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Essay Schedules
Essay Schedules
Sticking to your essay schedule
Sticking to your essay schedule
Hopefully you’ve made some progress on your first essay, but if you’re feeling stuck, don’t worry. Essays are typically the longest and most difficult piece of the application process for students, so you’re not alone!
feeling stuck? time for scheduling 101
feeling stuck? time for scheduling 101
Before anything else, let’s recap. Why do you need a schedule?
It reduces the stress and anxiety that come with procrastination.
It saves time! Creating a schedule in advance will save you time and energy making decisions later on.
It gets you closer to your goals—whether that’s finishing an essay or graduating from college, you’ll need a plan and a timeline to get there.
Creating the right schedule requires thinking about yourself. This is a timeline for you and nobody else. Remember:
Be realistic: If you work two jobs and take care of a sibling, you probably aren’t going to be able to schedule 4 hours a day for writing essays. Create a schedule that fits your life, even if it means writing for an hour a week.
Be true to yourself: You know what works for you. If you’re not a morning person, don’t schedule your writing time early in the day.
Be kind: If you fall off your schedule, don’t beat yourself up! Just start again tomorrow and don’t waste time stressing over being behind.
With that out of the way, let’s look at some common problems students run into while trying to stick to a writing schedule.
What if you're having trouble staying organized?
What if you're having trouble staying organized?
Google Calendar
This all-in-one scheduling tool that allows you to schedule events, set reminders for yourself, schedule video calls, and see any upcoming dates and deadlines.
Get started here. You don’t even need to have a Gmail to use it!
Then you can check out this guide that walks you through some of the basics such as scheduling events and personalizing your calendar!
Bullet Journals
A more creative way to schedule your time, create to-do lists, and brainstorm. In addition to helping you stay organized, bullet journaling can be a fun, stress-relieving activity. These are also great if you like writing things down instead of seeing everything on the computer. All you need is a notebook and a pen!
You’re in charge of how you format your journal, but you can check out this guide for ideas on how to start.
You can also look at some examples here!
What if you're stuck?
What if you're stuck?
If you’re just feeling stuck, here are a few tips that might come in handy:
Write first, edit later. Don’t get too hung up on what it sounds like, just get your thoughts on the page.
You don’t have to start at the beginning! Start at any point and you can always fill in the beginning and end of your story later.
Read the prompt carefully and make sure you answer all parts of the question.
Think small. Don’t try to do too much at once or tell your whole life story in an essay. Focus on a specific event or time that highlights your topic.
Tell your story! Colleges want to get to know you and how you’re unique.
Always have someone edit your work, adviser, a teacher, or a trusted friend.
Writers Block
Does it feel absolutely impossible to write another word? Try one of these!
Give your mind a break. Play a video game, have a snack, or check out the college tours in the next section to distract yourself!
Get up and move around.
Talk it out with a friend, adviser, or one of your other cheerleaders. Speaking your thoughts out loud to someone else will help get ideas flowing.
Just free write something. It doesn’t have to be related to your essay—write about your day or an idea you had just to get ideas flowing.
Writing Tips
Here are a couple of the resources highlighted!
Admissions Essay Tips directly from the University of Michigan!
What if you just want a break?
What if you just want a break?
One way to get your mind off your essay could be checking out one of the virtual college tours below, especially if you haven’t been able to visit. This might even give you some inspiration on what to write about!
If a school on your list isn’t here, click here for a full list of schools offering virtual tours!
If you’re really feeling like you need to take a break, schedule a day off from working on your essay and college applications and come back to them later. This is summer, so don’t forget to have fun!
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