What is smart study/work with respect to UPSC and other such exams? 

Coming directly to the point, this is what I think smart work means:

FOR PRELIMS:

Study concise material. Read 12–15 books in all for prelims rather than 30–40. Prelims Booklist

If you read concise material then you have fair chance to revise same 4–5–6 times. Revision is very important. Revision Strategy

Just attempting test is not smart. Make notes for tough questions and revise them. Questions do repeat from tests in prelims. Prelims Test Practice Method

Reading N number of material for current is the biggest mistake one can do. Hindu+vision is all you need. Current Affairs Preparation

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Ethics book referred by CSE 22 Toppers: AIR –76, 91, 176, 189, 249, 288, 297, 299, 326, 356, 476, 541, 611, 616, 700, 737, 739, 746 & others

History book referred by CSE 21 Toppers: AIR – 44, 212, 572, 653 & others

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FOR MAINS:

Guessing possible questions while you read a news. Mains Strategy A2Z

Read concise material and revise multiple times.

I never read ARC/IPCC. All I read was the index of such big reports and used the index in answers. Once you know that ARC has talked on terrorism, just quote “as per ARC” and write what you were going to! 3 PAGE ARC SUMMARY

Similarly, if you have read all economic news then you don’t need to read economic survey to actually use it. Just write “as per economic survey”. ECONOMIC SURVEY NOTES

Focus on innovation in answer writing as much as you focus on answer practice. Example: use questions/keywords asked in previous years in GS-4 in your answers. My Answer Writing Strategy

In Essay I used to quote other essay topics given in the question paper! Also, look around in exam room. There might be a quote somewhere on a chart drawn by school kids :p ESSAY WRITING + SAMPLE ESSAY

Ingrain in yourself that you will draw diagrams in GS. Diagrams for CSE MAINS

The basic smart way to force the examiner to give you 6/12.5 is to write 12 points in 12.5 marker question. Nothing else matters much.

Focus equally on your optional. I know it goes without saying but many just don’t get this basic right.Select optional smartly. Do not go by herd mentality. How to select Optional Subject?

Smartest way to handle essay and ethics is to prepare them in the 1st week after prelims. These easy topics help in building study flow.

Focus on personality development throughout the year. Interview Preparation – Post 1

Work smart!!!