Executive Function
Okay, but what are executive functions?
Simply put executive functioning skills are how the brain plans and reacts to situations. It’s how we manage ourselves inside and out. And it’s what we rely on when we’re not on autopilot.
There are three main executive functions that we draw from: working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control.
I’m guessing from that list you see two things that ADHD really struggles with and one that we’re actually pretty decent at.
Even so, let’s do a quick rundown of what each of these things entails because it’s actually a bit more nuanced than that.
Starting with working memory, what we’re talking about here is our very short-term memory - this is basically the information that we’re working with right now. It is how we can store information in our brains while doing something else - well, that’s supposed to be how it works anyway. For many of us with ADHD, we can struggle with our working memory. This can make it difficult for us to follow multi-step directions - just think about reading a recipe, going, “okay, I got this” doing the first step, and then realizing we have no idea what that next step was supposed to be.
It should also be noted that some psychologists use the terms short-term memory and working memory interchangeably, while others view them as distinct processes.
Next up we’ve got cognitive flexibility can refer to creative thinking and thinking “outside of the box” but it also means our ability to adapt to new and unexpected situations. So while many of us with ADHD do excel at creative thinking, we can have a lot of issues dealing with the unexpected. This is about seeing that what we are doing is not working and then implementing a new strategy. It’s why we can struggle so much when our routines are thrown out of whack.
Okay, finally we’ve got inhibitory control which really just refers to resisting temptations and resisting acting impulsively. It also is about maintaining selective attention and cognitive inhibition, which is what lets us block out information that isn’t relevant to the task at hand. So like ignoring the ticking of a clock while you’re taking a test or maintaining focus on the conversation you’re having right now instead of the one the loud guy two tables over.
So yeah... I think we’ve got that one covered on why ADHD has trouble with that.
And as we can see executive function deficits pose serious problems in our ability to engage in self-regulation. This also means that time and thinking about the future are incredibly difficult for those of us with deficits in executive function. It makes it hard to anticipate and prepare for the future and it makes it hard for us to maintain and hit our goals
I should mention that having executive function deficits doesn’t necessarily mean you have ADHD, there are many conditions that can lead to executive function issues. And on that note as well, executive dysfunction is not part of an ADHD diagnosis - although, and this is very much my own thoughts here, I don’t see how you could get a diagnosis without having at least some executive dysfunction because there is just so much overlap between ADHD’s symptoms and executive dysfunction. So while deficits in executive function are not part of the diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5 it is still certainly a part of ADHD. But I digress, it’s just something that I think should be noted.
Along with thinking of our Executive Functions as self-regulation we’ve also got to understand that this is a limited resource - although those limits are going to fluctuate throughout the day.
We can think of using our executive functions as drawing from a pool of resources - and the more we engage in using our self-regulation the more resources we’re going to draw. Our well of willpower is not infinite and so we can find ourselves severely lacking in self-regulation as the day goes by. This isn’t to say that we don’t have methods to restore some of these resources.
As well, I mentioned how those levels are going to fluctuate throughout the day. There are going to be points in the day when our energy is peaking and it’s easier to draw from these willpower resources and times when we’re at low energy and it’s harder, so it can also be useful thinking of these resources as a kind of a tide.
I know it’s a lot and it’s a little confusing - it’s like a tide but we can also use it up but there are ways to replenish it? Yeah, pretty much.
So let’s start with using up those resources. Simply put the more we need to rely on self-regulation the more we’re going to use up. One of the clearest examples I often see comes from my kids - I know that the most likely time for them to have a meltdown is right after I pick them up from school. And it makes complete sense when you view it from the standpoint of self-regulation. There is a ton of self-regulation that’s required throughout the school day and once they get in the car they can drop all of that and find they’ve got nothing left in the tank to help them self-regulate.
The same thing happens to us as adults - we can spend the day doing things where we find ourselves needing to mask, needing to rely on our ability to self-regulate and then come home at the end of the day and find that we can’t get ourselves to do anything that we want to do. We can find ourselves stuck on the couch trying to will ourselves to get up and do something else but feeling like we’re paralyzed.
So really anything thing that uses self-regulation and any of those main executive functions I mentioned earlier are going to use up some of our capital of willpower. And that depletion can be exacerbated by things like stress, bad sleep, illness, drug use and even having low blood-sugar. Can’t get yourself to do anything? Maybe it’s because you haven’t eaten anything in a while.
Now of course we can also work on restoring some of that resource pool, because hey if those things can exacerbate the deficits, well, then doing the opposite should help. And indeed, in most cases it does - reducing stress and getting a good night’s sleep are going to absolutely help with our levels of executive function. Making sure that we’ve eaten and that we’re keeping hydrated also helps.
And then there are things like taking periodic breaks throughout the day, getting regular exercise and doing things like meditation that can help restore your ability to self-regulate.
But I also mentioned that it is kind of like a tide as well and what I mean by that is that our natural levels of reserves are going to vary throughout the day. There are two main cycles that our bodies go through throughout the day - we’ve got the circadian cycle that dictates our sleep and wake cycle and then we have ultradian cycles which are 90 minute cycles that our bodies go through going from high energy to lower levels of energy. During both of these cycles we’re going to see varying levels of willpower that we can manipulate.
