10 Executive Functions Your ADHD Brain Uses Daily

Two things can be true at the same time with ADHD brains. No two of us are alike, and also, the minute we start talking with another ADHDer, we’re saying, “NO WAY, me too! I thought I was the only one.”

If you have noticed that seeming contradiction, this post is for you. We’re looking at one of the main reasons behind both experiences while building your executive function map in the process.

By the end, you’ll have a clearer picture of which areas come more easily for you right now, which ones take the most effort, and where a little more support would make the biggest difference.

Listen to the episode above or stream it on your favorite podcasting app. Prefer to read? No problem! Keep scrolling for a summary of key takeaways.

In Episode 377, we’re exploring:

• What executive functions are, why they matter for the ADHD brain, and why access to them changes from day to day
• The 10 executive function and self-regulation areas that shape our everyday functioning, and what each one looks like when it comes more easily
• How to narrow all ten down to the one or two areas that would benefit most from support right now
• The three questions that turn one area into a practical experiment you can actually run

What Are Executive Functions

Broadly, executive functions are a group of mental processes that guide our attention, thoughts, emotions, and actions toward what we actually want to do. We rely on these skills constantly throughout the day.

They help us hold information in mind and decide what to focus on. They help us pause before we respond, make future plans, start projects, and adjust when something changes. They help us keep track of what we’re doing and keep working toward a goal.

Essentially, they are one of the keys to successful adulting, and they play a key role in helping us turn what we want to do into action.

As ADHDers, we’ve likely all had this experience: I know what to do. I even understand logistically how to do it. But I struggle to start.

That’s where the executive functions come in. We still need our executive functions to take that first step, remember what comes next, stay engaged with the project, and eventually bring it to completion.

When Our Executive Functions Are Working Hardest

We especially rely on our executive functions when something requires intentional effort. If we are doing something that we’ve done a million times, it’s very familiar to us. That might not require as much conscious planning and thought, but new or complex situations tend to place much more demand on our executive functions. These are things like:

• a new task, or something that might involve a whole bunch of different steps
• something that’s emotionally charged or difficult to feel
• something that involves a lot of uncertainty or decision-making
• something that requires a lot of planning for something that will happen quite a bit further in the future, rather than simply responding to what’s immediately in front of us

In all of these different situations, that’s where the executive functions come together to help us do whatever it is we want to do: start the new task, map out the steps, ignore distractions, that sort of thing.

For example, let’s think of something kind of basic: preparing for a meeting at work. This one thing requires a ton of executive functions to come together:

1. We need to remember what the meeting is about and when it’s happening.
2. We need to decide what matters most as we’re preparing for that meeting.
3. We need to start early enough to prepare for the meeting and stay focused on that preparation.
4. We actually have to transition into the meeting on time.

And that’s not even all the steps. But even with what I’ve listed, that one activity involves so many executive function skills. And this is why I think executive function obstacles have such an impact on the ADHD brain’s everyday life.

We can have strong knowledge, creativity, intelligence, and experience, and still struggle to consistently access these executive functions on demand. It can be hard to pull from them at any time, immediately, whenever we need them. They’re not super reliable.

Executive Dysfunction in Adults: Where ADHD Comes In

So how does ADHD specifically come into play with executive functions? Why is it more difficult for the ADHD brain to tap into these executive functions compared to a brain that doesn’t have ADHD?

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition, so this means it’s related to how our brain develops and manages attention, motivation, impulse, and self-regulation. Because of that, it impacts our executive functions, our working memory, our sustained attention, our ability to plan, and so on.

And there’s often a great deal of variation among different ADHD brains. For example:

• One person with ADHD might understand exactly how to complete a project, but they struggle to start until there’s a really close deadline.
• Another person might have an easier time getting started, but they lose track of the steps or forget what they’re doing, or maybe they struggle to stick with it if something becomes really repetitive or boring.
• Another person might have difficulty with holding information in their mind and remembering certain things, but they feel pretty comfortable with organizing things.

