When you’re
a student (especially in university), spring time can mean several things:
nicer weather, spring break and one step closer to the summer holiday. It’s
generally all nice and well but spring also means that an insane amount of work
and essays are about to be due. The workload can be overwhelming at times and
staying focus is key to writing quality papers. I know it’s difficult but
procrastinating has to stop.
Over the
years I have discovered tricks that help me get in the zone and really focus on
those papers. I’m the kind of person that always needs to have some sort of
background sound to concentrate, a quiet library doesn’t work for me. So depending
on your personality these can prove helpful or they simply might not work for
you.
For me, the
writing process has two sections: the research part and the actual writing
part. I like to start by doing research because it makes it easier for me to
write afterwards and it also helps alleviate the stress of having to find
sources that substantiate your paper at the last minute. Spending hours online
looking things up can get a bit boring, which is why I like to put a movie or a
TV show on that I have already seen while I do this. Since you know what will
happen it’s less distracting than having something random on and it makes the
whole research process more enjoyable because you’re listening to something you
like. Your favorite parts can also make for really nice breaks to have snack
and stretch.
Once you
have most of your references comes the most difficult part: coming up with an insightful,
cohesive and well written paper. Depending on your topic this can turn out to
be quite fun, but usually, for some mysterious reason, essays you write for
university are hard to do. The word count seems impossible to reach, the topic
is uninspiring or you can’t find anything on it. This is why you need to get in
the zone, that wonderful place where brilliant sentences just flow and you can
write thousands of words in an hour. For this, television becomes too
distracting, I need something repetitive. I like to find a song that’s calming
and will almost hypnotize me into focusing. One song I highly recommend for
that is Erase by Hyorin and JooYoung (listen to it here), this is the song that
got me through my final essays last semester. It allowed me to concentrate
without having silence mocking me during my writer’s block.
I hope
these tips will help you with any essay writing you might have to do. Most
importantly, don’t worry too much and try to plan ahead so you have enough time
and less stress on your mind. If you’d like I would love to share with you all other
tips for essay writing, but for now good luck!
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