Keeping track of materials, doing homework, finishing a task, and staying organized are all powers that fall under a category called “executive-function” (EF) skills. These EF skills, along with others – such as following directions, planning a workday, and time management – are key factors in academic and career success. The flipside, however, is that lacking these crucial skills is a recipe for disaster.

I saw this first hand last year with my grandson. He was always losing papers, forgetting the directions to homework assignments, and not allotting enough time to finish projects. All of this resulted in low (even failing) grades, no free time, and tons of stress.

After doing a bit of reading, I came upon some practical steps that can be used to improve executive functioning.[1]

So, Let’s Get Organized: The Prep Work

Stuff to Get

• Obtain a Planner– Busy people use planners. Your children, particularly teens, have a lot going on. A planner helps keep track of it all and helps with time management. This is one of the most important pieces to the organizational puzzle. It’s like a shopping list, without it you can easily get off track and/or forget important supplies. Hence, it’s a good place to start.

The planner should be thin with a spiral binding and show the week with the date. Binder clips will give quick access to the page that the ADHD mind needs. (If they take too long in finding the page, they will become anxious and get behind the rest of the class.) Keep it in the front pocket of the backpack or binder so it is easily accessible. Note that, because we’re in the information age, digital planners are certainly also available. However, there is something to be said for writing things out the “old-fashioned” way. Still, for some people, digital may be the route to go.

• Buy a Poster-Size Calendar-The planner gives a week- by-week view. The calendar extends the view to what’s going on each month in a visual, and more concrete, way. This can help with long range planning. Have a big calendar set up at home. Use it for extra-curricular activities, special occasions and long-range projects. Involve your child in this part. After the date is set, show them how to work backwards to break the project into chunks. Each chunk could go on its own date. This is important especially for older kids. Digital calendars are also available.
• Invest in a Good Backpack-The backpack should have multiple compartments. This helps to keep everything together so the child knows where to find it. One section could be for books, one for folders and notebooks and one for supplies. Since most of the backpacks that I see are stuffed with crumpled paper, it should be cleaned out and organized weekly.
• Acquire a Watch or Timer– A watch and a timer obviously keep track of the time. But it also shows the passage of time and how long that it takes to complete a task, again helping to reinforce good time-management practices. They both also have an alarm that could serve as a reminder. Smart phones also have this capability.
• Pick up School Supplies– School (or “office”) supplies can also help your children keep their desks tidy. Hanging (or “accordion”) files, folders and pencil boxes are great to help your child stay organized and neat while at home.

Stuff to Do

• Actually Use the Planner- Now that your child has his or her planner, the challenge is to help them use it! For many kids, the default impulse is to think of using a planner as “too much work.” Children with ADHD are no exception, especially teens. In fact, those with ADHD may be more inclined to think of planners as unnecessary work. According to an article on ADDitude, there are some things to think about – and a few tips to try.[2]
  • Motivation- Motivation is a vital part of this plan. You need to convince your child/teen that using a planner will really be of benefit to them. Talk to them about the time-management problems that they’ve had in the past, like missing assignments because they forgot to do the work. Consistently using a planner can help them get better grades, complete their work faster, and maybe lessen the load of makeup work, resulting in more free time. Praise them whenever they write in the planner!
  • The Set-Up System– Setting up the planner should be based upon your child’s processing style. A commonly held notion is that no single system works for everyone because some people are “left-brain dominant” and some are “right-brain dominant.”[3] Left-brain dominant people are more analytical, logical and objective. They have an easier time adapting to using the planner. Right-brain dominant people are more creative, intuitive and subjective. Intuitively, many people with ADHD are going to be right-brain dominant.[4] As you might imagine, getting going with the planner is harder for them, especially at first. As an assist to more right-brained kids, we could profitably bring in flourishes of color. (Color-coding can also help with organization – on which, see more below.) Letting your child use different colors for each subject can actually help you keep your child interested in writing in the planner. Color can also make it easier to see what still needs to be done – especially if the colors are used in a principled way.[5] He or she can also use a personalized short-hand when recording assignments. A simple illustration would be a system that used the abbreviation “T” for upcoming tests or “WS” for assigned worksheets.
  • The Routine- Help your child/teen to set a time to review and update the planner and calendar. A daily review will help them figure out the most important work and what needs to be completed that night. Having them keep track of other events in the planner, such as rehearsals, and social functions, will highlight for your teen, particularly, how useful a planner can be and it might make them use it more.
• Straighten up the Locker at School- Lockers and desks can get messy. Like the backpacks, some of the ones that I see are overflowing with crumpled paper and trash. A weekly clean-out is advised. I would also suggest using a shelf to separate the AM./P.M. books and notebooks. Have your child hang a copy of his or her schedule on the inside of the door. He or she should look at it when he takes a locker break as a reminder of what will be needed. He or she should also make note of the locker number and the surrounding rooms, so it can be found again quickly.
  • Secure the Locker With a Manageable Lock- The lock is a very important component in their being late or on time to class. They should practice with it until they have it down pat. Their combination should be written in the front of their planner and also somewhere else in case of a lost planner.
• Label With Color- Color-code everything to make it a visual organization system. For teens and middle-schoolers especially, have them pick a color for each class. Try to get both the folder and the notebook in the same color to go with their classes. Having duplicate color folders at home might be for the papers to keep but not carry. For example, handouts that may need to be saved for a test. If this seems too confusing for you child, you could try to have one folder for a turn-in folder. All finished work goes into that folder to be turned into the teacher. In addition, having a folder for all new work/handouts can help them see what still needs to be finished. Remember though, it will not be helpful if the folders are not cleaned out regularly.

