1.

Positive Approach
Being positive solves many problems in no time. It's known as the biggest concern that develops in the mind of the
students who start preparation for the CSS or PMS exams because they think that it's the most difficult task of his life,
they can't do it. So, you must eliminate the attitude of "can't do" from your mind into "do it" at any rate, otherwise it
will kill you ruthlessly. Negative thoughts emerge in your mind in order to defeat you because it doesn't want to see you
as a successful man, doesn't it? You have to eliminate it by believing "I'm working hard and It's not a big deal for me."
and "I will do it."

2. Planning
Without planning, you're nothing. You have observed in your life many times when a team wins a match, it's mostly due
to the captain's planning. You have to plan such a way that more work should be done in a minimum time. It's said,
"Learn how to cut time wisely, otherwise, time will cut you." Go through syllabus and course outlines of the subjects you
select and plan it wisely. It merits worth mentioning that just making a time table doesn't solve problems rather stick it
honestly and realistically makes a big difference.

3. Organization

What does organization mean? It means collecting the books and notes for each subject one by one will, surely,
save a lot of time. In this way, you will feel more efficient and productive.

4. Study Habits

In order to grasp the topic coherently, you have to find a place where should not be any sorts of distractions,
otherwise, you will waste your time unconsciously. You can take a break of 5-20 minutes after an hour of studying, it will
help you being productive at studying. Some people like group study; it would be better, but don't take it so much time
rather an hour is enough.

5. Avoid Distractions

While memorizing a topic, you can't memorize a single topic if you're studying in front of a TV. If you think that multi-
tasking will double your memory power then definitely you're wrong. It has been proved that multitasking is harmful to
your brain because it hates it. For example, you're studying in your room where a smartphone lies near you, a laptop in
which Facebook is going on and the noise of the TV. In this way, your brain's concentration will divide into three parts, in
other words, you will learn nothing. You have to decide yourself how to handle these distractions.

6. Sleeping Habits
Have you ever felt whenever you open a book you feel somewhat sleepy? If yes, it's natural. In order to get rid of this
problem, you have to select a proper chair because a soft sofa or bed makes you sleep. If you have become tired while
studying, you can study while walking. Before going to bad, don't use a smartphone or a laptop because its bright light
will not let you sleep. It's recommended that to sleep minimum 7-8 hours.

7. Learning the Study Material

Every person has its own method of memorizing a topic. First of all, you need to understand the topic, but if you find a
difficult word seek the help of dictionary then the connect the facts what you have understood. You can also do it by a
software application called Mind-Mapping in which you connect the facts one another in order to grasp it clearly and
coherently. Whenever you want to read the topic again, it would take less time to understand the same topic just by
looking at the map. Another effective technique which is that to underline the important lines which you seem it can be
 asked in the CSS and PMS exams, and underline those lines also which you seem it can be forgotten. You can become a
scientist by developing your own methods. For example, if you're facing deep trouble in learning conjunctions of English
i.e., For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So, you can make a word FANBOYS in order to memorize the conjunctions. Similarly,
learning the name of a book, for example, Shaheen Bachy written by Shukat Thaanvi, you can memorize the author
name just by imagining that Jo Shaheed Bachy Han Wo Thany Main Hai ( 'Shaheed Bachy' are in jail) whenever you think
of the word Thany (Jail) your super brain will tell you it means Shukat Thaan-vi.

8. Revision

If you say that you can pass the CSS and PMS exams without revision, you're 100% wrong. The reason is that some
people forget 80% of the information they learn after a day or two. Because of information stored in short-term memory
then it stores in long-term memory. If you want to keep your information for a long period of time, you have to revise. A
question arises how you can revise? If you have memorized a topic today, you will revise it tomorrow then the next day
again then the next week and so on. You can make a separate time table in this regard. It will help you a lot. I say
revision is more important as compared to learn a new topic. I do revision daily of English Grammar. I memorized 100
pages in two weeks but when I revise it takes only 30-45 minutes because I underlined important words when I look at
the important words the whole story comes in my mind.

