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Check out our variety of resources and tips on Executive Function support, ADHD, mental health, and more

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By Sean Potts | Oct 30, 2023

22 ADHD Coping Skills That You Need to Learn

In a world that rewards peak productivity and efficiency, living with ADHD can feel like you’re swimming upstream against a powerful current. No matter how hard you try to fight the current with willpower alone, you end up downstream from where you wanted to go, exhausted and discouraged from your failed efforts. Despite decades of research showing that ADHD is a very...

By Sean Potts | Oct 30, 2023
By Sean Potts | Sep 14, 2023

How To Parent A Child With ADHD: Helpful Tips For Parents

It’s often said that there’s nothing that can fully prepare you for becoming a parent. Although we may never know precisely who said that quote originally, I strongly suspect that they had at least one kid with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder). Having once been one of the 6.1 million kids and teens with ADHD, I know firsthand how difficult it is to grow u...

By Sean Potts | Sep 14, 2023
By Hannah Choi | Feb 10, 2023

Learn to Love Life Again: 5 Coping Tips from a Grief and Loss Expert

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 Hannah Choi | Feb 10, 2023
By Jackie Hebert | Jan 03, 2023

Is Executive Function the Missing Link to Your Kid's Success?

You’ve puzzled over plenty of life’s mysteries. Why does food taste better outdoors? Why did that weird ad show up in my feed? Where’s my other sock? When it comes to our kids’ academic performance, one mystery we hear from parents is: “Why is my smart kid struggling?” I mean, your kid can talk your ear off about black holes, or the Ming Dynasty, or Shakespearean subp...

ADHD Child Refuses to Do Schoolwork: Top Tips to Help | Beyond Booksmart

Let’s be honest… No student loves homework - and for good reason. When we consider the full school day, extracurriculars, and various social components that are all part of a typical school week, it’s no wonder why students want to relax and recharge when they finally get home. However, part of growing up is learning to roll up our sleeves and do those essential thing...

By Hannah Choi | Oct 20, 2022

4 Coping Skills Teens Need to Build Lifelong Resilience

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...

By Hannah Choi | Oct 20, 2022

Failure to Launch: How to Nudge Your Young Adult Toward Independence

Although parents have many responsibilities, the greatest one of all is to equip our kids with the skills they need to grow into successful, independent, and happy adults. However, when we find that our kids’ transition into adulthood isn’t happening the way we hoped, that responsibility can suddenly become a terrible burden. Whether it’s around the end of high school...

By Jackie Hebert | Sep 01, 2022

3 Life-Changing Tips for Parents of College Students

Exactly a decade ago, I found myself trundling toward Louis Armstrong Airport on a crowded shuttle of folks like me who were eager to evacuate New Orleans before Hurricane Isaac made landfall. My mental checklist ticked off all the items I needed to have with me: wallet, ID, tickets, carry-on bag. Hmmm - I seemed to be missing one important thing. Oh yeah, my kid! I h...

By Jackie Hebert | Jun 27, 2022

8 Things You Need to Know About ADHD After a Diagnosis

Editor's note: This article has been reviewed and verified for accuracy by Theresa Cerulli, MD., a nationally certified neuropsychiatrist with over 20 years of expertise in diagnosing and treating ADHD in children and adults. It can be overwhelming when you learn that you or a loved one has ADHD, whether they're an adult or a child. There’s so much information availab...

By Brittany Peterson | Apr 07, 2022

A Day in the Life of a College Student with Executive Dysfunction

Picture this: You go from a 6:30am wake-ups 5 days a week to 10:00am ones. You go from six intense hours of learning to a 50-minute class followed by a three hour break. You go from abiding by a curfew to being able to stay up as late as you want. These are the kinds of transitions that college freshman eagerly look forward to (and make all of us wish we were still in...

By Jackie Hebert | Mar 16, 2022

Overwhelmed by College? Here's How to Regain Control

The college environment presents greater demands for self-management than most young adults have ever experienced. Add in the fallout from pandemic disruptions and we really do have a perfect storm of circumstances that have left many college students anxious, depressed, and overwhelmed. Why are college students struggling? Consider a few of these scenarios to give yo...

By Sean Potts | Jan 24, 2022

When Getting Started is Impossible: 5 Procrastination Hacks that Work

Of all the Executive Function-related challenges we experience, procrastination is most pervasive. Even the most successful students and adults can struggle to initiate a difficult or less-than-exciting task. So what can they do about it? Plenty, it turns out. This week, we’ll be sharing the 5 best strategies to conquer procrastination, all of which have been tested b...

By Sean Potts | Jan 24, 2022
By Sean Potts | Jan 10, 2022

What College Students Struggle with Most (and what you can do to help)

When you’re struggling with self-management, every day can feel like an uphill battle. Not knowing how to manage time, effort, or emotions - or to organize and plan in order to meet demands, is an exhausting way to live. And although it can feel isolating for those who are struggling, these problems are far more common than most of us might think.

