EL,

Is there a time of day he does his HW best? Can you set a ritual?

A good friend does his best HW from 4am to 7am and when we were roommates, it drove me nuts to hear him muttering over his homework. He would fix his tea, put is blanket over his shoulders, then get to work. I know another high achiever who goes to bed at 9pm then gets up at 3 am. If I have some very hard things to think about, I like to take a nap from 4pm to 8pm then work all night.