Hello everyone:

Sometimes, it is difficult to know when to begin work on an assignment. Plan backwards, if you want to get a quick handle on when things need to be accomplished.

Figure out your due date by looking at the syllabus. Let’s say that your due date for the next major paper is February 8th. Today is January 23rd. If you are well-organized, you will want to have a couple of days to look the paper over one more time, so that means you have to have it ready by February 5th.

You figure it will take you about one week to write the paper, so now we’re looking at January 29th. It will take 3-4 days to do the research, so that is about January 25th or 26th. You need to decide what to write about, and that might take a day or so, which puts you at January 23rd or 24th. That first date is today, so get started right now. Time’s a wasting!

February 8th looked pretty far away, but it’s closer than you think. If you want to truly do a well-thought-out paper, you must get started right now, or first thing in the morning.

Best,

Dr. Sheri