We’ve all done it.
You open your laptop, stare at the essay prompt that seems to be staring right back at you with a smirk, and all of a sudden…the birds chirping outside seem more interesting. Out of nowhere, you find yourself reorganising your desk, cleaning the windows and maybe even watching a video titled “Top 5 interesting facts on Penguins you must know!” Welcome to the wonderful world of procrastination, where everything suddenly seems more interesting than doing your actual work.
Procrastination is a demon every student has met at least once; it has a habit of creeping in at the most inconvenient times. You might find yourself scrolling through Instagram when a big project is due the next day, or when motivation decides to pack its bags. In this situation, we know what we are doing is wrong and we definitely know how much it will cost us the next day, but why do we keep doing it? There is actually some psychology behind it that might surprise you.
Why your mind fights productivity right when you need it
When you procrastinate, it’s not that you are lazy — in fact, it might be your mind doing its job a little too well. It’s important to recognise that this is a response to stress, where your mind is trying to immediately protect you from discomfort. Writing an essay, studying for a test or even opening a daunting assignment can trigger a stress response. Since your mind treats it as a danger, it works to reroute your attention to something safer and more comforting. It has less to do with avoiding the task itself, and more to do with avoiding the feeling that comes with actually doing it.
It is important to acknowledge that while the feeling is uncomfortable, you can’t let it be the very reason you end up sabotaging your future self. Here are some ways to fight procrastination and get to work:
Learning to start small
Your mind has a way of resisting big tasks. The trick here is to reduce that mental barrier that makes the task seem daunting. Let’s assume it’s an Economics assignment where you have to do reading on demand and supply; tell yourself that for now all you need to do is read the introductory paragraph. Once you do, you will feel momentum kick in, and just like that, you have tricked your mind into doing the very thing it swore against doing.
Use the 5-minute rule
Set a timer and work for exactly five minutes, no phone and no other distractions. If it feels unbearable, then you can allow yourself to stop — but nine times out of ten you will realise that it really wasn’t as bad as you initially thought. The truth is, the hardest part of doing a task is to start, and once you overcome that, continuing feels easier and more rewarding.
Creating deadlines
The one thing that ramps up the urgency factor is knowing that there is a deadline looming over your head. Tell yourself that the assignment is due in two hours; it has a greater impact than telling yourself that it is due in three days. The outcome of this is usually how you end up spending less time working on the task, all because you successfully tricked your mind into believing it had less time than it actually did. We have a natural instinct to delay the task, to the extent that it slowly fills up all the time we have left. Creating a fake deadline forces alertness and your drive to get the job done.
Try the 1-2-3 rule
When you catch yourself about to procrastinate, stop and count down: 3…2…1. Then just move. All you need to focus on doing is picking up the pen, opening the book and clicking on that document. This is a way to cut the overthinking — where you stop obsessing over the discomfort of starting the task, and focus more on actually beginning, which is half the battle won.
Make accountability your secret weapon
Tell a friend what the agenda is for the day, or better, study in a group (physically or on a call). This way of studying is clever since it makes your mind treat the task as a social contract, which puts more pressure on you to complete the task. The last thing anyone wants to hear is, “So…did you complete the task, or were you bluffing?”
Use the power of chunking
When a task feels massive, your brain automatically labels it as “too much.” Chunking is a neat method that fixes that. The trick is to break the chapter into time blocks — for example, 25–30 minutes of focused work seems more doable and rewarding once completed. This isn't about working harder, it’s about tricking your mind into thinking that it’s doing less. These smaller focus sessions eventually add up, and once you look back, you’ll realise just how much more work you’ve been able to get done.
⭐ Final thoughts
Procrastination has a sneaky way of making you doubt yourself — it can make you believe that you have an inability to focus. It doesn’t prove that you’re lazy; it proves that you’re human. With that being said, it shouldn’t be left unchecked. The key is to notice why this is happening, rather than hating yourself for doing it. You won’t always feel motivated — and that’s where discipline enters the picture. To build discipline, you must start to build tiny habits that make starting easier each time. Because once you begin, procrastination loses its firm grip on you.
So the next time you feel that familiar urge to delay, remember that you don’t need to defeat the demon all at once — one small swing at it is still a step in the right direction. 💫