It varies for each person, and this is actually one of the reasons why I find creating some sort of executive function map to be so useful. It gives us a way to look at the patterns across several areas instead of trying to summarize everything with one overall judgment, like “I’m just bad at this” or “I don’t know how to do that.” Instead, there’s nuance.

Why the Same Skill Feels Different on Different Days

And there’s even more nuance, because you’ve probably noticed how your own executive functions might perform differently depending on the day or the situation.

In other words, the effort we need to access particular executive functions can change depending on the conditions around us.

It might be harder depending on how clear the task is, or how much structure we have available. How interesting the project is, or how immediate the reward or the consequence feels. Is it super close, or is it weeks away? How many competing demands we have, or how emotionally activated we are. All of these can really impact how easy or challenging it is to turn to our executive functions.

And I think knowing this helps us understand why we might find it easy to start a task in one situation, the task initiation piece, but it’s super challenging in another. It helps explain why a task might seem manageable one day but more effortful in another.

The Framework We’re Using

And the research varies, too. When you dive into the literature, you’ll find that there’s not one single agreement or list of specific executive functions.

Many people have many different opinions and frameworks. With that being said, there is one influential model that identifies three core executive functions, and most people agree on these:

• Working memory. This basically helps us hold information in our mind long enough to use it. It’s like that short-term sticky note.
• Inhibitory control. This is all about what you hear me say often, practicing the pause. Inhibitory control helps us pause, resist those impulses, and direct our attention and our behaviors intentionally toward what we want to do.
• Cognitive flexibility. This helps us shift perspectives, change approaches, and adapt if a circumstance or plan changes.

Those are our three core executive functions that most people agree upon, and then you’ll find that there are more complex skills that build on these processes, things like planning, organization, task initiation, self-monitoring, emotional regulation, and time management. That’s why you will see different lists depending on the researcher, the clinician, the book, whatever it is you’re looking at.

For the exercise we’re doing here, I’m going to use a broader framework that I find most useful when I’m working with my clients.

We’re going to look at 10 executive function and self-regulation areas that commonly impact our everyday functioning as high-performing adults with ADHD. Some of these fit very clearly within the traditional executive function models.

Others, like emotional regulation, time management, and awareness, sit alongside executive functioning, and they have such a meaningful impact on ADHD and regulation that I want them in our map.

As we go through this, I invite you to start creating a simple picture or map of your own executive functions. If you have a piece of paper in front of you, or your notes app, or whatever, grab it. I also put together a free download that walks through all ten of these areas with room to mark your answers as you go, and you can grab it at imbusybeingawesome.com/efmap.

And as you read through each of the 10, I invite you to simply notice which ones seem most challenging for you, and which ones seem to come a little bit more easily.

The 10 Executive Function Areas

1. Getting Started

The first area is getting started. This is often talked about as task initiation or activation, and it refers to our ability to move from intending to do something into actually doing it.

When getting started sits on the more easeful side, that might look like:

• moving from knowing what you want to do into taking that first step, without much of a gap in between
• starting a task even when it still feels a little unclear or a little too big
• getting started on work that feels boring or repetitive, even when you’re not that interested in it

2. Focus and Attention

Number 2 is focus and attention. This includes directing our attention, sustaining our attention (maybe I’ve lost you already, and we’re only on number 2), filtering distractions, and returning our attention after we’ve been interrupted.

When focus and attention are more easeful, that might look like:

• staying with a task when there are notifications or sounds or thoughts or activities nearby
• realizing your attention has drifted and being able to bring it back to what you were doing
• staying engaged with different types of work, even the kind that seems really repetitive or slow

For myself, this one is a mix of ease and effort, because sometimes I can get into hyperfocus in a supportive way and just get into it, and I don’t notice the distractions. Other times, if it does feel less interesting or I haven’t gotten enough sleep, I might have a hard time staying focused on it.

3. Working Memory

Number 3 is working memory. That sticky note for the brain, holding information in our mind long enough to use it.

