Experts’ Speak: The art of balancing between work and GATE preparation

By: Dr Rahul M Das

If you have decided to move to the next level in your career then you must be ready to maximize your study time and take the best out of it.

Every working professional who desires to pursue any parallel course or preparation for a competitive examination experiences the same dilemma – How do I manage my work and the preparations? My work is so demanding, will I really get time to prepare myself? Or, am I getting ready to face a failure as I desire to do more with my career, but I don’t really have the time to invest. Most of the working professionals are haunted by these thoughts even before they put their foot into any decision that will demand time and additional effort.

Does this mean a working professional should not consider preparing for a future career?

With examinations like GATE, a working professional can very well plan and work towards clearing the exam successfully. All that one needs is proper time allocation for each priority, be it work or preparation and a sound study plan that balances between your work and study.

The bigger challenge that working professionals face is getting back in touch with the subjects and the syllabus. Till the time we are students it seems effortless to get back to studies, but for a person in job, getting back to studies appears to be a herculean task until the momentum gets settled. Honestly speaking, all this only a psychological block and it all depends on how we bring back our motivation to stick to a study plan each day after a day’s work.

Let’s be blunt about the fact that, if you want to clear the GATE examination while you are working, you really need to go through the complete hog of stretching yourself. As it is rightly said that, there is no prize for coming second. If you have decided to move to the next level in your career then you must be ready to maximize your study time and take the best out of it.

Time Management

Efficient usage of time is the key to preparing for GATE while being in job. You should try to use every single minute that is at your disposal. One can carry brief notes, short topics that can be revised and completed while traveling to work, taking breaks between work and during many other activities where you can do the routine work while keeping your focus on the content you are learning/ revising.

Maintain Work & Study Balance

One should take the baby steps first. Start with the review of syllabus, capture the subjects and topics covered, exam pattern to set a direction to your preparations. Break down your preparation strategy in three phases – before work, during work, after work.

• Topics that are new to you, must be covered in the morning reading sessions
• Use the break times during work to revise topics that you have already studied and have a fair grip
• After work is the only time where you need the highest level of motivation to study after a long work day – focus on solving technical/mathematical questions as they keep your brain active

Like any other student, you will have to put down your study plan. Generally, in case of students they get the complete day to schedule their study plan and execute, hence they have the privilege of starting their preparations couple of months before exam. But with professionals, the preparations must start at least a year before as this will help you to phase out the study hours apart from your working hours.

The trick here is to study the syllabus, capture the important topics, check the topic wise weightage, refer to previous year question papers, attempt mock tests during the preparation time and prepare around the scoring topics.

Some of the key tips that can be suggested are:

1. If you are quick at completing work each day, use the spare time to prepare short topics during office hours.
2. In case you are benched for some reason, take this as a blessing in disguise. Unless you get assigned on another project, use this time prepare for the exam.
3. Develop a habit of carrying short notes like formulas/ equations/ basic concepts for revision probably while traveling.
4. Do not waste time by hanging around with colleagues after office hours. Stay focused on your everyday preparation.
5. Use the weekends to add mileage to your study hours.
6. Cut down your screen time – be it on TV, Laptop, Smartphones. Remember, social media keeps you engaged, but not productive.
7. If needed, you can explore joining some weekend coaching classes for GATE

If you remain focused on what you want to achieve, then all your efforts must be towards Planning – Execution – Revision.

About the Author:

Dr Rahul M Das is a Doctorate in Organizational Behavior from University of Madras with two Master’s degree. He is an academician-turned-consultant-professional with eight years of teaching experience. He has been working for the past two years as a Senior Consultant with Bengaluru-based Abanel Management Consulting Pvt Ltd. Dr Das has expertise in training and development, counselling & mentoring, developing leadership and managerial skills through experiential learning.