Are you feeling the pressures of meeting deadlines? Everybody from time to time becomes panicky or stressed over a looming hand-in date. Some people are able to get stuck right in with no problems at all, but for those of you who struggle under pressure, here are six ways you can relieve your coursework stress, and get the work done without wanting to pull your hair out!
Choose some chilled tunes
Depending on your taste, music from both ends of the spectrum may be played, meaning everything from Green Day to Enya (for the more peaceful variety). Did you know it has been proven that music can indeed help you to stay focused on what you are doing? It stimulates the brain. Even some classical music wouldn’t go amiss, so throw on some Mozart and limber yourself up for some essay writing!
Grab a (healthy) snack
Another way to get you through the tedious task of completing the work at hand, is to prepare yourself a few snacks. Whether it is something healthy like a fruit bowl, or maybe just a bag of Doritos and salsa dip. The occasional nibble is a tip that is most commonly used by students when it comes to settling down and writing essays. But whatever the snack you choose, make sure you don’t get too carried away with the food preparation and get distracted from the essay!
Find a quiet place
In order to be able to fully concentrate, you need to work in peaceful surroundings. Find an empty room at home (or a corner in a library) where it is quiet, with nobody chatting or running around. This way you won’t be annoyed or tempted to chase after a younger sibling for being too off-putting! Don’t feel restricted to staying inside a building though; if it is a lovely sunny day outside, why not chill with your work in the back garden, or in a local park? Just make sure you don’t get knocked out by any footballs or frisbees that happen to be passing overhead. Being outside in the sunlight is also reported to make you feel more motivated, therefore in a better position to get started on your coursework.
Make a work plan
The best advice that can be given in terms of actually getting started with the monster, sorry, essay, is to plan the structure of it; so you know what paragraphs will go where and you can make sure that they flow. Having this jotted down on a piece of paper with simple bullet points will help to guide you in creating the best work you possibly can. Without a plan, your ideas, once included in the work, could appear confused and not at all structured.
Take regular breaks
If you are having a writer’s block or hand cramp, “have a break, have a kit-kat”…or whatever you fancy. After a few minutes, you should be back to normal and feeling fresh with ideas! It is always good to have a short break when you have been sitting at your desk for long periods of time, so stretch your legs, go get a drink and then get back to it feeling rejuvenated.
Start early!
You can not go wrong by starting at least a few weeks before the deadline. This way you won’t end up panicking or getting flustered when you realise that the deadline is in fact the next day! It might not be your style to get started before the deadline is even in sight, but it is so worth the effort. You will avoid the coursework stress altogether that way! So get your plan ready and you can gradually start on each paragraph and eventually end up with the finished product! Happy days!
Keeping these tips in mind, hopefully you will be able to breeze through your essay writing with hardly any problems at all. As they say, “KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON”.