When this area is more easeful, it might look like:

• running into the grocery store knowing you want to pick up three items, and leaving ACTUALLY REMEMBERING those three items
• holding onto what you wanted to say while you’re listening to someone else
• keeping track of step 4 of a multi-step task, or writing it down because you know that helps you

4. Planning and Organization

Number 4 is planning and organization. These are higher-order executive function skills. They require and rely on a lot of the core processes that we’ve already talked about working together.

Planning and organizing include prioritizing, breaking down steps, sequencing what comes next, organizing our information or actual materials, and creating systems that help us manage what we’re doing.

When this area is more easeful, it might look like:

• looking at a big project and being able to see some of the smaller steps and where to start
• having several competing priorities and having a sense of which one comes first
• creating systems for tasks and information that are simple enough to actually maintain (this is the one I’m still working on, for sure)

5. Time Awareness and Management

Number 5 is time awareness and management. I’m including time as its own area, because it has such a large impact on our daily functioning.

That being said, time is not universally classified as a core executive function. Instead, it interacts with a bunch of processes, like our working memory, our planning, and our attention.

But I want to look at it separately for our own reflection through the lens of our awareness of time, our ability to estimate how long things take, noticing the passage of time, planning realistically and not slipping into fantasy planning of what you can get done in a certain amount of time, and also transitioning at the intended time, like showing up somewhere on time, or ending the thing when you wanted to.

When time is more easeful, that might look like:

• estimating how long a task, a transition, or a routine will take and landing somewhere close
• getting absorbed in something and still noticing how much time has passed
• transitioning at the stop time when you know you want to leave or stop working

Time is the one that takes the most effort for me, for sure.

6. Cognitive Flexibility and Shifting

Number 6 is cognitive flexibility and shifting. This is another one of those core executive functions that’s often talked about in research, and it helps us adapt whenever circumstances change, or if we want to shift our attention or our approach. It’s transitions, switching tasks, changing plans, disengaging from something, and adjusting to new information.

If you fall into the easeful category, that might look like:

• an easier time stopping one task and shifting into the next
• not feeling thrown off if plans change unexpectedly, being able to roll with the punches
• having the awareness to stop working on one approach once you realize it’s not working well, so you’re able to pivot

7. Emotional Regulation

Number 7 is emotional regulation. This one is closely connected to self-regulation and executive functioning, and researchers often differ in how they classify it. Some people talk about emotional regulation within executive functions. Other people treat it as self-regulation.

What I think matters most for our work here is simply talking about the fact that emotional dysregulation is quite common. For many of us with ADHD, we feel big feelings, and it can really have a meaningful impact on how we function in our day-to-day, so I think it’s important for us to have it in our map.

If we are on the more easeful side, that might look like:

• noticing an emotion getting bigger before it takes over. We’re able to notice that we’re getting a bit dysregulated before it becomes super intense
• staying engaged with a task or a conversation even if it’s emotionally charged, even when frustration is high (and let’s not get into perfectionist fantasy here, but 80% of the time, right?)
• having tools to help you move through emotion and recover after an activating experience, without letting it slip into a rumination spiral

8. Pause and Impulse Control

Number 8 is our impulse control and ability to pause. This is what helps us create that space between an urge and an action, so we can pause before we’re speaking, or taking action, or responding.

When we’re on the more easeful side, that might look like:

• not interrupting when someone’s speaking
• pausing in the moment without responding to a message or an idea or making a purchase, and allowing yourself to think it through first
• allowing an urge to go after the short term reward to be in your body, essentially surfing the urge without acting on it because you know that a different choice would serve future you a bit better

9. Self-Awareness and Monitoring

Number 9 is self-awareness and monitoring. This is sometimes also described as metacognition, and it involves noticing what we’re doing, recognizing if our attention has drifted, checking in with ourselves along the way, and noticing if something’s no longer working so we can adjust our approach.

