Discover how arranging your environment can make focus effortless and improve your study habits
Editor’s Choice: This thoughtful piece by Aditya Shukla, a student of Grade IX, stands out for its clarity and insight. In Priming the Environment, Aditya reminds us that success in studies—and in life—is not just about willpower, but about shaping the surroundings that influence us every day. With examples drawn from the daily lives of students and reflections supported by psychological research, he shows how our environment quietly acts as the architect of our habits and our future.We recommend this article to all our readers, especially students, as it carries a simple yet powerful message: instead of only trying to fight distractions, let us design our surroundings to support the best version of ourselves.
Aditya Shukla, Grade IX, Laurels International School
Every student knows the familiar battle: the decision to study three chapters tonight, made with the firmest of resolve, vanishes in minutes when the phone lights up with a notification. What was meant to be an evening of focused revision dissolves into hours of scrolling reels, binge-watching, or wandering through endless chats. The next day brings regret and the quiet promise to “do better tomorrow,” a cycle that repeats with frustrating regularity.
The truth, however, is that this struggle is less about personal weakness and more about design. Our environment quietly shapes our choices in ways we often fail to notice. Psychologist Kurt Lewin summed this up in his famous formula, B = f (P, E)—behaviour is a function of the person and their environment (Principles of Topological Psychology, 1936). In other words, while we like to believe we act out of willpower, much of what we do is triggered by the cues around us.
Every habit begins with a cue. The sight of your phone on the desk, the sound of a message notification, or even the television remote lying temptingly on the sofa—all of these are signals that pull us into familiar routines. The difficulty of breaking a bad habit lies not only in resisting it but in fighting an environment designed to encourage it. This explains why beginning afresh in a new place feels easier: the old cues that trapped us are suddenly absent.
Motivation, as many of us know from bitter experience, rarely carries us far. It is like a guest who visits when it pleases and disappears without notice. Environment, on the other hand, is a constant companion. A phone buzzing beside you demands attention; a phone kept in another room is forgotten within minutes. The difference is not in your character but in the design of your surroundings.
What then does it mean to prime our environment? It means adjusting our immediate world in ways that nudge us towards the choices we desire. Students who seem endlessly disciplined are not superheroes of self-control; they are architects of their environment. The classmate who never panics before exams may simply be the one who has built a routine where distractions are less available and reminders of study goals are always present. Research has shown that people with the strongest self-control are not constantly resisting temptation but have arranged life so that temptations rarely appear in the first place.
This lesson carries both seriousness and humour. We often laugh at ourselves for eating a packet of chips during study, yet who was it that thoughtfully stored them in the drawer labelled “stationery”? We promise to check messages for only two minutes but forget that WhatsApp and Instagram run on their own time zone—one that seems suspiciously close to Forever O’Clock. In such cases, blaming our lack of willpower is unfair; the real culprit is the environment we ourselves set up.
At the same time, good environments are just as contagious as bad ones. Have you ever noticed how revising with a focused friend makes your own concentration double, or how walking into a clean and uncluttered room instantly makes you feel more in control? The stage we set around us—whether messy or orderly, tempting or purposeful—quietly directs the script of our behaviour.
The larger lesson is clear. If we want to change ourselves, we should not only look inward for discipline but also outward to the spaces we inhabit. By deliberately shaping our environment—reducing exposure to distractions, arranging visible reminders for our goals, surrounding ourselves with people who inspire rather than distract—we create conditions where the right actions flow naturally.
Our environment is not a silent backdrop. It is the invisible architect of our future, whispering to us each day what kind of person we are becoming. The next time you find yourself slipping into procrastination, don’t only ask, “Do I have enough willpower?” Ask instead, “Have I primed my environment to help me succeed?” The answer to that question may determine not just how many chapters you finish tonight, but the habits and identity you carry into tomorrow.
