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How do YOU [executive] function? :D (Patreon)

Published:
2022-02-21 21:58:19
Imported:
2026-06
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Hello Brains! Another question coming at you from "trying to write a book" land! Once again, if you happen to remember, please let us know if you'd like to be named or remain anonymous if your answer ends up getting written in the book. If you don't want to be quoted at all, you are still free to comment, just let us know that you'd like to not be quoted! TODAY'S QUESTION IS...How do *you* executive function? What tips, tricks, and/or routines do you use to help you with your executive functioning? (Can't remember what executive functioning is? No worries! You can learn about it or refresh your memory here!: https://youtu.be/H4YIHrEu-TU) 

Comments

Benjamin Hirons

I am actually in the process of hiring an executive function adhd coach, so far the methods seem to revolve around time-keeping and strict bedtime/wake-up.

Otesha McGhee

The top things I do to help with executive functioning are as follows: -Implementing strategies from what my CBT therapist calls a focus plan. - I make a to do list in phone, on paper, and visional reminders throughout the week. - I display paperwork or task I need to get done soon in plain sight even if I do not have the motivation to do them right away. ( It is okay to quote my name in your book) Fellow brain friend, Otesha McGhee

Sarah K.

I do two things—use my smart watch and many, many alarms and a thing I call stacking. For "at home" things, like Zoom meetings, I set my watch alarm for 15 minutes before the event. Then when it goes off, I snooze it and then do everything I need to do before the meeting like grab a coffee or go to the bathroom. Then the snoozed alarm will go off again at 5 minutes to, at which point it means log into the meeting. For out of the house things, I set my watch for 5 minutes before I have to leave (and make sure I use that time to get my stuff together before leaving). I'm not even sure how I functioned before smart watches (especially since I misplace my phone constantly). The other main thing I do is "stacking" (I don't know if I read that term used for this somewhere or if I just made it up). Basically, once I get moving, it's easier to keep doing things than to start from "couch position." So, if I need to go to the gym and then go grocery shopping, I will do both of those things on my way home from work, and I go to places that I have to drive past anyways. It keeps me from having to switch gears/focuses since I'm already in movement-mode. The pandemic and work-from-home have been really rough for that strategy though because I don't have anything to stack on when I never leave my house. I'm okay with you using my first name and last initial (otherwise, I'd prefer anonymous).

Cameron Moody

For really demanding tasks like tests, I do practice runs beforehand, even down to the clothes I plan to wear. This helps me work out any distractions (uncomfortable chair or clothes, too cold, too hot) so that my brain isn’t distracted and using up resources. I also try to exercise beforehand, which helps with executive functioning in general, but especially something as demanding as a big presentation or test! (I am ok with being quoted)

Emily Palin

Oh boy so I cook and bake a lot. Like for a living and for fun. The most helpful thing I use is timers and not a phone timer because I will forget what I set it for. So I have a bunch of timers dedicated to specific appliances or activities ( bread proofing timer, oven timer, steamer timer, etc.) it helps me with my time management when cooking at work under pressure or at home where I might have more time but also want to multitask. I also love sticky notes and probably annoy everyone with them but they are colorful and catch my eye and are so easy to jot something down on so I won’t forget. I have a lot of trouble getting started on tasks so I usually use kind of a “foot in the door” method where I do something small maybe not even something important but small like clearing my desk or coffee table and that’ll usually prep me for something else. Since I’m already up doing something non intimidating I’m more likely to do a bigger thing. Or at the very least my coffee table is clean now so it’s still a win! And when days are especially bad I try to let myself have a bad day and recover from it. It’s hard not to be critical and harsh on myself but it gets easier especially when you have people to support you. I’m okay with my name being used :) - Emily Palin

Craig Martin

I relied on lists for decades before I even considered I might have ADHD. I always just thought "I have a crappy memory." Lately, technology has provided a lot more tools for remembering and organizing tasks. For a couple years when I worked on a large project involving organizing many important and urgent tasks (excellent career choice for ADHD by the way), I had a spreadsheet open on my desktop, color-coded for urgency and task type. Red was more urgent, blue was waiting for a response (could follow up if I had time) and black was back-burner stuff. As urgent items piled up from time to time, I would bold the most urgent. Later I made use of the Flag for followup functions in MS Outlook, since most of my tasks came in by email. You can also input tasks in Outlook and then you have all your tasks as well as follow-up flags in one spot. This was good because I didn't have to enter everything in detail on a separate sheet, but unfortunately it lacked the color-coded one-page summary look. I also like Sarah K's "stacking" (and yes I think I've heard about it other places, maybe by that name or maybe as "grouping"). It's a lot easier to leave the house and go do something not-urgent (like bottle recycling) if I have 2 other important things I can do on the way. And lately, I've been using Google calendar alarms more frequently and effectively. You can use my name if you want.