Now They Are Organized: The Follow-Through

Now that we have our child organized, let’s see how we can help them finish what they started.[6]

1. Follow the Treatment Plan. Whether it’s medication or therapy, parents need to be consistent. Both medication and therapy take time to show results. So, if they are inconsistently administered, there may not be any.
2. Be Consistent with Routines and Parenting. Children and teens with ADHD, as well as children without ADHD, need structure and routines to thrive. A routine that is flexible can provide the foundation upon which to build other healthy practices.
3. Break Up Homework with Physical Activity. Be sensitive to your children’s needs. They have trouble sitting and focusing for too long? Break up the assignments into chunks. Work awhile and then take a break. If a child can only work for a few minutes, have him or her do as much as feasible and then break for 3 minutes. Work a few minutes more and break again. Continue until work is finished. Lather, rinse, repeat.
4. ‘Shape’ Behavior. “Shaping” is a psychological method used in behavioral and cognitive therapies. This technique starts with a baseline, which in this case is the measure of how long the relevant child can work profitably. Say it is 5 minutes. That’s where you start. You accept the baseline for what it is and make small changes with reinforcement. So, you would let the child work for 5 minutes and then let him or her take a few-minute break. Next, set your timer for 6 minutes before allowing break. Subsequent cycles would each add a minute (or so) onto the working time, so that the following works period would be 7 minutes, 8 minutes, 9 minutes, and so on until work is completed. A reward would be given after a child reaches the fixed amount of time at regular activity levels. The reward can be anything that is motivating to your child – hugs, praise, a fun activity later. With this empowering process, your child learns to associate positive feelings with working for extended periods of time. Done with consistency, work time should become longer.
5. Let Them Fidget. Didn’t you know? Fidgeting is now supposed to be a good thing – at least, a little bit of it. Manipulating a small toy or spinner can sometimes help ADHD-afflicted people. The benefit is supposed to be that they are reducing their overall activity level while simultaneously increasing their attention and focus.
6. Exercise. Time should always be carved out for some physical activity – especially before any “big” or important task. After sitting in school all day, starting homework right away might not be a good idea. Let them have a half-hour break with some running, walking or jumping. Burning off all of that pent-up energy might make the attention to homework more efficient, focused, and profitable.
7. Relax. Teach and practice some relaxation techniques. They increase body awareness and reduces stress. Examples of relaxation techniques include (various forms of yoga) as well as so-called “deep-breathing” meditation.
8. Point out the ‘Positives.’ Everyone has problems or weaknesses that they need to work on or adapt. Above all, remain positive and give credit where it is due. As the saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Portray the introduced changes as part of a grand process of self-exploration and personal development.

Notes:

[1] Some families may worry that they’ll be “wasting time” developing with these skills, because they don’t realize their importance. Executive-functioning skills play a crucial role over the entirety of a person’s life. Neglect them at your, or your children’s, peril.

[2]Michelle Cooper and Michelle Grey, “How to Convince Your Teen to (Actually) Use a Planner,” ADDitude.

[3] Is this literally true? Who knows?! It’s probably sufficient to think of “left” and “right brain” talk as metaphorical.

[4] We needn’t assume that ADHD affects “right-brained” people more frequently, or to a higher degree, than “left-brained” people. Even if we assume that it’s about 50-50 whether a person is “left” or “right brained,” if we further assume that ADHD cuts across both types relatively evenly, then about half of ADHD-afflicted people will be right brained. Probably, the distinctions will turn out to be more fine-grained than this. For instance, maybe 20% of people are strictly “right brained,” and 20% are strictly “left brained.” Perhaps the remaining 60% are mixtures. Still, if ADHD cuts across all of these levels more or less randomly and evenly, then we should still expect that many ADHD-impaired people will have “right-brain” tendencies.

[5] For example, color-coding assignments for different classes, or using colors (like red) to designate high-priority or urgent tasks.

[6] For more, see New Life Outlook, “7 Ways to Calm Your Child with ADHD,” Healthline, Mar. 26, 2018.