A plan that assumes every day goes correctly is not a plan, it is a wish. Illness, a family event, a chapter that takes twice as long — these are not disruptions to be apologised for, they are the normal condition, and the plan should already contain room for them.

Four phases

Months 1–5: first pass

Cover the syllabus once, properly, with NCERT as the spine. Do not chase depth on the first pass; the aim is that no chapter is completely unfamiliar by month six. Attempt questions chapter by chapter as you go, so you find out early what the exam wants from each topic.

Months 6–8: second pass and consolidation

Return to everything, faster, and this time with past questions alongside. The gaps that show up here are the real ones — the first pass always feels more complete than it was.

Full-length mocks begin here, roughly one a fortnight. Early mocks are uncomfortable and are meant to be: their purpose is diagnosis, not reassurance.

Months 9–11: mocks and targeted repair

One full mock a week, each followed by analysis that takes longer than the test. Revision is now driven by what the mocks reveal rather than by the syllabus order.

This is the phase where a score moves, and it moves because of the analysis rather than the tests.

Month 12: consolidation only

No new topics. Revisit your own notes, your error log, and the diagrams and one-page summaries you built. Mocks continue but less frequently — the aim is to arrive rested rather than to squeeze in two more points of preparation.

The parts people leave out

  • One empty day a week. Not a rest day — a catch-up day. When the week goes to plan, use it to revise. When it does not, you have already absorbed the slip.
  • Scheduled revision. "I will revise when I get time" means never. Put old chapters in the calendar as explicit items.
  • An error log. Every confident mistake, written down with its reason. This becomes the most valuable document you own by month ten.

Judge the plan weekly, not daily

A bad day means nothing. A bad week is a signal — and the response is to adjust the plan rather than to resolve to try harder, because the plan was probably too optimistic rather than you too lazy.