Monitoring Sheets For Personal Development Plan: Fill & Download for Free

I’ll walk through my preparation strategy in detail and how ended up making my preparation almost an algorithm. This is from a detailed blog post I had written after preparing.Background : I graduated from IIM Ahmedabad this year and took the CAT in 2013 (I am ancient now, right?). I did my undergrad at IIT Bombay and graduated in 2014. I scored a 99.99 overall, with a 100 percentile in Verbal and something in QA that I don't remember (i.e. wish to mention, haha). To get a greater idea about me you can read my IIM interview experience.To get a complete understanding of the IIM admission process, you can read the IIM selection process and I will be talking about the first crucial stage, that is the Common Aptitude Test. Regardless of which year you give the CAT, I think the approach is more or less similar even if the format and the like vary.How I started : Testing WatersI harbored the idea of preparing for the CAT in early April (my CAT was on the 28th of October), and I sort of started figuring out what I had to do in May. I was in my 3rd year and interning, so till July it was pretty random and I wasn't doing much of my work and was probably just testing waters. This part may not have been much effort but it helped me assess and identify what could be my major weaknesses and flaws and what could be my strengths. Doing a lot of questions helps, so I got a "sense" of what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong.During this time, I understood that being great at English doesn't necessarily amount to doing well at Verbal and being an IITian doesn't imply you'll do well at Quant. That said, having both of these are considerable advantages (in relative terms), and I would strongly suggest starting as early as possible. You may hear a lot of people "who don't prepare and get in". They are either lying or probabilistically lucky. What you have to do is ensure you qualify come what may, regardless of a good day or bad day. I think I started late, and because I had an internship side by side, I was more or less working for the day (here's a sound out to the work-ex people for time management).Stepping up : Enter ExcelI enrolled in both TIME and IMS. I personally believe TIME is good for Quant and IMS is good for Verbal in relative terms, and that they both provide excellent test interfaces. I didn't attend any of the classes, because I conceptually knew what to do/didn't have that much time. If you feel you're lacking somewhere, do go to classes, but do this early and probably not in the last three months. IMO, all you should be doing is testing yourself in the last three months.I realised that I really needed to step up my game, and learn to manage time better. This was because I was also sitting for placements with excellent firms on campus, but I would have given any of them a miss for IIM A (which I eventually did). I decided that building an Excel file that monitors my preparation with hard data would be the best thing to do. It was probably the one biggest reason in my success and I managed my time much better. Below are some of the snapshots I have from a discussion with my friend (who got a 100 the next year), I unfortunately can't find the file. Nevertheless, they should be instructive, and if you believe in Excel, building it yourself would be much better than using someone's.This image is the dashboard, which gave me the summary of what I did on a daily basis. The target was the number of questions per day (here 30 for Quant), multiplied by the number of days with the deviation added. The deviation was how much I was lagging up to that day, and the target increased by the [deviation/number of days remaining] incrementally.It is good practice not to enter anything into your dashboard, and all the data used to come in from other sheets for the sections. The Quant sheet is attached below, and this is where I entered the data needed (like level, topic, questions done, right and time). Index was something I constructed using accuracy and time. Q/70 is the number of questions I could effectively do in 70 minutes, as that was the time given for a particular section in CAT 2013. The index was sensitive to both my speed and my accuracy, as you can see.I also monitored my mock test performances very closely. You can see the results of my mock tests below, and I don't think anyone ever kept data. The blanks are the exams I couldn't give due to academic clashes or exams at IIT.Hope