WHY WE SABOTAGE OUR OWN PLANS
- By Shalvi Shankar, (9-H)
- Sat,31 Oct 2026
It is 9:30 PM. I look at the stack of textbooks on my desk and tell myself with absolute confidence, "I am going to sit down and study right at 10:00 PM sharp." To pass the time, I pick up my phone to watch a quick video. Then 10:00 PM rolls around. Except when I finally glance up from my screen, the clock reads 10:30 PM. Well, my brain immediately rationalizes, the hour is ruined. There is no point starting now. I'll just keep watching videos and start fresh at 11:00 PM. By 11:00 PM, my eyes are heavy, I close my books without opening them, and turn off the lights. We've all been there. At the start of the school year, I built a whole fantasy in my head. I told myself, this year would be completely different, I was going to study systematically from Day 1, read extra books every single day, and sign up for every single competition on the school calendar. What actually happened? I didn't stick to a schedule. I buried my head in screen for quick hits of dopamine, watched my marks dip, and let those grand plans quietly evaporate. And the strangest part? Even after watching myself ruin those plans, my brain is still thinking trying to pull the same trick. Right now, I catch myself thinking, "You know what? The first November is coming up. That's my real fresh start." Even when I promised myself, after an earlier exam, "Right after this result, I'm starting a clean slate to bring my scores back up," the exact opposite happened. I fell further behind. Why? We mistakenly treat time like it has pause buttons, expecting neat boxes like a new month, a Monday or 1 November to flip a magic switch and make us disciplined. In reality, planning a 'fresh start' destroys our momentum because a 'fresh start' feels comfortable. Fantasizing about how disciplined you will be and that gives you the emotional reward of hard work without requiring you to put away your phone or open a single textbook. Big goals give us direction, but waiting for a perfect moment to start working toward them is just procrastination in disguise. Breaking Loop The truth is, a perfect moment isn't going to magically fix anything. Real life doesn't start over just because the calendar page turned. The mess, the missed habits and procrastination carry right over into the new month. Maybe the trick isn't waiting for the clock to hit an even number. Maybe it’s just accepting that you don't need a clean slate to start fixing things. You can just turn off your phone, open the book right now at 10:40 PM and deal with the messy middle of the term.