I’ve struggled with procrastination for as long as I can remember. I was always that student writing the paper hours before it was due. Exams? You could forget about studying for them. I’d put off studying for so long that I’d convince myself cramming was a lost cause. Despite my disdain for school work, I’ve managed to make it all the way to graduate school (for a second time).

But… it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I found a process that has me completing my assignment on time if not early. (Plus it’s entirely paperless.)

Each week, my graduate coursework consists of reading 3-4 research papers and summarizing them each in a short 3-5 paragraph essay. During class, we discuss the papers as small groups before rejoining for a discussion as a class.

I read each paper in Preview, highlighting important passages as I go in yellow. I also copy these highlights into an outline in OmniOutliner Essentials. OmniOutliner Essentials is the perfect, distraction-free outlining app. I wait a day before reviewing my outline, as I feel the concepts sink in better.

While reviewing, I bold any keywords or quotes I find important. Using those boldened keywords and quotes as a sort of “skimmed down” outline, I am able to write the 3-5 paragraph summary in Byword (my favorite writing app) knowing I’ve captured all the points I wanted to include.

Once in class, these keywords and quotes also serve as the basis for talking points in discussion rather than fumbling around through a 20-30 page PDF. If a quote within the paper is mentioned during class, I highlight that in blue using Preview.

At the end of it all, I have a highlighted PDF that distinguishes between my own highlights and those mentioned in class, an outline with emphasized keywords, and a 3-5 paragraph summary, giving me a number of options to go back and review what I’ve learned.

For this whole process, I like to snap them the apps to half the screen using Moom and make sure to turn on Do Not Disturb for the ultimate, distraction-free environment. If I’m feeling particularly distracted, I’ll also turn on my Focus playlist on Spotify.