You will be judged, for your entire life, on the basis of how well you write. If you write well, people will think you are smart. If you write poorly, they will think you are dumb. That is perhaps unfair, but it is the reality, and you might as well face it now.
Anyone can learn to write well, although for some people it does not come easily. Still, there are certain easy lessons that take no great effort to master.
1. Your vs. You’re
Many people make this error, and all it takes to avoid it is to take a second and think about what you’re trying to say.
“Y-o-u-r” is a possessive pronoun, as in “your car” or “your facebook.” “Y-o-u-’-r-e” is a contraction for “you are,” as in “you’re screwing up your writing by using your when you really mean you are.”
2. It’s vs. Its
This is another common mistake. It’s also easily avoided by thinking through what you’re trying to say.
“I-t-’-s” is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.” “I-t-s” is a possessive pronoun, as in “this studying has lost its charm.” Here’s an easy rule of thumb—repeat your sentence out loud using “it is” instead. If that sounds goofy, “i-t-s” is likely the correct choice. Another way to keep track is to remember that contractions always have apostrophes, whereas some possessive words, like “yours” or “hers”, do not.
3. There vs. Their
This one seems to trip up everyone occasionally, often as a pure typo. Make sure to watch for it when you proofread.
“T-h-e-r-e” is used many ways, including as a reference to a place (“let’s go there”) or as a pronoun (“there is no hope”). “T-h-e-i-r” is a plural possessive pronoun, as in “their bags” or “their opinions.” Always do the “that’s ours!” test—are you talking about more than one person and something that they possess? If so, “t-h-e-i-r” will get you t-h-e-r-e.
4. Affect vs. Effect
As with any of the other common mistakes people make when writing, it’s taking that moment to get it right that makes the difference in catching this error.
“A-f-f-e-c-t” is a verb, as in “Your ability to communicate clearly will affect your income immensely.” “E-f-f-e-c-t” is a noun, as in “The effect of a parent’s low income on a child’s future is well documented.” By thinking in terms of “the effect,” you can usually sort out which is which, because you can’t stick a “the” in front of a verb.
5. The Dangling Participle
The dangling participle may be the most egregious of the most common writing mistakes. Not only will this error damage the flow of your writing, it can also make it impossible for someone to understand what you’re trying to say.
Check out these two examples :
After rotting in the cellar for weeks, my brother brought up some oranges.
Umm… keep your decomposing brother away from me!
Flitting gaily from flower to flower, the football player watched the bee.
If you said that to the football player's face just the way it's phrased, you could end up a bloody lump of pulp lying on the astroturf, because he might conclude you think he "flits gaily," a thing most people in his profession don't do, at least in public.
The problem with both of the above is that the participial phrase that begins the sentence is not intended to modify what follows next in the sentence. However, readers mentally expect it to work that way, so your opening phrase should always modify what immediately follows. If it doesn’t, you’ve left the participle dangling, as well as your readers.
1) Cut Out the Noise
· Turn off email and IM alerts
· Listen to music that you enjoy, but that fades into the background
Getting into a state of concentration can take at least fifteen minutes. If you are getting distracted every five, you can’t possibly focus entirely on your work.
2) Structure Your Environment
The place you work can have an impact on your ability to focus. Try to locate yourself so you are facing potential distractions such as doors, phones or windows. This way you can take a glance to assess sounds that would otherwise break your focus.
3) Clarify Objectives
Know what your goal is clearly before you start. If you aren’t sure what the end result is, the confusion will make it impossible to focus. Unclear objectives often result in having to redo sections of work.
4) Divide Blobs
Big blobs of tasks that have no clear start or end point destroy focus. If you have a large project that needs work, clearly identify a path that you will use to get started working on it. If the sequence of actions isn’t obvious, it will be difficult to concentrate. Taking a few minutes to plan not only your end result, but the order you will complete any steps, can save hours in wasted thinking.
5) Know the Rules
Get clear on what the guidelines are for the task ahead. What level of quality do you need? What standards do you need to follow? What constraints are there? If the rules aren’t clear from the outset, you will slip out of concentration as you ponder them later.
