In Part 1, we explored why adolescence places such significant demands on executive functioning and why teenagers often need adults to “lend” them planning, organisation and emotional regulation while these skills continue to mature.
In this second part, we’ll look at how everyday occupations continue to shape executive functions, why mistakes are an important part of learning, and how occupational therapists help teenagers prepare for the transition into adulthood.
Emotional Regulation Is Still Developing
One of the biggest misconceptions about teenagers is that they should be able to manage their emotions like adults. After all, they often look like adults. They sound like adults. They may even argue like adults! Yet emotionally, adolescence is a period of enormous change.
Hormonal changes, increasing academic expectations, changing friendships, growing independence and concerns about identity all place significant demands on the developing brain. When emotions become overwhelming, executive functioning often becomes much less accessible. Planning becomes harder. Organisation falls apart. Decision-making becomes more impulsive. Problem-solving becomes more difficult.
This is not because teenagers don’t know what to do. It’s because strong emotions temporarily reduce access to the very brain networks responsible for thoughtful decision-making (Casey et al., 2008; Diamond, 2013).
As adults, we experience this too. Few of us make our best decisions when we are exhausted, overwhelmed or highly emotional. Teenagers are no different—they simply have less life experience and a brain that is still developing.
The OT Lens
As occupational therapists, we often remind families that regulation comes before reasoning. Trying to solve a problem when a teenager is overwhelmed rarely works.
Instead, our first priority is helping them return to a calm, regulated state where executive functioning can once again be accessed. Sometimes the most productive conversation is the one that happens an hour later—not in the heat of the moment.
Sleep: The Forgotten Executive Function Strategy
If there is one area that is consistently overlooked, it is sleep. Teenagers naturally experience changes in their circadian rhythm, often preferring later bedtimes and later mornings. Unfortunately, school schedules rarely match this biological shift (Carskadon, 2011). Lack of sleep affects almost every aspect of executive functioning.
Teenagers who are sleep deprived often find it more difficult to:
- Concentrate
- Regulate emotions
- Remember information
- Solve problems
- Manage time
- Control impulses
- Cope with frustration
Before assuming a teenager is “unmotivated,” it is worth asking whether they are simply exhausted.
OT Tip
Instead of asking:
“Why won’t they get organised?”
Try asking:
“Are they getting enough sleep to access the executive function skills we’re expecting?”
Sometimes supporting executive functioning starts long before homework begins.
Technology: Building Healthy Habits Rather Than Fighting Screens
Technology is part of modern adolescence. It connects teenagers socially, supports learning and provides opportunities for creativity. At the same time, many digital platforms are specifically designed to capture attention through immediate rewards and endless novelty. This can make it much harder for teenagers to shift attention, begin less preferred tasks or tolerate boredom.
The goal is not to eliminate technology. The goal is to help teenagers develop the executive functions needed to manage it successfully. Creating predictable routines, encouraging device-free family time and modelling healthy technology habits can all support this process (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2024).
Occupational therapists also encourage families to protect time for occupations that naturally strengthen executive functioning, such as cooking, sport, volunteering, music, creative hobbies and spending time outdoors.
The OT Lens
We often ask teenagers:
“Does your technology help you participate in the life you want—or does it get in the way?”
That small shift moves the conversation away from blame and towards self-awareness. Learning to reflect on habits is itself an executive function.
Preparing for Adult Life Happens One Occupation at a Time
Executive functioning isn’t just about passing exams. Ultimately, it is about preparing young people to participate confidently in adult life. This happens gradually through everyday occupations.
Learning to:
- Manage money
- Prepare simple meals
- Organise a weekly schedule
- Travel independently
- Remember appointments
- Manage medications when appropriate
- Balance work, study and leisure
- Contribute to household responsibilities
- Communicate respectfully with employers and teachers
These everyday experiences provide opportunities to practise planning, organisation, flexibility, self-monitoring and problem-solving in meaningful contexts.
Occupational therapists know that participation is one of the greatest teachers. Young people become more independent by being trusted with real responsibilities—not by waiting until they suddenly feel “ready.”
