Tips for Studying When Your Brain Wants to Do Anything Else

Why is it so Hard to Focus When You Need to Study?

You sit down to study, but suddenly you are doom-scrolling or reorganizing your desk. Maybe your brain feels like it has run out of energy or maybe you can’t even bring yourself to care anymore.

These struggles are especially common for students and adults managing ADHD, anxiety, or executive functioning challenges (Rad et al., 2025). The struggle isn’t about laziness, it’s about how your brain handles focus, emotional regulation, and task initiation.

The good news? Evidence-based techniques can help your brain move forward with a little more ease.

Small Steps, Big Difference

If the brain feels a task is too big, it is natural to put it off. Recent research shows that academic self-efficacy—believing you can do the task—is key to reducing procrastination (Rad et al., 2025).

Try breaking your studying into tiny tasks:

• Open one page or read one paragraph
• Write a single sentence or bullet point
• Set a timer for just five minutes to start

These small steps build momentum your brain can handle and motivation follows even small actions. 

Build Focus-friendly Habits 

Here are brain-supported strategies to reduce overload:

• Body doubling: Work alongside someone (in-person or virtually). Just having another person present can boost accountability.
• External cues: Use sticky notes, alarms, or reminders to nudge your focus back when it drifts.
• Chunk your time: Try 25–30 minutes of focused work, followed by a 5-minute break. Short bursts help sustain attention.
• Energy check: Notice what times of day you have the most mental energy, and schedule your toughest study tasks then.

These aren’t hacks, they are ways of reducing the load on your executive functions so your brain does not have to work as hard to stay on track.

Team Voices: Here is what one of our providers at Cognito has to say:

“The try it for 5 minutes method is a key one for getting myself to do any task I really don’t want to do. Set a timer for 5 minutes, start the task, when the timer goes off I almost always have enough momentum or motivation to keep going, at least for another 5 minutes. If I don’t, I won’t beat myself up. I’ll just work on something else or take a longer break and try it again later.” – Anna Spilker, CBT Team Lead

Study with Kindness, Not Guilt

Procrastination often comes with guilt: “Why can’t I just do this?” But shame doesn’t create focus, it makes studying harder. Research shows that self-compassion lowers academic stress and boosts confidence in your ability to keep going (Nazari et al., 2025).

Instead of beating yourself up, try:

• Talking to yourself the way you’d talk to a friend (“This is hard, but I can take one small step.”)
• Rewarding effort, not just results (celebrate showing up, not only finishing).
• Allowing breaks and rest as part of your plan, not a failure of it.

You Don’t Have to Figure it Out Alone

Getting started doesn’t have to feel like a battle. The techniques you’ve read here are well-supported by research and are always available to you. Remember, progress over perfection. Practicing the skills more than once can improve their effectiveness. 

If you feel like you need some extra support in practicing and applying these tools in a way that fits your unique experience, reach out to Cognito to learn how our CBT Care Providers can do just that. We'll help you build strategies that work with your unique brain, without shame or all-or-nothing pressure.

Disclaimer: This post is for education and self-awareness. It's not a diagnosis or a replacement for therapy. You’re not alone—support is here.

Written by: Katelyn Kohlen, CBT Care Provider

References:

Lin, L., Li, N., & Zhao, S. (2025). The effect of intelligent monitoring of physical exercise on executive function in children with ADHD. arXiv.

Nazari, A. M., Borhani, F., Abbaszadeh, A., & Kangarbani, M. A. K. (2025). Self-compassion, academic stress, and academic self-efficacy among undergraduate nursing students. BMC Medical Education, 25, 506.

Rad, H. F., Bordbar, S., Bahmaei, J., & Vejdani, M. (2025). Predicting academic procrastination of students based on academic self-efficacy and emotional regulation difficulties. Scientific Reports, 15, 3003.

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