9. Fear of Failure
It's one of the most common reasons that a man doesn't let to achieve his goal. As we all know, an exam is an exam that
needs a lot of hard work to make dreams come true. You must keep in mind that 100-150 days will not come in your life
again. You should never quite your dream at any rate. One trick which will work is that become a persistence man
because it makes you unstoppable. It will not matter anymore how many obstacles come in your life, you will move
ahead.Also, you need to aware of habits that you currently have then you will change the bad ones one by one that
could make you a loser. It's said that about 60 days are required eliminating a bad habit. You have to decide it yourself
what the habits, requirements, and activities you need in order to achieve your goal. Once you have decided then stick
to it long enough and hard enough for the preparation of CSS and PMS exams.

Best Books For PMS/CSS Exams....

 Quote

Post by amish » Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:19 am

Best Books For CSS

ENGLISH ESSAY
1- Current Essays (AP Aamer Publications) Rs:200
2- Latest English Essays (AP Aamer Publications)Rs:165

ENGLISH COMPOSITION
1- Precis Writing (Abdul Basit Jasra, Naimatullah Khan Joyia) RS 60/-
2- A Practical English Grammar (A. J. Thomson, A. V. Martinet) RS 600/-
3- Practical English Usage (Michael Swan) RS 1600/-
4- English Grammar & Composition (Nawaz Khalid, Mohammad Baqir Hussain)
RS 250/-
5- English Grammar & Composition (Shabbir Hussain Chaudhry) RS 350/-
6- Dictionary of Synonyms & Antonyms (Prof. Tariq Ali Khan) RS 80/-
7- Oxford Idioms RS 800/900/

CURRENT AFFAIRS
1- International Affairs (Dr. Safdar Mahmood) RS 500/-
2- Strategic Studies //Quarterly// RS 50/-
3- Current Affairs including solved CSS Papers(AP Aamer Publications) Rs 350
4- Daily DAWN RS 13/-

PAKISTAN AFFAIRS
1- EXAM CRAM Pakistan Affairs (Adeel Niaz) RS 300/-
2- Pakistan Affairs (M. Ikram Rabbani) RS 375/-
3- Pakistan's Foreign Policy: A Reappraisal (Shahid M. Amin) RS 495/-
4- Pakistan's Foreign Policy 1947-2005 (Abdul Sattar) RS 595/-
5- Pakistan Political Roots & Development 1947-1999 (Safdar Mahmood) RS
395/-
6- The Military & Politics in Pakistan (Hasan Askari Rizvi) RS 350/-
7- The Idea of Pakistan (Stephen Philip Cohen) RS 600/-

EVERYDAY SCIENCE
1- Encyclopedic Manual of Everyday Science (Dr. Rab Nawaz Samo) RS 350/-

ISLAMIAT (URDU)
1- Islamiat (Zahid Hussain Anjum) RS 135/-
2- Islamiat Advance bray CSS (Muhammad Imtiaz Shahid, Attiya Bano) RS
300/-
3- Islam Ka Nizam-e Hayat (Dr. Liaqat Ali Khan Niazi) RS 350/-

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
1- EXAM CRAM Public Administration (Asif J. Mir) RS 225/-
2- Public Administration (S. M. Shahid) RS 180/-
3- Pricples of Public Administration (Dr. Muhammad Hassan Sheikh) RS 375/-

SOCIOLOGY
1- Sociology (John J. Macionis) RS 350/-
2- Social Problems of Pakistan (Dr. Mohammad Khalid) RS 400/-
3- Sociology (M. Iqbal Chaudhry) RS 250/-
4- Pakistani Society (M. Iqbal Chaudhry) RS 175/-
5- EXAM CRAM Sociology MCQs (Syed Salman Hameed Kazmi) RS 90/-
JOURNALISM
1- A-One Exploring Journalism (Mirza Muhammad Yousaf) RS 200/-
2- Mass Communication (M. S. Shahid) RS 150/-
3- Mass Communications MCQs (Muhammad Asif Malik) RS 60/-
4- Journalism for CSS (Mian Muhammad Asghar) RS 120/-

