Essay Writing Tip #6: Optimize your Workflow

Make your computer work for you.

So far in this blog series, we’ve covered citation managers, keeping things simple, mining Wikipedia and other starter sources for, well, more sources, and how to obtain those sources. In our last blog we talked about learning to love the sources you’ve got. Today we’re going to talk a little more about the “work smarter, not harder” lifestyle. You know that being a student is tough enough, but writing essays can make it even harder. There are so many things to remember: Font, margin, page numbers, atrocious citation styles…and we haven’t even mentioned the actual writing yet! But here’s one essay writing tip that you might not have thought of yet: optimizing your workflow! That’s right, with the right tweaks and settings, you can save yourself hours in essay prep time, cut down on your stress by eliminating minor mistakes, and much, much more!

You’re already using a citation manager, right?…Right?!!

If you read the first part of this series, I really hope you’re already settling in and developing a lifelong fondness for whichever one you’ve chosen. Even if you’re team Endnote, you’re still far better off than you were before. Please go back and read Part One of my series about essay writing tips if you need to catch up.

Use Autocorrects.

Autocorrects are your friend. I wish I could show you how many typos I made in just that sentence. If you find yourself typing the same words or phrases over and over, add abbreviations to your autocorrects. Do it every time for every typo you make in a word processor, because if you make the typo once, chances are you’ll do it again. It may seem tedious at first, but once you’ve got it down, your productivity will soar! And best of all, you will no longer have to worry about careless typos.

For repetitive things you have to write a lot, like emails or common but annoying phrases (“Great post this week, classmate! It really gave me a lot to think about…” or “My grandma died, can I have an extension?” … just kidding, you better not really be doing that), you can also try software like TextExpander, the Text Blaze extension for Chrome, PhraseExpress (Windows only), and Magical (FYI: This one doesn’t work in Google docs).

 

Make templates.

Chances are, each of your professors has their own little peccadilloes and preferences for essay submissions. Save yourself some sanity, and set up several document templates at the beginning of the term. Sit down with each syllabus at the beginning of the term, and read the professor’s expectations for written work submission. Then set up one template for each class. That way, you don’t have to spend time fiddling with margins when you could be working on your essay, and nobody can dock your grade for the absolute audacity of putting page numbers at the top of the page instead of the bottom.

Make macros and harness your computer’s intelligence.

But don’t stop at mere templates. Set up your own macros in Word, kick back, and enjoy imagining Bill Gates doing your bidding. Well, sort of. And also, you can make macros for MS Word whether you’re a hacker or not. It’s extremely easy! In case you ever wondered what that

Example: You can use a macro to specify that Word will always look for your images in a specific folder, which can save you valuable time (especially if the clock is ticking!). You can use a macro to add the info for a fussy title page for those professors who grade that nonsense, and never worry about forgetting it again. You can use a macro to remove formatting, like if you copy a quote from a PDF (hopefully with a citation, of course).

 

Optimization: So what? Now what?

These might not seem like huge tips, but they add up to a lot of saved time. More importantly, though, think about where you get stuck when writing and what little annoyances they cause you. Have you ever lost your train of thought, or points on your assignment, because you couldn’t remember which side of the page the stupid APA “running header” was supposed to be on? Have you ever been marked down for formatting? Handed a paper in 2 minutes late because you had to fix so many typos? Then hopefully you will see the value in this tip! Optimization can help you remove distractions until you finally achieve that zen-like state of just focusing entirely on writing.

Essay writing can be daunting, but if you set up your tools efficiently enough, you’re sure to save time and energy. So don’t forget to optimize your computer when it comes to essay writing. And if all else fails, don’t forget that there are plenty of essay writing services out there to help you get the job done. Good luck!

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