Procrastination. Sigh.
Doomstrolling. Sigh.
Imminently due assignments. Sigh.
If you're anything like me, you procrastinate on just about everything possible. I procrastinate on school, chores, responding to texts, and pretty much anything under the sun. Waiting until the last second to do an assignment, having no motivation to do anything, wanting to do anything else but write that essay due tomorrow. Does that sound familiar? Well, you're certainly not the only one. A study done by Solitaired found that “99% of Americans admit to procrastinating tasks” (Taparia). They also found that procrastination loves to distract you by way of the lovely device sitting next to you right now, your phone. If you're anything like me, you also feel terrible about getting distracted. I should have the self-control to keep myself from procrastinating. Why can't I get off this stupid phone? It’s not just me: “On average, children age 8-18 in the United States spend 7 1/2 hours a day watching or using screens” (AACAP). Wow, that's a lot. 7 and ½ hours a day. Now, this may be you and you may be hoping that I'm going to give five easy steps to get rid of procrastination or the magic way to stop doomscrolling on your phone. Unfortunately, that's not what I'm going to be doing today. What I am hoping to do today, though, is to help you understand why you do what you do and how you can turn it into your super power.
A majority of people procrastinate because of a lack of motivation. Why do we procrastinate so much? What is the reason for our lack of motivation? The simple answer is we don't want to do the assignment, the chores, the responding to an email, or whatever we are procrastinating from. Or maybe we can't… yet. A psychology professor at Carleton University, Timothy A. Pychyl, PhD says this: "As students, you're always being pushed out of your depths—that's what learning is." So if you're truly learning a subject, you are being pushed out of your depth. Maybe that's why homework is so hard. I'm being pushed, and being pushed isn't easy. In fact, it takes a lot of thought. When you are procrastinating, you are actively pushing that thing aside. Now, when you actually get around to doing that thing, you actually do better. Why? Because you have been thinking about that task for hours, days, weeks? Hopefully not years… The point is that your subconscious is actively working on the task you are putting aside. In an opinion article, “I Taught Myself to Procrastinate,” by New York Times writer, Adam Grant says this, “While procrastination is a vice for productivity, I’ve learned — against my natural inclinations — that it’s a virtue for creativity.” He talks about how he tries to procrastinate because, in the end, it helps him do better. He is more creative. He gets things done faster.
What if your procrastination problem could actually be your superpower? When you procrastinate on something you are thinking and analyzing what you need to do. It's like baking a cake. You can't force the cake to be done before it's fully cooked. It's the same thing with doing something hard; you can't force an essay well before you are ready to write it. So next time your parents are scolding you about procrastinating, explain how procrastination is helping you be more effective and write a better essay, understand something better, or whatever you procrastinate about. Go use your superpower and procrastinate!!
Work Cited
Grant, Adam. “Opinion | Why I Taught Myself to Procrastinate.” The New York Times, 16 January 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/opinion/sunday/why-i-taught-myself-to-procrastinate.html. Accessed 2 February 2026.
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Eleanor Archbold lives in the Chicago suburbs with her two sisters and parents. She's an avid CrossFitter and loves to read, make music, crochet, and debate through STOA. She's a senior this year and is hoping to study political science next year!