Slam Duncan

Nothing fancy - I pay super close attention to my work emails and calendars, so I set reminders for everything in Outlook, since that’s what we use, and I’m already attentive to it. I know if I don’t set a reminder for everything, I’ll forget or get distracted. I use my unread messages and notifications as my to-do list. You can use my name.

Kevin Christy

To make sure I don't miss meetings, I print out a copy of my Outlook calendar at the beginning of the day and keep it visible right next to my keyboard (trying to memorize my meeting commitments isn't likely to work, so having it visible at all times makes it less likely I'll forget to show up). For to do items, I make sure my task tracker is kept up to date. Bonus tip: use that Flag feature in Outlook whenever an email needs anything at all from you--even just to read it. Filtering my flagged emails is a great way to circle back on open items. Even better: if you use Microsoft To Do (formerly Wunderlist) then all flagged emails in Outlook will show up as tasks on your list. So helpful!

Ash W

(I don't mind being quoted! My name's Ashley Wan) 1) I have a background noise generator that I've been using for nearly 3 years now! I only use it to study or do work, so I've learned to associate it with working and not distracting myself. 2) I'm bad at remembering things, so I religiously take notes. I've set up a custom stylesheet on my word processors because I once hyperfocused on typography, so now every time I look at my word processors, I get a dopamine rush just from how clean and good it looks. 3) I have alarms and timers for anything that requires me to be on time, but I intentionally keep clocks and my cellphone out of sight when I need to focus on work! 4) Sometimes it's hard to even get out of bed when I can be scrolling on my phone instead, so I habitually break things down one step at a time. Is getting out of bed hard? Let's start with getting a foot out of bed and on the floor.

Daniel Creamer

Feel free to quote and use my name. Visual reminders are the most helpful for me. Where visual reminders aren't possible, I rely on a very strict routine. My day looks like this. I wake up in the morning and make breakfast for my kids. I also make myself breakfast and my wife coffee. I do things in the same order every day. If I mix up the order, I likely forget to make my breakfast and have to get fast food on my way to work. While making breakfast for my kids, my meds are sitting right next to some of the things I need for them. This way I'm constantly taking them at roughly the same time every morning. If there's something I need to take with me, I have to put it by the front door. That way I see it on my way out. My phone is constantly in my hand. I have it on silent so that I can get notifications without distracting myself. But, I will check it frequently and see the push notifications. These can be a distraction. However, I primarily use them as visual cues to complete a task. I will make calendar events that will then send a push notification to my phone. This is a default setting. I do not have to remember to turn on the notification. I keep my email (personal and work) open whenever I'm in front of a computer. I use the unread emails as a visual reminder as well. I immediately delete or archive un-needed emails. If it's important but needs to be handled later, I can schedule a reply to the email to myself and have it send on a future day. Otherwise, I let it sit there unread until I can make time for it. I try to clear out the emails by the end of every workday. I will audible cues as well. A timer for cooking. I play a mobile game where I need to log in periodically at changing but predictable times. I'll set a timer for that as well. I'll use alarms for certain events that are constant. Finally, for everything else, I try to find some way to have access to it from my phone. I don't print off my insurance card (health or car), I have it saved in my email or accessed from an app on my phone. All my recipes are kept stored in google drive and I can access that on my phone. Mostly things are stored in my email and I can search certain keywords to bring up the email. This is my version of the messy desk but I know where everything is. My biggest struggle is starting big and boring projects. As a professor, this means grading. I have no particularly useful strategy for accomplishing this task. It's not regular enough for a timer or other scheduled alert. And it's not something that is part of a daily routine. So, my typical systems all fail.