6) Set a Deadline
Deadlines have both advantages and disadvantages when trying to force concentration. A deadline can make it easier to forget the non-essential and speed up your working time.
Time limits have disadvantages when they cause you to worry about the time you have left instead of the task itself. Using deadlines is recommended when:
Time is limited. If you only have a day to complete work that could easily take weeks, chunking it into specific deadlines will strip away everything that isn’t crucial.
It’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. If your task could easily expand to have new features or ideas, use a deadline to keep it under control.
To avoid procrastination. A tight deadline can save you if you are worried about procrastinating.
7) Break Down Roadblocks
Roadblocks occur whenever you hit a tricky problem in your work. This can happen when you run out of ideas or your focus wavers. Break down roadblocks by brainstorming or planning on a piece of paper. Writing out your thought processes can keep you focused even if you might become frustrated.
8) Isolate Yourself
Become a hermit and stay away from other people if you want to get work done. Unless your work is based on other people they will only break your focus. Create a private space and refuse to talk to anyone until your work is finished. Put a sign on your door to steer away drop-ins and put your phone somewhere that you can hear it, but can’t reach it.
9) Healthy Body, Sharper Mind
What you put into your body affects the way you concentrate. Nobody would expect peak performance if they showed up drunk to work. But if you allow yourself to get chronic sleep deprivation, overuse stimulants like caffeine or eat dense, fatty foods your concentration will suffer. Try to cut out one of your unhealthy habits for just thirty days to see if there is a difference in your energy levels.
10) Be Patient
Before beginning a project, sit and consider what you want to accomplish for fifteen or twenty minutes before you begin. During this time you may feel a strong urge to leave or do something else. But if you are patient, you may stumble upon an inspiration and enter a state of flow. Without a little patience, you can’t take advantage of flow when it rushes through you.
If you need strong concentration, periods of 90-120 minutes are recommended. Any less than that and you will waste too much time getting started before the flow can continue. More than this is possible to sustain focus, but you will probably benefit from a quick break.
The SQ3R method has been a proven way to sharpen study skills. SQ3R stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review. Take a moment now and write SQ3R down. It is a good slogan to commit to memory to carry out an effective study strategy.
Survey - get the best overall picture of what you're going to study BEFORE you study it an any detail. It's like looking at a road map before going on a trip. If you don't know the territory, studying a map is the best way to begin.
Question - ask questions for learning. The important things to learn are usually answers to questions. Questions should lead to emphasis on the what, why, how, when, who and where of study content. Ask yourself questions as you read or study. As you answer them, you will help to make sense of the material and remember it more easily because the process will make an impression on you. Those things that make impressions are more meaningful, and therefore more easily remembered. Don't be afraid to write your questions in the margins of textbooks, on lecture notes, or wherever it makes sense.
Read - Reading is NOT running your eyes over a textbook. When you read, read actively. Read to answer questions you have asked yourself or questions the instructor or author has asked. Always be alert to bold or italicized print. The authors intend that this material receive special emphasis. Also, when you read, be sure to read everything, including tables, graphs and illustrations. Often times tables, graphs and illustrations can convey an idea more powerfully than written text.
Recite - When you recite, you stop reading periodically to recall what you have read. Try to recall main headings, important ideas of concepts presented in bold or italicized type, and what graphs charts or illustrations indicate. Try to develop an overall concept of what you have read in your own words and thoughts. Try to connect things you have just read to things you already know. When you do this periodically, the chances are you will remember much more and be able to recall material for papers, essays and objective tests.
Review - A review is a survey of what you have covered. It is a review of what you are supposed to accomplish, not what you are going to do. Rereading is an important part of the review process. Reread with the idea that you are measuring what you have gained from the process. During review, it's a good time to go over notes you have taken to help clarify points you may have missed or don't understand. The best time to review is when you have just finished studying something. Don't wait until just before an examination to begin the review process. Before an examination, do a final review. If you manage your time, the final review can be thought of as a "fine-tuning" of your knowledge of the material. Thousands of high school and college students have followed the SQ3R steps to achieve higher grades with less stress.