Demystifying ADHD and Executive Function: A Personal Journey

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At least once a week, I find myself in conversation with someone feeling completely overwhelmed by a freshly minted ADHD diagnosis. I empathize deeply with their overwhelm because, more often than not, the diagnosing professional can only provide a label, a prescription, and a vague recommendation for therapy.

So here you are with this new label, but you don’t have any clear path to navigate living with it. Sure, there are a ton of great websites from credible medical sources, but rarely does a website of data, facts and generic advice really help.

My Own ADHD Diagnosis Experience Wasn’t Helpful

This moment resonates with me on a deeply personal level. I remember the confusion, the uncertainty, and the desperation for some tangible understanding of what was happening inside my own brain.

Like most adults with a diagnosis, I turned to social media to see what others were sharing about their experience. Some of it was helpful, but most of it was just emphasizing the struggles without giving me any clear idea about what to do about it.

So eventually, I took things into my own hands, signed up for an ADHD coaching certification to become a coach, but also signed up for a group coaching experience as a participant, so I could start to understand how to live better.

Both of those experiences were life changing for me, and I highly recommend it to anyone that can afford coaching. If you can’t, keep reading – because the goals of this next series of blog posts will help you understand what ADHD is, and how to coach yourself to an easier way of life.

The Heart of the Issue – Executive Function

So, what is the heart of this enigmatic disorder known as ADHD? ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is fundamentally an impairment of executive functioning that is most prolonged (meaning you’ve had it most of your life) and pervasive (meaning, it impacts many areas of your life in a way that hinders your ability to cope).

Our executive functions (or EF for short), are the cognitive processes that enable us to plan, focus our attention, remember instructions, and manage multiple tasks successfully.

Breaking Down Executive Function into Seven Areas

According to a great article from Attitude Magazine, executive function can be divided into seven areas:

1. Self-awareness – Being able to direct your attention.
2. Self-restraint – Managing impulsivity.
3. Non-verbal working memory – Holding information in your mind long enough to execute tasks.
4. Verbal working memory – Retaining internal speech.
5. Emotional regulation – Using self-awareness to manage emotions.
6. Self-motivation – Motivating yourself to complete tasks, particularly with consequences.
7. Planning and problem-solving – Finding new approaches to solutions and breaking down tasks into manageable steps.

The ADHD Difference – Pervasive and Prolonged Difficulties

The crucial distinction between ADHD and temporary executive function struggles that anyone can encounter from time to time, is the pervasiveness and duration of the difficulties. As I mentioned earlier, ADHD is characterized by a cluster of these executive function issues that have been pervasive throughout life and significantly impact day-to-day functioning.

The ADHD Experience – A Practical Perspective

Now, what does ADHD feel like? What does it look like to have ADHD rather than one or two executive function struggles? Well, the same Attitude Magazine article beautifully describes what it might look like:

1. Activation: organizing tasks and materials, estimating time, getting started
2. Focus: finding, sustaining, and shifting attention as needed
3. Effort: regulating alertness, sustaining motivation and processing speed
4. Emotion: managing frustration and modulating feelings
5. Memory: using working memory and accessing recall
6. Action: monitoring and regulating physical activity

Now, not all of us have the same presentation of ADHD. Meaning, that you may struggle with Action and Effort, but not have an issue with memory or task initiation. We’re all different in our experience with this disorder.

The Exhaustion of Living with ADHD

No matter what your particular flavor of ADHD is, you can probably relate to how often we feel exhausted and burned out due to the additional effort required to complete tasks that neurotypicals may find easy. This mental fatigue is especially prominent when the task is perceived as uninteresting, leading to a lack of sufficient dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with motivation and reward.

Good News – ADHD Doesn’t Have to Be Overwhelming

Now that you’ve got an understanding around ADHD and its connection to executive function, you have enough of a foundation to start creating compensatory strategies for making your day to day life easier. I recommend getting clear on which of the executive functions mentioned above seem to impact you the most – because that’s where you’ll want to focus your self-coaching efforts moving forward.

In the next couple of blog posts, I’m going to break down the 5 pillars of ADHD management that will help you design a life that works for you. Stay tuned, because the next blog post dives into pillar #1, which is Energy Management and Self Care. This is critical to understand because if you can master your own energy, then you can avoid feeling burned out and exhausted all the time!

See you in the next post.