Natassia Tavares

The thing that helped me the most was allowing myself to do things in part. Before, I needed to “organize my kitchen” and I saw all that needed to be done and it was always a lot, I got overwhelmed and never started it. Now if I don’t have much energy, I can just took out the trash, be done with it without any judgment. I can just wash the dishes. I can just clean the fridge. Without any judgment at all. It might not get organized on the same day, but eventually it will and I won’t beat myself up. It also helps to just start and force myself to not be sitting at the couch thinking of all I need to do and feeling overwhelmed. I sometimes sit on the couch thinking I have to brush teeth, floss teeth, untangle hair, wash hair, take shower, etc etc and it all feels to much. I just think “I’m gonna get up and just brush teeth” and consciously ignoring the voice in my head that’s thinking of all the next steps to do. It’s hard doing this, I learned how to recently and it doesn’t work all the time, but it helps.

Natassia Tavares

One other thing I do it that I learned what kind of music to listen for multiple things I have to do. If I’m doing something hard that I don’t know how to do, I know I have to listen to post rock, if it’s something I know how to do and just have to sit an do it for a lot of time, it’s metal (Metallica and Megadeth do wonders), if I need to get up and clean the house, it’s a storytelling podcast, if I need to wash hair, it’s happy music I like to sing. It takes a while to know yourself enough to do this but it’s amazing when you do.

Natassia Tavares

One other thing (sorry for so many comments, I just keep remembering things), I bought a smartwatch that reminds me of events, tasks and has a timer I use whenever I use the stove. It’s awesome (doesn’t need to be an Apple Watch, there’s cheaper alternatives). You can quote me if you want.

Layla Green Touchet

Alarms are my best friend for remembering to do things. Clear storage helps me remember what I have and where to find it. I have special planners for work to log my stuff in there. I also have a notebook that holds my to do lists all in one place. Office supplies are one of my favorite things, and making them pretty and interesting helps me do not fun things like study, paperwork, etc. I have routines for mundane things to keep myself in check. Fidgets and visual timers are my absolute best friends for getting stuff done. Unread buttons for emails help me not forget things and keep track of things to do. I use allllllll of the binders with bright colored labels to organize all of the things that are paper based.

Matt Breimer

As a newly diagnosed adult, I've been coping many different ways throughout my entire life, but only recently realized it was an "ADHD thing" that not everyone had to do. I use regular reminders and Google tasks to motivate me to do things - the rush I get from checking something off as done is a great little reward for doing chores that I'd rather not do. I also make sure that my EDC valuables are always in the same places - keys on the key holder, wallet in my jacket pocket, etc etc.

Kate Smanik

Feel free to use my name - Kate Smanik I’m currently working on my dissertation. It requires a ton of executive functioning. I’m schedule all of my writing/work time when I can co-work. Because I’m a college dean I can set up study hall and have plenty of work partners! I also try to work whenever I am in a new place. If I have to travel I can always find a great spot in a hotel lobby or coffee shop - the background chatter acts as white noise for me. I also started using Gantt charts. First I make my tasks as small as possible. Then I order them so that if I complete them all in order the paper/chapter/project will be complete. Then I fill in the Gantt. I know that if I do that day’s work by the end of the chart I will

Kate Smanik

Have finished my project! It works so well for me.

Daniel Wagner

I designate how I remind myself of a task based on the importance from either "I need to either follow up literally the next thing I do" (For that one I would set a voice alarm with message that would keep coming back on the snooze) all the way to "It's not the end of the world, take your hand off the key and put away the codes" (I would write on a sticky note that I would find eventually) No credit needed, keep up the great work, I hope this helps, if not then I was just glad to be a part of the conversation :)

SQrL (Bryan)

Please change my name or use my first name only. I like to optimize bandwidth. Making something that can be done on autopilot makes me more effective. While “no-one is good at multi-tasking”, is often stated, we are actually all good at it. The question is if one of two things you are doing is automatic for you. This is why we (humans) can drive to work and not know how we got there. A bit scary to think about; but the truth is you’ve done it so many times you know where the turns are. It’s like watching a person in a time loop movie hold someone back 6 inches so they don’t get pooped on by a bird (map of tiny perfect things). That time loop person has done this 100 days in a row that yet are stopping the other person automatically. It’s in their DMN system. Now adding something from the task positive network. That is where you are thinking while driving or whatever as to why you lost track of time and place and feel “transported” to work instead of like you drive there. Driving was your DMN and thinking was your TPN. They were in at the same time. If you can transfer something like making your bed to start your day part of your DMN you won’t even feel like it’s a chore. You can be in a different place while your body does this thing you couldn’t do once a week 12 months ago and now you are doing it every day. It doesn’t require the same mental energy that it used to so you don’t need to resist it like you used to.