this helps quell some fears and not exaggerate them. I never got my final percentile in any mock (except the CAT, my final "mock" where I scored my highest). I used to score higher in Quant, and never expected a 100 in Verbal, so what these give you is a sense of where you lie but not exactly.One reason I thought for this is the lower number of people who give the mocks, but it turns out my All India Rank was the highest ever. So I can only speculate, but I know that I was extremely cool during the exam. I generally don't bother much, in life.I also monitored, dynamically, what my topic wise performance was in the exams. This is a snapshot of Quant. Both TIME and IMS generally provide the difficulty of the questions, so I categorized upto that granularity. As you can see, that helped me navigate ship very quickly.Change is Good : Learning from ExcelNow that I had my data in place, I made it a point to dynamically learn and improve from the results from my excel sheet. This probably helped me to be highly efficient given the time constraints I had (I put in no more than 4 hours a day).I was constantly identifying what I was doing right, doing wrong and pathetic at. I can basically break it down into 4 broad steps, and you can find the elaboration of this in my strategy for VerbalIdentify your sweet spotIdentify your weak spotImprove and analyse both strengths and weaknessesLeave what you will do wrongI think the last step is the most critical, and the more you work on it, the smaller the set of what you can leave will become. Hence, the earlier you start preparing, the smaller this will be. As I was constantly analysing and looking for trends in what I was doing, I started isolating my mistakes. What did I do then? I practiced questions on only those topics. I used all the material I had, exhausted all the tests I had, left nothing that I had not done. The results showed, except in parajumbles - they were my arch-nemesis (lol)Developing a Winning Strategy : My approach to the CATOver time, because of giving tests, I became less "emotional" and more objective towards my questions. You need to treat your exams with the coldness of an object, and it's very easy to curse yourself for bad performances and feel miserable. For me it was here where I learnt that "failure" teaches you much more than "success". To me each bad test and each mistake was a learning that it was never to be repeated again. I style myself as a cold blooded question killer.Apart from the emotionless-ness, giving numerous tests reduced my propensity to get bothered by the CAT. I also began to follow a strategy priming my mind and body for the CAT, an elaboration of which you can find here. The bottomline of this is sleep well, simulate the test environment, study yourself and continuously strategize.Finally, how did I approach the actual examination? Four steps:Quick read remaining questionsMark the easy and medium onesAttempt themRepeat loopThis helped me to get the easy pickings done earlier, and it also boosts confidence. I have noticed that they tend to put the easy questions towards the end, maybe it is to test this ability. This cycle helped me greatly increase my attempt speed, and I wish I had discovered it earlier in life.I don't want to go into the nitty gritties of how to tackle each and every topic, because that would be pointless to elaborate here. I have already talked about my verbal strategy, quant is no different.Looking Back : What did I learn?CAT is a game of speed and accuracy. It is not as conceptually intricate as the JEE, though it might be difficult in case you have been out of touch with quant or don't read too much. But, you can practice hard enough and ensure a good score. The earlier you begin the better it is. Also, the exam is not easy, so it is necessary to find a constant source of motivation to continue to push forward, like I did.As the CAT is so sensitive to speed and accuracy, and one question here and there can swing percentiles, you need to be at the peak of your game. For that, focus also on building focus. Taking a football analogy (which I passionately play and follow), to be ready for a 90 minute match you must practice for 180. So, if you think reading is your problem, read for long times. If solving is your problem, solve for long times. Practice makes perfect, and there's no better exam to test this.Good luck!EDIT : You can find my Excel sheet for preparation here.I also write on the The Indian MBA and Economics, Finance and Government, do follow.

