Life Doesn’t Come with an Assistant—So We Help Students Become One
One of the things I hear most from high school students is: “I can’t wait for college—I’ll have so much more time!”
It’s a myth that persists, and for students with executive function (EF) challenges, it can be a setup for struggle. These students already wrestle with time management and time perception—two key components that don’t magically improve with a change in environment.
A few years ago, I worked with a student throughout his high school journey. He was bright, motivated, and had made tremendous progress in his EF skills. The summer before college, we sat down to map out what his life might actually look like when he got to campus. I was excited for him. He was excited too—until we opened up his class schedule, started estimating time for homework, study blocks, meals, laundry, social time, work-study hours, and everything else.
Let’s just say… his face dropped. He looked at the calendar we’d laid out and said, “Wait, this is every week?”
He had imagined expanses of free time. But the reality of college is very different.
The Executive Functions Behind Scheduling
This story isn’t unique. Students in high school often rely on others—teachers, parents, reminders—to hold their schedules together. But once they hit college, they’re expected to manage everything independently:
Scheduling meetings with professors
Keeping track of assignments, deadlines, and exams
Balancing work, social life, sleep, and self-care
Showing up for events, internships, office hours, and interviews
The myth of “having more time” collapses when they realize their free time isn’t really free—it’s just unscheduled, and without a plan, it gets swallowed up fast.
This is where executive function comes in.
Time management involves breaking tasks down, assigning time for them, and knowing how long things take. Time perception is about reading your day accurately—understanding when time is slipping and knowing when to start something. Initiation and planning play huge roles, too. It’s one thing to intend to study. It’s another to plan when and follow through.
Cognitive flexibility – adapting when plans change, shifting gears when things don’t go as expected, and handling competing priorities without shutting down
For students who haven’t practiced these skills, the transition is rocky. That’s often when we get the referrals—after the semester starts, and students are already struggling.
But the truth is: college success doesn’t require a perfect plan. It requires a flexible one, and the ability to stick to it, adjust it, and trust yourself to manage it. That’s what we aim to teach.
That student? He didn't magically become a master planner overnight. But after some trial and error, he embraced the tools we practiced. He learned to spot time traps, build in buffers, and check his calendar regularly to make real-time decisions. By mid-semester, he wasn’t overwhelmed—he was managing. And when things didn’t go as planned (because let’s be honest, they never do), he was able to pivot instead of panic.
That’s what cognitive flexibility looks like in real life. And that’s what becoming your own executive assistant is all about.