GEOGRAPHY A
1- Physical Geography of the Global Environment (H. J. Deblij, Peter O.
Muller)
2- EXAM CRAM Geography (Mohammad Jahangir Sanpaal) RS 225/-
3-Geography (AP Aamer Publications) RS 300/-
GEOGRAPHY B
1- Geography (AP Aamer Publications) RS 300/-
2- Geography of Pakistan (Prof. Nazir Ahmad Khalid)
3- The New Oxford Atlas for Pakistan RS 335/-
4- Fundamentals of Human Geography (Prof. Mian Mohammad Anwar) RS
125/-
5- World Economic and Commercial Geography (Prof. Nazeer Ahmad Khalid)
RS 150/-

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1- International Relations (Dr. Sultan Khan) RS 180/-
2- International Relations (Parkash Chander)
3- Understanding International Relations (Aamer Shahzad)(AP Aamer
Publications) RS 600/- //objective//New Edition 2012
POLITICAL SCIENCE
1-Political Science (AP Aamer Publications) Rs 500

How to prepare for CSS in less than 2 months

How much time does it takes to prepare for CSS? This is probably the most asked question by aspirantsand the common
answer is anywhere from 8-12 months with 10+ hours of daily study. My experiencesuggests otherwiseI prepared for
2011 exams in less than a month (with average 6 hours/day study), and I feel that anyonecan prepare and pass CSS with
preparation of 2 months maximum. Any time more than 2 months is asheer wastage of time and resources.Before going
with how to prepare for CSS is 2 months or less, let me disclose here that I havn't yetpassed the exams, so skepticism on
your part won't be unwarranted but as the same time also let me tellyou that my result should not matter with this
strategy because every person has a unique mind withvarying degrees of knowledge and experience. If I pass the exam,
it wouldn't mean that this strategywould work for everyone and if I fail, this wouldn't mean that this strategy does not
works.Also in short, the theme behind this whole 'Within 2 months prep' is the notion that "You can do it", andthat you
just have to have belief in yourself. DO NOT listen to anyone who says you can't prepare for CSSin X time period or that
XYZ who was a topper failed after preparing for a year. Your attitude should bethat you are sharpest and most intelligent
amongst all and that everyone else will never be able to matchyou. Off-course it goes without saying that there is a very
fine line between overconfidence andconfidence. The second backbone of this strategy is smart work instead of hard
work. Now that we aredone with the basics lets get to the fine details

Assumptions

1)You have good command over written and spoken English. You did your O and A levels and scored aminimum of B in
O levels English. You have or currently do read English books such as novels/magazinesetc2)You are generally a
sharp/intelligent student (Do note that I am

not

talking about hard-work). You havea decent memory3)You are confident and can speak on any occasion with anyone.
You also have regularly debated oncurrent issues with your friends or family

Preparation

English Essay

The most vital part here is Outline preparation. Once you have developed a strong outline, lets say witharound 20
points, it shouldn't be hard for you to write 3000 words on it. Write and develop a few outlineson hot topics (Pakistan's
economic issues, women, islam as a religion, global warming,politics/democracy) and ensure you prepare only a
maximum of 5 outlines. With each outline, prepareappropriate quotes and events. There is no need to write an essay
however if you are not confident aboutyour speed, you may practice 1/2 essays. All this shouldn't take more than 2
days. Internet should beyour best friend

English Precis & Composition

This is probably the easiest paper. Just prepare antonyms, synonyms, proverbs and idioms from any bookof your
choice.You don't need to prepare composition as you have already done it extensively in O levels. Trust me, inCSS its
much easier than O levelsAs far as precis is concerned, it is quite easy, contrary to what people say. You have to
summarize in easywords in 1/3 the word count. Once again consult any book for

solved precis of past papers

whichshould give you an idea and you are all set to go

For short notes, once again the quotes and events are your gateway to success. You do not need toprepare for this
because writing 300 words shouldn't be difficult for you especially when coupled withquotes and events which alone
would take up at least 100 wordsThis paper therefore shouldn't take more than 2 days to prepare too.

