Why you procrastinate even when it feels bad

Over 70% of students procrastinate their studies and more than 90% struggle with constant distractions, unable to maintain a high level of consistent concentration.

Procrastination and distractions are among the main causes of ineffective study habits and increased anxiety and stress related to studying. Today, these behaviors are so widespread among students that it seems "normal" for studying to involve constant distractions. The environment, mood, and fatigue are often blamed for these distractions, and procrastination is almost a badge of honor: "I studied at the last minute and still passed."

What many students don't realize is that this constant distraction drastically worsens their performance, reducing the results they could achieve with the same effort. I don't want you to fall victim to this way of thinking.

"You can drastically change your life in 3-6 months with 1 hour a day of pure focus." - Dan Koe

Similarly, one hour of pure focus can be worth more than seven hours of distracted study. Every time we get distracted, our brain needs time and energy to restore the previous level of concentration, thus slowing our progress and reducing study efficiency. Research conducted by the University of California, Irvine revealed that after being distracted, it takes us an average of about 20 minutes to become fully concentrated on the initial task again.

• Have you ever thought about how much energy it takes to constantly shift your attention between a distraction and studying? And how much time you spend distracting yourself instead of studying?

Most of the time, to improve your grades:

"You don’t need more time, you need fewer distractions."

You might think that all the little distractions, like picking up your phone for a second or thinking about something else for a few minutes, don't have a big impact on your studies. But unfortunately, they affect not only your efficiency but also your ability to memorize, understand, and your final results. Distractions are like drugs: the more we use them, the more dependent we become, eventually finding it impossible to do anything but distract ourselves. The more you continue to allow yourself to get distracted while studying, the harder it will become to concentrate and study effectively.

Overcoming Distractions - The Loop Game

Overcoming distractions is possible, but it's not easy. Often, it's not enough to put the phone in another room or impose a diet to stop taking a snack every five seconds. This is because distractions are not the real problem. Distractions are just the means we use to "escape" from the real problem: discomfort.

"We distract ourselves to avoid experiencing unpleasant emotions. Our brain doesn't like feeling stupid."

To understand this, let me give you an example.

A few years ago, I found it very difficult to concentrate on studying math. None of the problems ever worked out for me, and I easily got discouraged. Every three seconds I would get up to get a snack, and time seemed to stand still—studying math was really boring, I just couldn't concentrate on it.

Or at least that was my belief. The reason I kept distracting myself with snacks or checking the clock was not that math was boring. I used snacks and the phone to escape the unpleasant feeling of being incapable. I tried several times to lock myself in a room without a phone and without snacks to study concentrated, but my brain always found a way to distract itself, either with thoughts or something else. Because eliminating distractions did not eliminate my desire to escape the feeling of incapacity.

Now, how can we remedy to eliminate the need to distract ourselves at the root?

We need to understand that our emotions stem from our thoughts. Negative thoughts lead to negative emotions: thinking that you're not good at math leads to discouragement, frustration, and sadness. Escaping these feelings by distracting ourselves prevents us from improving by facing difficulties, and thus not improving reinforces our negative thoughts, creating a loop like this:

1. I think I'm not capable.

2. I feel incapable.

3. I get distracted, don't concentrate, don't study.

4. I don't improve.

5. I feel incapable.

6. Back to point 1.

Becoming aware of the main thought is the only way to break this negative cycle. By getting rid of it, you will also manage to eliminate distractions, returning to concentrate effortlessly, in a healthy and natural way. Consequently, you will improve more quickly and soon achieve better results, creating a positive loop:

1. I think that if I put in the effort, I am capable.

2. I feel capable, powerful, and eager to try.

3. I practice until I succeed.

4. I achieve better results.

5. I think I'm getting good.

6. Back to point 1.

Once I understood and eliminated my thought of being incapable in math, replacing it with a healthier thought, "if I put in the effort, I can understand," the distractions completely dissolved.

Framework for Overcoming Distractions

Identifying these loops and thought patterns is not always easy, but doing so can drastically change your results. Here are some steps to change our thoughts:

1. Recognition of Emotions

The first step is to become aware of the thoughts that cause your distractions. The best way to understand our thoughts is to write them down.

"Writing allows us to slow down our thoughts."

Take a notebook and, as soon as you notice that you're getting distracted, start writing what you're feeling, what emotions you're experiencing at that moment. Then try to understand what thoughts you're telling yourself that are causing those emotions. Try to do this every time you get distracted. Soon you will notice a repetition of thought patterns that are always the same. These are the dominant thoughts that cause your distractions.

2. Reframe

Once we identify the thoughts that cause us certain emotions that determine our actions and thus our results, we can choose to actively change our thoughts. While this might ideally seem simple, it is often more difficult than it seems, depending on how deeply rooted these thoughts are in us.

To reframe thoughts, write down some thoughts that might be more useful to think and that can replace the old thoughts. Then, every time you notice that you're about to get distracted, repeat the new phrases, the new thoughts to yourself. If you consistently replace the thoughts, soon these thoughts will become your new beliefs and the distractions will naturally dissolve. The key here is consistency.

3. Post-Study Reflections

To continue improving, make it a habit to reflect on your study hours once the day is over. What have you accomplished? What could you have improved? How many times did you get distracted and why? How do you honestly feel about your performance? This will help you clearly identify where you can improve and drastically change your results.

Summing Up:

Distractions are just the symptom of negative thoughts that cause us negative emotions that we want to escape because we don't like experiencing negative emotions. Continuing to allow distractions reinforces our negative thoughts and worsens our results. By improving your inner dialogue, distractions will naturally dissolve, you will be able to maintain high concentration, and you will improve your studies. You control your thoughts and can choose for yourself more convenient thoughts aligned with your goals.

We are always led to think that studying is just a matter of forcing ourselves to stay on the books for as many hours as possible and that it's just a matter of taking actions. In reality, a healthy study method is much more than that. It understands that studying is not just a matter of strategy and that emotions play a fundamental role in our results. Our mind loves to learn and, by reconnecting with this, we can drastically improve our performance and achieve more not only in terms of grades but also in terms of skills learned.

Wouldn't it be better if studying throughout life was not only interesting but also exciting?

This is why I have developed a study strategy that focuses not only on the strategic aspect of studying but on studying from a 360-degree perspective.

My method is built to create new positive beliefs, use your brain to its maximum potential, and make study time fun, challenging, and interesting.

If you want to make studying more of a hobby than an obligation, take a look at my “Fall in Love with Studying - 2 Weeks Transformation.”

I hope this email has given you a new perspective and a strong desire to unleash your full potential.

XO❤️

Isa

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