How to Write Brilliant Psychology Essays. Paul Dickerson
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want to do, and acknowledging how flexible or inflexible they are and when they occur, can be helpful. Taking time to do this can help you schedule your work to some extent.
A second factor to bear in mind is that it is easy for us to tell ourselves – and others – that we need a clear morning, or afternoon, or a whole day to be able to devote ourselves to our academic work, or, more specifically, to writing our essay. This can lead to us under-valuing those smaller pockets of time that we could potentially use, perhaps especially in the earlier phases of writing. Anthony Trollope wrote 250 words every 15 minutes as he sat at his desk from 5:30 to 8:30 each morning – before going to his day job with the postal service. We might not be as systematic and disciplined as Trollope, but we could be missing lots of opportunities for good writing if we are thinking that we need an uninterrupted stretch of a day or a half-day in order to achieve anything.
Sometimes we may actually need to attend to other matters and then come back to our writing. This could be better than being in a state of tense inactivity where we feel unable to get anything done because of the competing demands we face. If there is something else that is time sensitive to do, then perhaps doing that is the right thing, although often we do not need to see our day, or part-day, in either/or terms. We might do that and this as well.
How can I get started?
Write down some of the things that you need to do – don’t let the list become oppressive.
Where meaningful, schedule these other activities.
You may find that having a reasonable minimum number of words or time period for writing each day really helps.
If you are able to write even a little towards your essay in the morning, it can often be easier to continue – even just dipping into it – later on in the day.
Sometimes doing the duty or fulfilling the obligation that is on your mind might free you to do other things, such as writing your essay.
Keep a look out for realistic pockets of time that you can schedule in advance or just identify in the moment. It can be really surprising how minutes scattered across a day or week can become meaningful opportunities for your writing.
Exercise
Which of these apply to you?
Looking after others, perhaps younger or older relatives.
Paid employment.
Medical appointments.
Voluntary work.
Sporting and other recreational commitments.
Societies and clubs that you belong to.
Relationships.
Other friendships.
Other time commitments – please specify.
Have fun now
We don’t only have lots of duties, we have lots of distractions. Wherever we are, most of us carry a device that can enable us to connect ourselves, entertain ourselves and lose ourselves in hundreds of ways at just two or three clicks. A small minority of phones and some simplifying apps are now designed so that we experience less distraction, bright colours are muted, functionality streamlined and, in some cases, the user is required to specify what they are intending to do when they pick up their phone. But it isn’t just the conspicuous encroachment of distracting technology, we can readily find and externalise distraction whatever our digital footprint. Perhaps this is a key point – we tell ourselves that distraction is being done to us, but often we are choosing to go from the relative discomfort of feeling we should write our essay to some other place, the more immersive, the better. At the end of a month it is us who have decided to give four days to social media and a day and a half to League of Legends, Subway Surfers or Fortnite, even if it didn’t feel like a decision at the time.
We may have to discover what works for us here. Perhaps we should acknowledge the distraction and go ahead with the essay. If we can use this approach it can be really empowering. We might find that some sort of deal works best: for example, we could have a deal that we will be distracted in 10 minutes’ time, rather than right now (this is an easier deal to stick to than going for 10 minutes of distraction first, followed by our work).
A key thing to bear in mind here is that it is not too late to change back to writing your essay. We often tell ourselves that we’ve blown it, that we shouldn’t have watched those four episodes of Game of Thrones, gone snowboarding on our phone or got hooked into YouTube videos about ‘what you can do with a water melon that has no water’. Maybe we shouldn’t have – but the idea that there’s no way back, or that there’s no point in switching back to writing now is far more destructive. If you do get side-tracked – and who doesn’t – always allow yourself to switch back. Who is stopping you?
Make it more fun
Let’s close the gap between work and fun a little. Why not introduce some light-hearted creativity to your writing. Try the following:
1 Use speech bubbles to identify some of the ideas that are relevant to your essay. This is a really good way of outlining some of the key debates.Use the speech bubbles below to get going:Essay topic:Argument 1:Argument 2:Argument 3:
2 Host ‘The Psychologists’ Party’ – expenses are minimal, there are zero health risks and your guests will leave whenever you want. Just imagine which psychologists you can invite to talk about the specific topic of your essay. What will they say and, crucially, how will they each respond to what the others have said?Essay topic:Guest list:Conversation highlights:Agreements between guests:Disagreements between guests:
3 Try speed-psyching – this is a little like speed dating with rather less at stake and no need to check where the exits are.Quickly write down the names and or ideas that you think are relevant for your essay. Get your timer out. Each name, or idea, has just 60 seconds to convince you that they have something relevant to say about the topic of the essay. Write down what it is they would say in this situation. Don’t delay, you haven’t got time, just write it down.Name:Their 60-second statement:Name:Their 60-second statement:Name:Their 60-second statement:
How can I get started?
Acknowledge that you feel like being distracted – being swept away from the bits that feel stressful with the work in front of you. Those feelings are fine, but why not carry on with your work anyway?
Possibly probe why you have such negative feelings – often stress, anxiety and guilt – associated with your essay writing. Is there a way you can help yourself approach your writing in a spirit of play rather than of stress?
If it is not simply too depressing, you might calculate how long – in a typical month – you spend on doing things that you slip into in an unthinking way. Social media, video games and TV are all likely candidates, but you can create your own list.
Consider a deal where you will first do your writing and then go for distraction time. Finding the optimal timing for this is tricky, as the more distractible you feel the more you may have to charm your way into writing with the promise of an imminent break – but that break has to be timed too.
You may find that certain environments might reduce some of the prevalent distractions that affect you. Writing with another person silently present, working in a café or library, or online study environment may work for you.
Different times of day can have quite a different energy about them as both we and our environment change quite markedly. I am writing this sentence at 1:57 am. The house and the road outside are very quiet.