When was the last time that you were given an urgent assignment to come up with a memo, research report, speech or presentation for your boss? You know, the ones that were needed yesterday? Naturally, things seem to always appear out of the blue, and especially when you least expect them. Needless to say, most of the time they'd think that since you are hard-working and smart, you are the one that should be doing it, while you have very faint idea of what it is they want you to write about. But deep down inside, you know that this sort of admiration from you colleagues (and boss) has its merits, so you are going to write this one right …again …somehow.

Remember college? All those essays and term papers that were thrown at you as if you had a mortal feud with the professor who was set on burying you in the paperwork for the rest of the semester? In my extensive experience writing college model on very short notices, I can attest that nothing motivates person to get the writing done than the awe of the unforgiving deadline. But alas, there are very specific steps that you can take to amp-up your productivity and squish those creative juices.

Start thinking about your project as early as possible

Immediately after you've been given the task, begin analyzing it and considering the ways it could be done. Common error is to think that you should start working on the task after you begin research to collect more information or have a good rest to reenergize. Most of the times, these are mere excuses for procrastination. The earlier you start actively thinking about the ways to accomplish the assignment, the more time your brain will have to digest and sort out all ideas. You see, it could not be that you don't have your personal opinion on virtually any subject or idea under the sun. Thinking those through will create a mental framework, a plan, that you will later follow during the real research. And you don't need choke your brain either. The key is timing: if you start early you then can let you subconsciousness do all the dirty work for you. It's true! You know how the best ideas come during sleep? That's your subsconsciousness at work. You can benefit from the same mind mechanics by pushing your mind first and then letting it go to find the solutions on its own.

Create a plan By the time you actually get to writing, you will have at least a vague plan of what you are going to write about. T

hink of a plan as your helper in structuring your thoughts and ideas. Productivity-wise, the plan can save you hours of work. Instead of wondering about the different ideas that you will encounter during your research, you will write according to the roadmap you have created and will be able proceed much faster.

Maintain steady writing pace Once you actually place your fingers on the keyboard you should start typing all ideas and associations that come to mind inspired by your plan and previous research. The psychological trick here is to focus on speed and rhythm of writing. Don't think twice (well, do, but don't drool over it) about the idea that just popped up. Write it down and develop it. It is much easier and faster to edit out those paragraphs that you don't need.

Rearrange When you finished developing your presentation, research report, or essay body, you should have about half to twice as much text than if you were writing it in your usual way. The easy task now is to go through what you have written, see if it fits the overall theme and edit or rearrange the text blocks as necessary. You may end up throwing away as much as one third of your work, but, believe me, in the long run, it's worth it.

Add conclusion. Polish. Get ready for the big raise After all the meat and potatoes are ready, you can add some gravy. Make your conclusion sum up what you have written and underline how it all fits coherently into single theme. Try to make your conclusion leave a pleasant, yet strong, aftertaste.

With the five steps above, you will never sweat before another deadline. Break your task into manageable units by starting early, let your thoughts settle a bit into a more or less consistent flow, write everything you know, then edit and rearrange. Several hours of intense work will give you the writing you (and your boss) will be proud of.

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