Are you a last-minute type of person? Or perhaps you can perform your best when under a lot of pressure? Either way it may be the truth is that a lot of students feel stress and anxiety. Not knowing what to do except drink gallons of coffee and pull an all-nighter? This can be so stressful… If these apply to you why not try out some new tips and tricks that can help with your navigation and essay writing? Keep on reading and start making changes in your approach while writing that essay flawlessly!
Contents
How to Write an effective last-minute college essay:
1. Do not be distracted
Just when you begin work on your essay you get a text or a notification from your friends and you immediately wish to go out and have fun with them. A drink or two can’t hurt you or slow down the process, right? This is why you should keep your phone turned off. Doing an assignment last minute requires your undivided attention. No social media, YouTube, or scrolling on TikTok. Sooner than later these minutes and mini distractions can turn to hours. Try to focus your attention on one segment only and reward yourself after you reach a certain milestone/deadline.
2. Have mini-deadlines
Speaking of deadlines, in an ideal world, your essay would have been done by now. You’d have already submitted it and wouldn’t have to worry or think about the outcome since you would have aced it. However, since you are way past your deadline, it is time to create a different tactic and a different approach. Try to break your writing into parts and give yourself mini-deadlines within a few hours or days depending on the time that you have left. For instance, figure out what you want to achieve by lunch and what you want to write about in the morning. Heads up, be realistic and you will reach certain milestones.
3. Cancel your plans
You’re running low on time and there isn’t a lot of things that you can do (unfortunately). One thing that is for certain is that you will have to stay in and cancel your plans with friends or family. Create some space in your day that you can really devote to thinking about your topic and actively get onto writing. If you are lucky enough, you will make a whole week or weekend ”study-only” and your personal time. If you are gullible it would be best not to go outside and just stick to your room/house for best results. No reason to be tempted outdoors with all the fun solo activities.
4. Brainstorm
You can brainstorm on your own or talk the process through with your friends and colleagues. Getting your ideas checked out and talked about will help anyone navigate the future process. In less than 20 minutes you will have a ton of brilliant ideas and well-composed thoughts. Also, you and your friends can try to piece up an article with their already published work. If all of you have the same topic and theirs have been submitted already try to create a mix and mash, a unique hybrid. Evaluate the situation. Which of your list items have the most writing potential? Work from that point onwards!
5. Start writing
The outline is a key step when it comes to writing an essay. Unfortunately, almost everyone skips on doing it. Well, you should write all there’s to it and put your thoughts on paper! Mind-mapping is a fun process that will help you with the final design and will let you navigate your essay and your thesis. When you have a mind map in front of you, you’ll know exactly what you’re trying to achieve and how it is going to turn out. With outlining and putting random thoughts in their right place and within a proper bubble your writing experience will be a lot faster.
6. Do your research
Your lack of time is not an excuse for lack of research. Go on Google and get 2-3 sources that are detailed and easy to understand. Use them to navigate the paper and to cite representable sources for ideal outcome and plus points with your teachers or professors. Don’t neglect Wikipedia either. Once you have your key facts and resources just relocate that same information to a more authoritative online source. Your research will take less than an hour or two to do, no matter how complex or simple the topic. Just be present and focused during that hour.
7. Check it out & proofread
Even the smallest error can make a huge impact and look negatively on you. For a lot of professors, a simple typo can send the signal that you may not be detail-oriented or not as interested as you should be. No one wants someone who is not invested or is not giving his or her best. Using some tools and online checkers can help you out in the proofreading process. Online checkers can do the spelling and grammar for you. Check and recheck till it is 100% spotless and good to go! For a lot of people reading their essays out loud helps to minimize the mistakes, so why not give it a go?
8. Get a professional writer
If you are really stuck and it seems to you that submitting this essay is a mission impossible just know that you can always get help from experts.