What is Executive Functioning coaching for college students and adults? How does it work?
While much attention is placed on supporting younger children to develop executive functioning skills, there is also both a need and supply of coaching focused on supporting executive function skill-building in adolescence and adulthood. Whether you’re a student in college balancing multiple courses, an employee managing complex projects, or an adult trying to maintain work-life balance, executive functioning is the foundation for effective decision-making, achieving goals, and thriving in any environment.
EF Coaching in College
While the prefrontal cortex begins developing early in childhood, it does not mature fully until around age 25. In addition to adopting and mastering strong study skills, college students must demonstrate critical EF skills such as goal-setting, time management, prioritization, and self-regulation. The transition from high school to college has high stakes and the demand for independence, scheduling, academics, and self-regulation become highly competitive in college, making the transition even harder.
Support from executive coaching can create the bridge to help students go from surviving to thriving.
Learning executive function skills while mastering your independence is no small feat. The goal of EF Coaching in college is to help students identify, organize, and execute the tasks they have each week.
Set a weekly schedule: Traditional high school settings rarely match the same expectations and learning environments in higher education. During high school students are still attending school with a set schedule and 5-7 classes that start and end at the same time each day. Most colleges are running on a block schedule with only 3-5 classes required during a term. Students must learn to account for sometimes double or triple the amount of free time in their schedules. Setting and maintaining a weekly schedule that accounts for class, studying, and free time is essential.
Implement a short and long term system for organization: Many college courses do not require daily assignments to be submitted. Students are asked, however, to do regular reading and posting of assignments, to write papers and take midterms and finals. It is essential to have a system that keeps track of both short-term (i.e. daily/weekly) assignments and helps remind you of when a large project or exam is going to happen. We recommend keeping both a daily schedule and to-do list, along with weekly work blocks and an electronic monthly calendar.
Self-Advocacy is key: - Advocating for accessibility services in higher education may not work as it did in high school, because colleges and universities are not required to implement IEPs. Although you will not use your IEP from school, the institution is required to provide you reasonable accommodations. For more information from your college, visit the disability or accessibility office on campus.
Study smarter, not harder: - Distractions in college are both inevitable and exciting! Procrastination and managing competing deadlines make it tough to stick to a study schedule built for high school. More exposure to the material over a longer period of time will support your working memory and lead to the best outcomes for retention. Set time blocks that are no longer than one hour at a time, making sure to switch subjects in each time block. If you feel overwhelmed, set a timer for a minimum of 15 minutes a day of passive studying to get started. “Previewing,” or skimming the material can support your brain in organizing the material and help to identify areas of weakness.
EF Coaching for Adults
As more education and awareness emerges about neurodivergence, we are seeing more adults seeking out EF Coaching to support success in day-to-day life. The rise in remote work, and the relentless interference of technology, social media, and other distractions can challenge our attention and focus. Adult EF coaching provides tools to navigate life's challenges with better focus, organization, and decision-making.
While there are many reasons adults may seek out a coaching partnership to achieve their goals, the goal of EF Coaching is to help clients to plan, evaluate, and complete tasks related to everyday life. In many cases, these tasks are related to success in a professional environment or managing a household or family. Coaching can also provide important strategies that enhance organization, time management, and task completion.
There are many reasons why an adult may decide that EF Coaching is right for them:
Diagnosis in adulthood - Many adults may not have been tested as children, and as more access to testing has become available, they are receiving a diagnosis later in life. With the rise of ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder, and more adults self-identifying as neurodivergent, clients look for EF Coaches to help them dissect and understand their diagnoses while coming up with strategies to integrate into their existing lives.
Specific school, work, or professional challenges or a desire to improve skills - Experiencing setbacks, meeting expectations of a specific role, failing to show progress, managing a large project (presentation, analysis, etc.) are areas where EF coaching can provide a supportive plan. EF Coaching can help clients break down and understand institutional expectations, tasks, and systems, and create strategies that are best suited to their brain’s current executive skill sets.
Experiencing challenges related to everyday tasks - Areas for support may include keeping a master schedule, managing tasks outside of work or in their home, or just feeling overwhelmed and/or lost in moving through a weekly schedule. These may seem like simple tasks, but they can be challenging, and they are often the most vital in a household. If a client is experiencing challenges in these areas, it can affect an entire family or create obstacles to success in other areas of life.
Meeting Big Life Goal or Preparation for Life Event - Adults are often faced with big, life-changing events and need space and time to process how they will approach and complete them. This could include testing (i.e. professional certifications or educational degrees); new life transition (i.e. new job/role, baby, divorce); responsibilities or professional roles that may be drastically changing; entrepreneurial endeavors (starting or managing a business, a promotion, or performance issue); life events (planning a wedding, organizing a move, etc). In these cases, EF Coaching can provide support to create a plan to help a client organize and execute the tasks needed to reach their next goal.
In all of these cases, Adult EF Coaching can support clients in setting clearer goals and developing expectations for success, and provide clear strategic pathways to achieve their goals in a way that fits into their very busy lives and different brains. Mastering these skills can significantly improve productivity, emotional regulation, and overall life satisfaction.
Citations:
All Things Considered. (2021, July 21). Some people are turning to executive function 'coaches' for help with daily life. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/07/21/1018465375/executive-function-coaches-daily-life
Brown University Health Blog Team. (n.d.). ADHD: Why diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is rising. Brown University. https://www.brownhealth.org/people/alan-sousa
Caron, Christina. New York Times. (December 11, 2024). A.D.H.D. Diagnoses Are Surging Among Older Americans. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/well/mind/adhd-diagnosis-older-middle-age.html
Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2010). Coaching students with executive skills deficits (1st ed.). The Guilford Press.
Legatt, A. (2021, September 7). Executive function is the secret ingredient to student success. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivalegatt/2021/09/07/executive-function-is-the-secret-ingredient-to-student-success/
