Two Mistakes that Slow You Down and Make Writing More Unpleasant

Even for professionals like those at PowerPapers.com, there are times when writing itself is so stressful, you persuade yourself to go forward by indulging a few whims. Working in front of the television and saving the references for last, are to writing what candy is to the body, better as an occasional sprinkle than a foundation.

People like to believe that they are excellent multitaskers, however all the research shows that is not true, and remember it is all about research. All the evidence tells us that when people do many things at once, they do all of them less well. Over time, we do not get better at multitasking, we get worse.

Now, it’s also true that some of us work a bit better with some ambient noise or with people around us. That is different than multitasking, and it is also limited. We may need the TV to be on, but it needs to be something we can ignore in order to heighten focus. This is different altogether than trying to do two complex tasks at once. Be sure that when you are writing, writing is all you are doing. Getting up every half hour to move laundry from the washer to the dryer can be a good break, but a task that requires your attention every 3 to 10 minutes is detrimental to your writing, even if it feels good to you.

Another thing that makes the writing process more time consuming and odious is the tendency of many writers to save reference work for last. As soon as you decide to include a text, enter its reference into the bibliography. This way you don’t misplace references before you record them, you don’t have to do several at once, but most importantly, it is faster and will help ensure that you cite correctly, according to your referencing style, throughout the paper itself. If you hate doing bibliographies, it is even more important because doing them last is like ending a meal with a spoonful of mud, saving the worst for last discourages you from finishing.