Executive Functioning Skills: The Skills Behind Success
When we think about preparing students for life after high school, we often focus on academics, career exploration, job skills, or independent living. While these skills are important, there is another set of skills that plays a major role in all of these areas: executive functioning skills.
Executive functioning refers to a group of mental skills that help us plan, organize, manage our time, regulate our emotions, make decisions, and follow through on tasks. These skills are essentially the “management system” of the brain, and they impact nearly every part of our daily lives.
For students preparing for life beyond high school, developing these skills can make a meaningful difference in their ability to navigate college, employment, community activities, and independent living.
What are Executive Functioning Skills?
Executive functioning is not just one skill. It is a collection of skills that work together to help us accomplish goals. Some of the most important executive functioning skills include:
Planning: Figuring out what needs to be done and determining the steps needed to accomplish it
Organization: Keeping track of materials, information, responsibilities, and routines
Time management: Understanding how long tasks take, priortizing responsibilities, and meeting deadlines
Working memory: Holding information in our minds long enough to use it.
Task initiation: Getting started on a task, even when it feels difficult or uninteresting.
Flexibility: Adjusting when plans change or something does not go as expected
Self-monitoring: Checking our work and recognizing when we need to make adjustments, and which adjustments to make
Emotional regulation: Managing our emotions so we can respond appropriately to situations
Impulse control: Pausing and thinking before acting or responding
Why Do Executive Functioning Skills Matter?
Imagine a student has a job interview after school. They need to remember the interview time, plan how they will get there, choose appropriate clothing, gather any necessary materials, leave school on time, arrive at the location, communicate with the interviewer, and manage any nervousness they may feel.
This one event requires multiple executive functioning skills.
Now imagine that same student transitioning into employment. They may need to remember their schedule, complete tasks in the correct order, ask for help when needed, handle changes in routine, manage workplace interactions, and keep track of responsibilities. These aren’t simply “school skills,” they are life skills.
Executive Functioning and Postsecondary Transition
For students in transition programs, executive functioning skills can be especially important because the structure and support provided by high schools eventually change. After graduation, students may have more responsibility managing their own schedules, transportation, employment, finances, appointments, household responsibilities, and social relationships.
The goal isn’t for students to suddenly be completely independent. Instead, we want to help them understand what strategies and supports will allow them to be successful. For example, a student might use:
A digital calendar to keep track of appointments and work schedules.
Alarms or reminders to help with time management.
Checklists to break larger tasks into manageable steps.
Phone apps to organize responsibilities or provide reminders.
Designated places to keep important belongings.
Visual schedules to make routines easier to follow.
Asking for support is also a critical executive functioning skills. Knowing when something isn’t working, and being able to communicate what support is needed, is a valuable part of self-advocacy and independence.
Building Skills Through Real-World Experiences
One of the best ways to develop executive functioning skills is through meaningful and authentic experiences. In a transition class (or Applied Strategies for Success), students might practice these skills while running a school-based business, completing work-based learning experiences, preparing meals, navigating the community, or managing a personal schedule.
For example, operating a soda shop may look like a fun classroom activity, but students are actually practicing a variety of skills! They need to:
Remember their responsibilities
Arrive on time
Organize, and take inventory of supplies
Follow a sequence of steps
Take and fulfill customer orders
Handle money
Communicate with coworkers and customers
Solve unexpected problems
Adjust when something changes
Clean and reset the workspace
Reflect on what went well and what needs to change for next time
These experience provide opportunities to practice executive functioning skills in a setting where the skills have a meaningful purpose.
Progress Over Perfection
Executive functioning skills don’t develop overnight, and each student will have different strengths and needs. A student who struggles with organization may need visual supports. Another may need reminders to begin a task. Someone else may need help managing unexpected changes. Rather than viewing these challenges as a lack of motivation or effort, we ask:
What skill is needed here, and what support will help the student practice it?
This shift in perspective can make a big difference to students. The goal isn’t to eliminate every challenge, but to help them build strategies, recognize their strengths, learn from mistakes, and become confident and independent when managing their own lives.
Preparing Students for What Comes Next
Executive functioning skills are woven into almost everything we do after high school. Whether a student is pursuing employment, postsecondary education, community participation, or greater independence, these skills can help them navigate the responsibilities and unexpected challenges and moments that come with adulthood. When we intentionally teach and practice executive functioning skills, we’re doing more than help students complete today’s checklist. We’re helping them build the tools they can use tomorrow, next year, and beyond the classroom.
