How to Get Organized
Written By: Coach Nathaniel Jenkins
The ability to organize is an under-discussed skillset. Organization is a tedious stepping stone that requires constant maintenance in efforts to meet our next goal or deadline. As I am sure you know, organization is acutely important in day to day life whether we acknowledge it or not; this can be a frightening thought for many, especially for young minds with executive functioning hardships or ADHD. You may have heard something along the lines of “I would like to become more organized, but I don’t know where to start!” or “I know where my stuff is and that is all that matters!” As is true for most things in life, just because one way works for an individual does not mean that it will work for another. Organizational skills are not simply taught through a “one size fits all” approach because no one student is exactly alike. For some, the thought of being disorganized is unfathomable, but for others, it's just a part of life. An article called “How to Help Yourself Get Organized” by the Child Mind Institute https://childmind.org/article/how-to-help-yourself-get-organized/ provides insight on how young minds may work and think of organization.
Young minds are malleable and have incredible amounts of potential to soak up a lot of information. It is imperative to promote day to day routines focused on staying organized to carry out tasks of all difficulty levels with more peace of mind. Organization is not tactical, it is strategic, but it may require various different tactics, or approaches, to get your student on track to becoming self-sufficient in their organizational abilities. According to the article “How to Help Yourself Get Organized,” the most important “universal tips” for success when learning organizational skills are to do the following:
· Write it down.
· Put the same thing in the same place every time.
· Make easy-to-lose things bulky.
· Breaking overwhelming tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces.
· Keep it simple.
Let’s include these points into steps for instilling a sense of confidence to develop organizational skills in your student.
1. If at first you don’t…. find an approach that is successful, test new approaches until you find one that works! Don’t stress it if several approaches don’t work as expected. Trial and error is a part of life. You will find what your student responds to in time. Positive reinforcement in general will go a long way in promoting life skills such as organization.
2. Weaknesses, we all have them. Understanding weaknesses and tackling them head on is key in life in general, but especially in the life of a student lacking executive functioning skills. For these students, the sense of having a “weakness[es]” may be heightened and identifying weaknesses you may observe as the parent, teacher, etc. in your student may be different from what the student would classify as their weaknesses. Communicating to identify these shortcomings will significantly help in the long run.
3. Methods for success. These methods may include specific items or words of affirmation or whatever it is your student positively responds to. Would a physical calendar full of handwritten notes of when homework, exams, etc. are due be a successful method for your student? Or would having the student write on a notepad or even an app for notes in their phone help? The key to successfully instilling a sense of organization in your student is to focus on what works for them.
4. Don’t stress the planning aspect of becoming organized. The thought of attempting what to do to become organized can be daunting, but simple small steps will show the most success and will build over time into a fluid routine of maintaining organization in day to day life. The methods mentioned in step 3 may not be immediately useful so find what works piece by piece.
The key to all of this is understanding that your student is learning a new skill set altogether that does not have its own class subject at school. Your student who faces complications with executive functioning has a lot of potential to put their energy into becoming organized and maybe even one day enjoying the sense of accomplishment that organization brings. Finding what works for your student will not only help instill a valuable life skill, but will also help them to succeed in academics and whatever life may throw their way.