Now that I've been writing Atomic Essays for almost a week, I wanted to see what would happen if I gave myself a time limit.

In addition to time constraints and interruptions, I'm also one of those people that can ponder over words, sentences, research, and topics for hours. It's ridiculous.

Things to know first:

• I knew my topic ahead of time

• I had researched and written down important points I wanted to make

• All I had to do was set the timer and write (no editing)

So how did it go?

I hit start on the timer. I had 25 minutes. I panicked for a second and then started writing.

I got into a surprisingly quick flow. My mind became focused and I got concise with my thoughts very quickly. As I started to ponder something, my mind said, "NO! JUST PICK A THOUGHT AND GO!"

I did, and I kept writing until the 25 minutes were up.

I finished my last sentence right as the timer went off.

What happened next?

I felt relief and accomplishment. I had an article written in 25 minutes and I was about 100 words over the allotted 250 words for an atomic essay.

Granted, I had researched and outlined the day before, so all I had to do was write.

It took me an additional 10 minutes to trim and edit.

Will this always work?

I don't know if this will work with every essay. I plan to do it again and see. However, if we don't give ourselves deadlines then what stops us from taking 3 hours to write?

The goal is not to be sloppy or careless with our writing but to cut out all the time we waste.