Planning, Backed by Science
By Matt Strickland
For most high school and college students, planning is either something new, something we heard about from a teacher, or something our Illuminos Coach is nagging us to do. The most common statements I hear from students when we breach the subject of planning are:
Why do I have to do this? I know my schedule in my head.
I don’t have time to sit down and plan; I would rather just do the work.
Oh yeah… I was given an agenda book by my [insert institution, parent, mentor, teacher].
Let’s start with some basic science. Students don’t have a plan in their heads. This reality dates back many decades and has robust empirical support behind it. Based on an article published by George A. Miller back in 1956, he described the human brain as having an information bottleneck, which he called channel capacity. The channel capacity is the upper limit on the extent to which the observer can match their responses to the stimuli we give them (Miller 1956).
The stimuli our students have, especially today, are enormous. I have trouble learning about a student’s schedule from mom or dad because they sometimes don’t know what’s on their student’s schedule. School portals are often inaccurate because teachers vary widely in how often they update the portals. Miller’s data revealed that, on average, people can only handle a certain amount of input that produces the desired output. Our capacity to handle pieces of information flatlines at about seven, plus or minus two (Miller 1956). This channel capacity is what directly affects our ability to make decisions, especially well-educated decisions.
How does this relate to planning? Our ability to make a well-educated decision is directly correlated to the result(s) we obtain. The more information we have, the more likely we’ll make the right choice. At Illuminos, we want our students to start to know not only the material that’s on the chemistry test this Thursday but also know how to talk to their math teacher about receiving some special attention after class that may offer a leg-up on the next quiz. Just these two pieces of school-related information alone can overload a developing mind. Imagine adding a learning disadvantage on top of that. How easy is it to really have a full understanding of what needs to get done during the week at school and balance practices, performances, and hanging out with friends? This is where planning comes into play.
I use the phrase, “clear your mind so you can use your brain” when I start to work with students on planning. The first step is to reduce the traffic at the brain’s information bottleneck. By dumping the information out of our heads and onto the planner, we make room for the other items and tasks that were buried under traffic. Once the traffic is cleared, we can look at all the information on the page and start making well-educated decisions. We can start to plan our day. When do I like to study? When do I want to hang out with my friends? What time do I need to be at practice after school? What do I need to do once I’m done with practice? If the answer is “I don’t know” to any of these questions, we can look at our planner page where we wrote everything down. Then we can insert our obligations for the day, the extra tasks we need to do, and the fun we want to have.
The fundamental science of planning is not new, but planning is new to some of our students. Learning to work with each student’s unique schedule is our specialty. Teaching students to plan is simple; getting students to sit down and plan on their own time is the difficult part. It’s not until then that the desired results start to show up. That’s when our students start picking up on the value of planning. Let your students grow and encourage them to clear their minds so they can use their brains.
At Illuminos, we provide the customized scaffolding your child needs while he or she learns to master organization, time management, note-taking, study and test-taking skills, self-advocacy, verbal and non-verbal communication, and social skills. To learn more about executive function and how it can help your child, please read our other resources or schedule time to talk with us.
Work Cited:
Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63(2), 81.
