CLAT 2024: What do Toppers Do Differently

Smart Work vs Hard Work: Exam preparation necessitates a great deal of effort on the part of
students. Giving up their social life, avoiding all of the things they enjoy doing with their leisure,
sitting in the confines of their houses with a book in hand, and so on. It does become
monotonous after a time. The repetitious, apparently unending practice that students are
required to perform in the name of ‘working hard' makes it even duller for them.

It's a need of the hour for aspirants to understand the difference between working hard
and working wisely. To maximize efficiency and get the desired result in the exam, a
perfect balance of hard work and smart work is required.

Hard Work vs Smart Work

What is Hard Work?

Hard Work is defined as just doing a task without planning ahead of time how
you will do it or using any means of reducing your efforts. Hard work requires-

● Commitment
● Persistent
● Resourcefulness
● Time
● Focus
● Farsightedness

What is Smart Work?

Smart work is developing a strategic approach to the task and identifying
tasks that must be completed. Smart Work requires-

● Life management skills

● A properly built strategy
● Keeping pace with the work
● Innovation
● The need of the hour
● More Creativity

Are Smart Work and Shortcuts the Same?

No, there is a clear difference between Smart work and Shortcuts.

Sure, shortcuts might make our work simpler, but smart work is not
synonymous with shortcut-finding. Smart work means generating alternatives
and simpler ways to accomplish things, but this does not necessarily imply
that the people following smart work are lazy or unreliable; rather, they are
smart enough to sort through the alternatives and discover the better way out.

Smart Work vs Hard Work

Smart Work Hard Work

Saves a lot of time Time-taking

Evaluated based on the

Evaluated based on results and
quantity of work and Time
quality
invested
 Smart work is done with Hard work is done in a
innovative methods to maximize traditional way with the same
the result within the least time old ideas and methods

Smart Work or Hard Work: What Do Toppers Follow?

Smart Work + Hard Work = Selection

Well, Toppers follow the right balance between smart work and hard work. In
other words, toppers do study for 8 - 10 hours daily which is a characteristic of
hard work, but they make sure that they invest their time smartly to get the
maximum results. While preparing for CLAT and Other Law Entrance exams,
where the competition is so tough, aspirants must use their time smartly to
get the final selection. Every aspirant has 24 hours time to themselves, it is up
to the individual how he chooses to use his time in order to get ahead in this
competition. It is not possible to get a selection with only hard work or only
smart work. There has to be a balance between these two.

Let us understand with the help of an example. Look at the following picture
Here both Aspirant A and Aspirant B are doing the hard work as both are
studying for 8 - 10 hours but Aspirant B is also allotting the time based on the
nature and priority of the subjects.

Subjects like Reasoning and Quant need more time as they require a lot of
question practice. That's why Aspirant B has allotted more time to quant and
reasoning. On the other hand, Aspirant A has not considered this fact.

How Can You Do Smart Work in CLAT 2024 Preparation?

● Prioritize the topics based on their question weightage in the exam
● Consider the parameter like the nature of the topic, your strong and
weak areas, etc.
● A lot more time practicing the weak topics
● Use more charts, diagrams, and infographics in the study notes to revise
better
● Instead of referring to 10 different sources to study, try to minimize the
sources and use the extra time for revision
● As the Current Affairs and General Awareness is part of Tier-1 of the
CLAT 2024, give time according to its weightage. Do not give the whole
day to this subject
● Follow Smart revision tips
● Do not waste your energy on irrelevant issues like social media.
● Engage yourself in refreshing activities.