Kids often struggle to complete online work. It’s just an entirely new experience for most of them, and they aren’t all as acclimated to online thinking and learning as we often think they should be considering all the apps they seem to spend their lives staring at on their phones.

As a result, I have developed a short list of helpful tips to make getting started, and making progress, easier to do. I know you want your young person to get work done consistently, and I think most of them want to, too, but they need support to make that happen.

1. Music: have them put together a song list of HELPFUL songs to listen to–those that do help them focus on their work, and don’t distract them. Be sure to remind them they should skip a song if they find it distracting them, even if it is usually helpful.
2. Start Easy: if they have trouble getting started, have them start with the easiest thing they can think of…this makes it easier to make the first step in the right direction.
3. Make fun things a reward: teach them to put their phone across the room and set a 30 minute timer to make sure they work for 30 minutes before they pick it up again AND remind them not to access the fun stuff on your computer, at all—common distractions are TikTok, Instagram, and Among Us at the moment, but I’m sure you know what your kid is most distracted by. The goal is to help them have a sustained 30 minute focus before they think about something else.
4. Schedule break time: if they manage to work successfully for 30 minutes straight, they should once again set their timer for 5 minutes, and take a 5 minute break before they get back to work. Getting up for 5 minutes after a Zoom session, even if it is scheduled as asynchronous work time, can also be helpful. Human beings need to get up routinely and stretch their legs. Kids need this at least as much as adults.

Try these things out and see how they go. Then let me know if you have any additional tips and tricks that work for you at your house!