motivation to act.”
“It is the anticipation of a reward—not the fulfillment of it—that gets us to take
action. The greater the anticipation, the greater the dopamine spike.”

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“Temptation bundling is one way to make your habits more attractive. The
strategy is to pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do.”

Chapter 9: The Role of Family and Friends in Shaping Your Habits

“The culture we live in determines which behaviors are attractive to us.”
“We tend to adopt habits that are praised and approved of by our culture
because we have a strong desire to fit in and belong to the tribe.”
“We tend to imitate the habits of three social groups: the close (family and
friends), the many (the tribe), and the powerful (those with status and prestige).”
“One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a
culture where (1) your desired behavior is the normal behavior and (2) you
already have something in common with the group.”
“The normal behavior of the tribe often overpowers the desired behavior of the
individual. Most days, we’d rather be wrong with the crowd than be right by
ourselves.”
“If a behavior can get us approval, respect, and praise, we find it attractive.”
Chapter 10: How to Find and Fix The Cause of Your Bad Habits
“The inversion of the 2nd Law of Behavior Change is make it unattractive.”
“Every behavior has a surface level craving and a deeper underlying motive.”
“Your habits are modern-day solutions to ancient desires.”
“The cause of your habits is actually the prediction that precedes them. The
prediction leads to a feeling.”
“Highlight the benefits of avoiding a bad habit to make it seem unattractive.”
“Habits are attractive when we associate them with positive feelings and
unattractive when we associate them with negative feelings. Create a motivation
ritual by doing something you enjoy immediately before a difficult habit.”

Chapter 11: Walk Slowly, But Never Backward

“The 3rd Law of Behavior Change is make it easy.”
“The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning.”
“Focus on taking action, not being in motion.”
“Habit formation is the process by which a behavior becomes progressively
more automatic through repetition.”
“The amount of time you have been performing a habit is not as important as
the number of times you have performed it.”

Chapter 12: The Law of Least Effort

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“Human behavior follows the Law of Least Effort.”
“We will naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of
work.”
“Create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible.”
“Reduce the friction associated with good behaviors. When friction is low,
habits are easy.”
“Increase the friction associated with bad behaviors. When friction is high,
habits are difficult.”
“Prime your environment to make future actions easier.”

Chapter 13: How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the Two-Minute Rule

Every day, there are a handful of moments that deliver an outsized impact.
James refers to these little choices as “decisive moments.”
“Decisive moments set the options available to your future self.”
“A habit must be established before it can be improved.”
“Habits can be completed in a few seconds but continue to impact your
behavior for minutes or hours afterward.”
“Many habits occur at decisive moments—choices that are like a fork in the
road—and either send you in the direction of a productive day or an
unproductive one.”
“The Two-Minute Rule states, ‘When you start a new habit, it should take less
than two minutes to do.’”
“The more you ritualize the beginning of a process, the more likely it becomes
that you can slip into the state of deep focus that is required to do great things.”
“Standardize before you optimize. You can’t improve a habit that doesn’t exist.”
Chapter 14: How to Make Good Habits Inevitable and Bad Habits Impossible
“The inversion of the 3rd Law of Behavior Change is make it difficult.”
“A commitment device is a choice you make in the present that locks in better
behavior in the future.”
“The ultimate way to lock in future behavior is to automate your habits.”
“Onetime choices—like buying a better mattress or enrolling in an automatic
savings plan—are single actions that automate your future habits and deliver
increasing returns over time.”
“Using technology to automate your habits is the most reliable and effective way
to guarantee the right behavior.”

Chapter 14: How to Make Good Habits Inevitable and Bad Habits
Impossible
“The inversion of the 3rd Law of Behavior Change is make it difficult.”

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“A commitment device is a choice you make in the present that locks in better
behavior in the future.”
“The ultimate way to lock in future behavior is to automate your habits.”
“Onetime choices—like buying a better mattress or enrolling in an automatic
savings plan—are single actions that automate your future habits and deliver
increasing returns over time.”
“Using technology to automate your habits is the most reliable and effective way
to guarantee the right behavior.”
Chapter 15: The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change
“The 4th Law of Behavior Change is make it satisfying.”
“We are more likely to repeat a behavior when the experience is satisfying.”
“The human brain evolved to prioritize immediate rewards over delayed
rewards.”
“The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change: What is immediately rewarded is
repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided.”
“To get a habit to stick you need to feel immediately successful—even if it’s in a
small way.”
“The first three laws of behavior change—make it obvious, make it attractive,
and make it easy—increase the odds that a behavior will be performed this time.
The fourth law of behavior change—make it satisfying—increases the odds that
a behavior will be repeated next time.”
Chapter 16: How to Stick with Good Habits Every Day
“Named after the economist Charles Goodhart, Goodhart’s Law states, ‘When a
measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.’”
“One of the most satisfying feelings is the feeling of making progress.”
“A habit tracker is a simple way to measure whether you did a habit—like
marking an X on a calendar.”
“Habit trackers and other visual forms of measurement can make your habits
satisfying by providing clear evidence of your progress.”
“Don’t break the chain. Try to keep your habit streak alive.”
“Never miss twice. If you miss one day, try to get back on track as quickly as
possible.”
“Just because you can measure something doesn’t mean it’s the most important
thing.”
Chapter 17: How an Accountability Partner Changes Everything
“The inversion of the 4th Law of Behavior Change is make it unsatisfying.”
“We are less likely to repeat a bad habit if it is painful or unsatisfying.”
“An accountability partner can create an immediate cost to inaction. We care
deeply about what others think of us, and we do not want others to have a lesser

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opinion of us.”
“A habit contract can be used to add a social cost to any behavior. It makes the
costs of violating your promises public and painful.”
“Knowing that someone else is watching you can be a powerful motivator.”
Chapter 18: The Truth About Talent (When Genes Matter and When
They Don’t)
“The secret to maximizing your odds of success is to choose the right field of
competition.”
“Pick the right habit and progress is easy. Pick the wrong habit and life is a
struggle.”
“Genes cannot be easily changed, which means they provide a powerful
advantage in favorable circumstances and a serious disadvantage in unfavorable
circumstances.”
“Habits are easier when they align with your natural abilities. Choose the habits
that best suit you.”
“Play a game that favors your strengths. If you can’t find a game that favors you,
create one.”
“Genes do not eliminate the need for hard work. They clarify it. They tell us
what to work hard on.”
Chapter 19: The Goldilocks Rule—How to Stay Motivated in Life and
Work
“The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when
working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities.”

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“The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom.”
“As habits become routine, they become less interesting and less satisfying. We
get bored.”
“Anyone can work hard when they feel motivated. It’s the ability to keep going
when work isn’t exciting that makes the difference.”
“Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way.”

Chapter 20: The Downside of Creating Good Habits

“The upside of habits is that we can do things without thinking. The downside is
that we stop paying attention to little errors.”
“Habits + Deliberate Practice = Mastery”
“Reflection and review is a process that allows you to remain conscious of your
performance over time.”
“The tighter we cling to an identity, the harder it becomes to grow beyond it.”

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