How to Write Your Essays Without Ruining the Holiday Spirit
It's hard to embrace the spirit of Christmas whenever you think about your essay papers. The deadlines come in succession during the month of December, which prompts you to imagine a snowball rolling down the slope of a mountain. It gets bigger while it goes down, and you don't want to end up like poor Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge. Cheer up, as this isn't a serious problem as it seems to be.
The first thing that you need to do is to adopt an active lifestyle. It would mean that you must not have an idle hour, which could affect your rhythm (that would keep you going). It would be different from taking a break after becoming exhausted from studying and doing the errands after lecture or writing. You might wonder about those moments when you're energetic, if not restless, of how it could cause some problems when you're trying to get to sleep. You can read a book, which doesn't have to be recommended by your professor. And you must ensure that you would get more than eight hours of sleep. (In this regard, you don't have to be guilty about not getting off the bed immediately.) You might have to make an exception on morning lectures or examinations, but it would be avoided if you follow your schedule. It's time to move to other things.
Prep and Follow These 5 Tips
Figure out that time of the day when you're productive. You should have known if you're most productive during the day, if not night time, and if you're capable of writing (or studying) for hours or do it in shorter intervals and have more breaks in between your time with books and your laptop. The hectic schedule could alter your routine, which would force you to come up with a new schedule. You can't manage on this one on your own, so don't be reluctant to ask help from your course mate(s) or your tutor. And you must make sure that you do it in advance. You don't want to miss your deadline, which could affect your preparation for an examination.
You must be realistic about the number of hours that you spend on writing. No one would believe your claim that you write your assignment for five hours with ten minutes of rest after each hour. Thirty minutes (or more) seem realistic, and the length of time could be longer than your estimate. You're not supposed to write faster (and do a quick revise), as paper writing must not be rushed at all. You must ensure that you don't have much to do during the following morning. If you do, make the necessary changes in your schedule immediately.
It's up to you to write some notes on Post-it Notes and stick it. You may be inclined to review your previous papers and take note of your mistakes. It's a good thing to learn from it, which may help you with your next assignment. It may not help you as well. You're studying different topics, but it would be a different case with literature. You can't expect some ideas to be repeated (and discussed) whenever you're studying a particular author and his (or her) works or a certain genre. Literary study might be more challenging than the tests that other students (from other departments), but it doesn't make the effort of the latter less admirable. You also have the option to post some notes on your wall, if not your desk. It can be reminders, ideas (or tips) that you can't afford to forget or something to play with. You also have bookmarks on some books, which are lying on top of your table. There's no guarantee that you would finish your draft ahead of the deadline, as you would make a full use of your mental faculties. And you can't expect to be sharp at seven in the morning. Reading some notes, which you’re likely to do again and again, might be a better option.
Avoid your gadgets at all costs. You would be disrupted now and then, which won't be good at this time (of the year). You must finish your paper, as your professors don't take tardiness as a good excuse. You can advise your parents about it, as you remind them about spending Christmas Eve with them.
Write a list, draw a diagram or do anything that will help you in writing. This is not the cause of writer's block, but rather giving you an idea of how to be creative when you're thinking about what to write. It could require more space, which would be a no-issue.
Read It Aloud
Your roommate, if not your course mate, would call you attention whenever you read your assignment aloud. It’s not an option, yet you must do it whenever you proofread your essay paper. It should make you do the job faster, as you notice the mistakes that you overlook before. It can also lead to a light-bulb moment, realizing an important idea that you haven’t thought before. It keeps you wide awake as well. Your room mate (or course mate) might not see it that way, so explain it. You would have a follower afterward.
