In my Teen Exec workshops, I often hear the same frustrations from students juggling school, sports, clubs, and everyday life. These challenges are real, and I face them, too. From staying organized to getting started on a tough assignment, these skills don’t come easily for most teens.
To better understand what teens are struggling with, I also conducted an online survey of parents in my town during the summer of 2024. Their top concerns for their teenage children? Organization, prioritization, and self-regulation. These align closely with what I experience myself and with what researchers like Peg Dawson and Richard Guare describe in their work on executive skills in children and adolescents. (See their book Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents for more on this framework).
Below are seven common challenges, along with simple, practical strategies that have helped me address them.
1. Time management
The struggle: Always feeling rushed, missing deadlines, or staying up late to finish work.
What helps: I use a visual weekly planner to map out my week, including school, activities, and homework time. It helps me spot busy days early, so I can start assignments 2–3 days ahead instead of cramming at the last minute. Seeing it all laid out makes the week feel less overwhelming.
2. Organization
The struggle: A cluttered backpack, lost papers, or forgetting what to bring to class.
What helps: At the end of each day, I take five minutes to reset. I clean out my bag, throw away random papers, and get everything ready for the next day. It’s a small habit that helps me start the morning calmly.
3. Planning and prioritizing
The struggle: Not knowing where to begin on a large project, or waiting until the last possible moment.
What helps: I break big assignments into 3–5 smaller steps and write them out as a checklist. Then I just focus on one step at a time. It makes everything feel more doable and way less stressful.
4. Task initiation
The struggle: Sitting at a desk for 20 minutes, knowing what to do, but not starting.
What helps: I’ve learned to just set a timer for 5 minutes and force myself to begin. Once I start—even if it’s just a little—I almost always find it easier to keep going.
5. Focus and attention
The struggle: Constant distractions from your phone, social media, or background noise.
What helps: When I really need to focus, I put my phone in a drawer across the room and use a timer to work in 25-minute chunks, followed by a short break. It helps me stay locked in and gives my brain a reset. There’s even a name for this: the Pomodoro Technique.
6. Working memory
The struggle: Forgetting instructions soon after hearing them, or losing track of multi-step directions.
What helps: I either say the steps out loud or write them down in my notes app or planner right away. If I don’t capture it quickly, I know I’ll forget, so this habit really helps.
7. Emotional regulation
The struggle: Shutting down after a setback, or feeling overwhelmed before even beginning.
What helps: I stop and ask myself, “What exactly am I feeling right now?” Naming the emotion helps me feel more in control. Then I ask, “What’s one small thing I can do next?” Taking action, even a tiny step, helps me get unstuck.
Final thought
Executive functioning skills don’t come naturally for many of us; they’re built over time. These small strategies won’t solve everything overnight, but they’re a great place to start. With practice, these habits build stronger skills, greater confidence, and less stress during the busiest parts of the school year.
FOR PARENTS >>>
Noticing the right clues
When teens struggle with executive functioning, it often shows up in familiar patterns—missed deadlines, late nights, disorganized backpacks—but it’s not always about laziness or a lack of motivation.
As a parent, one of the most supportive things you can do is observe patterns without judgment. If your teen always forgets their gym clothes on Mondays or consistently avoids starting big projects, those are valuable clues. Instead of jumping in to fix the problem, try asking:
- “What’s your usual routine on Sunday nights?”
- “Would it help to write out the steps for that project together?”
These questions invite reflection and problem-solving, which are at the heart of executive functioning growth.
Also, keep in mind: executive functioning is still developing well into a person’s twenties. A teen who’s struggling now isn’t behind; they’re learning. Your calm presence and collaborative tone can make a big difference in how confident they feel as they build these skills.
Sources and further reading
- Barkley, R. A. (2012). Executive functions: What they are, how they work, and why they evolved. Guilford Press. https://www.guilford.com/books/Executive-Functions/Russell-Barkley/9781462545933?srsltid=AfmBOop6yNPXuPBYnEAvL2w4D_dwgVW_EXnIFS2f87bTrn8slhJeNTcL
- Child Mind Institute. (n.d.). Helping kids who struggle with executive functions. Retrieved August 14, 2025, from https://childmind.org/article/helping-kids-who-struggle-with-executive-functions/
- Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2018). Executive skills in children and adolescents: A practical guide to assessment and intervention (3rd ed.). Guilford Press. https://www.guilford.com/books/Executive-Skills-in-Children-and-Adolescents/Dawson-Guare/9781462535316
- Understood.org. (n.d.). What is executive function? Retrieved August 14, 2025, from https://www.understood.org/en/articles/what-is-executive-function
