Everyday Executive Functioning Challenges

How many times a day do you flip back and forth between what you should be doing and Facebook, Instagram, or whatever shiny distraction catches your eye?

Do you ever read a whole page and then realize you have no idea what you read?

Are you reading this post to avoid work right now?

Source: By Rennett Stowe from USA (Tapping a Pencil Uploaded by Atmoz) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Getting started, sticking with a task (especially when it's boring), organizing your time, stuff, and ideas: These all belong to a set of skills called executive functioning skills. These executive functioning skills are the foundation of success in school, work, and even your social life.

Those with executive functioning deficits are all too familiar with difficulties in:

1. Goal-directed behavior
2. Task-oriented behaviors
3. Self-regulation and behavior inhibition
4. Planning
5. Working memory
6. Mental flexibility
7. Response inhibition and impulse control
8. Monitoring of action

Think about any project, large or small, that you've completed lately. If you got stuck, it was likely on one of these tasks that was the hurdle. Of course, you might be saying "Nope—I got stuck because it was too hard!" But one aspect of executive functioning is knowing how to seek help when it's needed.

Many disorders are correlated with executive dysfunction, including ADHD and autism spectrum disorder. And then there's everyone else who struggles with executive functioning because it's hard—and because our modern lives demand SO much in the way of planning, prioritizing, monitoring, and flexibly changing. Our brains were not built for this. And yet to succeed today, these skills are used constantly.

I think it's more helpful to think of executive functioning as a spectrum. Many of us need help; some of us need a lot of help.

There's a growing field of professionals who help people learn to compensate for less-than-excellent executive functioning. If you feel like you or your child could use some help, I recommend seeking an executive functioning coach. Because it's a new field. many of us call ourselves "academic coaches" or "ADHD coaches."

Let me know if there are topics relating to executive functioning that you'd like to see me post on in the future!