Six Super Skills for Executive Functioning: Tools to Help Teens Improve Focus, Stay Organized, and Reach Their Goals

by Lara Honos-Webb, Neil D. Brown (Foreword)

6 SUPER SKILLS to help teens stay focused and reach their goals! Do you sometimes have trouble paying attention in school? Do you lose track of time and deadlines? Do you often feel “scattered” or unorganized? You’re not alone. All teens need a little extra help staying focused—in school and in life. This is especially true if you have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing disorders, a mood disorder, or have experienced traumatic brain injury. The good news is that there are skills you can learn to help you stay on track. In this friendly guide, psychologist and ADHD expert Lara Honos-Webb offers six powerful “super skills” to help you pay attention, increase productivity, and get organized so you can achieve your goals and live your best life. These skills   Once you learn and practice these skills, you’ll feel empowered to conquer any task—no matter how big. So, why not start learning them today?

Genres: Nonfiction, Parenting, Self Help

176 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2020

About the author

Lara Honos-Webb, Ph.D., is the author most recently of The Gift of ADHD Activity Book: 101 Ways to Turn Your Child's Problems into Strengths. She is a licensed clinical psychologist, author of four books, and is considered one of the world's leading authorities on attention deficit disorder (ADD) and depression. "

Reviews

[CM · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I probably don't recommend it for adults, but for the teenagers out there, I think it would be very beneficial. Going to try to make my daughters read it when they start junior high.

[Katja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book aims to help teens improve their executive functioning. It discusses finding your strengths and interests, setting goals, breaking big projects into achievable smaller chunks, motivational strategies and ways to regulate your mood and attention. Positive self-talk might help motivate yourself, and writing goals down can keep you accountable and help plan how to manage your time. A lot of people struggle with procrastination which is a form of self-sabotage as things tend to feel harder and more stressful if you try to fit too much work into too little time. Perfectionism can also be a problem.

Some advice is practical: one important point is that spending a lot of time on the phone or other screen entertainments is a harmful distraction and takes time away from more useful pursuits. Some is more abstract and vague: "Evolve into a more resilient, resourceful, stronger person." Sorry but I'd have no idea how to get started doing that.

I liked that it was not all focused on school work but also addressed social relationships, fitness goals and creativity interests that teens might have and the importance of rest, breaks and fun is also noted. It's not very long but at times I found my attention wandering and it was hard to focus on what was being said. Some points get made repeatedly.

[Kimberly Barnes]

This self-help book focuses on a growing need for teenagers today- improvement in executive functioning skills. Procrastination, decreased motivation, inconsistency in mood regulation, and difficulty with planning and execution of skills plague today's teenagers. This book is written in a way to capture the reader's interest, but yet, remain easy to read and easy to follow. Vignettes are provided throughout each chapter to provide examples and real life scenarios to the reader. Strategies are provided throughout the book to help the teen/student have a positive sense of self as well as, improve these skills. These strategies assist the reader not only at the present time of the reading, but in the future. These are life long skills that are being explored and the reader's acquisition/generalization of these skills will set him/her up for future success. This book breaks down these skills in an easy to follow way. I highly recommend this book.

[Amy Dufera - Amy's MM Romance Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Six Super Skills for Executive Functioning is a wonderful book by Lara Honos-Webb. I absolutely love the way it's written.

I want my son to read this. Will he? No clue. But it's easily written for a teen to stay interested while getting the info they need.
This book includes many life long strategies that will help.
Anyone who knows someone who has executive functioning issues, this affects many areas in one's life. I appreciate the way the author covers so many things.

This is a great book for me, as a parent, as well as my son. It isn't often that I find a book that is written for a teen to be the reader. Well done!

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read with lots of great features to draw students in and give them the skills to succeed. Perfect for middle schoolers through young adults, this book uses clear, concrete strategies along with positive support to provide students with the ability to take control of their lives. The thought-provoking questions and vignettes will also be helpful for students that are a little more self-reflective. Overall, a nice addition for parents, teachers and support professionals to use with students.

[Denise Mccabe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is meant for teenagers. I skimmed through it. I have read too many self- help books, so the information is a bit repetitive. It does list skills that all kids could benefit from. I don't know that my kids would want to read this.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although directed at teens, I found so much that could be applied to my life. The more I read about ADD/ADHD, the more I think I have it :/ Even if I don't, all of these skills are great!

[Kristin Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you can get a teen to read this, it offers effective executive function tools. Easy and short to take in.

[Blossom Storms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read to preview for my kids. I definitely think this is a good book for teens/preteens to read.

[Tayler K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I technically read this in just a few days, but spread out over a few months. What was in the first half of the book? I have no idea at this point. What was in the second half of this book? Idk, I just wanted to get it finished.

Actually, the only thing I can remember off the top of my head from the entire book is "eat the frog first," because of the vivid imagery I suppose (translation: get the big unpleasant task out of the way so it's not weighing on you).

I took pictures of some stuff that seemed useful at the time. Maybe one day I'll group it all together in my files and read it again and do something useful.

I mean, it's a relatively short book, but... gotta say I feel like my executive function really hampered me from reading this book on executive function. 🙃

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1/10/21:
I am no longer a teen (28), but I'll admit sometimes I feel like my social development/life experiences and emotional processing is stuck in high school. *sigh*
I came across this at work (public library) and figured what the heck, it was worth a flip-through at least. Today, I've resorted to making all of my decisions by rolling dice because I wasn't getting anywhere on my own. So, even though I don't like reading multiple books at once and I've already started two others (and gotten nowhere because of, you guessed it, executive dysfunction), I thought it might be most beneficial to go ahead and try to get through this one (and the d20 agreed). Might help me with everything else. Fingers crossed I pick up at least a couple nuggets of wisdom or some tool.