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What is Executive Functioning?

Executive Functioning (EF) is an umbrella term that describes the skills involved in controlling cognitions (thoughts) and goal-directed behaviors. It includes task initiation, inhibition, mental flexibility, novel problem solving, planning, time management, emotion regulation, and self-awareness. These are foundational skills that help a person to organize their thoughts, motivations, and actions toward goals. Executive functioning is not the same as IQ; meaning a person can have a high IQ and continue to experience significant executive functioning difficulties.

Executive Functioning, ADHD, and Autism

It is common to experience executive functioning difficulties in the context of ADHD and autism. It is also common to experience EF difficulties when a person is experiencing depression or anxiety. When it comes to executive functioning, the more you can outsource these tasks, the better. The more a person outsources memory, attention, and organizational tasks, the less burdened the mind is with trying to hold these in mind. This reduces the overall “cognitive load,” which means the brain fatigues less quickly. Even if a person can hold their schedule in mind, it is beneficial to create a system with alarms, so it is one less thing for the mind to be holding in mind. Particularly when there are difficulties with working memory (often the case with ADHD), it is helpful to reduce how much information the mind is holding. Below are some resources that can be helpful for “outsourcing” executive functioning.

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Visual Timers

Time management and time blindness can be a common struggle for folks with EF difficulties. Having a visual timer can be useful. This is also helpful when using strategies such as time blocking or pomodoro technique to help with efficiency and motivation.

Calendars, Schedules, Alarms, Reminders, and To-Do Lists

Organizing tasks into an external system is the number 1 executive functioning helper. This helps organize (and prioritize) activities and can also function as a sort of “brain dump.” By dumping all the to-do items into an external system, it is less for the mind to hold in mind.

If you are prone to missing appointments setting alarms on your phone can be a game-changer. Setting more than one alarm can at times be helpful (for example, an hour before the event to remind you to begin transitioning and 5 minutes before--this is helpful, particularly if it is a virtual meeting and you are prone to get lost in hyperfocus).

Grammarly

I thank Grammarly for getting me through graduate school! With ADHD I often overlook simple details and the laws of grammar have never quite made sense to me. Grammarly is a fast proofreader. While the paid version unlocks some great tools the free version is totally worth it in and of itself. Click here to give it a try.

Keep your Brain Engaged with Color

The ADHD brain is drawn to new, novel, and shiny things. One way to work with this is to add color. Whether colorful post-its or adding color to your study routine, using colorful pens and highlighters can help keep the brain engaged and alert while working with dense material. One study found that using color helped ADHD children with handwriting (Imhof, 2004). Color can help get the brain engaged; however, creating a color code system is unnecessary, as that involves additional steps and tasks and may cause the brain more burden.

Outsource your EF with Notebooks, To-Do Lists, and Post-its

I have notebooks and post-it notes all over my house. For people with working memory difficulties, I encourage them to keep a notebook on hand. Notebooks are great for making self-reminders to-do lists and for engaging in the occasional “Brain Dump.” “Brain dumping” is the act of getting things out of your head (“working memory”) and onto paper.

Our working memory can hold, on average, seven pieces of information. We often “rehearse” things we want to hold in our working memory. When we engage in a “brain dump” of taking the things in our working memory and putting it on paper, it frees up the energy we are spending to hold these things in mind. It also opens up more space to be able to hold more. One of my favorite hacks comes from my husband, who introduced me to shower notes. For those whose brilliant ideas come during the shower, these can be a big win.

Whiteboards

Many ADHDers and Autists are visual thinkers. Having space to visually plot out ideas and large concepts can be helpful in the process of breaking large projects down into action steps. Speaking of breaking large projects down into smaller projects, SMART goals can also be a great resource.

Audio Books and Apps

Many neurodivergent folx find it easier to listen to books. I personally am a big fan of Audible and have shifted much of my reading to Audible over the last several years (you can try a free premium audible trial here). There are also software, apps, and programs like speechify, Voice dreamreader, and others that will turn PDFs into audio.

Click below for a PDF with executive functioning support ideas: