She Wasn’t Unmotivated. She Was Managing Uncertainty.

When “Doing It Right Away” Isn’t About Motivation

I was recently working with a middle school student who, on the surface, looks like every educator’s dream.

She is mature, thoughtful, and a high achiever. She completes her work quickly, rarely misses assignments, and generally appears very “on top of things.” Our work together lately has been more about fine-tuning than fixing anything. A little work on study skills here, a little reflection there.

Then I asked what felt like a simple question.

“When is the next time you have Spanish?”

“And how many Spanish classes will you have before we meet again?”

She looked at me, completely straight-faced, and said, “I don’t know.”

That caught me off guard.

I asked how she knows, on a school day, whether she has Spanish or not.

She explained that the schedule is complicated, so she keeps a printed copy in her locker. If she’s unsure during the day, she asks her friends what class is next.

At first glance, you might wonder about working memory. That was my initial pause too. But when I looked more closely at her schedule, the picture got clearer.

She had Spanish the very next day at 2:00 p.m.

Later that same week, she had Spanish at 7:30 a.m.

Same class. Same week. Wildly different times.

I also remembered something that had been quietly sitting in the back of my mind for a while. This is a student who always does her homework immediately. Everyone around her assumed that meant she was highly motivated and incredibly organized.

But I wondered if there was more to it.

So I asked her, gently, “When you do your homework right away, is it because you’re worried you won’t remember when you have that class next?”

She looked at me, paused, and nodded.

“Yes.”

The Brain Science Pause

This is where executive function gives us a different lens.

January is already a difficult month for working memory. We ask students to restart routines after breaks, adjust to shifting schedules, and hold multiple expectations in mind while energy is lower. Add in rotating schedules, inconsistent class times, and frequent interruptions to rhythm, and the cognitive load increases fast.

Working memory is not just about remembering content. It is about holding information long enough to use it, compare it, plan around it, and return to it later.

When schedules are unpredictable, even if they repeat weekly, the brain has to work much harder to answer basic questions like:

• When do I have this class next?

• How much time do I actually have before I need this done?

• Can I safely wait, or do I need to do this now so I don’t forget?

For students with subtle working memory or processing speed challenges, “doing it right away” can become a protective strategy. It is not about drive or perfectionism. It is about reducing uncertainty.

Metacognition plays a role here too. While it is not an executive function itself, it allows students to recognize patterns in their own learning and behavior. This student had learned, through experience, that relying on her memory alone did not feel safe. So she adapted by completing work immediately, even when spacing it out might have been more effective.

From the outside, it looks like efficiency.

From the inside, it can feel like pressure.

Coming Back to the Student

This student is not struggling in the way we often expect students with executive function challenges to struggle. She is succeeding.

But she is succeeding by carrying extra cognitive weight.

As we move forward, our work together will focus on shifting the load from her brain to the environment. We are starting with something very concrete: a calendar that visually maps her school schedule so she does not have to rely on memory, printed papers, or peers to know what comes next.

We will also work on using free time intentionally, helping her understand the difference between classes she sees daily and classes that rotate in unpredictable ways. The goal is not to slow her down or take away what works. It is to give her more choice and more ease.

This is an important reminder as we wrap up the month.

Sometimes the students who look the most “together” are the ones quietly working the hardest to keep things from falling apart. When we pay attention to schedules, timing, and cognitive load, we often uncover opportunities to support students not because they are failing, but because they deserve a lighter lift.

And that is where executive function support does its best work.