For most of us, time management isn’t an innate skill, but one that’s learned and practiced throughout our formative years. It doesn’t come naturally. But after years of mastering it, we’re able to carry those skills into several facets of our daily lives.
As for students with ADHD, time management is neither an innate skill nor one that can be easily practiced and adopted. This is because ADHD impacts the way people conceive time, clouding their vision of the future and causing “time blindness” – a concept we’ll get to shortly.
However, with a bit of at-home practice and the insights of an academic enrichment program, your child can gain the study habits and skills necessary to walk into class with their head held high. For over two decades, e3 Consulting has been helping families lead their ADHD children to a place of learning comfort through compassionate care and a therapeutic approach. By getting to the root of their academic and personal struggles through one-on-one coaching and activities, we instill in students the confidence they need to retain their motivation to learn.
Learn why ADHD students struggle with time management and glean our at-home tips for parents, before discovering how academic enrichment can guide your child toward success.
Why ADHD Students Struggle with Time Management
Students with ADHD struggle with time management because they lack an internal clock or an accurate sense of how fast or slow time passes by. As a result, individuals with ADHD tend to have “time blindness” – an absence of gut feeling about how long a task might take.
Additionally, students with ADHD don’t see the future as clearly, or look far into the future in general. They’re “now-oriented” and are concerned with what’s occurring in this very instant, seeking out activities that have immediate payoffs versus long-term incentives. Ultimately, ADHD makes it more difficult for students to see and feel the future, putting a damper on their time management skills and often causing academic stress.
How ADHD Impacts Time Management
ADHD negates our ability to see the future clearly, as well as our gut feeling of how time passes by. In other words, people with ADHD don’t really “feel” time. This renders time management all the more challenging, be it planning out the week or hunkering down for study hours.
For your child to manage their ADHD and time more effectively, it’s important to first manage their attention. You want them focused on the task hand, but not hyper-focused. Being hyperfocused may cause too many delays and sticking when they should’ve moved onto the next page, concept, or topic already.
Furthermore, since children with ADHD have a different awareness of time, “later” may become “now” much sooner in their minds. This can make it quite difficult for them to manage homework deadlines, or to remember to study before a big exam. Thankfully, there are plenty of steps parents can take at home to work on their children’s ability to focus and boost their motivation to learn.
How Parents Can Support ADHD Students
At home, parents can help their ADHD students manage time more effectively by managing their attention, temptation, eliminating distractions, and encouraging them to use planners and calendars.
Another consideration is the signal-to-noise ratio while your child is learning. The Signal would be what your child wants to hear, or the subject matter. Noise is all of the background sounds that distract from the Signal. By eliminating Noise and making the Signal easier to process in their active minds, your child’s ability to concentrate can be gradually improved.
There are a handful of other strategies parents can employ, such as establishing routines, breaking up homework assignments into “bites,” “munchers,” and “gobblers,” and encouraging weekly cleanups to build organizational skills, as discussed in one of our recent blogs.
However, while at-home strategies are suggested, your child may find more progress if you combine them with a professional academic enrichment program – one that tailors learning to your student’s unique style while tending to their social and emotional needs compassionately.
How Can an Academic Enrichment Program Help Your Child?
Academic enrichment programs such as e3 Consulting tailor learning for ADHD students through one-on-one coaching, social-emotional development, and tailored learning that accommodates their unique educational needs.
We know that while ADHD is technically a developmental disability, it’s similar to a learning disability because it can significantly impact a student’s ability to learn in a traditional classroom setting. To help your child overcome their ADHD struggles, we’ve found that smaller class sizes and extra test-taking time can boost their learning comfort, giving them more time to focus and shaving off the pressure of standardized tests.
Most importantly, a personalized academic enrichment program will build your child’s confidence, self-advocacy, and holistically approach their ADHD symptoms through diet, nutraceuticals, and regular exercise – all foundational components of a healthy lifestyle.
Lastly, at e3 Consulting, we’re able to help families set up psychiatric appointments for medication or medication management. Oftentimes, children are quickly diagnosed with ADHD and hastily prescribed medication – leaving you wondering if it’s truly necessary. To find out whether medication is called for, we’ll refer you to a third-party psychiatrist who will take the time to assess your child and provide an accurate diagnosis.
Enrichment Tutoring for Students with ADHD
If your child is falling behind in class, or losing motivation to learn due to ADHD struggles, it may be time to consider a professional approach that accommodates their unique learning style. By tailoring learning to their preferences while following best practices for ADHD education, the Academic Specialists at e3 Consulting will prepare your child to walk into the classroom with re-sparked confidence and motivation. Visit our website to find out more about our academic enrichment program and process.
Contact our San Diego education consultants today to request an academic consultation and get your child the help they need and deserve.
