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We often turn to adult experts for advice on how to handle conflict with teens, but what if we turned to the true experts instead: teens themselves? As Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg taught us in Episode 62 of Focus Forward, teens are the experts of their own lives. Taking his advice and inspiration from Ellen Galinsky's book on teens and adolescents, The Breakthrough Years, I ...

When you're trying to make meaningful changes in your life, especially if you're like me and live with ADHD or executive function challenges, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking, "I know what I need to do, so why can't I just do it?" That kind of thinking often leads to frustration, self-doubt, or even shame.

Did you know how powerful music is for our brains, our Executive Function skills, our communities, and our mental health? In Episode 67 of Focus Forward, I had the joy of speaking with Sara Sherman and her father, Mort Sherman, co-authors of the book Resonant Minds: The Transformative Power of Music. If you’ve ever felt a song shift your mood, help you find focus, or ...

Okay, who can relate to this? Please tell me I’m not alone! Our family’s summer break always starts with big dreams of productivity, fresh routines, and family connectedness. And then… suddenly it’s the middle of July and everyone (including me!) is still staying up too late, eating cereal at noon, and forgetting what day it is. There’s maybe too much of this so-calle...

When most people hear “executive function,” their minds usually go straight to academics. We envision homework, planners, sitting and listening in class, and those science projects that we as parents often end up doing more of than our children. Did you know that Executive Function skills are about way more than school skills? Executive Function skills are the mental ...

Life is full of transitions and times of change, and this is especially true for teens and their parents. Whether it's the leap from middle school to high school or the freedom of a new driver's license, these moments can shake up routines and emotions for everyone in the family. In an episode of our podcast, Focus Forward, I sat down with Rachel Hulstein-Lowe, a Lice...

We often think about improving our physical health—eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep—but how often do we consider improving our brain health? On a recent episode of Focus Forward, I got to sit down with Dr. John Randolph, a researcher and professor at Dartmouth University. We explored why brain health matters for everyone, no matter their stage in life. Wh...

Children with ADHD often face challenges in school, from staying focused in class to managing their assignments. However, with the right accommodations under a 504 Plan for ADHD, students can thrive academically and develop essential learning strategies. First, let’s look at how ADHD can impact students' learning, and then we’ll take a look at nine accommodations to c...

Routines are powerful tools that allow us to create space in our lives—space to focus on what truly matters. They help us free up mental energy, reduce decision fatigue, and bring structure to chaos. The question is, amidst this chaos, how do we build a routine that sticks, especially when our ADHD or executive dysfunction makes it hard? Recently on our Focus Forward ...

Some people seem to have a fully functioning internal clock—they instinctively know how much time has passed or how much time they need to complete a task. Others, however, struggle to locate their "clock" at all. This disconnect is often referred to as time blindness, a phenomenon that impacts many individuals with ADHD or executive dysfunction. In this blog post, we...

When it comes to managing life’s physical and mental clutter, Tyler Moore, known on Instagram as Tidy Dad, has a wealth of wisdom to share. Recently, Hannah Choi had the pleasure of interviewing Tyler on our Focus Forward podcast to discuss his new book, Tidy Up Your Life. While his approach focuses primarily on tidying and organization, the parallels to strengthening...

As students get older and take on more responsibilities, their schedules get a lot more complex. They still need to eat, get enough sleep, and do homework. In high school, they often have more after-school activities, social engagements, and perhaps even a part-time job competing for their time. For many students, this means doing more with less time, which can be str...

As a parent, you want to see your child thrive. Not just in school, but in all the things they care about. You know they’re capable of great things, and you want their strengths to shine through in their work. But sometimes, that potential doesn’t show up in their grades, and it’s hard to know why.

From phones and iPads to laptops and TVs, screens are just about everywhere in modern life. While it's impossible to completely avoid them, it's important to find a healthy balance of screen use to avoid addiction and negative effects on our mental health, work, and relationships. I wanted to explore this topic in more depth, so I reached out to Dr. Cliff Sussman, a p...

You'll find a million time management tips and strategies with a simple Google search. In today's blog post, we’ll save you some time and share a four-step system that will help you find and develop time management strategies that will last a lifetime. Here are the four steps: Figure out your relationship with time Learn how to prioritize Implement tools and strategie...

Grief, loss, and emotional trauma are really hard to think about or talk about. Because our podcast, Focus Forward, aims to tackle these things that are hard to talk about, I reached out to Dr. Lisa Shulman to explore the topic of how the experience of loss impacts our brains and our executive functioning. You can listen to that episode here.

By the time the semester hits mid-October, college and high-school students are really starting to get into the thick of the school year's demands. And although getting through all the deadlines successfully may seem most important, it's also critical to remember that burnout is real and emotional well-being is often more important than checking off another item on th...

As Executive Function coaches, we find that many of the people we work with feel disheartened or stressed when they fail to reach their self-improvement goals. After all, when you work to change your habits, you're putting yourself in a vulnerable position where you're trusting that you are capable of making a change. This is why it's often so upsetting, particularly ...

There are many things people never tell you about parenting. For instance, how many fingernails you’ll clip, or that you may have to tell your son to stop chasing his sister with moldy bread (okay that second one may be a “me” thing)... However, the one quirk that we all were definitely not told about is that we’d have to parent through a pandemic. As many of us have ...

Everything these days seems to be going digital. Apps for this, websites for that, Google Home or Alexa taking up residence in our living rooms. It can be helpful for planning and keeping track of our busy lives, but can also a bit overwhelming and distracting. For those of us who prefer paper and pen as opposed to a digital calendar, using a day planner can be one of...