Silence That Inner Critic
Writing an essay can feel like staring up at a mountain, with your inner critic listing every reason to procrastinate. That burning anxiety in the pit of your stomach always seems to hit hardest the night before a deadline, when both the research and the drafting feel too daunting to tackle.
The good news is that with the right techniques and tools you can overcome procrastination and focus on the task at hand instead of getting tangled up in how and when to start. .
It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the range of study tools out there, each one serving a different need, from organising your ideas to writing.. For me, the one that has changed how I approach research and reading for good is Scholarcy. It breaks down complex material into clear, focused takeaways, helping me to research and organise my thoughts without feeling paralysed by that inner critic’s voice.
After reading James Clear’s Atomic Habits, I’ve started building small, daily routines including the use of some AI tools while I read, plan, and draft my work. Clear talks about the Two-Minute Rule—“When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do”—which has made a real difference for me.
Just two minutes each day makes even the biggest tasks feel possible and, little by little, helps me chip away at that inner critic. With tools like Scholarcy, I have been more proactive because it guides me step by step through research papers and book chapters so I feel less overwhelmed by the prospect of reading a wall of text. I believe AI should be part of every student’s toolkit. It is invaluable support, especially for neurodiverse and disabled students who have their own unique challenges.
Empowered by impartial feedback
In my experience, AI feedback differs from traditional, human-led feedback in its quick, specific, and impartial nature. Tools like Scholarcy and AskYourPDF offer immediate guidance, without the emotional weight, making it easier to stay focused on the task and avoid spiraling into self-doubt.
One key aspect of overcoming criticism is self-compassion.
Clinical psychologist Paul Gilbert, founder of the Compassionate Mind Foundation, defines compassion as “turning towards suffering, whether in yourself or others, and taking action to alleviate it.”
Rather than offering quick comfort, Gilbert sees self-compassion as treating yourself with the same care a doctor would, acknowledging your challenges and actively working to ease them. For me, this includes using tech to guide me in my studies, and help e address setbacks with curiosity instead of self-criticism. Practiing self-compassion is about expecting perfection, it’s about accepting my limitations and using tools that help me reach my goals without self-judgment.
When beginning any research project, tools like Scholarcy can accelerate the often-daunting task of gathering and digesting relevant literature.
Rather than getting lost in the sea of jargon, these tools act as an interpreter, helping me quickly extract insights from complex articles and supporting deep focus. . Platforms like Litmaps even visualise connections between studies, revealing how different papers relate to one another and where there may be gaps in the literature.
To this day, drafting can oftentimes feel overwhelming, especially when starting with a blank page, but tools like Scispace and Jenni provide me with a rough framework to build on. They are not there to replace my voice but to help me structure ideas, giving me a foundation to work from.
When it comes to maintaining academic integrity, apps like Miro support fact-checking to ensure the accuracy of claims. These tools don’t “fix” everything instantly; they remind me that growth happens in small steps, and that with AI as a guide, I can silence that inner critic.
How AI Makes Us More Open to Feedback
Before I started using AI-powered tools, I found myself resisting feedback.
Traditional, human-led critiques can feel harsh, and it is easy to take them personally. But with AI feedback, the process can become second nature.
The AI I’ve experimented with gives me practical, specific pointers without the emotional weight. This idea is supported by a recent study led by Professor Thomas Roulet from Cambridge Judge Business School, which found that “machine failure feedback facilitates learning both directly—by leading individuals to learn from their failures—and indirectly—by amplifying the learning effect of failure feedback provided by other humans.”
In my experience, this neutrality helps me see feedback as constructive rather than as criticism.
For example, I use Grammarly every single day, and it not only helps me improve my sentences on the spot but also gives weekly summaries that show patterns in my writing, like when I’m being assertive. This consistent, AI data-driven feedback has motivated me to write more, paragraph by paragraph, without second-guessing every word.
AI has made me open to feedback in ways I wasn’t before.
Due to my neurodiversity, I have learnt to become a note-taker, so I don’t forget the key points of an article, lecture, meeting, or essay. Recently, I discovered Fathom, which helps me capture and organise insights from meetings without needing to scribble everything down. I can focus on what is being said rather than trying to scribble everything down and make sense of it later.
Using AI has completely changed how I approach writing, turning procrastination and self-doubt into something I can manage.
Tools like Scholarcy and Litmaps break down complex material into clear insights, allowing me to stay focused, while Grammarly and Fathom provide neutral, actionable guidance without the emotional weight that often comes with human critique. This objective support has been transformative.
The latest generation of research and writing tools have become a kind of learning partner for me, making each step of the writing process feel possible and even motivating.
Even before I complete this article, I will use AI tools to check for grammatical or spelling errors, consult my plan, revisit key points, and ensure I have addressed the essential questions. After all, this is the advice I wish I had been given at the start of my degree. For anyone wrestling with their inner critic, bringing AI into your daily routine can offer the support you need to be productive and assertive. Remember, nothing needs to be perfect or polished right away, all you need to do is begin.
Whenever I procrastinate or doubt myself I think of the author, Ray Bradbury, who wrote, “You cannot fail if you are trying. You can only fail if you stop.”