The leap from adolescence to adulthood is challenging for any teen, but for those with ADHD, it can feel like being catapulted into chaos. 

Overnight, expectations skyrocket: manage your own schedule, meet deadlines, apply to college or jobs, handle finances, and somehow remember to eat vegetables.

For teens with ADHD, these aren’t just “growing pains.” 

ADHD affects the very executive functioning skills that adulthood demands most. Things like time management, organization, planning, emotional regulation. Even with the best of intentions, the transition can lead to academic struggles, missed opportunities, burnout, or even mental health crises.

What’s the answer?

Build Better Executive Function Skills

Teens benefit from hands-on coaching to strengthen executive functioning before they’re fully on their own. This means you as their trusted adult helper are “loaning” your executive functioning skills to your teen, while they are learning the skills alongside you.

Small actions can be monumental during this time. Here are ways you can help your teen by being their brain:

  • Find a calendar system that works for them. Just because it works for you and others, doesn’t mean it’s right for them. 
  • Set multiple alarms and in multiple places. The more reminders the better. Remember, ADHD creates time blindness. Things happen in two time zones: now or never.
  • Create to-do lists. Ideally these would be in the same place as the calendar, but if not, make it a central location you and your teen can reference easily.
  • Set a pacing schedule. Help your teen over the procrastinationation hump by encouraging them to do just two minutes of work. Usually after two minutes they will keep going, but two minutes still feels like a big deal when you’re on a slump. Then, take a break, and go in for two more minutes. Build that up to three, five, ten, twenty, and so on.
  • Break bigger projects (college applications, job searches) into small, clear steps with deadlines. Celebrating progress along the way reinforces their sense of capability and reduces overwhelm.
  • Teach self-advocacy. Your teebln needs to know how to ask for accommodations, communicate their needs to professors or employers, and seek support when they’re struggling. Role-playing these conversations can build confidence.

Executive functioning coaching can be especially effective during this stage, helping teens develop systems that they can carry into college or work.

Launching With Confidence

The right support can address anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem that sometimes accompany ADHD during this high-pressure life stage (National Institute of Mental Health). Early, supportive intervention can make the difference between struggle and success. With understanding, structure, and support, teens can move into adulthood equipped with the skills and confidence to thrive.

At I Choose Change, our Executive Functioning Coaching is designed to support teens as they step into independence—helping them master planning, organization, self-advocacy, and emotional regulation so they can thrive in college, careers, and life.