Teens with ADHD can be easily perceived as unmotivated, lazy, or ignorant. However, most of them desire to master productivity and find ways to fight against procrastination, distractibility, and poor time management.
Kelly Biltz, ADHD Teen Life Coach, offers these three strategies to help teens with ADHD to get better about owning their time and increasing their productivity:
1. Be super clear about what needs to be done
Teens struggling with not knowing when tasks are due can lead to stress, anxiety, and shutting down. Lack of clarity hinders productivity. Ask questions to guide teens to specific information that would be helpful for them. Use more facts in your speech to encourage action.
2. Time yourself, undistracted
Ask teens to track how long it takes to do a task completely undisturbed, without any multitasking. They will be surprised how focussing on one task helps them to finish it more efficiently.
3. Environment and movement are key
Standing, stretching, walking, and other short bursts of movement are great for activating focus and resetting the mind.
The more teens will own their time, the more productive they will be — and the more time will be left for relaxing and socializing!