Peg Dawson - The Smart but Scattered Guide to Success

Dawson and Guare, masters of executive skills, have provided a user-friendly, practical, and immensely valuable guide. This book is an instant classic.

Edward Hallowell, MD, coauthor of Delivered from Distraction

This book addresses the exact issues I struggle with when Im feeling scattered and not accomplishing my goals. It helped me evaluate my areas of weakness and gave me clear, simple suggestions to help me improve some of the frustrating challenges Ive experienced my whole life. The authors personal, accessible, supportive writing style kept me engaged and focused.

Sue V., Rochester, New York

This isnt just a good book, its a great book! Chock full of highly useful recommendations and guided by science and practice, this book is rich with methods to help any adult overcome problems with time management, organization, self-control, and related skills.

Russell A. Barkley, PhD, ABPP, ABCN, author of Taking Charge of Adult ADHD

As someone who consistently struggles with time management and organization, I was so glad to come across this book. Between the step-by-step breakdown of issues and the real-life stories, I found it both helpful and entertaining. The interactive worksheets were really enlightening.

Cheryl T., Parsippany, New Jersey

Wow, am I glad to have this in my toolbox! The authors deftly unfold a plan to lead with your strengths, manage your weaknesses, and improve the areas that matter most. It will help me work with clients to break down their major career moves into smaller, attainable goals. The Action Plan alone is a life changer.

DeAnne Pearson, MEd, ACC, owner and career coach, Deliberate Careers, LLC

Drs. Dawson and Guare provide adults of all ages with practical, well-grounded advice for staying on top of todays busy lives. Each chapter combines just-right background material with ready-to-use tips and tools to put into practice immediately.

Joel T. Nigg, PhD, Professor and Director, Division of Psychology and ADHD Program, Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health and Science University

This is a terrific self-help bookone of the best Ive seenfor helping individuals develop their executive skills. Chapters offer sound solutions and strategies, with lots of everyday examples. The authors have an impressive grasp of current brain science, and have translated it into language that is meaningful and easy to understand.

Mary V. Solanto, PhD, Department of Psychiatry,
New York University School of Medicine

For General Readers

Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary Executive Skills Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential

Peg Dawson and Richard Guare

Smart but Scattered Teens: The Executive Skills Program for Helping Teens Reach Their Potential

Richard Guare, Peg Dawson, and Colin Guare

The Work-Smart Academic Planner: Write It Down, Get It Done

Peg Dawson and Richard Guare

For Professionals

Coaching Students with Executive Skills Deficits

Peg Dawson and Richard Guare

Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents, Second Edition: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention

Peg Dawson and Richard Guare

HOW TO USE YOUR BRAINS
EXECUTIVE SKILLS
TO KEEP UP, STAY CALM, AND
GET ORGANIZED AT WORK AND AT HOME

Peg Dawson, EdD
Richard Guare, PhD

THE GUILFORD PRESS
NEW YORK LONDON

Epub Edition ISBN: 9781462523658; Kindle Edition ISBN: 9781462523665

Copyright 2016 The Guilford Press
A Division of Guilford Publications, Inc.
370 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1200, New York, NY 10001
www.guilford.com

All rights reserved

The information in this volume is not intended as a substitute for consultation with healthcare professionals. Each individuals health concerns should be evaluated by a qualified professional.

Purchasers of this book have permission to copy select practical tools, where indicated by footnotes, for personal use or use with individual clients. These materials may be copied from the book or accessed directly from the publishers website, but may not be stored on or distributed from intranet sites, Internet sites, or file-sharing sites, or made available for resale. No other part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Last digit is print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4625-1096-4 (pbk.) ISBN 978-1-4625-2279-8 (hardcover)

Contents

PART I

PART II

PART III

PART IV

Aging without Losing Your Edge:
A Prescription for Preserving Executive Skills

W here plural pronouns are not used, we mostly alternate between feminine and masculine personal pronouns in this book.

All illustrations and anecdotesexcept those involving us (and Pegs son, who has agreed to be named in illustrations in this book)are composites or representative of situations involving executive skill strengths and weaknesses we have seen in clients over the years.

Part I

G inger was behind the eight ball once again. She hadnt built in enough time to put the finishing touches on the presentation she was due to deliver tomorrow to an important potential marketing client, and now it was 4:45, and she had to pick up her son from soccer practice in 15 minutes. She was supposed to run the PowerPoint by her supervisor before she left work, and she probably still had 45 minutes of work to do on it. She dropped by her supervisors office to deliver the bad news. Kerry, I know you wanted to see what I came up with before I left, but Kevins soccer practice ends at 5, and I cant leave him hanging. Can I get you something by 9 tonight? Kerry didnt even try to hide her displeasure. Ginger, this happens all the time. You need to figure out how to manage your time betterit not only is affecting your work, but it affects mine as well. Im a morning person. By 9 oclock, Im getting ready for bed!

Ginger apologized as best she could, gathered her things in a hurry, and dashed out of the office, already calling Kevin on her cell phone to tell him she would be a few minutes late. As she made the drive across town to her sons school, she frantically tried to think what else she had to do that evening. What were they doing for dinner? Then she remembered that she hadnt taken the casserole out of the freezer to thaw and wondered if her family would tolerate another night of fast food instead.

She pulled into the school, and there was Kevin looking forlorn, the last one waiting for a ride home. He threw his backpack in the back seat and climbed in front. How come Im always the last one to get picked up? he stewed.

Ginger apologized to him and then tried to change the subject. How much homework do you have? she asked. Kevin shrugged. I got most of it done in school, he said. And Mrs. Clark gave us an extra week to finish our social studies paper. Ginger wondered if that was the case. The last time Kevin told her about an extended deadline, it turned out hed made it up because hed gotten behind on the assignment and didnt want to admit it. Ginger grimaced, remembering that incident, and then thought, not for the first time, the apple does not fall far from the tree.