Cognitive Interference

I think I understand the term "cognitive interference".  To me that would mean distractability and classroom interruptions.  Alderman, textbook pg. 100, says "A student experiencing congitive interferene needs to avoid distracting thoughts and focus on the task.  From a skill deficit point of view, high anxiety students need study and organizational skills to overcome these deficits."  The author then refers the reader to self-regulation strategies in Chapter 5.  Then in Chapter 5, p. 169, Item 7, the author suggests "training students in time-budgeting strategies requires helping them to become aware of their use of time and to develop strategies to plan and prioritize their use of time."  So here's what I don't understand, if the student is already a high anxiety student, won't a time-budgeting strategy create more anxiety for the student? I once had a student who was diagnosed with Aspberger's Syndrome.  Any type of time management strategy send this child over the edge.  What would be a happy medium?