Concentration help!

[BilboBaggins]

So here's a problem it seems most people have faced in some form or other.. in my current case: I have an essay due in two days and am having a horrible time concentrating. Everytime I start to look at my keyboard to type, I'm suddenly off in my own world and it's ten minutes later.. the countdown to doom begins. So I'm really in a pickle here, how do you guys buckle down and concentrate when you have a deadline??

 

 

 

 

 

"those who do not hear the music think that the dancer is mad"

[Lightman]

pace, dd and brainstorm ideas about the paper... get excited about it.

[Laila]

Try to get yourself interested in the essay regardless of the topic. Curiosity can be your most powerful tool! Maybe even tie it into your DDs somehow, and let that motivate you to write about it. When I had to write history papers for example, I'd imagine my characters in place of historical figures, going through the exact same events in great detail. And for my political science papers, I'd turn my character into a politician, and felt that I needed to know/write all this information to properly develop his character. I guess I wrote my papers more for my characters haha!

 

Personally, I worked better under pressure, like with what you're probably going through right now. It's like I had no other choice, lol.

[BilboBaggins]

It's on sonnets, which is torment enough! I like poetry but these ones just drag on and onnnn! Thanks, the kitchen table and classical music idea are definintly something I plan to try !! :)

[Mira]

What's your essay about? It's always harder if it's a topic that's kinda boring!

For essays, I always do things in steps: First, I loosely jot down all my ideas in point form. Then I start to organize them or group them into an outline. Then, part by part I pull it together. 

You can just pick the easiest part and then go from there- even if it means starting in the middle instead of the beginning. Everybody's different, mind you, but I've found that things are easier to tackle if you break them up into little bits and focus on one bit at a time, and don't worry too much about what order you do things in. I'm a writer myself and I've also found I do my best work when I just really familiarize myself with a topic and then chuck my notes in the corner and start typing as much as I can, and then clean it up later.

I would also suggest getting away from the Internet (unless you really need it) and any other reminders of DD. Put on some classical music and try to work in an area like the kitchen table or something.