When this area tends to be more easeful, that might look like:

• realizing, on the earlier side, that you’ve drifted away from your original plan or your original goal
• realizing that a strategy or a system you’ve wanted to implement is actually creating a lot of friction, so you check in and you go, “Huh, I don’t think this is quite right. How do I adjust?”
• being able to assess how much progress you’ve made, and also notice what still needs support or attention, holding both

10. Follow-Through

Ironically, if you’re still with me, number 10 is follow-through. This final area draws on a lot of executive function and self-regulation: sustained effort, attention, monitoring, being able to stay focused on a goal, that persistence.

When we’re on the more easeful side of this one, that might look like:

• starting a project, and even if the energy or the novelty starts wearing off, being able to recommit and maintain that momentum
• knowing how to help yourself return to something after taking a break or being interrupted. Maybe you started implementing the breadcrumb strategy, and doing that now helps you come back to a task with much greater ease
• noticing, “Oh, I’m in that last 10%, and I’m going to work toward done even though it’s a little bit boring right now,” and then letting it be enough, rather than letting perfectionism take over

Sorting the Ten Executive Function Areas

Okay, so we’ve gone through all ten, and in going through them together, we’ve basically just created the first layer of what I’m calling this executive function map.

So again, the ten include: getting started, focus and attention, working memory, organization and planning, time awareness and time management, cognitive flexibility and shifting, emotional regulation, pause and impulse control, self-awareness and monitoring, and follow-through.

As you think of these ten, which one or two areas currently require the most effort? Which ones feel the most demanding?

Now, if you have a brain like mine, it’s probably like: “All of them. They all take all of my effort, Paula!” If that’s the case, I hear you. And I still encourage you to identify one or two so we can gain traction and actually put in supports.

So if you’re not immediately sure which one or two would make the biggest difference in getting support, I encourage you to think about the places in your day-to-day life where you notice the most friction, the most overwhelm, the most difficulty in showing up in the way you want to.

Maybe it’s getting into your work in the morning. Maybe it’s keeping track of all the stuff you’re managing in the volunteer role you have for your son’s soccer team. Maybe it’s transitioning out of work at the end of the day, or staying with a project long enough to finish it, or recovering when plans change and you didn’t make the change in the plan.

As you think about those situations, which one or two executive function areas seem to play the biggest role, have the biggest impact? You could ask yourself, which one or two areas would make the biggest difference in my life if they had a little more support?

Zooming In: Ease, Effort, and Support

Okay, so by identifying those one or two areas, we now have a useful place to begin, and this is where we zoom in on the map.

Earlier we talked about how executive function access can change depending on the task and the conditions, and this is where that idea becomes really useful. Rather than only knowing that getting started takes a lot of effort, we’re taking that one area and looking more closely at when it takes more effort, when it comes a little more easily, and what seems to help.

So I like to explore this through three questions.

Ease, Effort, and Support

• Ease. When does this executive function work better?
• Effort. When does it require more effort?
• Support. What helps make this skill easier to access?

Start with ease. Think about one of the executive functions you identified, and consider a situation where it seems to work better or come a bit easier, even if it still requires some effort. What’s going on when it’s easier to pull from? Maybe certain types of tasks feel a little bit easier. Maybe it’s the environment you’re in, or the time of day, or the people around you, or how much structure you have. What seems to be present when it’s a little bit easier to access?

Then let’s look at effort. When does that same area become harder to access? What kind of tasks tend to increase the friction? What’s happening around you, or within the task itself, when it feels the hardest?

And then finally we can look at support. Based on what you’ve noticed about ease and effort, what seems to help?

A Real Example: One Overdue Email

Sometimes we already have good evidence here. Let me give you an example.

I was on a call with one of my clients recently. She had a ton of resistance around sending an email. It was one of those emails we all know well…the kind that somehow slipped through the cracks and somehow weeks have gone by without a response. So by this time we were talking about it, she had a bunch of shame around the task, which made getting started even harder.

So during our call, I said, “Why don’t you take five minutes right now and get some basic ideas on the page?” You can finish it after our call, but that way you have something to return to instead of staring at a blank page when you’re trying to write this email. She agreed and started typing.

