How to College: Writing Papers

I used to write my papers during the week of the deadline. If I was in a particularly stupid mood, it would be done the day before. Was I able to do it? Of course! But the stress and amount of work, that were supposed to be dealt with during weeks, would be condensed in one or two days, and it never did good to my health and mind. Also, there is always the thought of not getting a good grade, that can annoy a student for weeks; and, because of the rushed work, sometimes they would really be pretty bad...

I was tired of living by these kind of emergencies. They are never worth the stress. So, following some ideas and tips online, I made myself a sort of step-by-step guide to writing my essays, papers, etc. This last semester of 2014 was a very tough one, and if I hadn't come up with this thing, I'd have freaked out (though this seems to be college life's uttermost objective...).


1. Open a Word doc, name it and save it. Seriously. This is where you will put everything.
2. Think about the topic of the essay/paper/text; if the project requires references, go look for them.
3. Read - or, if not possible, skim - all the references, while highlighting and making notes of what is relevant.
4. Write a paragraph or two with the main topic of the text, general content, main points and arguments (basically a sketch of the introduction of an academic paper).
5. Plan the division. Sketch the introduction, middle and conclusion. Then, if your text is going to have more subdivisions, plan them and write a sample of what each will cover.
6. Elaborate each section by writing a sketch for each paragraph.
7. Elaborate each paragraph.
8. Revise each section separately, and then the text as a whole; pay attention to any incoherence or grammar mistakes.
9. Organize the references and make the cover (if needed).
10. Make a final revision and print it.

Seems like a lot of work, right? And it is! But when we focus on one step at a time, especially when you are separated of the deadline by two weeks, everything is more simple and way less stressing.
Well, if the deadline was tomorrow and I had a day free, I definitely could do all of this in less than 24 hours, but the guide would just help a bit; my point was to minimize the amount of stress I was getting, and that means starting the project at least two weeks ahead.

I usually do one step each day, and focus on only one at a time. By doing this, I have more time to focus on other things - if I have more than one text to write (which always happens), it has to be one step for each project a day. If one task is getting particularly difficult or too hardworking, I divide it in even smaller steps and leave them for the following days. If I fail at starting it on the right time, I have to make more steps per day.

I also select a time of the day for this. My brain works better at the end of the afternoon, so I'm usually doing this kind of thing at 5-6 P.M. It's important to know when you're most productive; if I try studying at 1 P.M., when I don't have the emotional strength for such tasks, I'd want to kill myself - what always happen when I leave projects to be done the day before the deadline. That's when I end up procrastinating until 2 AM. I literally waste my day doing nothing nice (besides complaining on twitter) and then freaking out at night because of my own stupidity.

A final tip: use the Pomodoro Technique! I do 20-25 min of work and 5-10 min of relaxing time. It's also very useful because it gives a sense of productivity - especially in those days you are simply not in the mood. Though I recommend not using social networks during the break; when I do, I never go back to work on the same day.

For more about doing your work and stop procrastinating, I recommend this cute video by WatchWellcast.

Well, that's what I have to offer. Hope it was useful! Believe me, it's way better working like this, for a part of the day, during a couple of weeks, calmly achieving a work of quality than getting stressed with the deadline knocking at the door, which will make you not give your best and then probably having to work on something else to compensate for that.

Next time, we will deal with what's supposed to be America's greatest fear: presentations!