Submitting an assignment can be one of the most dreaded and, at the same time, most relieving moments of the semester. Through the years, I've discovered that the best trick to reduce some of this anxiety is to start preparing early. Planning ahead can help you spread the workload over a longer period of time, avoding you having to write thousands of words all at once. Here I've selected some tips to guide you each step of the way to an easy submission.

Step 1 - Preliminary work

Nothing down all of your due dates at the beginning of the semester to have an overall idea of how deadlines are distributed throughout the following months will be a lifesaver, trust me. By doing this, you'll be able to notice if there are any clashes or fi any assignments are very close to one another.

During this step, I also try to roughly assess the weight of each task, not onyl what percentage of your grade they make up but also what type of assignment they are, how long, and how much research they require. For instance, writing an essay may require you to read more extensively than a presentation or blog post, and your writing timeline should refect this. Being aware of your personal preferences and inclinations can also help you to evaluate how much time you'll need to complete different forms of assessment. For instance, while essays can be generally time-consuming, I have gained enough experience writing these to feel quite confident in my essay writing, which means that I'd dedicate more time to assignments I am not as familiar with. 

Based on this general calendar, I usually like to set three weeks to work on each assignment. This is just a rule of thumb based on my previous experiences, being aware of how much time it takes to read, write and review. Three weeks might seem like a lot of time to some people, however, these are usually just enough for me if I consider how busy my schedule tends to be in the middle of the semester. Anyhow, I'd adjust this to your needs, keeping in my kind that future you will thank you if you end up finishing early for once rather than resorting to last minute cramming.

Step 2 - Research phase

Once I have picked a question to work on, I start doing more thorough research on the topic. I usually start from the notes I have taken in placec and any additional materials and readings provided by the course. From here, I proceed by broadening my research which I find to be often more time-consuming than the actual writing stage. How smoothly the actual writing of my paper goes usually depends on how organised I was during the research phase.

My recommendations would be to save all the sources you plan to use in the same place and note down the information you retrieved from them on a document. I eventually like to assign these notes and quote to the different parts of my assignment plan, already dividing them into paragraphs. By this point, you should have an idea of the key points and recurring themes you want to discuss so you can start creating a proper plan for your writing stage. 

Step 3 - Completing the assignment

This step usually involves either writing or recording the final product you'll have to submit. As previously mentioned, whenever I manage to successfully conduct my research and be organised in writing my notes in the plan I made, this last part is usually quite easy. I personally like to split the word limit into different paragraphs and aim at writing either a paragraph or a section of it a day. This system ensures that I don't feel overwhelmed by the word count, as I simply focus on writing a couple hundred words at a time. 

I find this strategy especially helpful when deadlines are overlapping because it allows me to switch from one assignment to another when I eventually get tired of looking at it (this happens to the best of us)!

Step 4 - Submission time

The final step would be saving the last couple of days before the deadline to proofread, review, and make changes ot the paper. This is when I would also make sure that everything is properly referenced and polish by bibliography. At least 24 hours before the submission time I like to upload a draft copy of the assignment so that I can check the plariarism score.

Before celebrating the submission of my assignment, I like to be 100% sure that the file I have submitted is the right one, that it is correcrly formatted, and that all of the information required (word count, student number etc) is on the doucment. You'd be surprised to hear how many times I have heard of friends submitting the wrong file or forgetting things in the submission rush.

Some extra tips

  • Remember that the uni offers plenty of resources on academic writing, plagiarism, and numeracy skills (check out Student Learning Development and the Effective Learning Advisor for the College of Social Sciences)
  • As you might have noticed, I spend quite a lot of time during preliminary work, this is because familiarising yourself with the assessment at the beginning of the semester when you are not busy or stressed, can help you avoid last minute crisis. 
  • Think of group projects as special assignments that require some extra care. While all of my previous tips still stand, you'll probably have to balance different schedules and work paces when working a sa group, keep this in mind when planning your assignment.

First published: 16 January 2025

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