It’s that time of year again: finals are just around the corner and that means due dates for research papers we were supposed to work on all semester are also fast approaching. But, let’s face it: We all waited until the last minute to write them and are currently in one of these phases below.

1. Looking over the syllabus the first day of class and seeing you have a paper due.

2. Completely forgetting about the paper for the next six weeks.

3. Vaguely remembering the assignment when your teacher goes over the formatting in class.

4. Promising yourself you will come up with a topic and begin research this weekend.

5. Not getting anything done that weekend because, let’s face it, it’s not due for another three weeks.

6. Promising yourself you will start it this weekend.

7. Using the library database to gather (maybe) five articles with a semi-relevant title.

8. Start asking your classmates to make sure they haven’t started, either.

9. Still, two weeks is a long ways away and you have two tests this week.

10. Start to look over the previous articles you found and gather some actual relevant ones.

11. One week left is still plenty of time, right?

12. Ask classmates again to see if you are behind.

13. Relax for the next few days.

14. Begin to panic because there is no way you can read 15+ sources in three days.

15. Focus solely on the research paper for the next 60 hours.

16. Use the remaining 12 hours to write it, and put your sources into a citation machine.

17. If you’re lucky and planned ahead, you might have an hour left to edit it.

18. Turn in the research paper.

19. Rejoice.

20. Make a pact with yourself that you will never wait until the last minute to write a paper, again.

Whether you are almost done with your research paper, or it is the start of something new, get your head in the game so you can bop to the top. And remember -- we're all in this together.