Must-Know Essay Writer Life Hacks for Students

Writing essays can be one of the most challenging parts about academic life. Between pressing deadlines, tons of research, and hours of note-taking, working on an essay can be incredibly stressful – and that’s before you’ve even started doing the actual writing. It’s no wonder tons of students get overwhelmed and end up turning in a late or poorly done paper.

These essay writer life hacks will give you a leg up on your classmates, and you’ll be able to confidently submit a great paper with plenty of time to spare.

1. Don’t dwell on your topic.

Instead of waffling back on forth on which subject might get you a better grade, pick a topic that interests you and stick with it. By spending too much time trying to decide what to write about, you’re wasting valuable hours that you could be using to research or write – so look for a specific area you could explore and get started on it.

2. Speed read your literature.

There is probably a ton of studies out there that could vaguely reference your topic – so start by going through abstracts and conclusions to find specific information that will help you write a better paper. You’ll end up with a much stronger essay if you use targeted research that will either support your argument or present interesting contradictions.

3. Take notes.

All throughout the research process, you should be making notes. Pull out relevant, interesting quotes from the literature you’re reading and write down any of the ideas you might come up with as you read. While not all of this will likely make it into your paper, it’s always better to have more to work with than not enough.

4. Track sources as you go.

As you’re making notes, keep a list of the sources you’re using. Note the author, publication, dates, page numbers, and everything else you will need to create your bibliography at the end of the essay project. It’s much easier to gather this information all together if you’re not frantically trying to look it up after you’ve already written it into your paper.

5. Take breaks.

Instead of letting yourself get burnt out trying to get your essay done in time, set timers and work for specific blocks of time. And when that timer goes off, step away from the computer and let yourself do something you enjoy for ten to twenty minutes before you come back to work. You’ll feel refreshed and ready to get back on task.

6. Pay attention to formatting.

Your assignment likely came with specific instructions as to how your paper should be formatted, and following these directions can make your paper stand out. Not only will it be easier for your instructor to read, you’ll be able to avoid losing marks over something silly like using the wrong citation style.

7. Leave time for revision.

It can be tempting to finish your final draft and send it in immediately just to get it out of the way – but you’re really shortchanging yourself if you don’t take the time to do a little proofreading. A day or two after you’ve completed your essay, go through it again and look for any spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, or typos. You’ll notice them much easier after taking a bit of a break, and you’ll end up with a much more professional result.