TL;DR: Brainstorm, form an outline, write a terrible first draft, then revise that draft several times while adding layers of detail until you have a finished product. It seems painstaking, but it produces good essays!

Why it works:

Helps avoid perfectionist writer’s block by allowing yourself to write a bad draft first

Adaptable to different timeframes

Creating multiple drafts lets you find gaps in logic, correct errors, and add good transitions

Steps

Use the topic/guiding prompt to get a general idea of what you want to write about, but do not form a thesis yet (unless it is required). After all, it’s hard to write a thesis without much knowledge of the subject.

Do background research, taking notes and organizing them into general themes. 

Write a tentative thesis and create the outline of your paper based on the notes. This is the hardest part because you are arranging everything you learned in a cohesive structure.

“Fill in” the outline to make your first draft of the paper. It should be really, really bad - the key is to get your ideas down in plain sentences, then fix them up later. Whenever you include an idea from research, make sure you note where it’s from even if you haven’t done the full citation yet.

Go back over the paper at least a few more times, editing the original sentences to sound better and flow nicely. Don’t be afraid to change your thesis if you see that it doesn’t reflect what you’ve written. You may need  to deviate from the outline if you see that the sections could be arranged better. Also, you may need to do more research if you see a hole in the paper’s argument, etc.

Take some time off from writing, then go back and read through it one more time to fix minor errors, run spellcheck, and double check your citations.

Turn it in!

Other Tips

Part of doing research is accepting that some of the notes you took won’t make it into the final paper, and that’s okay. It’s not wasted time - you have to go broad before you can go narrow.

If your paper isn’t a research paper, these tips still apply. Instead of researching during step 2, you can take some time to brainstorm/free-associate on your topic, then use those ideas to form your outline.

You don’t have to restrict yourself to the “Intro Body Body Body Conclusion” format. For example, if you only have two strong points, don’t force a third (unless the assignment requires it).

I like to wait until the end of the process to write the intro and conclusion so I have as much knowledge as possible and can write something meaningful instead of fluff. 

For conclusions, go a step beyond just restating your argument in different words. Try to bring up a final point that adds something to your argument without opening a whole new issue. 

If traditional paper planners or phone apps don’t work for you, try setting up your own simple document to keep track of tasks. Here’s what mine looks like:

Why this works:

Ability to move things around and switch colors

Daily tasks and urgent tasks are easily visible

Taking 5 minutes each day to rearrange items helps you prioritize and figure out what to do next