Executive Function Coaching: The Missing Link Between “Knowing What to Do” and Actually Doing It
Learn how executive function coaching builds planning, organization, time management, and study skills so students stop procrastinating and follow through.
There’s a specific kind of frustration we often hear from students (and their families):
“I understand the material, but my grades don’t show it.”
“I start assignments… and then I get stuck, overwhelmed, or distracted.”
“I swear I did the homework. I just didn’t turn it in.”
“I study for hours, but the test still doesn’t go my way.”
If that sounds familiar, the issue often isn’t intelligence, effort, or even motivation. More often, it’s executive functioning: the set of skills that helps students plan, start, sustain, and complete their work.
That’s where executive function coaching comes in.
Unlike traditional tutoring (which primarily targets subject mastery), executive function coaching targets the skills underneath every class: how to manage time, organize materials, break down tasks, handle procrastination, regulate stress, and build a repeatable system for school.
In other words: it’s the bridge between “I know what to do” and “I can reliably do it.”
What is Executive Function Coaching?
Executive function coaching is a structured, skills-based approach to building the habits and systems that make academic success more consistent.
At North Avenue, our coaching process is tied directly to students’ real coursework and real deadlines. In a typical session, that can include things like checking grades, maintaining a planner, organizing materials, breaking down projects, setting realistic deadlines, and building self-awareness and resilience over time.
This work is especially valuable for students who feel chronically behind, frequently overwhelmed, or stuck in a cycle of “last-minute panic.”
It’s also often a great fit for students with ADHD or other learning differences, because the coaching is adaptive and individualized rather than one-size-fits-all.
School Rewards Output, not Potential
Many students are capable, bright, and full of promise, but they’re not getting credit for what they know because their systems are unreliable.
School rewards output:
turning things in on time
remembering what’s due
planning ahead for tests and projects
studying effectively (not just studying long)
recovering quickly after setbacks
Those are executive function tasks. So when a student says, “I just need to try harder,” what they often actually need is a better process.
The Foundational Mindset: Self-awareness, Discipline, Resilience
In our proprietary curriculum, we frame early progress around three ingredients that make change possible:
Self-awareness: noticing current patterns honestly (without shame) and naming what’s happening
Discipline: practicing attention to detail and consistency, even when it’s boring
Resilience: pushing past obstacles and recovering quickly when things go sideways
Notice what’s missing from that list: “willpower.”
Executive function coaching isn’t about lecturing students into better behavior. It’s about building a clear system that reduces friction, improves follow-through, and makes success repeatable.
The Essential Skills Behind Mature Executive Functioning
“Study skills” can sound vague, like a generic tip sheet. But in a strong executive function coaching program, study skills are built on specific skill categories.
Your student guide explicitly names these essential areas, including:
Working Memory & Attention (holding information while staying focused)
Self & Social Awareness (knowing strengths, limits, and how to advocate)
Self-Regulation (managing stress, emotions, and momentum)
Planning & Organization (breaking big goals into doable steps)
Flexible Thinking (adapting strategies and trying new approaches)
If you’ve ever watched a student “melt down” not because something is hard, but because they don’t know where to begin, you’ve seen these skills in action.
What Does Executive Function Coaching Look Like?
Most students don’t need more reminders. They need a better feedback loop.
Here’s a simple coaching cycle you can use at home (and that a study skills coach will reinforce systematically):
Clarify the goal (make it measurable)
A lot of students have goals like:
“Get better grades.”
“Stop procrastinating.”
“Be more organized.”
Those goals feel motivating… until Monday afternoon hits.
In the curriculum, achievable goals have three parts:
WHAT (a specific target)
WHEN (a deadline)
HOW (the steps)The North Avenue Guide to Study…
Example: instead of “Get an A in Spanish,” you get something like “Score 90% on the next vocabulary test, by studying flashcards daily and completing three practice tests the week before.”The North Avenue Guide to Study…
This is one of the most underrated time management strategies for students: make the goal small enough to execute.
Audit time (find the real “pain points”)
Many students are convinced they “have no time,” when the real problem is that time leaks away in predictable places.
Your lesson has students identify schedule pain points through practical reflection, like:
When do you have too much time (and waste it)?
When do you not have enough time?
What’s eating time you need for something else?
Where do you stay up too late?
Then the student tracks their time honestly for a week, comparing perception vs reality.
That’s executive function coaching in a nutshell: reduce guessing, increase visibility, build from real data.
Build a system (make “good habits” more automatic)
Students don’t fail because they don’t care. They fail because their system depends on memory, mood, and last-minute urgency.
A strong study skills tutoring plan builds systems that support:
consistent planning (calendar + weekly preview)
task breakdown (no more “I’ll do it later” blobs)
environment setup (materials, workspace, distractions)
recovery tools (what to do when overwhelmed)
Over time, students begin to experience something new: school feels manageable.
And that’s when confidence grows.
Executive Function Coaching vs Subject Tutoring
These supports can overlap, but they’re not identical.
Subject tutoring: helps students learn or practice content (math, writing, chemistry)
Executive function coaching: helps students develop the underlying planning, organization, attention, and self-regulation skills that make studying and learning sustainable
If the core issue is “I don’t understand,” start with tutoring.
If the core issue is “I understand, but I can’t stay on top of the work,” executive function coaching is often the missing piece.
A Practical Starting Point
If you want one action to take this week, start here:
Pick one class.
Pick one goal.
Make it WHAT / WHEN / HOW.
Then schedule the first HOW step within 24 hours.
Small wins build momentum, and momentum builds identity. Students stop seeing themselves as “bad at school” and start seeing themselves as someone who can create a plan and follow through.
That identity shift is one of the most powerful outcomes of executive function coaching, because it changes what students believe is possible.
