10 Effective Strategies to Improve Executive Functioning Skills
Executive functioning skills are incredibly important in children, teenagers, and adults as they help manage daily life and complete tasks. It is often hard to maintain these skills in day to day life but certain techniques can promote better executive functioning in any age group and make it easier for children to create healthy lifelong habits. Executive functioning skills are exceptionally difficult for individuals with ADHD. Neuroscientist Dr.Russell Barkley describes ADHD as “a separation of the performance and knowledge parts of the brain”. In his 2012 Burnett lecture, “This is how you treat ADHD based off science,” he describes this disconnect as a “performance disorder.” He states that the only way to deal with this disconnect is to “reengineer the environment around them.” Many of these techniques can help students with ADHD, and even those without, to improve their executive functioning and work around this performance disorder. These are 10 different techniques that are helpful to improve executive functioning and might be especially beneficial to students with ADHD
1. Checklists
Dr.Melissa Welby, a Harvard trained psychologist recommends making checklists to keep track of items that need attention and their urgency. She suggests emphasizing five items to indicate high priority, and then trying to complete those tasks first. Additionally, under each item that needs to be completed, she also recommends writing out the steps to completing that task. Creating a checklist, emphasizing priority, and outlining steps to completion all help to break down large tasks into smaller, bite-sized pieces, and can really kick start motivation and productivity. In his lecture, Dr.Barkley states that externalizing tasks helps with the attention deficit aspect of ADHD, this includes writing items down, using charts or signals, or any other physical tool. Below is an example of a Your Learning Toolbox checklist for organizing an older elementary school child’s desk before homework time.
Click to download our desk organization checklist
2. Do Shorter Tasks Immediately
Dr. Welby also recommends doing tasks that take less than three minutes immediately. This can be used in tandem with the checklist by starring or highlighting items that will take only a few minutes to complete. This allows a large amount of items to be checked off in a short amount of time, and can really establish a sense of completion that can motivate more daunting tasks on the list.
3. Explain the Importance of Each Task
A fantastic way to improve the executive functioning of a child or student is to explain the reasoning behind each task. This is similar to Dr.Welby’s suggestion of detailing steps, however, this technique helps to convey urgency and motivation to another person. The Child Mind Institute suggests that this technique helps students decide that the task is worth their effort, and in turn, motivates them to complete it. Additionally, they suggest that explaining the reasoning and importance of each task helps with commitment and following through with a task. In his lecture, Dr.Barkley stresses the importance of establishing consequences and accountability.
4. Creating a Routine
Dr.Matthew Cruger, a neuropsychologist at the Child Mind Institute, suggests creating a routine rather than letting children start tasks at random times throughout the day. Dr.Cruger states that it is very unlikely for a child to develop a want or desire to complete a daunting task, such as their homework, throughout the day. Instead, it is likely that procrastination will cause them to push off their work and eventually begin it late into the night. Dr.Cruger suggests creating a routine that students can follow daily where homework is done as soon as the student gets back from school. It is important to include visual schedules as well as use a visual timer to promote independence and continued success.
5. Games and Activities
The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University describes activities and practices that are beneficial for improving executive functioning skills for varying age groups. From infancy to adolescence, games that engage critical thinking and imagination actually help to develop organizational and problem solving as the children develop. The Center on the Developing Child details executive functioning games and activities for all ages in their Activities Guide.
6. Setting Goals
The Activities Guide from the Center on the Developing Child also describes goal setting as an important executive functioning tool for adolescence. By having older students establish a plan, detail steps to achieve this goal, and check in periodically, they can monitor their progress and feel a sense of accomplishment as they surpass each step. Below is an example of a goal setting activity that our tutors often use with their students.
Click to download our goal setting template
7. Using Time-Based Phrases
Pathway 2 Success suggests “talking about time” with children and adolescents to help improve their time management skills. To do this, a parent can be explicit about how much time is needed to complete a task, how much time is left, and whether or not a task was completed on time. This helps children think about time in a logical way and builds their ability to manage their own time. Similar to using checklists to externalize tasks, Dr.Barkley recommends using physical clocks or watches to keep track of time instead of remembering what time a task needs to be finished by. The use of a visual timer is a must to develop a sense of time awareness, management, and estimation.
8. Talking Out Loud
Another method to improve executive functioning skills would be to think out loud. This technique is described in Pathway 2 Success as “think alouds”. They describe think alouds as ways to display to children the step-by-step process needed to complete a task, and also serves as an example of how to follow through with these processes.
9. Be Clear and Concise
Scott Ryan, a marriage and family therapist at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), suggests that simplifying directions is beneficial to improving children's executive functioning skills. By being short and concise, the information may be conveyed in a way that is not overwhelming and clear as to what needs to be done. It is important that the child has no confusion about what their goal is, and if they do, it is even more important that they ask for clarification. One way to do this is to use visuals to externalize the information. Many students find it helpful to have physical representations of their tasks. A visual timer might also be useful to accomplish this.
10. Take Breaks
While being active and productive is important for maintaining and building executive functioning skills, taking breaks and relaxing is just as important. Children need downtime to relax and rebuild their energy. Downtime might also be a safe place if the child gets frustrated and needs to process their emotions. Dr. Barkley refers to executive functioning as having a “tank” that needs to be replenished with frequent breaks to be most efficient. One technique he suggests using the 10:3 rule where children with ADHD do 10 minutes of work and 3 minutes of relaxation or a break.
Dr.Barkley describes ADHD as one of the most treatable disorders. Understanding methods that help and do not help students with ADHD are critical in making executive functioning easier for them. Even students without ADHD can benefit from techniques that help to visualize tasks that can be completed. At Your Learning Toolbox, we take advantage of many of these methods to help all students improve their executive functioning skills and be productive.