Mistakes Are Part of Growing Up
Watching teenagers make mistakes can be incredibly difficult. As parents, our instinct is often to step in before things go wrong. Sometimes that is absolutely the right thing to do. But whenever it is safe to do so, allowing teenagers to experience the natural consequences of small mistakes can be one of life’s greatest teachers.
Forgetting to charge a laptop. Missing a bus because they weren’t ready on time. Turning up without the correct sports equipment. Forgetting a homework deadline. These moments are frustrating. But they are also opportunities to reflect, adapt and plan differently next time.
Executive functions develop through problem-solving—not through never encountering problems.
OT Tip
When mistakes happen, try replacing criticism with curiosity.
Instead of saying:
“You should have remembered.”
Try asking:
“What do you think got in the way?”
“What might help next time?”
“How could we make that easier?”
These conversations encourage teenagers to analyse their own thinking and begin developing independent strategies.
When Should You Seek Support?
Adolescence is naturally a time of inconsistency. Most teenagers occasionally forget homework, lose track of time or make impulsive decisions. However, if executive functioning difficulties are significantly affecting education, friendships, family life, mental wellbeing or independence, additional support may be beneficial.
Occupational therapy can help teenagers who consistently experience difficulties with:
- Planning and organisation
- Emotional regulation
- Time management
- Initiating tasks
- Managing daily routines
- Transitioning towards greater independence
- Balancing school, leisure and self-care
- Participating successfully at home, school or work
Assessment considers far more than organisational skills alone. We explore how sensory processing, emotional wellbeing, motor skills, environmental demands and daily occupations interact to influence participation and independence.
Key Take-Home Messages
Executive functions continue developing well into early adulthood. Teenagers may look independent, but they are still refining the skills needed to organise themselves, regulate emotions, solve problems and make thoughtful decisions.
Rather than expecting these abilities to appear overnight, we can support adolescents by gradually handing over responsibility while remaining available as coaches rather than managers. Meaningful everyday occupations continue to be some of the richest opportunities for developing executive functioning.
Cooking dinner. Managing a budget. Travelling independently. Working a part-time job. Planning revision. Volunteering. Learning to drive. Each occupation helps prepare young people not only for adulthood, but for confident participation in everyday life.
Remember…
One day, your teenager won’t need you to remind them to pack a bag, meet a deadline or plan their week. But today, they might. That doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It doesn’t mean they’re lazy. It means they’re still developing.
As occupational therapists, we see adolescence not as a race towards independence, but as a gradual process of building confidence, competence and resilience.
Every conversation where you help them reflect. Every opportunity you give them to solve a problem. Every time you step back just enough for them to succeed. These are the moments that strengthen executive functioning.
The goal isn’t to create teenagers who never make mistakes. It’s to help them become adults who know how to learn from them. And perhaps that’s one of the most important life skills of all.
Evidence-Informed Practice
This article has been written from an occupational therapy perspective and is informed by current developmental neuroscience, occupational therapy theory and peer-reviewed research. The references below represent a selection of key evidence underpinning the concepts discussed throughout this article.
References
American Academy of Paediatrics. (2024). Media Use Guidelines for School-Aged Children and Adolescents. (Parents and professionals should consult the AAP website for the most up-to-date recommendations on healthy media use.)
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2020). Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process (4th ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(Suppl. 2), 7412410010. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.74S2001
Best, J. R., & Miller, P. H. (2010). A developmental perspective on executive function. Child Development, 81(6), 1641–1660. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01499.x
Carskadon, M. A. (2011). Sleep in adolescents: The perfect storm. Paediatric Clinics of North America, 58(3), 637–647. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcl.2011.03.003
Casey, B. J., Jones, R. M., & Hare, T. A. (2008). The adolescent brain. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1124, 111–126. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1440.010
Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2018). Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750
Law, M., Cooper, B., Strong, S., Stewart, D., Rigby, P., & Letts, L. (1996). The Person–Environment–Occupation Model: A transactive approach to occupational performance. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63(1), 9–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/000841749606300103
Luna, B., Marek, S., Larsen, B., Tervo-Clemmens, B., & Chahal, R. (2015). An integrative model of the maturation of cognitive control. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 38, 151–170. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-071714-034054
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press.
World Federation of Occupational Therapists. (2019). Position Statement: Occupational Therapy with Children and Youth.
by Nicola Van Zyl