Many students struggle with time management, procrastination, organization, and task initiation—often knowing what to do but struggling with how to start or prioritize. Others have difficulty breaking large projects into manageable steps, maintaining focus during studying, or adapting strategies when something isn't working. These challenges can affect grades and confidence even when a student understands the material itself.

In a classroom setting, teachers focus on content delivery to 20+ students with varying needs, making individualized strategy coaching difficult. Personalized tutoring allows tutors to assess your specific challenges, teach targeted strategies tailored to how you learn, and practice those skills in real time with immediate feedback. This one-on-one approach means strategies are customized to your goals—whether that's managing ADHD, organizing for AP classes, or preparing for college-level work.

During your first session, a tutor will assess your current challenges by asking about your daily routines, study habits, and specific pain points—like where you lose time or how you typically approach big projects. They'll then work with you to identify which executive functioning skills to prioritize and begin introducing practical strategies you can start using right away. This foundation helps create a personalized plan for building skills over time.

Students typically see measurable improvements like completing assignments on time, reducing procrastination, improving grades through better organization, and feeling less overwhelmed by their workload. Many also develop lasting strategies for managing complex projects and adapting when plans change. The goal is building confidence and independence so these skills transfer to all areas of school and life.

Absolutely. Middle school strategies focus on foundational skills like basic organization and time blocking, while high school tutoring addresses managing multiple challenging classes and balancing extracurriculars. College-bound students benefit from strategies for independent research projects, long-term planning, and self-advocacy. Tutors tailor their approach to match the academic demands your student is actually facing.

Look for tutors with experience coaching study skills, time management, and organizational strategies—ideally with training in learning differences like ADHD or experience working with students who have executive functioning challenges. Many effective tutors combine subject matter expertise with coaching skills, so they can teach both content and the strategies needed to manage it. Varsity Tutors connects you with tutors who have demonstrated expertise in helping students build these critical skills.

Yes—in fact, combining them is often highly effective. A student might work with a math tutor on content while also building executive functioning skills through a separate coaching relationship, or a single tutor might integrate both. Executive functioning strategies help students apply what they're learning in their subjects, so the two approaches reinforce each other and create lasting academic improvement.