Executive dysfunction
By: Martin Gale
Tags: Executive Dysfunction, Adhd

I was telling Bob (not his real name) about how I've been having problems getting started with work. About how I can manage to do a lot of productive stuff that doesn't actually move the important goals forward. (Like playing with adding content to this Medium blog, while having work due for my employer that is languishing).

Bob has himself come to realize he has ADHD relatively recently, as an adult.

Bob's response was "welcome to executive dysfunction". We had a good discussion there, with things I want to talk about later, but for now, let's focus on that term. Executive dysfunction.

I went looking, as you do. Found a bunch of information. Of course, most of the information out there is aimed at children, so you often have to extrapolate! But here's the first thing I found, an article on Additude Magazine:

Children and adults with executive functioning problems struggle to organize materials, regulate emotions, set schedules and stick with tasks. They misplace papers, reports, and other school materials. They might have similar problems keeping track of their personal items or keeping their bedroom organized.

Interesting. This "keeping their bedroom organized" thing really, really hit close to home. It's been a massive bone of contention between my parents and I, for as far back as I can remember. I have vivid memories of being about 5 years old, and having toys and clothes everywhere in my room. *Everywhere*, except where they should be. One might argue that most 5 year olds are messy. Yeah, ok. But it's kept going. Into my teens. And my 20’s. And even now, decades later. You should see my office (though I'd rather you didn't).

Here's a description that resonated strongly with me, from Addept.org.

What is Executive Functioning Imagine that your brain is an orchestra. All of your brain’s abilities and functions are individual members of that orchestra. Your ability to put ideas together is the violin, your ability to play with words is the saxophone, your ability to recognize shapes and manipulate them in your head is the piano, and so on. Each individual ability has its own instrument and its own piece to play in any given composition. The executive functioning system is the conductor. This is part of the brain that tells the others when to start, when to stop, to work harder, to ease up, get faster or go slower. This is the part that tells one section to stop playing together while another section builds. The conductor makes sure everyone is on the same page, is playing the same song and he leads the group so that they can work together. What is Executive Dysfunction? Have you ever heard an orchestra warm-up and tune-up? It’s not a horrible sound, but it’s also not what you pay to listen to. Each individual player is focused on their own instrument — they are each immensely talented and yet as they all play their own tunes, the group as a whole is just a bunch of noise. The ADHD brain has a conductor that doesn’t have enough energy. It’s not that there is no conductor at all (though after a long hard day it may seem that way) No, the ADHD conductor just has less energy than he needs to in order to do all the work he’s supposed to. So, what happens when that conductor is exhausted and asleep at the podium?Then, those individual orchestra members are on their own. And even if they’re the most talented musicians in the world -the music that comes from that orchestra is going to start to leave a lot to be desired.

There's more to read, learn, digest, process about executive dysfunction. But this is a start for me.

Things I want to get a better handle on:

How executive dysfunction translates itself, specifically, into my daily life.

Strategies to specifically address some of these things.

I have a feeling it isn't going to be an overnight thing, somehow!