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Has your student struggled with procrastination recently?
And did this struggle cause them unnecessary stress and anxiety that would have been alleviated by taking action rather than avoiding starting that final paper?
If so, you may find yourself in agreement with the idea that procrastination is a form of self-harm.
Like a drug, procrastination provides a quick dopamine rush and sense of relief but later causes long-term damage both physically and emotionally.
Today, I’ll teach you how to support students in overcoming procrastination so they can feel more confident, engaged, and committed to creating a positive educational experience.
While many educators and parents mistakenly think teaching students how to time-block or use reminders will solve the issue, a better approach is to help students understand the root causes of their avoidance.
With this higher level of self-awareness and a toolkit to manage their procrastination, students are much more likely to take action on the overwhelming things in their lives.
Ready to learn more?
Why do students procrastinate?
When students with executive function challenges feel overwhelmed, their bodies trigger a natural stress response, which leads to the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn phenomenon.
This cataclysmic sense of overwhelm can come from many places:
Seeing a big, red "F" or "D" on an assignment
Hearing a parent say, "Why is this missing?!"
Seeing a final project posted on Canvas or Google Classroom and not knowing where to start
Instead of taking a deep breath, counting 5-4-3-2-1, then breaking their project into manageable tasks, their mind races, and their breath quickens.
At this moment, the amygdala hijacks their brains, releasing hormones that kick off the "flight" response. 🛫
The stress-induced panic overwhelms their pre-frontal cortex (aka the executive functions).
This shift from higher-order thinking to emotional reactivity puts them in their "lizard brain"🦎, the primitive part of the brain that desires immediate gratification and survival.
To temporarily reduce their stress level and deactivate the "flight" reaction, students may say something like:
"I'll do that later."
"I've got it covered."
"Don't worry -- everything is fine."
Many adults misinterpret this unconscious "flight" reaction as the student being "lazy" or "doesn't care."
However, these labels couldn't be further from the truth.
Why?
The ACTUAL issue is that the students care so much that they attempt to self-soothe to avoid disappointing their parents or teachers. 🤯
Does that make you look at your students differently?
Why is overcoming procrastination important for students?
Procrastination is the number one reason parents come to EF Specialists for executive function coaching for their students, and it is a topic we are often asked to speak about.
By learning how to identify and manage the procrastination habit, students can:
enjoy reduced stress,
increase their confidence,
have better academic outcomes,
and lead fulfilling adult lives.
Because procrastination is a form of self-harm, frequent procrastinators report:
Higher stress levels
Physical ailments associated with high stress
Suffering from anxiety and depression
They found that early in the semester, procrastinators reported lower stress and less illness than non-procrastinators, but that late in the term, procrastinators reported higher stress and more illness (Psychological Science, Vol. 8, No. 6).
Would anyone consciously choose those ailments?
Absolutely not!
That is why procrastination is better thought of as a form of self-harm.
Here are four steps you can take to help your student overcome procrastination and enjoy reduced stress and enhanced self-awareness.
How to Help Students Overcome Procrastination
Try these unconventional strategies with your student this week and see the impact.
Step 1: Teach them to change the way they identify
How often have you heard your students describe themselves as a "procrastinator"?
While seemingly harmless, this statement creates a fixed mindset within the student as they identify as a procrastinator rather than seeing procrastination as a bad habit that can be replaced by a good one.
To support your students, encourage them to describe their issues as "I have a habit of procrastinating, AND I am an organized person."
When students shift their identity, they select behaviors more aligned with their new identity. 🤨
Have your child say this out loud and ask them how it feels:
I am an organized person who has a habit of procrastinating. I can change this habit and replace it with a new one. 🌱
Small tweaks can have big peaks 🏔️
Step 2: Teach them to reframe procrastination as self-harm
Has procrastination caused your student to:
Feel embarrassment or shame?
Decreased their confidence?
Damaged their relationship with parents and authority figures?
If you answered "yes" to the questions above, then consider that self-injurious behaviors must be treated with caution and care.
Stop name-calling and start triaging 👩🏾⚕️
Take action today by sharing this concept with your student so they can shift their mindset to thinking of procrastination as a self-injurious behavior rather than a fixed character trait.
Step 3: Teach them to acknowledge the stress
Many students lack one of the key executive function skills which is self-awareness.
When they hear a due date, they rush to YouTube or another digital pacifier rather than acknowledging the overwhelm and making a plan.
Teaching them to notice the space between stimulus and response is a powerful skill that can drastically improve their quality of life.
If you something is overwhelming them or their need to escape, ask them:
Are you feeling overwhelmed by an assignment?
Do you feel like you have a lot on your plate right now?
Is there anything on your mind that you want to discuss before we focus on schoolwork?
In the Executive Function Coaching Academy, we teach educators and school professionals how to identify executive function challenges and provide targeted support at what Dr. Russell Barkley described as the "point of performance."
Remember to connect before correcting 💛
Step 4: Teach them to escape the lizard brain
Mel Robbins came up with a simple way to challenge the lizard brain when feeling overwhelmed by doing a simple countdown.
As a parent of an educator, you can anticipate the fight, flight, freeze or fawn response in your classroom or home by doing the following.
When you share or point out an upcoming assignment, quickly follow up by saying:
"Let's do a countdown together and then make a plan for getting this done. Ready?
5-4-3-2-1."
The big goal is to help students develop a toolkit for returning their brain to its rightful throne, the pre-frontal cortex, rather than being at the whims of the fickle amygdala.
Summary
Understanding the true nature of procrastination is the first step to defeating it.
As an executive function coach, I have seen when a student can start something, they usually make HUGE progress.
99% of the time starting is the barrier.
If you are ready to start the conversation with your student, try these steps.
Talk to them about how procrastination is a habit, not a character trait.
Explore the concept of procrastination as a form of self-harm and see how they respond to this conceptual shift.
Walk them through the steps to acknowledge when something feels overwhelming by using questions like, "How am I feeling about this assignment?"
Teach them a quick process for getting back into the frontal lobe when stress pops up by using the 5-4-3-2-1 countdown.
Hope this helps!
🤙🏻
P.S. These are skills that executive function coaches work on with their students. If you want to try working on them with your students, consider joining hundreds of other educators and parents who have completed my Semester Success Blueprint Course. In less than 2 hours, this comprehensive course will teach you and your student the system I developed to help hundreds of students learn how to manage school effectively and raise their self-awareness and engagement with school.
About the author
Sean G. McCormick is a former public school special education teacher who founded Executive Function Specialists to ensure all students with ADHD and Autism have access to high-quality online executive function coaching services.
With this mission in mind, he then founded the Executive Function Coaching Academy which trains schools, educators, and individuals to learn the key approaches to improve executive function skills for students.
He is also the co-founder of UpSkill Specialists, a business with a mission to provide adults with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder, access to high-quality executive function coaching services that can be accessed through Self-Determination funding.