Now as she was typing, she started simultaneously saying the sentences out loud. And within no more than two minutes, she did one quick read of the finished email and she clicked send. It was literally three minutes total.

And afterward she realized that there were two things that made the task significantly easier, even though she’d been having a hard time starting it.

And that gave us useful information about her executive function map:

• Effort: The effort increased when the email was overdue, when it was emotionally loaded. That made it feel difficult to begin.
• Ease: But the ease increased when we made the task smaller and put a short container of time around it.
• Support: She realized that having a short, defined time container, that five minutes, and also speaking her thoughts out loud while she typed were really useful for her.

So now she has something she can experiment with the next time she notices a similar resistance to email.

And that’s what we’re looking at with our own maps. We’re trying to identify the conditions that seem to increase effort, the conditions that seem to create more ease, and the supports that help us access the skill more consistently.

Choosing One Small Experiment

And then from there, I invite you to choose a small experiment. Choose one of those supports to play with, and keep the experiment small and specific.

• If getting started is easier when the first step is clear, you might try defining the first physical action before you stop working the day before, for the first thing you want to do the next day.
• If working memory improves when you have visible information, maybe you experiment with keeping the steps of a recurring task that you often forget about right in front of you on your computer monitor.
• If transitions are easier when you have more warning, maybe you start adding a 15-minute reminder before it’s time to shift activities.

Then decide what you’re tracking to see whether or not this new support helps. Maybe it takes less time or less effort. Maybe the transitions feel smoother. Maybe you lose track of fewer steps. Maybe you notice frustration earlier, rather than it getting so big.

We’re gathering evidence about what helps, and that information gives us a more useful and personalized understanding of our executive functioning, along with practical supports we can continue testing and adjusting as we build out our toolkit.

Your Next Step

Executive functions include several related processes that help us guide our attention, behavior, emotions, and actions toward a goal. ADHD is commonly associated with differences in many of these areas, and that varies from person to person.

It can also vary depending on the task, the environment, the level of structure, and our emotional state. Looking across the areas of executive function and self-regulation helps us see where we’re putting in a whole lot of extra effort, and where we might benefit from a bit more support.

From there, I invite you to choose a small place to start. Choose one area, notice the conditions around it, identify what already helps, and try one experiment to increase the ease just a little bit more. And as you continue through the process, you get to keep building a clearer understanding of how to best support your executive functions in your everyday life.

If you’d like the version of this you can write in, the free executive function map download walks through all ten areas, gives you room to mark what’s easeful, what takes effort, and what’s a mix, and then takes you through the ease, effort, and support questions for the one or two areas you choose. You can grab it at imbusybeingawesome.com/efmap.

Work With Me:

• Learn more about private coaching here
• Join We’re Busy Being Awesome (group coaching)
• Enroll in Overwhelm to Action – step by step course for ADHD Brains

Resources From This Episode:

• Your Executive Function Map – Free Download
• Episode 325: ADHD Object Permanence & 3 Tips to Support Your Brain (working memory)
• Episode 363: The ADHD To-Do List Strategy You’re Missing (the breadcrumb strategy

More ADHD Resources:

• Discover Your ADHD Overwhelm Type – Free Quiz!
• Get the I’m Busy Being Awesome Podcast Roadmap
• Free course: ADHD Routine Revamp
• Learn my Top 10 Tips to Work With Your ADHD Brain
• Discover my favorite ADHD resources
• Access the I’m Busy Being Awesome Planning System

Paula’s Favorite Tools

• Stay focused with brain.fm and get a 30-day free trial. Personalized music, backed by science, designed to help you get and stay in the zone.
• Speechify: my go-to text-to-speech app. One-month free trial plus $60 off a premium subscription if you decide to keep it.
• Todoist: my favorite task manager. Simple, easy to use, and incredible integration with other platforms. Get two months of premium free. No credit card required.
• Wispr Flow: The best tool for talk-to-text. Awesome for verbal processing and saving time. Free trial, no credit card required.
• Magnetic Tile System: My favorite tactile, visual planning approach for ADHD brains.

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