EDS

The most scoring subject which you should ace.All you need to do is read Everyday Science book of Kashmiri. 1 reading
shouldn't take more than 2 days.Revise at least 3-4 times whenever you feel like. Also get solved papers of last 10 years
and you are allset to go. No need to do anything else

Current Affairs

There is no need for you to read Dawn daily! Yes, no need to read any newspaper! Reading dawn takesatleast 1-2 hours
daily and main time consuming activity of all other CSS aspirants. You on the other handdo not need to read it

except on weekends

. For CA prep, get the following1)Quarterly Journal (4 editions come in a year)2)Jahangir World Times magazine (all
12)Go through these a couple of times and you are all set to go. Off-course, here my earlier assumption alsocomes into
play that you have debated in life previously and therefore have analytical skills. You also havegood english etc etc. If
needed or if you feel like, you may read Opinion/Encounter of Dawn on a dailybasis.Thus preparing for CA should take
max 1 week

Pakistan Affairs

Ikram Rabbani: Thats it! Read this book only till Zia-ul-Haq era and no more. Prepare your own pointersfrom the
internet on agriculture, manufacturing, education and water crisis in Pakistan. Go through thisbook a couple of times as
it contains everything you need to pass in Pakistan Affairs.Do get solved past papers and give special attentions to MCQs
and topics like Sir Syed, Shah Walli Ullah,Pakistan movement, Ideology of Pakistan etcMax time 4-5 days

Islamiat

Solve Islamiat in English because you are good at it (earlier assumption). Get the following books1)Islamiat by Dogar
Sons2)Jahangir Exam Cram seriesGo through both these books and repeat if necessary. Also important here is that you
look at FridayFeature of Dawn. No need to buy a dawn on Friday though or even look at it each friday for the next
52weeks. You can search on Google and get articles from any period. Once again, last 10 years solvedpapers are
important.Give a full week to Islamiat prep as it is a difficult subject and questions are generally contemporary innature.

Geography

Sarfaraz Bajwa: Thats it! Your paper A should be complete within 3 days maxFor paper 2 get latest edition De Blij and
read up on population/migration/urbanization. Also get JahangirExam cram series and prepare paper 2 from it. When
you are done with it, take a look at past papers andsearch for important figures from the net and note them down.For
both papers, once again last 10 years solved papers are indispensable.Prep time for both subjects shouldn't take more
than 5 days
Journalism

Journalism by Mehdi Hassan and Exam Cram series: Both books should not take more than 2 days max

Forestry

Masood A A Qureshi (Book 1 only): Thats it!

Indopak History/British History

This wasn't my subject in 2011 papers (Accounting was) so I can't really guide you but Exam Cram seriesshould be your
friend and practice diagram drawing (for British History). Hopefully I will write an updatefor these subjects in a couple of
days.

THE END!

Basically, the crux of whole preparation is on hard work and 1/2 books max. If you add up the number of days, it hardly
takes around 40 days. You should spend rest of the time revising. It is imperative that youfollow this strategy just before
exams to ensure maximum possible retention.Let me repeat here that this a general strategy which I felt worked for me
in 2011 exams. It may notwork for everyone, but it may also work wonders for someone with a bit of modification. All I
would say isthat whatever strategy you follow, do not let anyone else tell you that you can not do it or that it
isn'tpossible.Also do not rely on academy notes. The underlying notion behind my assumptions, mentioned at the
top,was that you can think critically and analyze yourself. Utilize your skills!