Alex Thompson

Happy to be quoted. I keep a short to-do list on the back of my hand and stick to a rule of five items max on the list. If I want to add something, something else has to get accomplished or get removed. I put it on my hand because it’s a place I’m guaranteed to see it and be reminded of it. If it’s on paper somewhere, I’ll forget to look at it. If it’s on my phone, I’ll fall down a distraction rabbit hole

Bri Whitfield

Most of the time if I have to sit down to do a boring thing, I take two puffs of Sativa dominant weed (Sativas don’t give that “stuck in the couch” feeling and just two puffs makes the world “just” entertaining enough that it’s not so boring but not anymore b/c it would make me confused and spacey/ not productive.) If time allows, I’ll work out, shower, then smoke a couple more puffs. Take a 10mg instant release. Then I put on my favorite playlist/album (and unapologetically let it repeat stim style) and hyper focus (or pomodoro, depending on the task) until I’m done. Between working out, the thc micro dose, the music, and the instant release, that’s usually enough dopamine to get me through any unbrearable task, from PowerPoints and data entry to cleaning my bathroom and folding clothes. Works (almost) every time. Bout a 96% success rate. But it’s the best I’ve come up with so far. Quote away!

Thomas Bryant

My "Executive" isn't functioning yet. I'm in a whirlwind of med and dosage changing, plus my hypertension is throwing a monkey wrench into the works. Fortunately my hyperfocus is pushing me forward, which is building my confidence and resolve. Just like you are. Thank you.Oh crap, I can't remember your name.

