Executive Function and ADHD

What is the link between executive function and ADHD? You’ll have seen or heard this term mentioned everywhere. Executive function is a set of cognitive processes that help us plan, organise and manage our time and resources effectively. It plays a critical role in regulating emotions and behaviours, which is needed for social interaction and problem-solving. 

Executive function skills include:

• Self-Awareness

  The capability of understanding our thoughts, emotions and behaviours, and their impact on ourselves and those around us. Being self-aware helps us to know when we are experiencing executive dysfunction.

• Inhibition

  Our ability to pause and consider a situation before acting impulsively.

• Non-Verbal Working Memory

  The capacity to retain information and images mentally, defer gratification, envision future outcomes and grasp the concept of time. Challenges around this executive function can result in temporal discounting (where we perceive future events to be less rewarding than immediate ones).

• Verbal Working Memory

  The ability to temporarily store and process information. This is often associated with self-talk or internal speech, which allows you to describe or contemplate a problem, event or situation. Challenges around verbal working memory can look like impulsivity, difficulty retaining information and an inability to use self-talk to solve problems and inhibit your actions.

• Emotional Regulation

  The ability to take the four previous executive functions and use them to manage your emotions and adapt to different environments. This means learning to use words, images and self-awareness to process and alter how we feel about things. 

• Self-Motivation

  A person’s drive to initiate and sustain behaviour for completing a task and reaching a goal.

• Planning and Problem Solving

  Identifying issues and planning to resolve them. This process involves breaking down the problem and recombining the pieces to come up with a solution. Coaching is an excellent tool to support this process.

Everyone with ADHD experiences executive function challenges differently. The inconsistency in these challenges can be seen as a consistent inconsistency, as the severity may fluctuate based on factors such as hormonal changes, insufficient sleep and physical activity, and poor diet and nutrition.

ADHDers tend to lag behind their peers by 30 to 40 per cent when transitioning between different executive functions, which means we often act and think in ways considered typical of someone younger than us.

ADHD is actually an executive function difference that can result in certain challenges in daily life. For example, time management, prioritising and completing tasks can be challenging and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. 

Does this resonate with you? Discover how coaching and mentoring can support you.