Tame your inner critic.

So, you’re a few weeks into classes and those pesky professors are piling on the work. Maybe you’re starting to slip behind on reading, or you have no idea how to start a paper that’s due next week so you put off even thinking about it. Feelings of dread and resistance build and soon you’re berating yourself, wondering why you can’t be like all those “good” students who have it together.

Look, you’re not a screw-up like you may think you are. Let me assure you that everyone procrastinates, freaks out and feels like a failure at some point. You’re not failing; you’re figuring out time management, attention and other high order brain stuff. It takes a while to understand your mind.

In 10 years of working with people from all walks of life, I’ve learned that many of us believe ourselves to be lazy, wild, broken and/or just plain bad. We think that to be productive and good, we must threaten and berate and beat ourselves into submission. This strategy, though it might work in the short term, will make you an enemy of yourself.

What you actually need is to be on your own side, coaching yourself with gentle discipline and kindness. Somewhere between holding yourself hostage and letting yourself totally off the hook, there is a way forward. Some little tricks and self-compassion will help.

1. Take a moment to recognize that this is not a life-or-death situation. You will get through every stressful hour and day of college by doing one small thing at a time until the small things become a finished whole, and you are strutting off with a diploma.

2. When you feel the urge to run from work, set a timer for 5 minutes, choose one thing with a looming deadline, and do it until the timer goes off. Give yourself a 5-10 minute breather.

3. Repeat. Maybe try 10 minutes this time. Whatever feels like the bare minimum that you will actually do. Usually, overcoming inertia is the hardest part; once you’re off and running, it gets easier.

4. Perfection is not necessary. Don’t think too much. Just allow yourself to do something, anything. Allow yourself to do it poorly. Things can always be polished later. Just turn the pressure down.

5. Remember your resources! The Academic Resource Center (ARC) is on the third floor of Olin, open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Counselors at the Welty Center are here for you. Students can typically get same-week appointments, and we have drop-in urgent hours every day at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

You’ve got this, young scholars!