This past week I got to hang out with one of my favorite student clients. The energy is infectious and the “a-has” around self-awareness and new perspectives often roll out of his head with the speed of a Ferrari engine. Every now and then, we apply the brakes to check these big ideas within the bigger picture.

This particular week we were focused on academic work. Activation and sustained energy are two common themes for students with ADHD. When doing work that feels hard or uninteresting, activating to perform related tasks or sustaining effort to complete assignments can trip up the most capable of brains.

Most neurotypicals might start with a list of tasks - either in their head or on paper. Lists are not effective for every brain. I love a good list, mainly because I gain such satisfaction from crossing off each item I tackle. But they don’t always work for me either.

We’ve created lists and mindmaps to explore the role they might play in getting everything out of our heads. So, when our conversation came to writing a paper, I handed him a pen and invited him to draw a map for completing his paper -” follow whatever line of thought makes sense” to help you visualize the pieces and parts of the assignment. He immediately began to craft a winding road to his “A+ Paper”.

Sometimes, we get stuck in the feelings of the enormity of a project. When you chunk it into bite-sized pieces, the path to progress unfolds. As each chunk became a point on his roadmap, I was delighted by the logic he expressed in this method of planning. The road, he said, may feel long and arduous, but there is a destination. The straight-away signified a series of related steps to that draft copy - He knew the direction and topic. His journey began by simply writing, without caution. Pit stops for reviews and formatting prepared him for turning that corner to his final draft, leaving him with a solid piece of work to hand in. It was so beautiful to be a witness to this.

After this initial exercise, we tackled estimating the effort or time to complete each of these steps and when he wanted to reach each mile marker. That is when the magic happened and the energy shifted. “That doesn’t feel hard at all” now that he could see the effort in time. He had plenty of space to think and write. His key resources - mom and his teacher - would have ample time to help him review his work and help him edit his thoughts. Turning that corner felt very easy not that we could see the big picture.

Coaches, educators and tutors certainly have systems and strategies that we favor. Today was an exercise in the power of following the student - it is my favorite thing about coaching. With the top down, we hit that road. My role was to remind him to pull over every so often. The power of the pause. The moment of reflection.

A bend in the road can signify more than one shift in perspective. Pulling over to appreciate the view might be just what you need to see where you’re going. Sometimes the best path is inspiration.