UPSC Civil Services Exam is one of the toughest exams for government posts/services. It tests your thorough as well as wide-ranging knowledge. To achieve, 100% success, you need to prepare for this exam very thoroughly, with 100% dedication, focus, sincerity, positive attitude, and hard work. On the same lines, we have made a  sample Calendar for CSE 2019. Also, we are attaching a list of books for you to follow. 
Proper preparation, that is studying, should start from 1 year before prelims. But, make sure that you prepare for Mains first, then Prelims.
Here’s a sample Calendar for CSE 2019, which you can follow. The Sample Calendar is a product of our Senior Faculty member, Mr. Atul Jain.

Jan 2018- May 2018: General Studies (Static Part)

June 2018 – September 2018: Optional Subject, Paper 1 complete.

September 2018 – January 2019: Optional Subject, Paper 2 ( A few chapters) and Current Affairs of July 2018- December 2018

February 2019 – Prelims: Hardcore revision of GS, All current Affairs till one month before the examination.

Prelims to Mains: Remaining part of optional, GS revision, Major writing practice, (One essay and one answer every day)

Of course there is no such strategy to secure a good rank, but, if you tend to follow this time table, you can surely attain a good score.
Also, the way you are approaching and understanding the concepts will fetch you some good marks and push you to secure higher ranks than others. The books you are going to study are also important and hence your ample effort should go in buying the correct books. 
But, apart from this, Here are some strong resources or I’d say, best “books” for your preparation. If you go through these resources, you’ll be able to finish your syllabus on time. Reading books is obviously not possible. Hence,
Here’s the list of books 
It is essential to be thorough with all the NCERT books from class 6 to class 12. That is the first thing to do.

Ancient and medieval history: OLD NCERT class 11th.
Art and culture: Nitin Singhaniya’s book on art and culture.
Modern history: Old NCERT and Spectrum/ Bipin Chandra.
Polity: Indian Polity  by Laxmikant
Economy: NCERTs and  Indian Economy by Sanjeev Verma (revised by Sakshi Kapoor)
Geography: NCERTs Certificate Physical and Human Geography – Goh Cheng Leong
Environment: Shankar IAS book.
Science and technology: The Hindu S&T page (weekly), Science Reporter by C.S.I.R., What, How & Why by C.S.I.R., Internet, NCERT 8th to 12th science text books.
I also want to strongly recommend you Sociology as the optional subject.

In case you need assistance in terms of the best resources to implement this plan, visit UPSC Pathshala, India’s largest online learning space for UPSC Exam.

Have a look at some video lectures and you will realize that you just can’t prepare better!

Also Read: List of UPSC Mains books for Hindi Medium Students

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About the Author

Akshay Palande

Akshay Palande is a passionate teacher helping hundreds of students in their UPSC preparation. With a degree in Mechanical Engineering and double masters in Public Administration and Economics, he has experience of teaching UPSC aspirants for 5 years. His subject of expertise are Geography, Polity, Economics and Environment and Ecology.

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