“I Procrastinate, Therefore I Cram”
We break down the tips we learned from our conversation with Dr. Shannon Bennett, Associate Professor at Weill Cornell Medical Center
If you’ve ever found yourself scrolling TikTok at 1 a.m. instead of starting that paper, welcome to the club—you’re human. Procrastination is practically a rite of passage in college. But here’s the thing: it’s not about laziness, and it’s not because you’re “bad” at school.
What’s Really Going On
Dr. Shannon Bennett, a psychologist who works with college students, explains that procrastination usually isn’t about skills or smarts. It’s about avoiding uncomfortable feelings—like self-doubt, perfectionism, fear of failure, or even plain old boredom.
Think about it: putting off your paper feels better in the moment than sitting with the anxiety of writing it. But the trade-off is more stress later, less sleep, and work that doesn’t reflect your real potential.
Why College Makes It Worse
High school had built-in guardrails: parents reminding you, teachers chasing you down the hallway, and less unstructured time. In college? Suddenly you’ve got unlimited freedom, endless distractions, and no one nagging you to turn things in. That “I’ll do it later” mindset is easy to fall into—until “later” is the night before it’s due.
What Helps Instead
The good news: you don’t have to magically become a productivity machine. A few small mindset shifts can make a huge difference:
Start messy. A rough draft, even if it’s terrible, is way easier to fix than a blank page.
Make a mark. Literally—put anything down (a bullet point, a doodle, a random thought). It’s the first step toward momentum.
Break it down. Instead of “write research paper,” set the goal of “open Word doc and write the title.” Small wins stack up.
Find your why. Connect the task to your bigger goals: graduating, getting that internship, building the future you want.
The Payoff
When students shift away from procrastination, they don’t just finish assignments—they feel better in the process. More pride. More relief. Less panic.
And while there’s no magic pill for procrastination (trust us, we’d all take it), there is the satisfaction of doing the thing, getting it done, and knowing you earned that pride.
So the next time you catch yourself about to procrastinate, pause and ask: What am I actually avoiding right now? That one question might be the first step toward getting unstuck.
