How to Change Your Child’s Mindset on Procrastination and Working Under Pressure

Asked by Anonymous on our Parent Webinar series.

In our recent webinar on time management, we received this question - which I’m sure almost every parent can relate to:

“My child struggles with procrastination and believes she works better under pressure. How could I change the mindset she has?”

You’ve probably had the exact same kind of conversation with your child and also been told that they work better under pressure. While this may seem like a strategy to justify procrastination, it’s actually a misunderstanding of how deadlines affect performance. In this article, we’ll break down why your child may feel this way, the negative impact of procrastination on their work, and how to help them change their mindset by developing more effective study habits.

1) Confusing Working Under Pressure with the Pressure of a Deadline

The idea that one “works better under pressure” is often rooted in a misunderstanding of the pressure created by a deadline. It’s not the pressure itself that leads to better work, but the presence of a clear deadline that forces action. In other words, the real factor isn’t the rush of last-minute pressure, but simply the fact that the task must be completed by a certain time. This creates a sense of urgency and compels your child to start working.

2) The Negative Impact of Last-Minute or Rushed Work

Procrastination often leads to rushed, last-minute work that can have significant negative impacts on both the quality of your child’s output and their overall wellbeing. Stress, which tends to peak when approaching a deadline, can impair cognitive functions, such as memory, decision-making, and creativity. As deadlines approach, the stress of trying to complete everything in a short period of time can interfere with the brain’s ability to think clearly and perform at its best.

Indeed, the studies tend to refute students’ arguments that they work better under compressed timelines and stress! For example:

• In Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, Balkis and Duris found that as a deadline approaches (especially for work left to the last minute), stress increases, impacting wellbeing, their sense of agency and even their sense of self-worth;

• Similarly, studies of psychology students in Spain found that students who reported leaving their work too close to the deadline were more likely to submit their work late and receive poorer marks.

3) Minimising Stress by Creating a Sense of Urgency with Smaller Deadlines

While your child may struggle with procrastination, there is a way to help create a sense of urgency without the overwhelming stress of a looming deadline. By applying smaller, manageable deadlines to a larger task, you can help develop a more structured approach to completing assignments. This still maintains a sense of operating under a deadline, but ultimately reduces the need for last-minute pressure.

Instead of waiting until the night before an assignment is due, you can help your child break the task down into smaller, more achievable parts and set deadlines for each of these components.

This approach mimics the urgency of a single, large deadline, but spreads it out across a series of smaller, less stressful deadlines.

Here’s how you can help your child manage their work more effectively:

• Project Management Approach: Encourage your child to break larger projects into smaller chunks. For example, if your child has a research paper due, help them break the task down into stages such as: 1) choose a topic, 2) conduct research, 3) create an outline, 4) write the introduction, 5) write the body, and 6) finalise and proofread. Set deadlines for each stage, making sure they are spaced out in a way that allows plenty of time for each step.

• Use a Planner or Digital Calendar: Help your child organize a schedule by entering these smaller deadlines into a planner or digital calendar. This provides a visual reminder and keeps them on track, so they can see that each piece is manageable. You can even include time for breaks to prevent burnout.

• Accountability: Check in with your child regularly to discuss progress on each part of the task. This can be a weekly or bi-weekly check-in, where you discuss what has been completed and what still needs to be done. This will not only help ensure progress but also provide reassurance that they’re on track.

This project management approach reduces the stress that comes with last-minute rushes while still creating a sense of urgency through manageable deadlines. By making deadlines smaller and more frequent, your child will learn to approach tasks systematically, minimising the overwhelming pressure and improving the quality of work.