Good morning everyone. As a representative of team ADHD I would like to tell you about ‘executive function’ because you’ve probably lost a lot of yours. It’s temporary. (Ours is permanent so - we know what we’re about.)
Executive function is the ability to stay on top of things.
Executive function is the ability to stay on top of things.
Executive function is like a little butler in your brain. It knows where your keys are. It knows you have a meeting after lunch. It reminds you to buy milk when you’re at the shop. Usually, this takes almost no energy.
But yours has stopped working properly.
But yours has stopped working properly.
Now all those things are either a) forgotten or b) take a *huge* amount of energy. You struggle to remember the milk, you have to keep reminding yourself, loudly. The bill didn’t get paid. You’re forgetting things. You can’t concentrate.
Dudes, your brain is too busy right now with other stuff. It just is.
There’s no forcing executive function to work. You can *extremely* take our word for this, team ADHD have *really* tried.
What to do?
There’s no forcing executive function to work. You can *extremely* take our word for this, team ADHD have *really* tried.
What to do?
1. Prioritise.
Easier said than done because it requires executive function #irony. I would say if it won’t cost you your accommodation, your job, a friend, or a meal, don’t do it.
Literally don’t.
Easier said than done because it requires executive function #irony. I would say if it won’t cost you your accommodation, your job, a friend, or a meal, don’t do it.
Literally don’t.
2. Systematise.
This is NOT the time to buy an organisation system. But you can eg. put tape around an area on a shelf and put your keys in that area. Or put a bowl there - any bowl, not a nice one. Buy milk every time you’re at the shop. Worst outcome is too much milk 🤷♀️
This is NOT the time to buy an organisation system. But you can eg. put tape around an area on a shelf and put your keys in that area. Or put a bowl there - any bowl, not a nice one. Buy milk every time you’re at the shop. Worst outcome is too much milk 🤷♀️
(You’ll hate 3)
3. Rest
Disabled people have a saying: rest is resistance.
Phone scrolling and ‘relaxing activities’ are not rest. Your brain works hard when you do activities (with a surprising caveat for reading). Only rest is rest.
If you have 20 minutes - nap.
Disabled people have a saying: rest is resistance.
Phone scrolling and ‘relaxing activities’ are not rest. Your brain works hard when you do activities (with a surprising caveat for reading). Only rest is rest.
If you have 20 minutes - nap.
Don’t worry - your executive function will come back. Rest assured (see what I did there?) people like me in team ADHD live very happy healthy lives with permanently low executive function, it’s cool. You can do it for a couple of months, no problems.
Sending every strength to you, best of luck.
🤗
🤗
Oh yeah I totally forgot (because #executivefunction 😂) - emotional regulation is *totally* part of executive function. So if you are reacting to things in ways you don’t usually react to things, especially as regards anger and frustration, that’s totally in this same category.
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