Additionally, there are times when we can more easily draw upon the well, such as during an emergency or when we need to meet a deadline. Our body can kick into a higher gear and keep us focused and drawing on those executive functions when it really needs to - but we also need to understand that those reserves don’t just appear magically. We’re borrowing them from our future selves. And what this means is that we can have an even bigger crash once we meet that deadline or once that emergency passes. And drawing on these too often for too long is how we can reach burnout - borrowing from the future until there is nothing left to borrow.
I think one of the biggest take aways that we can get from this episode is that often those times we screw up aren’t really our fault - or at least not our conscious fault - it more often than not has to do with our deficits in executive functions, and there fore our deficit in self-regulation. I’m not saying this absolves us of the responsibility of our actions, but it is an explanation for them - and the explanation is important because it gives us a method that we can think about for correcting the behavior in the future.
One of the problems that often comes from my self-talk is that it misidentifies my actions as a moral failing rather than that of say, having lunch too late in the afternoon. And this self-talk is important because how we identify a problem is how we work on solving it. If I’m saying that I’m failing to finish my writing because I’m a bad person or I’m lazy there isn’t a lot I can do to try and solve it beyond buckling down and trying harder. But if I can admit that I’m having issues with my self-regulation, well, that’s something I can try and solve for. Maybe I do just need to get something to eat, or I need to take a break. Maybe I need to put away distractions so I’m not inadvertently using up my executive functions resisting the temptation to play with all those toys on my desk.
And this means that we can really embrace thinking about our ADHD issues in terms of self-regulation - so say we’re taking a break to help restore some of that pool of EFs and we decide to work on a puzzle - this is something that I’ve been doing recently because I got a great 1000 piece puzzle for my birthday, but the issue is that it’s really easy to just do one more piece over and over again. So thinking about this in terms of how am I going to regulate this I can work on strategies that will actually help to get me to stop. Initially, I might think that just setting an alarm will work, but if my issue is putting in one more piece then I’ll probably do that once I hit that alarm - what could be far more effective in this situation is creating an alarm and then leaving it all the way across the room so that I actually have to get up from what I’m doing. And once I get up it’s a lot easier for me to just move on to the next thing.
And I know, it’s just a puzzle, I should be able to just get up and go and do the other things I want to be doing, but that’s kind of the point. This is a place where I feel like I should just be able to do what I need to do to stop. But nonetheless, this is a place that I have found myself struggling with a few times over this last week. And that there is a great indicator of when we need to change something, it’s where we can identify that we know we’re going to have a problem.
We can also apply this same idea to other areas where we know we’re going to have issues with self-regulation. Instead of relying on willpower, we need to think about where we might have issues and how we can mitigate our reliance on our own self-regulation. If I want to eat healthier it's easier for me to just not have junk food in the house instead of trying to resist eating those cookies every time I open the pantry.
This is also why many people find it easier to work in a café instead of at home - sure there are ways that we can distract ourselves when we’re there but by changing our environment we’ve cut out a huge percentage of those distractions that we’d normally have to use our executive functions for to ignore.
There also has to be a balance struck between accepting that we’re low with those executive function resources and still doing things when we might not want to - because I know from personal experience it’s easy for me to go, “oh I’m not going to do that, my EFs are low and it just wouldn’t work anyway.”
That’s not particularly helpful and is just me rationalizing not doing something that I don’t want to do - but it is also in the realm of truth, because if I just try and force myself to do it, I’m probably also not going to get it done. Instead, what’s more useful, is to go, “I’m not going to start that now, my EF’s are low, so I’m going to go for a walk” or whatever tool you want to use to help replenish your self-regulation.
Which also admittedly is not the easiest thing to do when your self-regulation is low - because hey if I’m having trouble self-regulating that means it’s harder to make that good decision. (sad horn)
So as I said we have to work on finding and balance, and one of the keys of dealing with low self-regulation is that we need to plan ahead. Earlier I mentioned that we can think of that resource pool as having a tide that goes in and out throughout the day, what that means is that we have somewhat predictable times when it is going to be harder for us to draw on that self-regulation, which means those are great times to have some downtime. We all need breaks throughout the day, so why not put them at times you already are going to need a break.
Ultimately while there are things we can do to work on improving our executive functions, our best strategies are going to be ones that mitigate our own dysfunction by modifying our environment to better suit our needs when we hit those low points in our ability to self-regulate.
This Episode’s Top Tips
We can think of executive functions and self-regulation as the same thing.
Our primary executive functions are working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control.
We have a limited resource pool for our executive functions and we use some of it every time we engage in self-regulation. Fortunately, we can help restore some of these resources by doing things like taking a break, having a snack, and getting some exercise.
One of the best ways to help with executive function is to modify our environment so that we’re reducing the amount of self-regulation we need to do. This means doing things like putting away distractions and making time more visible.
