Writing and Communication Centre

A writer's pen is a muscle: take it to the gym

Trenton Joseph McNulty — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 12:00:00 +0000

I was not an athletic child. Never one to break out a ball on the playground, never one to try out for teams or clubs.

Tags: writing, writer's block, WCC, writing process, writing tools, time management, stress reduction, rules, reading, recommendations, procrastination, books

How to manage your time for the sake of sleeping and writing

Sana Khaliq — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 12:00:00 +0000

You may already know that getting your sleep is important for your mental and physical health. But, did you also know that it’s important for writing papers too? Honestly, writing strong papers is hard in general. Now if you’re also not sleeping well enough to even function properly, then writing that strong paper is going to be even harder. The solution?

Tags: organization, procrastination, productivity, schedule, sleep, time management, writing

5 Productivity strategies for university students

Catharina Wicks — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 12:00:00 +0000

I always find that the winter term is particularly hard to get through. It’s cold, dreary, has long days, and it never seems like summer is on its way. Being productive during this time is difficult because you just want to curl up in bed and wait for the warm weather to arrive. However, as the exam season approaches, you have to start planning out the best way to study and even think about what you can do to improve your study habits for next term.

Here are five productivity strategies to help you study!

Tags: productivity, preparation, procrastination, projects, time management, university, breaks, advice, focus, schedule, mindfulness

How to stay supplied with reading material when you're busy and budgeting

Kate Stericker — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 12:00:00 +0000

In a past blog post, I discussed how valuable it can be to adopt a recreational reading habit as a student.

Tags: reading, time management, budgeting, schedule, fiction, audiobooks, books, tips, advice

Hacks for time management

Megan Honsberger — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 12:00:00 +0000

It’s getting to be “that time of year” again, UWaterloo!

Tags: time management, organization, LNAP, procrastination, stress reduction

Tackling the essay exam

Abigail Tait — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 12:00:00 +0000

Essay exams often test you on the big picture concepts of a course. The idea of writing an essay in one sitting, especially without knowing the question in advance, may seem like an impossible task. Preparing for these exams may seem intimidating; however, essay exams can become a bit more bearable with some good preparation.

Tags: exams, essay, preparation, studying, focus, questions, time management

Beating Procrastination

Abigail Tait — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 12:00:00 +0000

“I’ll do it later” seems to be one of the most common phrases we say and it seems to be the most common phrase when it shouldn't be. Procrastination is one of those habits that the majority of us just can’t seem to beat. It hits everyone at some point, but can be much more difficult to shake for some people. Except, even our most productive students or colleagues face the same feelings of procrastination; however, they know how to beat it. Recent research regarding procrastination has shown that it is much more complex than a simple “I don't feel like it” attitude.

Tags: procrastination, mood, initiative, time management, focus, tips, strategies

The First Word is the Hardest: How to Get Working on a Writing Assignment

Kate Stericker — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 12:00:00 +0000

Often, the hardest part of completing a writing project is getting started. Whether you’re working on an essay, a lab report, or an online discussion post, there are all sorts of problems that can prevent you from penning those first few words. Let’s break down a few of those problems and explore some solutions that can help get the sentences flowing.

Tags: brainstorming, motivation, inspiration, procrastination, productivity, writer's block, strategies, tips, time management, writing, writing process

Biology graduate student’s approach to writing is infectious

Nadine Fladd — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 12:00:00 +0000

I knock on a door and am greeted by Meghan Fuzzen, a PhD candidate in biology whose research focuses on determining the impact of treated wastewater on the reproductive health of fish in the Grand River.

Tags: academic, advice, breaks, dissertation boot camp, graduate students, graduate school, productivity, strategies, time management, writing, writing process, writing tools

Procrastination Binge

Jameson Ngo — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 12:00:00 +0000

I binge-watched How to Get Away with Murder for the past two days instead of doing anything productive. It’s 11PM.

Let’s talk about procrastination.

Tags: Doodles, focus, humour, procrastination, productivity, time management, tips, writing, writing process, writer's block