Gregory Saxton

Let’s begin with a simple planning exercise and think about this as a process to creating solutions to problems, or righting a wrong. I find this mindset empowering, as opposed to other approaches. It’s also battle tested, meaning it’s worked for several decades in my personal and professional life. After all, I’m reasonable successful—married 33 years with two lovely adult daughters and CTO in a well funded tech startup, yet diagnosed with ADHD only recently, 3 months ago at 53 years old. Because our ADHD brains are great at creating lists, inevitably there are too many problems, so we have to pick. Picking is prioritization, deciding; our ADHD brains don’t like this. So I take a different approach. I think broadly about objectives in my life—years long things that will be important to me, and have many ways of realizing them, my values. What’s important to you? For example here’s my list: Be an excellent husband and father; provide my family with all of their tangible and intangible needs and some to many of their wants; spend time every day doing activities that fill me with gratitude and joy; live a healthy lifestyle—spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically; be kind to myself; learn something new every day; have fun and laugh everyday. Next I classify my list of problems, or in simple terms, put them into piles, where each pile is one of the above in the list. So a practical example. I may love or hate my job, but if it provides the financial means to provide for my family, that’s very important to me and that increases my thresholds for dealing with crap and buttheads on the job. +1 for my job. I find this practice builds mental muscle but doesn’t lesson emotional turmoil if we are prone to obsess. And note obsessing may be a signal you are not honoring your values and wrongly prioritizing. That’s where it’s helpful to start with long term objectives, or values. If the things, or problems, you want to solve don’t nicely align to your objectives, or values, you are chasing shiny objects—living someone else’s life; let it go! Next think about the fact that there are 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week. How much time can you reasonably allocate to the things in each pile, your life’s objectives, or values? This will constantly change based on the challenges you face in life. However, reflecting on 4 decades of thinking this way, now 53, I find that my allocation changes every 3 to 5 years a bit, and over a decade a lot. It’s important to find time for what most matters to you. In financial planning, this is called asset allocation or also diversification; meaning where will you invest money over a given time horizon? Stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. Next, I plan my schedule and make time for what I consider important to me weekly, preferably daily. Every day, I start my day spending no more than 15 minutes managing my work and personal calendars for the day, week and month ahead. Once a week, I apply the same process over the quarter, again for no more than 15 additional minutes. Repeating appointments and reminders are a favorite. This is great for exercising, home maintenance, creating boundaries for family time from work, and assuring you manage to get meal and toilet breaks from your job. Examples in life. Since 1991, when I owned my first condo, I learned October is national fire safety month and we should change the batteries in our smoke detectors. While the technology has changed from paper calendar to digital calendars, I continue to have reminders to do this every October. Don’t go crazy with this; allow for spontaneity. Use structure as tool (or weapon), not a prison. Communicating people is always a challenge. As a principle, never assume malice for what can be explained by ignorance or stupidity. Sorry, I know stupidity may be an offensive term, feel free to replace that with something less offensive so long as you understand the point. The creator provided each of us with common and unique gifts, but these were not distributed equally and that leads to disparity. Social Media … I limit my social media to LinkedIn for professional purposes, Discord for this group and investing, and that’s it. If I want to check something on social media, I use the new iPhone feature to create an account using an ephemeral email address and delete the account when my research is done. Email and direct messaging platforms (including text messaging) … I find people are rather curt and this requires excellent rapport skills and preferably a prior relationship with the person. Often these are not available during the pandemic, so I recommend video chats at least daily with people whom frequent this mode of conversation. It’s difficult to perceive someone as a butthead, or them to behave as one, when making face to face contact. If indeed you find yourself making face to face contact with such a person, the universe is speaking to you; let them go! Evolving your understanding. You must expose yourself to a plurality if ideas, concepts, and points of view—particularly opposing points of view, if you are to to truly understand an idea or concept. The art of listening has decayed into the art of responding; meaning people often listen to reply rather than to understand. Ray Dalio (brilliant co-founder of Bridgewater Investments, largest hedge fund in the world) is famous for one principle he named, ‘Conflict in pursuit of Truth’. People and organizations have lost their propensity for civil discourse. Without it, we are imprisoned by our ignorances and biases. Critical thinking. It’s shocking to me to see how the education system in the US has decayed into a system of teaching students compliance rather than critical thinking. I’m fortunate to have had the education I did. This too is reflected in our media and society’s attention span limited to headlines and opinions rather than facts an analysis. People would rather scroll through social media or watch a 60 second YouTube video and be told what to think rather than read a well written fact based apolitical article on a local or world issue. Better, read multiple articles by different authors with different perspectives then form their own conclusion. How many ‘How to ADHD’ videos are 30 seconds shorts telling people what to think with zero background, only conclusions. Imagine if our criminal justice system worked that way, closing arguments, jury verdict, sentencing; no testimony or evidence. Time management. Bruce Lee approached this with a simple metaphor that nicely aligns with time-boxing. Foremost, it’s important to understand that time-boxing is practical but imperfect. If you have an assignment for work or school and commit to a time-box yet fail to achieve the goal, there is still work to be done. But rather than pressing on, it’s wise to break, and before reengaging use the 5 whys to honestly understand why the time-box was insufficient so you can have better outcomes in the future. Now, back to Bruce Lee. Bruce used the analogy of money when discussing time. He talked about ‘spending time’ as if it was a a thing that you literally gave someone in exchange for something. When you think about it, that’s exactly what it is. We are spending time. However, unlike money, we wake up every day with less time remaining in our lives that yesterday. Whereas, money however, has the potential to increase over time. And that potential has risk of causing us to foolishly spend time chasing money we don’t need when we don’t honor what is most important to us—our objectives, or values. Personal comment. I hope this was helpful. You’re welcome to quote me or delete this post

