History essay research is unique in the sense that virtually all your research material will contain the exact same content. Finding a few trustworthy sources and noting down all relevant information is always better and faster than trying to find multiple sources talking about the same event. Develop a time line from these sources and highlight all important occurrences. Taking the time to properly document all your research will inevitably save you time down the line.
This is a time-efficiency tip particularly effective for history essays because they have the same basic structure. Look up these essays online and draw ideas on how to structure your own essay. Avoid the temptation to plagiarize by looking at essays that are not about your assigned topic. Write down the overall outline of the essay and fill it in with your own content.
More often than not, history essays test the ability of the student to memorize and explain the facts of the historical event. Stick to stating factual events and write in a clean, concise and academic manner. Avoid personal opinions and instead, write factual analyses of the different events. Lastly, model the flow of your content close to the flow of the time line to make the essay easier to follow.
At the end of the writing process, a big time waster is looking up the little details of the outlined events and writing each down in the essay. Professors are particularly keen with this and will deduct larger marks than usual if they do not see it. History essays require exact dates, names and places to be specified throughout the essay. As you introduce major events, make sure to note all of these details either in the body or as a footnote prior to writing your main content.