By Sean Potts | Jan 10, 2022
By Sean Potts | Dec 15, 2021

A Survival Kit for the New Year: Our 21 Best Tips from 2021

Somehow, we’ve reached the final chapter of 2021. It's safe to say that this year was one giant learning experience as we all have tried to adapt to a world that was unrecognizable just two years ago. We've been lucky to have so many brilliant individuals share their wisdom with our community and contribute to this year of learning. Between the dozens of teachers, the...

By Sean Potts | Dec 15, 2021
By Sean Potts | Oct 01, 2021

Fall Blues? Why 80% of Parents Are Worried (and what to do about it)

Each school year, students begin a new chapter in their educational journey. And historically, this time has been a mixed bag of emotions - some excitement, some sadness (students in particular), and maybe even some mild nerves. But these last two back-to-school seasons have been different. Starting as early as June, our team began noticing that many parents were expr...

By Sean Potts | Oct 01, 2021
By Misty Chisum, EdD | Sep 15, 2021

Making College Affordable: 5 Tips for Securing Scholarships

College planning can be both exciting and stressful. While students and parents celebrate this new stage and its milestones, for many, one question looms large: “Can we get help paying for this?” The answer to this question is, most often, yes. There are many sources of funding available other than student loans. The five tips below can help simplify your search by of...

By Brittany Peterson | Sep 02, 2021

The Best Strategy for Building Strong Student-Teacher Relationships

When I had to move when I was in college, I did what most people do: I asked my friends for help. And, despite the busy lives they lead, they did. (Or, at least, many of them did. That’s right, I’m calling you out, Genevieve...) Now, I didn’t offer to pay my friends, but they helped me anyway. (I mean, I did bribe them with plenty of pizza, but no one volunteers to he...

By Isy Mekler | Aug 18, 2021

Freshman Social Jitters? 5 Tips to Making Friends in College

As August nears its end and a new school year waits around the corner, a certain segment of students who recently graduated high school are coming to the same realization that I did three years ago: starting college is scary! Moving to a new place without parents for the first time where you know few people (if any) is understandably intimidating. Add on a host of new...

By Isy Mekler | Aug 18, 2021
By Sean Potts | Aug 05, 2021

Back to Campus: Insights for Parents' Top 5 College Transition Worries

Transitioning to college is always difficult, but for the semester ahead, students and parents alike are more anxious than ever about the upcoming fall. During a year filled with upheaval and uncertainty, college life shifted dramatically, eliminating the traditional college experience many students had anticipated. But this fall, students are likely looking at a more...

By Sean Potts | Aug 05, 2021
By Lindsey Weishar | May 27, 2021

Blank Page Panic? 4 Simple Steps to Write an Essay that Impresses

Does your child start to panic when they get an essay assignment? As coaches, we see this frequently. Writing can be hard for students, especially when they have challenges in Executive Function areas like organization, planning, and task initiation. Here's a useful guide to help your student overcome that hesitation and write a paper they (and their teachers) can fee...

By Sara Sullivan | May 12, 2021

4 Tips for The High School to College Transition

Editor's note: This week, we invited Sara Sullivan, a rising senior at Brown University, to share her experience transitioning to college, and the advice that she wished she had known in high school.

By Emily Toffelmire | Nov 30, 2020

What High School Juniors Can Do Now to Make Senior Year Less Stressful

Editor’s note: This week, we feature guest blogger Emily Toffelmire, Senior Manager of Educational Counseling for Bright Horizons College Coach. Please read more about Emily below. Senior year of high school can be one of the most memorable and fun times in a young person’s life. But for students who put off all things college-app related until then, that first semest...

By Dan Messier | Jul 08, 2020

What Will College Look Like This Fall?

Every new college semester is a transition: New classes, new teachers, sometimes even new friends. This coming fall, however, will compound all of those changes with another one: A new way of learning. Yes, students do have a few months practice with the skill of learning-during-a-pandemic, but the spring semester was cushioned by lenient (and sometimes required) pass...

By Dan Messier | Jul 08, 2020
By Sean Potts | Jun 11, 2020

Adulting in 2020: 5 Key Tips for Resilience from a Recent College Grad

We’ve finally reached the halfway point of 2020, and I think I speak for just about everyone in saying that these past 6 months have felt more like 6 years. A global pandemic, widespread economic uncertainty, mass unemployment, and now, historic protests against police brutality and racial injustice in every major US city - all of which have already cemented 2020 as a...

By Sean Potts | Jun 11, 2020
By Sean Potts | Mar 25, 2020

3 Tips for Thriving in Online College Classes

Remember your college experience? Routine was key. Going to class each day, meeting on campus for group projects, and studying in the library were all staples in the life of an undergraduate. With the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, those college rituals have been disrupted. Now, millions of college students are finding themselves struggling to meet the demands of a cour...

By Sean Potts | Mar 25, 2020

What are Executive Function skills?

Executive Function Skills are a set of cognitive skills that help individuals plan ahead, stay organized, regulate thoughts and behaviors, stay focused, and achieve their goals. Each of these skills can be taught, learned, and applied at any stage of life.

  • Time Management
  • Maintained Focus
  • Task Initiation
  • Stress Management
  • Organization
  • Prioritization
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