Sometimes, you have to write a good essay in a limited amount of time. It doesn’t matter if you have put off your homework until the very last moment or recalled the essay at the very last moment. In this case, you have a few options when it comes to solving a problem with a strict deadline. First, you can always find an affordable essay writing service and contact a specialist. Secondly, you can stock up on caffeine, energy drinks, and other stimulators for the activity of your brain, and try to write all night long. Unfortunately, it is often possible to overestimate the capabilities of your body. You may either fall asleep on a keyboard or not be able to write a single word because of anxiety and overwhelming excitement because of all the caffeine cups you have drunk. Fortunately, there is also a third option. You can use our tips to help you collect your thoughts and write, if not a masterpiece, then quite a decent essay. With the right planning approach and enough hard work, you will always be able to write a good essay, even in a short time.

What stops you from writing quicker?
First of all, let’s understand the reasons why the process may slow down and what can be done to eliminate these reasons.

Getting stuck on information
Of course, before you start writing about anything, you have to gather information about the subject. It’s the collecting of information that takes most of the time. Clearly, collecting high-quality data is essential, but you often move from one source to another, start reading other people’s articles, which have nothing to do with your topic. You switch from one piece to another just because they are attractive.

As a result, you collect as much information as would be enough for a dissertation, while you have only up to 2 500 characters in your essay.

Fear of a white paper
Sometimes it is difficult to decide how to start an essay. You sit in front of an empty page and start feeling the anxiety. Writing at least the title of an essay can help you conquer this fear and move on with the outline.

Lack of concentration
It doesn’t matter where you write – in class, in the dormitory, or the café. You can get distracted anywhere. In general, fighting distractions is a real war with where every student participates. Curious chats with friends, fascinating articles, entertainment websites, Facebook, and Instagram – these fellows are just waiting for you to relax, and get distracted from work.

Getting ready to write an essay

Hide your phone and turn off the notifications
Turn on the flight mode on your phone and disable all notifications in the browser and applications. It doesn’t seem to be such a stupid idea when even the wall in front of you manages to distract you. It may also help to close all the tabs except the text editor. The brain sees only text and forgets that it has to check its email and do other urgent tasks every minute.

Clean your table
The working space can both inspire and distract us. So, the mess on the table has never motivated anyone to do anything but clean up. Remove the clock, which will disturb you with its ticking and cause even more anxiety. Ideally, leave an empty desk just with your computer and notebook with a pen.

Plan your work
Think about how much time you need to write an essay and, based on this, make an agenda. This will help you decide how much time to devote to each step in the preparation of the essay, as well as to keep yourself within strict limits in the process of working on the task. When developing the plan, be honest with your own strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you are good at collecting the necessary information, but not so good at drafting and editing your own text, provide less time to studying the topic, but allocate more time to editing the essay. Be sure to have breaks so you can refresh your head.
It is all about the start

1. Make sure you understand the topic – It may sound ridiculous, but quite often, students start researching the subject of their essay without a clear understanding. Think for a while about the main question and try to answer it yourself. Write down all the thoughts you have and then choose the most appealing ones.

2. Prepare your arguments or thesis statements on the topic – The arguments and thesis are the statements that you will justify in your essay with some evidence and analysis. Prepare your own arguments to build your research on the topic and accelerate the creation process.

3. Make research – We need strong, reliable arguments and statistics to prove our statements. Thorough research is an excellent solution, but not in our situation. Since you are limited in time, focus on one or two sources only. Make sure you check the reliability of the selected sources of information. You should use experts’ publications in journals, state and academic websites, and official newspapers and magazines. Do not use information from personal blogs, obviously biased sources, or those without professional expertise. You can also use information that you already know to speed up your research. Just find a reliable source of information to back them up and include in your materials.

4 Compile a plan – Prepare an essay plan to use while writing your text. Structuring the text according to the plan and supplementing it with the necessary evidence will simplify and advance the work on the essay. A plan will help you identify those areas of the text that require better work. Include an introduction, the main body, and the conclusion. The more detailed the plan is, the faster you will write an essay. For example, instead of marking the main text of the essay with one paragraph, divide it into sub-paragraphs or sentences that represent your main arguments and supporting evidence. Start gradually to expand your plan with arguments and ideas, and you will see it grow from a set of phrases and words to text.

5. Remove excess “water” – Students tend to approach the main idea by spending an entire paragraph on meaningless generalizations. In particular, when writing an essay within a strict time frame, it is crucial to state your main arguments and evidence in their favor immediately. Spending too much time on the introduction will take more valuable time from work on the main body.

6. Edit and proofread – Even if you are limited in time, you should include a period to finalize the draft. This includes not only the correction of spelling and other minor errors. Reread the entire text of the essay twice out loud.

Tips on editing

You can correct the work in several directions at once:

• Structure. Check how logically one part of the essay is linked to another. Are they equal, or does one of them beat the other? If this does happen, then try to make the “conflicting” parts equal.
• Sincerity. Try to avoid excessive pompousness and loud words. The more sincere you write the higher are the chances that the reader will react to your words.
• Style. In this case, you should use one style without any leaps and bounds.
• Size. If you see that the essay turned out to be too big, then reduce the largest parts without any regret, leaving only the most necessary things.
• Grammar. Read the paper several times, try to correct all spelling, grammar, and stylistic errors it contains.

Take the draft seriously. If you have some time to spare, then let the essay rest. This way, you can move away from what you’ve written and then take a closer look at your work.