Getting Started With Android DevWhat is Android? Android powers hundreds of millions of mobile devices in more than 190 countries around the world. It's the largest installed base of any mobile platform and growing fast.- Google Android TeamNote: You can find more about Android Development on their website from the SDK to design and distribution guidelines.Simple LinksDeveloper Training with various buildsUML for developing an appAndroid Developer BlogProgramming Community Curated Android Dev Resources (2018)What to use to create the appsEclipse IDE + ADT Plugin: If you already use the Eclipse IDE, this is a plugin which can be downloaded forWindows and can be used to create android apps. Verdict: Pretty SlowEclipse ADT: It includes the essential Android SDK components and a version of the Eclipse IDE with built-in ADT (Android Developer Tools) to streamline your Android app development. Verdict: SlowAndroid Studio: Android Studio is a new Android development environment based on IntelliJ IDEA. Verdict: Beta but EfficientOnline Sources:XDA-Developer NotesUDemyTreeHouseGeneral Online Source ListWhat are you creating?: Essentially you are coding in Java which then gets published into a package. This package is called an APK file, which is a compression format similar to JAR and ZIP.There are three steps for the perfect app: Design --> Develop --> DistributeDesignAndroid Dev. Creative Vision: This contains the creative vision for developing android apps, a quick glance would help non-designers or new designers get an idea as to how to plan the design.Design Principles: Similar to the above it helps new designers get an idea as to how to plan the design and how to go about actually doing it.Measurement Cheat Sheet - I: A simple relational guide for sizes of various design aspects for different screen sizes and pixel densities.Measurement Cheat Sheet - II: A complex guide, similar to the one above, with easier reading, naming conventions as well as UI Design and Icon Templates.Android Dev. Design Presets: Materials provided by the Android Design team, which can be used without restriction. It includes Photoshop Stencils, Illustrator tool kits, Icon Kit and Color Swatches.Design UI Research: A discussion how the team applied ""Pulse Studies"" (iterative research sessions) in order to put new ideas, designs, and concepts in front of users on a regular basis; it requires minimal advance planning, it can have an immediate product impact, and it can meet urgent needs.DevelopAPI Guide: A guide provided by Google for the entire Android flavor for control over various hardware on the devices + best practices.Developement Cheat Sheet - I: A cheat sheet provided by Tree House. Slightly complicated. Good for reference after designing the first few apps.Development Cheat Sheet - II: Code Gems Cheat Sheet with definitions for each section of Android DevelopmentGoogle Services: A list of Google Services which could be used for the apps and how to use themSamples: Samples for developed apps with different components from Background Apps to UI-based appsDistributionUpload your app to Google Play: So the most important part of distribution is uploading the app to the Play Store. There is a $25 fee. (If you do not want to upload it on play, simply publish it, and distribute the apk)Distrbution Essentials: A focus on quality should be part of your entire app delivery process: from initial concept through app and UI design, coding and testing and onto a process of monitoring feedback and making improvement after launch.Building Buzz: Distribution can usually be a piece of cake, but if you want to give it your allTIP: If you know Web Dev Languages really well and want to push a webapp to an Android app fast, you can use the various sources for the same.HTML 5 - Mobile App FrameworkPhone Gap: Personal preferenceContributors: Mahir Kothary

There are various type of accounting software available in market for mobile and computer. Mobile user can choose from Xero and Intuit Quickbooks. For computer all vendors provide the accounting software such asXero Beautiful accounting software is small business accounting software. It's cloud-based and can be accessed from any computer or device with a browser. Three service plans are available for this software. All plans allow you to invite an unlimited number of users to the software, and you're able to set permissions to manage what information they can access. The starter plan includes most functions, including accounts payable, but limits you to five invoices, five bills and 20 bank reconciliations per month.Highlights:Unlimited usersRobust featuresPayrollGood customer service500+ integrationsIntuit Quickbooks is an accounting solutions designed to manage payroll, inventory, sales and other needs of a small business. The software’s features include marketing tools, merchant services, product and supplies, training solutions. Each solution is developed according to different industries and their needs.These software solutions are used to monitor expenses, create invoices and reports, track change orders and job status, and manage inventory, customers, vendors and employees. In addition to these industry specific packages and their corresponding capabilities.Reach Accounting software Software comes with features like Business Dashboard, CRM, Inventory Management, Billing & Invoicing, Repair Management, Accounting & Tax Management, Mobile App and many more.Wave Accounting Software is a Web-based integrated accounting solution exclusively designed for small organizations. It features accounting, invoice and billing, payments, payroll, personal finance and receipts.Users can link bank accounts, PayPal accounts and other sources of data for real-time transaction records. They can also generate reports such as balance sheets, sales tax reports and account receivable and payable reports.The system also provides an invoicing tool to collect money, and users can choose the template of their choice as per the organization’s needs. Invoices can be sent via email, and the system's payment processing allows users to collect credit card payments.Wave's payroll module (supported in the U.S. and Canada) comes with features such as direct deposit and employee self-service. The personal finance tool features a budgeting tool, real-time investment tracking and a dashboard for personal finance management.and many more vendors are there like Saral, Tally, BUSY, ProfitBooks etc. So one can choose among them by comparing them on the bases of features provided by the vendors and as per their requirement for business.