I know exactly what I need to do, but I still put it off until right before the deadline. Why do I do this every single time?

Hi, and thank you for writing in!

It sounds like you’re pretty fed up with this situation, which is completely understandable. Many students describe exactly the same frustration: “I know what I should be doing, so why don’t I just do it?”

It can be easy to conclude that you’re lazy, undisciplined, or simply terrible at planning. But most of the time, that’s not really where the problem lies. Putting things off, or procrastination, is rarely about not knowing what we need to do. In fact, we often know exactly what needs to be done.

The problem is that the task brings up some form of discomfort. It might be stress, uncertainty, pressure to perform, fear of failure, or a sense that the task is so overwhelming that you don’t know where to start or how you’ll ever get it done in time. When we put the task off, we get a brief break from that discomfort. For the moment, we feel a little better. The brain quickly learns that avoidance works as a short-term solution, even if it causes problems for us later on.

This often develops into a pattern that many people fall into when something feels difficult, important, or emotionally loaded. It’s human, but not particularly helpful.

Reading your question, I get the sense that you’re being very hard on yourself. Things like “Why do I never learn?” and “I’m so tired of myself” are common things to say to ourselves when we’re struggling with procrastination. We’re often much harder on ourselves than we would ever be on someone else. It’s common to think that being hard on ourselves is helpful, but it can actually create even more stress and pressure, making us want to avoid the task even more.

The next time you notice yourself putting something off, perhaps you could pause and ask yourself: “What feels difficult about this task right now?” That question can sometimes help you approach the situation with a little more curiosity. Perhaps you’ll realise that you’re unsure how to begin, or that you’re worried it won’t be good enough. Maybe the task feels too big, or simply very boring. The better you understand what is getting in your way, the easier it becomes to deal with it and move towards problem-solving.

Here are a few examples of what your next step might look like, depending on what is holding you back:

Not sure how to start: Start anyway. You can always make adjustments later. If the instructions are unclear, ask a classmate or teacher to explain them.

Worried it won’t be good enough: Start anyway. Let the worry thought be there without engaging with it. It isn’t helpful to you right now.

The task feels too big or boring: Start anyway. Break it down into smaller parts and tackle one small piece at a time. You could also use a timer, for example 25 minutes of focused studying followed by a five-minute break.

Many people think the solution is to find more motivation. But motivation is often something that comes through action, something we create by taking small steps towards what matters to us. Making that first step easier can help. Instead of telling yourself you need to spend the entire evening working on the assignment, perhaps your goal could simply be to open the document and write five sentences.

The idea of “doing it anyway” might feel a little frustrating, but there isn’t really a shortcut around it. Perhaps you don’t need to wait for the discomfort to disappear or ease before you get started. It may actually be the other way around: the discomfort may begin to ease as you do what matters to you despite the thoughts and feelings that show up.

The fact that you’re frustrated is a sign that you want to find a different way of doing things. That’s a good starting point for change. Past difficulties don’t mean that things have to look the same in the future.

Here at studenthälsa.se, you can find lots of tips, expert advice, and self-help resources to explore and try out. We only really know whether something works for us once we’ve tried it, and often we need to try the same approach several times before we can tell whether it genuinely helps.

If you feel that you would like to talk to someone, such as a counsellor or psychologist, support is often available through your local student health service. Some services also offer specific groups designed to help students break patterns of procrastination.

I hope this answer has given you somewhere to start.

Kind regards,
Counsellor / Licensed Psychotherapist