Research Paper Tips With The Post-it Study Collection

Writing term or research papers is without a doubt my least favorite type of assignment. The countless hours that must be put into each aspect of it, the researching, outlining, and writing of a research paper are tedious, time consuming, and draining on your brain. This past semester I had so many papers to be written that I mastered the skill of staying organized while preparing and completing papers with the help of Post-it Products. Post-it Notes are absolutely essential for heading back to school due to their various uses as well as the countless number of times I have them to thank for completed projects (and not to mention the fact that they brighten your desk space immensely)!

 I promise the pictures will help the concept make sense!

After deciding what to write your paper on grab a couple of different packs of Post-it Notes and a pen and head to the library! Post-it Brand recently introduced the Post-it Study collection, a line of Notes, Notebook Kits, Flags,Tabs and Page Markers that stick securely to papers, notebooks, folders and more, yet remove from the surface cleanly. The products all work together seamlessly to help you to stay organized on-the-go, find important information quickly, remember to review key facts, and allow you to keep your sanity during the midst of a stressful school week. My favorites from the collection are Post-it Study Writeable Flags, Page Markers, Full Adhesive Notes, Notes (lined), Super Sticky Notes, as well as the mini Full Adhesive Notes.

While writing a research paper it is not uncommon to find me barricaded behind stacks of books that could only potentially prove to be useful for my paper. (The image below was finals week last year, after one of my exams, and this was sadly only SOME of the books I used for my term paper).

 After focusing in on my topic and prior to choosing research books or articles to use in my paper I write out my thesis statement on a Post-it Note (pink in image below) and stick it to the table where I am working so that it is visible as I dig deeper into the information I am studying. I also find it useful to make a general outline (green in image below) about what each paragraph will be discussing on an additional Post-it Note, preferably one that is lined! By having the main message I am trying to convey along with my body paragraph topics next to me I am more likely to choose information that helps prove my argument!

Once I have found a source that seems promising I begin to mark pages I have found with Page Markers and I go ahead and properly cite the source on an additional Post-it Full Adhesive Note and stick it to the front cover. As I discover more content that can be used I write down the page as well as a brief line about what I have found on the note that is stuck to the front cover as well as what area of my paper it could be most useful for. It can also be super helpful to decide that a certain color study page tab correlates to a specific paragraph to speed up the writing process later on!

 I do this for all of my sources until each book is filled with colorful tabs and a page number and a properly cited Post-it Note on the front! I know this sounds incredibly tedious but it makes the writing process much easier and you are sure to have an essay backed up by credible and useful sources because of your organization on the front end! Also, don't forget to highlight what you have found to be important so that you aren't rereading entire paragraphs while looking for the perfect quote.

I can not explain to you how effective using Post-it Products are when working on the front end of a project! By color coding just about everything once you get to the actual paragraphs all you are left to do is type and check for synonyms because you've used the word research too many times (well maybe that is just me, oops!).

(This post is sponsored by Post-it Brand although this research method has been previously been used by me in the past.)