Dear Agony Aunt,
I’ve spent too much time partying this semester and I left my essay too late. I have 4,000 words to write and only three days to do it in. I haven’t done any research for it yet either some I’m completely starting from scratch. Some of my friends are really good at writing their essays the day they are due but I just can’t work that quickly. Is there anything I can do to get it done on time or am I a lost cause?
Sincerely, Stressed.
Worry not, Stressed, three days is plenty of time to write and research 4,000 words (well maybe not plenty of time, but it’s certainly doable). The biggest thing at this point is not to stress. I know that’s easy to say and a lot harder to do. But stressing out will just make things worse. Put things into perspective. If you don’t get a very good mark in this assignment, it’s not the end of the world. Even if you are in your last year and this mark will count towards your final degree classification, it’s not the only thing that will count. And if you’re still stressed just ignore it, honestly. Even if you feel like there’s no way you can get it done, distract yourself by working.
The right environment
Now you’re ready to get to work, make sure you’re in the environment that suits you best. Whether you’re most productive at the library or you get your best work done in bed, it’s up to you. Make sure you also have a good supply of food and drink; sometimes it’s easy to forget about those things while you’re working.
Start by doing some basic research, read over your lecture notes and read a few of the key texts so you have an idea of the direction you want to take your essay in. Decide what the main sections will be, even if you aren’t sure of exactly what you will say. At this point you may decide you’re ready to start writing while researching as you go, or you may feel you need to do more research before you start to write.
Start at the start
A lot of your lectures may have told you to write your introduction last as you may not know the exact direction the essay will take before you start. However, writing an introduction can be a good way to ease yourself in to writing the essay. You can always go back and change it if your argument has changed by the end. Once you get going, keep writing, don’t go back to keep editing. You can do that at the end if you have time. You can also use the comment feature on word (or Google docs, or pages) to put the URL of your sources so you don’t have to keep stopping and starting to add them to the bibliography or keep a million tabs open.
Now you’ve started to make progress, keep taking breaks. I know you can often feel too stressed and under too much pressure, but you’ll work better for it. For some people, taking a five minute break every hour is the best way to stay focused on track, whereas others prefer to work for hours and then take a longer break. Either way, once your brain starts going foggy, it’s probably time to look at something other than a computer screen.
Make it yours
I hate to sound like your lecturer, but my last piece of advice is don’t plagiarise. It can be tempting as the clock is ticking down and your essay still isn’t finished, but it’s honestly not worth it. The worst thing that can happen if you hand in a terrible essay is that you fail the module and have to re-sit. Whereas the worst thing that can happen if you get caught plagiarising is that you get thrown off your course, and possibly even prevented from applying to other universities.
Just remember that it’s only university. It may feel like it at times, but it’s not life-or-death. So do what you can and, if you have to hand in a load of rubbish, you’ll survive.
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