Jessica Greenberg

Please use either first name or first name and initial. Thank you. I find that on bad days, one of two things helps. The first, ironically, is distraction - if I can't do one thing, sometimes I can do two or three or five. They have to be little things that can be broken up and interrupted, but at least I'm getting somewhere. Particularly useful when instead of hyper-focusing or even jumping, I'm spacing out - adding more things can make me focus down. Especially helpful to make sure I'm paying attention when driving (I try for music I can sing to, a good audio book, or a friend to talk to - just something else to focus on /as well/). The second is the needs of others. One of the things that helps me get going, and makes sure I keep doing the things I need to be doing is that I have people actively depending on me for things they actually need. The first and most obvious is I have pets, so I have to feed them and take care of them (and feel terrible when executive function keeps me from doing a good job but well, everything has a price). Friends as well, although friends often don't need you as much. And professionally, I help people for a living and knowing they need me gets me working, gets me going, gets me ... functioning. Admittedly not always, because sometimes the brain wins. But the more need I feel from outside, the easier it is to force something that I've been sitting there thinking about for 3 hours (like getting up). And finally, the biggest trick of all is letting my brain win some days. On a weekend, when I'm skipping my meds in an effort to avoid dependence, and I have nothing pressing to do, I will let myself do whatever it is I actually want to do, and I've spent quite a lot of time training myself not to think there's something wrong with that. Doing basically nothing for one day a week helps me recharge my ability to fight the executive dysfunction the rest of the week. Sometimes, you just have to let the ADHD win for a while, so that it gives you your chance to win too.

A Arctic fox

You can use my name, real (if you remember it) or patreon name i find a way to make it interesting to my brain, usually by relating it to something im passionate about or by making it more fun, like for example if I have reading to do and I'm struggling to do that I'll sing aloud the words thay I'm reading with whatever tune is in my head or I feel like saying

Samuel Enslin

Feel free to use my full name. I use one of three strategies, but only one of them is good....:) 1. Keep up a constantly high level of anxiety. Worry about everything. Always think of the worst outcome if I don´t do something...Don´t wanna do the laundry today? Imagine you don´t feel like for another three days ...and after three days your kids will make a big fuzz about missing their favourite socks, the mornings will be ruined and then the whole day will be off... This is obviously not healthy, but it DOES work... 2. It also describes my second strategy, which is doing it for someone else. Usually I´m then disappointed because those things are household chores and people just think you should do them anyways, its not like I brought home flowers.... 3. The only actually good working strategy is to bundle tasks. Whenever I cook spaghetti, I know I will burn them if I leave the room. But I´ll also be bored waiting for 10 Minutes, so I clean the kitchen during that time. It also breaks down the task into a smaller chunk, because usually I don´t clean the whole kitchen in 10 Minutes, but I didi chip away on that task....

Samuel Enslin

Since I started learning about ADHD, I started developping a habit of "removing obstacles" or just "Doing the very first step". Its the simplest things, but they help a lot into removing the fear factor from bigger tasks. As an example: Before I got diagnosed I wanted to call a few doctors, but ended up researching every doctor and his specialty and reading reviews and then obsessing about the state of our health care system. Now, trying to find a therapist, I just made a google sheet writing down names and phone numbers and not thinking of the outcome at all. I don´t have to battle my social anxiety yet just writing down the numbers.

Koenraad Jacobs

Don't mind being mentioned at all. Anyways, executive functioning is something I'm working on, but it is definitely not there yet. As someone who's still in the process of being diagnosed (although apparently it's quite certain, and more of an administrative thing to do), I'm also very new to having found the root cause of my troubles. I try a lot of stuff out to cope with stuff like being organized. I watch videos, look at other people, try to create strategies, get very excited about them and use them for a week. I feel like I've changed my life in how much easier it is to initiate starting to look for something when everything is in their place. But I then find myself slowing down on motivation to put everything back, and we go back to square one. Even worse, I've used so many strategies to, for example, organize my music sheets to bring with me to a band, I've lost track of the number and type of binders I have, and in which binder or structure I've 'lost' something. I will say that 1 thing that has stuck by me is a noteblock. I keep it on me whenever I can and write down stuff. Okay prioritizing is hard, but at least I get SOMETHING crossed off. When I find myself writing on a new page, I check the previous one and see if there's anything I should also take into my next "project". And then there's Jessica's amazing tip of having a structure put up on my desk with "Informative info", "important info", "To do" and "Urgent to do". This is the only reason I got to fill out all my forms for the ADHD assessment on time. (Okay also my gf reminding me to check my "urgent to do's"... But shush, give me some credit. I guess if I had to summarize it, I'd say, I want to work on my executive functioning, and I do work on it as well. But sometimes trying to tackle 1 function, gets in the way of another 1. And then there's the final addition of people not having patience for you to do it your way and slowly build up, and still critique you on what you've done in the past and you downright lose all motivation in 1 quick swoop. Again. Square 1.

