You may not be aware, but habits are not only about running in the morning, or ordering pizza every Friday night. Habits define who we are, looking at someone’s habits you can tell whether this person is destined to be successful or not. There are also habits which define professionals in different fields. In this article, we will get you acquainted with the habits of highly qualified academic writers. Probably, you will be motivated to make some of them your own to succeed in academic writing in college or university.
Habit #1. Writing Plans and Following Them
Even if we needed to choose one habit that defines success, it would be this habit. If you are capable of writing quality plans and later following them, it is for sure your educational and later classic career will be fine. However, most of the students are not taught to write plans and don’t know how to follow them later even if they manage to craft something. So, successful academic writers:
- Write plans for the month, week, and day at least. There can be more strategic plans as well, but they are not always related to writing, so we skip them. Having an understanding of your whole month, you will be much more aware of the number of tasks you have to complete and time they require.
- Use digital calendars for planning. Even if you are a Bullet Journal freak, it is a good idea to start using digital calendars, as they are always with you and they have reminders, and they are easy to adjust when needed.
- Plan taking into account safety borders. For example, you need to write two brief assignments, each of them normally takes three hours. If you plan 6 hours in total for those assignments, most probably you won’t be able to live up to that plan. Leave safety borders in case someone calls you, in case you have a headache, etc.
Habit #2 Writing In Defined Time Patterns
When you are not in a hurry it is fine to work just like you feel it now, but when the schedule is tight, you need to make sure to follow specific patterns.
- Use the Pomodoro technique. It schedules your work in patterns, for example, 25 minutes working 5 minutes resting. Pomodoro apps are free and straightforward to use.
- Adjust your patterns when procrastination hits you. What is good about patterns is that they help fighting procrastination. For example, you want to stop writing at all and watch new episodes of the series you follow. Don’t give up on work! Reverse the pattern for several hours. Rest for 20 minutes and write or do research for 5-10. This way your mind will still be working and you will not procrastinate for too long.
Habit #3. Tracking the Results
Often we can’t proceed efficiently, because we feel like we’ve done nothing, we are losers. You may be surprised but even the most professional academic writers have this feeling.
- Write plans with mono-points. Mono-point is a part of the plan which cannot be divided into more logical points. For example, “to write an essay” is not a mono-point, but to “define three possible titles for my essay” is.
- Everyday track time you’ve spent writing. You should pay attention not only to the result of your writing but also to the process.
Habit #4. Using Online Writing Help
Yes, expert writers from professional essay writing companies may also need some academic help. Of course, they don’t buy essay papers online, but they use a variety of options to make their work easier and more efficient.
- Grammar and style checkers. We all can make mistakes and professionals need to remember about their reputation. So, be like pros, use online checkers to find your grammar mistakes and technical omissions.
- Anti-plagiarism checkers. Just use them!
- Citation generators. They save time, so you have an opportunity to spend more time on proofreading.
Habit #5. Having Enough Sleep, Air, Exercises
Yes, it is the most boring advice ever, but it works like magic.
Sleep deprivation inherent to students makes them stressed and often sick. Make sure to sleep at least 7 hours and go to bed earlier than midnight at least three days a week.
- Get some fresh air. To work, our brain needs oxygen. When you are writing in the airless room, your creativity hits minimum points.
- Don’t forget about some physical activity. Exercises help to fight procrastination, make your thinking process faster, make you more motivated, etc. Even 20 minutes jogging around the block is a great option when you are stuck with another complicated essay.
These habits can make you a truly efficient writer, so start with the one most interesting to you, and add others one by one later.