What Are Executive Functioning Skills? And Why Do They Matter for Teens?

Executive functioning skills are the brain-based abilities we use to accomplish tasks and meet goals. While these are valuable skills for everyone, they play an important role in the success for developing teens. For example, teens use executive functioning skills when they organize materials in their backpack or desk, plan an approach for solving a problem, stay focused on a necessary task, and make choices to manage their time effectively. While this is a huge umbrella, one way to remember executive functioning skills is that they serve as the foundation for executing tasks well.

Why are executive functioning skills so important for teens?

Simply put, executive functioning skills are in everything we do from thinking about how to solve a challenge to completing a daily chore. In our ever-evolving world filled with technology and distraction, executive functioning skills are becoming more and more critical. Here are a few reasons why executive functioning skills are important for teenagers:

Teens have growing brains. During this time of development, the emotional part of the brain (limbic system) advances more quickly than the thinking part of the brain (prefrontal cortex). This means that teens need more of a boost with strengthening their abilities to plan, stay calm during times of stress, and problem-solve effectively.
Stronger executive functioning skills mean better choices. When students learn, practice, and apply executive functioning strategies, they are building the part of their brain that helps make decisions (the prefrontal cortex). A better decision-making process ends up helping teens in all areas of their lives, from school to friends and beyond.
Strong executive functioning skills help support academic success. If we want teenagers to do well academically, we need to teach them how to get there. Skills like planning, organization, and time management make a huge difference with academic skills in the classroom. Research also highlights that executive functioning skills can predict competence with math and reading competence (Diamond, 2014).
Executive functioning skills work together. When starting a chore, we need to plan, get organized, initiate the task, and stay focused all at the same time. Because of this, when we strengthen one individual executive functioning skill (such as planning or organization), it often helps the others go more smoothly. In other words, executive functioning skills work together to make the magic happen.
Executive functioning skills can lead to career success. As teens head to the workforce, stronger executive functioning skills can help them communicate and cooperate well with others in the workplace (Bailey, 2007).
Strong executive functioning skills pave the way for positive relationship skills. Many executive functioning skills don’t just support academics, but relationship skills too. Planning time with friends, using self-control to cool down when upset, perspective-taking during disagreements, and giving attention during conversations are just a few ways that these skills show up in our relationships with others.

Executive functioning skills for success visual

What are some individual executive functioning skills we can build?

Research shows that executive functioning skills are trainable (Diamond, 2014). And this is good news! We can strengthen and build our abilities over time with instruction, practice, strategies, and supports. In order to get there, it’s helpful to have a foundational understanding about each of the individual skills and what they look like in real life applications.

You can use the executive functioning skills below as a guide to understand how we use these skills in everyday life. If you want to get started learning about these skills right away, learn more about these Executive Functioning Lessons and Activities for the Year.

Executive functioning for the year:

Lessons, activities, games, workbooks, and more to teach the skills teens need for success.

Planning

Planning is developing a strategy for a task or activity before you get started. It means pausing and thinking about what you need in order to reach your goals. A plan becomes like an itinerary for a trip; it helps you know exactly where you want to go and what you need to get there.

Times you might use planning skills include:

Making a step-by-step list of jobs to complete in order to clean your room
Looking at your daily schedule in the morning and thinking about what you need before leaving the house
Keeping track of important events with a monthly calendar

Planning: the ability to develop a strategy before starting a task.

Metacognition

Metacognition means thinking about your own thinking. This process allows you to consider what you know, what you don’t know, and what you need to be successful.

Metacognition in action means:

Pausing to think about when you need to plan, organize, or start a task
Thinking about what you have learned after reading or listening to new material
Deciding what material to study for a test or quiz
Checking in on your own progress as you complete a task, helping you decide when you are “done”

Metacognition: the ability to think about your own thinking.

Organization

Organization is developing and keeping up with systems to keep materials (and ideas) neat and orderly. When you are organized, you have what you need for the job. In turn, this reduces stress and allows you to focus your energy on the task at hand.

Some examples of organization include:

Putting art materials back where they go after completing a project
Spending 10 minutes to clean out your locker, removing items that don’t belong in there
Putting a math homework paper in your “to do” folder after it gets assigned in class

organization: creating meaningful systems to keep track of materials and ideas

Task Initiation

Task initiation is the ability to get started on a task right away. It’s what you use to get going when we need to begin a task or chore, even when we don’t actually feel like it in the moment.

Task initiation looks like:

Starting a math activity right when it is assigned
Doing the dishes when it is your turn, even though it’s not your favorite chore
Encouraging yourself to get started with cleaning your room right away instead of putting it off another day

task initiation: the ability to get up and get started on a task right away.

Attention

Attention is the ability to focus on a person or task for a period of time. Strong attention skills helps you learn new ideas, stay engaged, notice when your attention is starting to drift, and use strategies to help you refocus when needed.

Attention in action looks like:

Using a timer to focus on writing in your journal for at least 10 minutes
Taking notes while listening to your audio book to help you stay engaged
Listening and following along when a teacher gives instructions on a task

Time Management

Time management is having an understanding of time and using it to complete tasks well. Strong time management skills hold the plan in place, allowing you to get jobs done efficiently with less wasted time along the way.

Time management in action looks like:

Making up a timeline of due dates to help you finish a long-term project on time
Checking in with yourself during an activity to make sure you’re on track to finish
Planning to distractions away so you can stay focused and work solidly for one hour

Time management: using an understanding of time to help you complete tasks efficiently

Self-Control

Self-control is our ability to pause and think prior to acting. You use your self-control skills to stay calm in times of stress, consider choices, and make the best choices.

Examples of self-control are:

Putting your video game away for a period of time so you can finish the chores you promised an adult to do
Taking deep breaths when you feel angry or upset to help you calm down
Stopping and thinking about what you want to say to a friend before speaking

Self-control: the ability to stop and think before making a choice

Working Memory

Working memory is the process of juggling information in your mind as you complete a task. You can think of your working memory like a mental white board. You can keep information up on the mental white board to help you work through a job or activity.

Some example of working memory are:

Adding numbers in your head while solving a mathematical equation
Thinking about the steps for completing a task in your mind as you get started
Remembering critical details in a story or text as you read

working memory: the process of juggling information in your mind while working with it

Flexibility

Flexibility is the ability to cope with changes and successfully adapt to new circumstances. Being mentally flexible allows you to “go with the flow” when things don’t go as you expected.

A few ways you might see flexibility include:

Embracing unique strategies to solve a problem, even if they are ideas you haven’t tried before
Using coping strategies to help you deal with a setback, such as not making the basketball team that you tried out for
Listening to someone else’s perspective on how to complete a task, even if you think differently at first

flexibility: being able to cope with changes and adapt to new circumstances

Perseverance

Perseverance is the ability to work hard and overcome challenges on the way to completing a goal. Building your perseverance skills is a necessary part of life since new challenges and roadblocks are bound to pop up along the way.

Some examples of perseverance are:

Using self-talk to encourage yourself to keep going on a task, even when it’s tough
Taking a break to refresh your mind, and then coming back to work on a challenging activity, such as a puzzle or equation to solve
Asking for help when you cannot figure out something on your own

Perseverance: the ability to keep working towards your goals

Executive functioning skills matter

From planning to perseverance, one thing is clear: executive functioning skills matter. These abilities are part of our everyday lives, and they’re worth investing in. Learn more about executive functioning lessons, activities, and games to boost our thinking abilities now and in the future.