The "Cat Post-it" That Beat the Rabbit Hole

A visual blueprint to help with working memory!

The Brain's Blueprint

We are officially deep into February, and Tabitha is currently fueled by the countdown to Hawaii! She is already dreaming of the sunshine and the sound of the ocean as a reset from the winter gray. Thank you to the rest of the TGD Team for holding down the fort!

We’ve also been reflecting on how much easier it is to navigate a new place when you have a map. For our students, trying to hold a complex task in their mind while doing it is like a builder trying to construct a house without a blueprint. When the internal plan gets fuzzy, it’s so easy to fall down a "rabbit hole" of distractions.

So, as we look for ways to keep our students on track this week, try:

The TGD

TIP: Beat the Rabbit hole with an External Scaffold (post-it)

Parents, help your child externalize their "Second Brain" by building a visual scaffold. When a task has high "rabbit hole" potential, have them write their top priority on a fun Post-it note (one of our clients uses a cat!) and stick it directly on the corner of their computer screen.

The Script: "I noticed that this project has a lot of interesting rabbit holes! I wonder if we could try a strategy today? Let's put your main goal on this cat sticky note so your brain doesn't have to work so hard to remember the plan."

GROW: Shift your mindset!

Keep the effort low-stakes! If they get distracted, don’t see it as a lack of focus; see it as a data point that the scaffold needs to be more visible. Rather than: "You're off task again," say: "Good, we noticed a rabbit hole! Let’s check the blueprint on your screen and find our way back."

DIVE: Ready to go deeper?

Don’t forget to Dive Deep into the research on how External Scaffolds act as a second working memory by visiting our latest blog post on ​An Executive Function Guide to Moving Beyond the "January Reset"