How to Help Your Teenager Get Organized in 5 Easy Steps

High school can be an intricate maze of assignments, responsibilities, and deadlines and navigating it can often be very challenging. We all know the feeling of having a “to do” list a mile long and not even knowing where to begin. Learning how to tackle one’s schedule in an organized and efficient way can seem daunting, but if equipped with strategies one can successfully conquer the calendar chaos. Throughout adolescence, some of the most important skills teenagers can learn are time management and organizational skills. Here are 5 easy steps suggested by Michelle Szabo, Instruction Program Manager at the Stern Center, to help your teenager avoid feeling overwhelmed and instead feel in control and confident.

1.      BE PROACTIVE:

It is important to identify a problem early, before the situation has a chance to spiral out of control. Don’t wait until progress reports come out before identifying a break down in organization that may be hindering your teen from excelling academically. If you peek in your teen’s backpack and find crumpled up papers of unfinished homework assignments and quizzes with less than favorable results don’t be discouraged. It is never too late to start creating effective organizational habits. Executive function lies on a spectrum and everyone has the ability to learn these skills if given the proper plan.

2.     MAKE A PERSONALIZED PLAN:

Once you and your teen have agreed that there is a need for a more organized routine, the first step is to create a plan of execution. It is important to discuss what challenges your teen faces, what they struggle with the most, and what your collective goals are. Lay out the objectives and discuss how your teen learns best. Every person is different; discover which strategies are best for your student. Would keeping a binder help or would a daily calendar/planner be more beneficial? Ask questions and brainstorm together to find out which customized plan is the best to start with.

3.     ESTABLISH A SYSTEM:

Once a plan has been formulated, the next step is to develop a system of actions that will help your teen remain organized on a day to day basis. Some individuals may need more supervision than others. Does your teen struggle with clutter and needs to simply make sure he or she hole-punches each paper and puts it in a folder to ensure it doesn’t end up at the bottom of a bag? Or do you need to have a more hands on approach with your child where he or she needs to check in with someone at the end of the school day to make sure everything is accounted for? Develop clear and concise tactics to make sure each goal identified in the plan is being met. 

4.     MANAGE THE PROCESS:

Help your teen choose a resource most conducive to their learning style that allows them to facilitate their own learning as well as track their progress. Options include posting sticky notes in places that act as helpful reminders, creating daily “to do” lists, creating notes on their phones, or having a planner where they can write in each homework assignment. Just remember that these resources are not set in stone. If you and your teen find that one management tactic is not for them then you can always try another. This process is all about trial and error.  

5.     MONITOR PROGRESS:

Be diligent about making sure you and your student are tracking his or her progress. It is important to regularly evaluate which strategies are working the best and which ones may not be worth your student’s time. If you and your teen are willing to experiment and change strategies when it is necessary you will be able to work together to create a system that is most effective and that gets you closer to achieving your collective goals.   

Written by Stern Center Staff: Michelle Szabo and Allison Provost

Best Ways to Get Organized for the New School Year

Photo Credit: Sourabh

It’s already back-to-school time again and with that comes all the preparation and excitement for the new school year. Decisions around the house will once again revolve around choosing between schoolwork versus video games, getting homework done amidst a fully scheduled calendar and deciding whether to prepare lunches the night before or in the morning.

For some, these decisions will be easily made – work first, play later. For others procrastination may be the name of the game, putting off work until the last minute, which can often lead to lack of sleep and endless parental nagging.

And yet there is another subset of the population who struggles with what neuroscientists have called “executive function.” Executive function refers to all the cognitive processes that allow us to achieve goals – prioritizing, managing time, separating the big picture from details, shifting from one task to another (often called flexibility), checking as you go and reflecting on your outcome (self monitoring).

For individuals challenged with executive function skills, it is not a question of motivation or effort, but rather just not knowing where to start or how to proceed. Without specific teaching, getting organized is not all that easy. As with many other life skills – like skiing, reading, singing – some of us have more intuitive talent than others.

Baby Steps

by Stern Center Staff

I always find that at the turn of the new year I have grand goals for myself. These goals are usually really big like writing a novel and running a marathon. These are not necessarily realistic accomplishments over the course of just one year's time, especially considering I am not doing anything towards either at the moment.

It’s not to say that these grand goals cannot ever be met, it’s just to say that I would probably have a better chance at reaching these large goals if I set smaller more attainable goals for myself along the way. However, creating these baby steps is not necessarily easy. For me figuring out the small goals can be challenging, sometimes so much so that I find myself saying, “Eh, I’ll just do this next year when I have more time.”

Organizing thoughts, prioritizing tasks, and managing time and motivation can be tricky. For some people it’s not just a challenge when it comes to tackling writing a novel or becoming a marathoner, but a challenge with everyday tasks like getting to work on time, writing that report by the due date or paying bills in a timely fashion.

Over the past few years, one of the buzzwords in the world of learning has become executive functioning (EF). In laymen’s terms EF is the CEO of your brain, it’s what helps you get your act together. Executive functions include setting goals, prioritizing, managing time, separating the big picture from details, shifting from one task to another (often called flexibility), checking as you go and reflecting on your outcome. For some people this comes easily, for others, it’s not quite so intuitive.

Five Smart Strategies to Help Your Child Stay Organized at School

It’s already back-to-school time again and with that comes all the preparation and excitement for the new year. Decisions around the house will once again revolve around choosing between schoolwork versus video games, getting homework done amidst a fully scheduled calendar and deciding whether to prepare lunches the night before or in the morning. For some, these decisions will be easily made, work first, play later. For others procrastination may be the name of the game, putting off work until the last minute, which can often lead to lack of sleep and endless parental nagging. 

And yet there is another subset of the population who struggles with what neuroscientists have called “executive function.” Executive function refers to all the cognitive processes that allow us to achieve goals- prioritizing, managing time, separating the big picture from details, shifting from one task to another (often called flexibility), checking as you go and reflecting on your outcome (self monitoring). 

For individuals challenged with executive function skills, it is not a question of motivation or effort, but rather, they just don’t know where to start and how to proceed. Without specific teaching, getting organized is not all that easy. As with many other life skills, like skiing, reading, singing – some of us have more intuitive talent than others. 

Thursday Thoughts: Cool Links and Interesting News

BRAIN TEASER

In honor of the World Cup taking place this week here is a logic puzzle for you: How can you throw a ball as hard as you can and have it come back to you, even if it doesn't bounce off anything? There is nothing attached to it, and no one else catches or throws it back to you. (Answer at the end of the blog.)

COOL LINKS AND INTERESTING NEWS

Why Free Play is the Best Summer School, The Atlantic, June 20, 2014. The more time children spend in structured, parent-guided activities, the worse their ability to work productively towards self-directed goals. Children who engage in more free play have more highly developed self-directed executive function. 

VPR's five-part series on early education in Vermont, Ready or Not, is airing this week and looking at early education on many levels from childcare to kindergarten all the way up to teaching the teacher.