What do we think of when we talk about self discipline? What does it mean when a student is a go-getter or a self-starter? How does someone build skills to be independent? A critical set of skills are Executive Functioning Skills. Check out our list below:
Response inhibition--The capacity to stop or delay one's actions, thoughts, or responses. The opposite of this is impulsivity.
Emotional regulation--The ability to manage emotions. The ability to regulate limbic responses and use rational cognitive processes.
Sustained attention--The capacity to focus on a task or situation in spite of distractions, fatigue, or boredom.
Task initiation--The ability to begin a task, activity, or chore and independently generate responses or solutions to the situation.
Flexibility/Flexible thinking--The ability to hear alternatives to events, responses, ideas, and opinions. The ability to shift plans based on changing scenarios, setbacks, or mistakes.
Goal-directed persistence--The drive or grit to follow through towards completion of a goal despite distractions, competing demands, or setbacks.
Planning--The ability to create a roadmap towards completing a goal or task. This includes short, medium, and long-term planning towards a goal.
Organization--The ability to design and use a system to keep track of information, events, materials, and data.
Time management--The capacity to manage deadlines and time limits.
Working memory--The ability to hold multiple pieces of information while performing a task. It includes drawing on past experiences to apply to the situation at hand.
Metacognition--The ability to self-monitor, self-evaluate, and consider one's progress in a situation, task, or setting.
Source: Dawson and Guare (2018)