A busy college life loads students with plenty of responsibilities, and chances to find the time for everything are often next to zero. Paper assignments in particular require a great deal of effort, therefore, they are the least attractive tasks. Students tend to procrastinate and put off writing until the last day. If you’re one of them, then you need to know some tips and tricks on how to ace an essay in a short time.
Concentrate
One may spend hours sitting at a desk to no avail and the main reason behind it is distractions. If you want to complete the essay in record time, it is vital to stay focused. It requires your creativity, critical thinking, and ideas; therefore, your mind shouldn’t be occupied with anything aside from the current aim. There are two possible solutions, which involve:
- Putting your phone on an airplane mode or placing it elsewhere;
- Finding a workplace
Your gadget is the number one enemy of concentration, as one constantly has an urge to check social media, scroll the newsfeed, or chat with a friend. To resist the temptation and keep on track, it is essential to get rid of the phone for a while.
Going to an area where you work best of all is essential. Don’t stay in a place which has nothing to do with studying, e.g. your bed or a lounge room. Otherwise, your brain will refuse to work on the task in favor of having rest. As a matter of fact, setting the proper study environment can save your time greatly and trigger your productivity.
Make Sure You Got the Topic Right
If you don’t want to waste time rewriting your work, be confident that you haven’t understood the prompt correctly. It’s a common pitfall when students overlook this step and ultimately have to change the major part of the essay or, even worse, fail the task altogether.
To avoid such a mishap, don’t hesitate to ask your professor some clarifying questions. Not only will it help you with the paper, but will also show your involvement.
Break the Task in Smaller Chunks and Have a Schedule
One more tip in getting an essay done faster is to plan the writing by splitting it into small tasks and setting a certain time for each. This very step will help you manage your time effectively and not to miss anything vital. Write a list of tasks you need to do and set time aside for each, cross every point as you finish it. It may look something like this:
- Research 30-40min;
- Outline 10 min;
- Intro 10-15 min;
- Main body 60-90 min;
- Conclusion 10-15 min;
- Proofreading 10-15 min.
It will keep you motivated and occupied until you have your paper done. Don’t spend more time completing one task, in case you get stuck on it. Turn to the next step, you may go back to any of the points later.
Research is easy to get sucked in. The more you surf the web, the more info you find and it seems never enough. Avoid this redundancy and stick to essential data. Don’t spend more than 30 minutes on it, you may always go online again in case you lack some references or arguments.
The introduction might be hard at first, so it would be a good idea to skip it and return after finishing the main body. This way, you will have more ideas to start your essay and write it faster.
When it comes to proofreading, many conclude that it is unimportant. In fact, it is something one must save their time for. Even if you have confidence that your paper is flawless,a double-check has never hurt anyone. It will bring you some more points and raise your grade. There are several ways to edit your essay faster, though. You can make use of technologies and turn to websites like:
- Grammarly;
- ProWritingAid;
- Proofread Bot;
- Wordy;
- Typely, etc.
They are both free and paid, but serve one aim is to instantly identify the errors and give alternatives for the corrections. You simply upload the work and have everything corrected online. It doesn’t take much time.
The Best Is the Enemy of the Good
Even though you are aiming to write a good essay, don’t get too enthusiastic in the pursuit of perfectionism. It will ruin your chances to have your essay done on time, leaving you with nothing done as a result. Do what it takes, follow the plan and you will make it.
Get a Little Help
Sometimes two heads are better than one, especially when it comes to learning. When you lack ideas, arguments, or feel insecure about your writing, don’t be afraid to turn to your classmates for help. Other people can give you valuable feedback, bring fresh thoughts, or ask you proper questions. Not only it will save you time, but also will enhance your work and help come up with an interesting thesis, which you haven’t thought about. Raising a conversation regarding your paper can give you new, fresh ideas,
Summing Up
Now that you know how to save maximum time, you can get an essay done in just a few hours. These tips should help you next time you’ve got to write a paper. Try them out and see which work better for you. Wish you good luck!