How to beat a tight deadline without burning out

The night-before panic usually comes from treating a big task as one block. Break it into stages — research, outline, draft, edit — and give each a slot.

Outline before you write; a good outline turns a blank page into fill-in-the-blanks. Draft fast and ugly, then edit — trying to write perfectly first time is what stalls you.

Build in a buffer day before the deadline for proofreading and references. If the timeline is genuinely impossible, get help early rather than at midnight.