8 Ways to Help Your Teen Stop Procrastinating

One of the primary symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and executive function issues is procrastination.

Most parents have struggled with this—when their child or teen seemingly takes his or her sweet time to follow through on chores and homework. In my practice, most parents interpret this behavior as either laziness or defiance. However, it is often procrastination.

When it comes to ADHD and other issues of executive functioning, what causes procrastination are intense feelings of overwhelm. This is because the teen struggles with poor organizational skills, which hinders his or her ability to prioritize and plan ahead for tasks he or she has to complete.

This leads to feelings of overwhelm, which leads to feelings of anxiety, which triggers the fight-or-flight response system of the hindbrain.

So, if your teen comes up with excuses as to why he or she can’t attend to the chore or homework, they are putting up a fight to avoid engaging in the task.

If your teen agrees to do the chore or homework, and several minutes later he or she has not started the task, this means he or she is fleeing from a conflict with you while buying time to avoid engaging in the task or homework.

Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to teach your teen how to conquer procrastination.

The following tips will help your teen reduce procrastination, stay on task, and increase his or her productivity.

1. Minimize Distractions

If your teen’s workspace is full of distractions, he or she is more likely to procrastinate. Have your teen eliminate as many distractions from his or her work area as possible.

Have your teen’s phone silenced or turned off. Install an app to block social media and other distracting sites while he or she is doing homework. If your teen is doing homework in the living room, leave the TV off.

2. Start With the Most Challenging Task

Your teen’s most challenging task isn’t necessarily the most difficult. It’s the task he or she has been putting off because he or she dreads the thought of tackling it.

Have your teen start with his or her least-pleasant task and get it over and done with early, and your teen spends the rest of the day working on something more enjoyable. You will notice your teen feeling a lot better once his or her perceived worst task is out of the way.

3. Break Down Longer Tasks

Children and teens often procrastinate when a chore or schoolwork feels too large and overwhelming to handle. You can teach your teen to overcome this by breaking large tasks down into smaller, more manageable steps.

Have your teen make a to-do list and mark off each step as it is completed. A to-do list will keep your teen on task, ensure he or she doesn’t skip any steps and give your teen a sense of accomplishment as each task is completed.

4. Commit to a Deadline

A deadline is a powerful motivator. A great way to teach your teen to overcome procrastination is to set a nonnegotiable deadline for the completion of the chore and mark it on a family calendar.

Deadlines for schoolwork can also be integrated into this calendar. If you have your teen tackling a large project, give him or her a soft deadline for each task on his or her to-do list. Setting specific deadlines will keep your teen on track to meeting his or her goals.

5. Try the Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro technique is a popular time-management method developed by Francesco Cirillo. The idea is to break down large tasks into short intervals with short breaks in between them. You won’t need any apps or special tools; all that’s required is a timer.

Here’s how the Pomodoro technique works, in five steps:

1. Assign a task for your teen to work on.
2. Set a timer for 25 minutes, which is one “pomodoro.”
3. Work on your task without interruption until the timer rings, then write a checkmark on a piece of paper.
4. Have your teen take a 5-minute break.
5. After completing four “pomodoros,” take a longer break—20 to 30 minutes.

Repeat this process several times during your workday, and you may be surprised by how much your teen is able to accomplish.

6. Schedule Leisure Time Into Your Teen’s Day

Have your teen schedule a block of time in his or her day for video games, watching television, and other leisure activities. Have your teen keep such tasks to their scheduled time and keep the focus on his or her work for the rest of the day.

Having your teen incorporate leisure time into his or her schedule may help alleviate the guilt he or she may feel about procrastinating.

7. Hold Your Teen Accountable

Set up times during the week when you have check-in meetings with your teen to inspect the completion of chores and homework he or she has done. It is important to note that you must be punctual with this schedule as it will help your teen take his or her new schedule very seriously.

8. Reward Your Teen

Give your teen a reward as he or she completes each task on his or her to-do list of chores and homework. It could be a monetary reward or a gift you know your teen will appreciate.

Have a snack or take a short walk. This system will trigger the release of dopamine in your teen’s brain, leading him or her to become conditioned toward consistently following through with chores and homework.

Most teens will procrastinate from time to time. Be kind to your teen and forgive your teen for procrastinating in the past. You will be role-modeling to your teen on how to practice self-forgiveness. Self-forgiveness is an important step in conquering procrastination.

Teaching your teen to break his or her procrastination habits will not be easy, and, so, forgiveness is an important component for perseverance and staying the course.