Online executive function coaching helps teens, college students and adults build the everyday skills that turn intentions into finished work: planning the week, starting a task, estimating how long things take, tracking deadlines and following through when no one is watching. At Blackburn, sessions run by video anywhere in the United States or in person in Los Angeles, with check-ins between them.
Quick facts: executive function coaching at Blackburn
| Who it is for | Teens 13 and up (with parents involved), college students and adults |
| Diagnosis | Not required; coaching focuses on skills and routines, not diagnosis |
| What a week includes | A planning session, a short list of tasks with times, and check-ins as deadlines come up |
| Format | One-on-one with the same dedicated mentor, by video anywhere in the United States or in person in Los Angeles |
| Between sessions | Text and phone check-ins on the steps agreed in the session |
| Session times | Early morning, evening and weekend times, scheduled in your time zone |
| Getting started | A short online assessment, then a free intro call with a member of our team; new clients are matched with a mentor within 2 business days |
| What it is not | Tutoring in a single subject, or therapy. Mentors work alongside a therapist only with written permission |
| Contact | (888) 305 5422 or the online assessment |
Signs a student may need executive function support
- Assignments are done but never turned in, or turned in late
- Big projects start the night before they are due
- Grades swing from week to week with no clear reason
- A planner or app gets set up, then abandoned within a week
- Everything takes longer than expected, and the student is always surprised by it
- Homework time turns into a nightly argument at home; see homework battles with a teen
These patterns show up with and without ADHD. The executive function skills guide explains the skills in plain terms.
What coaching sessions work on
- A weekly plan the student actually uses. Built in session from the real syllabus, practice schedule and job, then reviewed every week. See the weekly planner for students.
- Getting started. Breaking work into first steps small enough to begin, and tools like body doubling for the hardest tasks.
- Time. Estimating, scheduling and checking how long things really take, with strategies for time blindness.
- Follow-through between sessions. Short check-ins by text or phone on the days that matter, such as the night before a deadline.
- Self-advocacy. Emailing teachers and professors, using office hours and accommodations, and asking for help early.
Coaching that fits the stage
- High school students: homework routines, grades, course load and the move toward independence, with parents involved. See mentoring for high school students.
- College students: rebuilding the structure that home and high school used to supply. See executive function coaching for college students, mentoring for college students and college with ADHD.
- Young adults and adults: work, bills, appointments and routines. See executive function coaching for adults, mentoring for adults with ADHD and executive function in adults.
Why online coaching suits executive function work
Executive function coaching is about the systems a client uses every day: the calendar, the school portal, the email inbox, the task app and the notes on a laptop. On a video call, the mentor and client can look at those tools together with a shared screen and change them on the spot, rather than talking about them in the abstract. There is no drive to an office, so a session can sit right before homework time or right after work, when planning is most useful. Many clients also find it easier to start a hard task while their mentor is on a call with them, which is one reason body doubling works so well online. For families who move between homes, travel for sports or have a student away at college, the coaching relationship stays the same wherever the student is.
What a week of online coaching looks like
Most clients meet their mentor by video once or twice a week, at a standing time that fits school, practice or work. A session usually opens with the calendar and the school portal or task list: what was due, what got done, what slipped and why. Then the mentor and client look ahead, put every deadline in one place, break the largest task into first steps and pick the actual times those steps will happen.
Between sessions the mentor checks in by text or phone on the days that matter, such as the evening a paper is due or the morning of a hard exam. Those short check-ins are where much of the change happens, because the new habit gets practiced in real life rather than only talked about. Because it all happens online, sessions keep going through travel, sports seasons, college breaks and bad weather. Mentors are based in Los Angeles and offer early morning, evening and weekend times, so clients in Eastern, Central and Mountain time can find a slot that works in their own time zone.
How it compares to other support
A tutor teaches content, a therapist or doctor treats conditions, and a learning specialist assesses and teaches specific strategies. An executive function coach or mentor works on the daily habits that make everything else stick, and can work alongside any of them. Compare options in tutor, coach, mentor or specialist and ADHD coach vs mentor. If a student is dealing with depression, anxiety or substance use, a licensed professional is the right step. In a crisis, call or text 988.
Executive function guides
These guides go deeper on the questions families and adults ask most before starting coaching.
- What does an executive function coach do?: the skills, a sample session and how parents fit in.
- Executive function coach vs tutor: how to tell whether a student needs help with content or with planning and follow-through.
- Does executive function coaching work?: what research on coached students has found, and how to judge progress.
- Executive function coaching for college students: deadlines, starting work, accommodations and parent updates.
- Executive function coaching for adults: planning, time blindness and work routines.
- Study skills coaching and college success coaching: related coaching for students whose main need is studying or the move to college.
- How to choose an executive function coach: questions to ask and red flags.
How to start
- Book a free intro call. A short video call with a member of our team. Calls are weekdays, 9 to 5 Pacific. Choose a time.
- Get matched. New clients are matched with a mentor within 2 business days.
- Start the plan. Sessions by video, scheduled in the student’s local time, with early morning, evening and weekend times available.
Questions about executive function coaching
Does my child need an ADHD diagnosis to work with you?
No. Many students who struggle with planning and follow-through have no diagnosis, and many with ADHD are already working with a doctor or therapist. Mentoring focuses on the daily skills either way and does not diagnose or treat anything.
Is executive function coaching the same as tutoring?
No. A tutor teaches the subject. Executive function coaching works on the skills around the subject: planning the week, starting work, estimating time, keeping track of deadlines and following through.
How involved are parents?
For high school students, parents are part of the process from the start. College students and young adults can sign up on their own, and with their permission mentors share progress updates with parents.
Is this done online?
Yes. Sessions happen by video anywhere in the United States, and in person for students in Los Angeles, with text and phone check-ins between sessions.
How much does it cost?
We do not publish prices. See how much a mentor costs, or ask on the free intro call.
Does executive function coaching work?
Studies of coached students, mostly college students with ADHD, have found gains in study skills, organization and self-regulation, though the research is still limited. Progress is easiest to see in concrete things: fewer missing assignments, earlier starts on big projects and a weekly plan the student keeps using. See does executive function coaching work.
Do you coach adults, or only students?
Both. Adults work on the same skills applied to work, bills, appointments and home routines. See executive function coaching for adults.
Can you work with a student outside California?
Yes. Outside Los Angeles, all sessions are by video, scheduled in the client’s local time zone, with text and phone check-ins between sessions.
Is executive function coaching the same as accountability coaching?
They overlap. Executive function coaching builds the skills (planning, starting, tracking time); accountability is the regular check-in that makes those skills stick. Blackburn mentors do both in the same sessions. See accountability coaching.
Families in Los Angeles County can read about executive function coaching in Los Angeles, where sessions happen in person in LA or by video.
Related
- Mentoring for students with ADHD
- Helping a disorganized teenager
- Teen procrastination
- Teen time management
- For learning specialists and educational therapists
- Mentoring for families
Get started
Looking for executive function support for a student? Call (888) 305-5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or book a free intro call. You can also start with a short assessment.
Free, by video, 20 minutes, with a member of our team. Weekdays 9 to 5 Pacific.