Newspaper is a collection of a few sheets of paper which contains information about current events, articles, advertisements, etc. How boring it sounds, right??? Growing up I had the same perception about newspapers. I never really showed any kind of interest in reading newspapers or even knowing what ever the current affairs going on around. I had the least interest in this direction till I got to know about an examination called UPSC. When I started my preparation I had to struggle a lot with the same. I tried hundreds of possible ways to keep me up to date with current affairs. Let me articulate some of the mistakes which made me fail to understand the art of reading newspapers:

During the first year of my preparation, I was very enthusiastic about it so I thought that I would gulp the whole newspaper and it would surely be a cakewalk for me but the reality was a bit harsh. I remember it used to take me around 4-5 hours to read a single newspaper. It started getting boring and monotonous for me. Hence, I started procrastinating and eventually the newspapers just got stacked up over my rack as well as my mental wellbeing. Consequently, I failed in my first attempt of the examination.

After appearing for the examination I realized that without newspapers nothing can be done. So I started reading newspapers and this time I used to keep the same unfinished so as to cope with other subjects. I was getting inconsistent  day by day.

So, I kept piling up the newspapers to read in the weekends which failed miserably as finishing newspapers of 6 days in a day or two is just next to impossible. Thus, I ended up doing two to three papers a week.

 But as they say, “By seeking and blundering we learn” holds the true essence. Yes, I learnt a lot from my mistakes and now it seems all the hustle and struggle are slowly falling into places. Throughout the process of hits and trials I came up with a solid strategy which worked for me as an elixir. Every morning after I am done with my routine, I just go through the headlines and hence pick out which article is relevant and which is not in my mind itself. Then, after my first study session I sit with my newspaper and a small diary and jot down a point or two from an article and this helped me a lot consolidating the facts and important events. I try to get done with the newspaper before noon, as it saves me ample time for study without any baggage.  I always set timer while reading the paper so that I don't get distracted, it really helped a lot in improving my focus. Moreover, the process sometimes becomes a bit dull but grabbing a good cup of coffee works as a wonder for me to get that fillip back.

I hope that this blog will encourage few of you to get started with the newspaper reading and built a productive habit which will not only add to your knowledge but also improve language skills and vocabulary.