Jen

I am very newly diagnosed. So this is a learning process for me and it’s early days with my medication. For me, on a good brain day, I thrive on strict routines in every area of my life that I can control. I stay on track with these routine using Tiimo. It’s a god send. And then in parts of my life I can’t control such as what will happen at work I make lists, try work through them, anything that doesn’t get done goes on the list for tomorrow. I also luckily have a very supportive partner which is very helpful, he is learning to gently remind rather than parent me and we are adapting to my diagnosis together. On some days I just don’t function as an adult and hope for a better day the next day.

Faraday

Visual cues help me a lot. The kitchen counter, bedroom nighstand, and my work desk are all decorated with colorful sticky notes to grab my attention. If I need to remember to take something with me in the morning, I'll put it right in front of the door the night before so I can't leave without tripping over it. I use a paper wall calendar rather than an app because seeing it every tie I walk into the kitchen makes it more likely I will remember what I need to do. You can use my paetron name.

Xadian

I use background content to bribe myself to do things. Going for a walk, cleaning or cooking are difficult to get going but if I save new podcast episodes or youtube videos and tell myself "You can watch them when you'll be doing those things" then I even find myself quite excited to do them. Although getting used to this has it's issues as you can spend an hour looking for the right content if you have nothing queued up or get used to it and find doing things in silence even harder (damn hair washing...) You can use my name but don't have to

Will Tharp

Feel free to use my name. I was only diagnosed in the last 6 months, so I've ended up mitigating my symptoms, all my life. My most successful strategy has been to break things into smaller pieces, and "get the rush" from completing each, smaller task. Another strategy I use is determine what is important and what is not. I do not always choose correctly, but am successful more often than not. The less important items get minimal attention or no attention at all. As an example, when I was in school, I would look at homework and weigh the consequences of poor/no homework versus my grades. If there was little to no impact, I wouldn't do it. If there was a little more impact, I would perform the minimum to get a grade. I had a teacher get extremely frustrated by me consistently being at the bottom of the curve in homework, and in the top 3 on his tests; I liked the subject and he was a good teacher. I didn't like the homework... As someone else mention, my everyday carry items go in the same place every night. And I am very mindful when they do not (almost to the point of obsession until I place them where they go). Honestly, I try to set up areas in my home to place "important things" so that I have a smaller area to search when I need something I do not use often. For things like laundry, my wife and I share. I'll get the baskets to the laundry room to wash the clothes. Since medication and therapy, I have actually started washing and drying clothes regularly. My wife folds or hangs the clothes I pull from the dryer, and then we tend to put our own clothes away, though one of us may take them back to the bedroom. One other laundry strategy I have is that I hang up everything I possibly can. That lets me visually see what I am seeking, and reduces the clutter in my drawers. A strategy that has worked for me, personally, but not for my household, is designated areas that are kept clutter free and organized. I take this to the point of getting irritated when those areas are not that way. Currently, this only applies to my car -- when others don't mitigate in the same way, your clutter free, organized space gets someone else's clutter in it, and/or your organized items get used by someone else and then you have to hunt for them anyway... :-( For driving (in my teens!!!) I kind of hacked my brain. I basically chose scenarios in which the input to my brain would take priority to everything else, and other scenarios where there was no worry. This has saved me as a driver several times, and as a passenger a hand full of times. Examples include me not staying in my lane, others not staying in their lane and, really, any aberrant driving behavior. Aberrant driving behavior, no matter who is driving, triggers my hyperfocus. Again, prior to being diagnosed, I had a few other strategies as well: 1) I was almost never able to recall people's names, even after hanging out with them multiple times. So I would explain to people I can't remember names, and I would likely have to ask a few times. No one seemed to get offended. 2) I used to think "I don't do change well". In actuality, it was I had routines and a programmed autopilot for everything, and external changes forcing me to " reprogram" were very anxiety inducing -- which presented as frustration. But I would let those close to me know -- as if they already didn't -- and that helped mitigate that pain a little. 3) I would, many times, not even attempt tasks knowing that I likely wouldn't complete them/fail. In a nutshell, avoidance. This held me back in my career, for years. 4) Time. I've always known it takes me a long time to do stuff. So I just baked that into my life; the extra time also included time to poke at side projects, when I was losing focus on the items of primary focus. Essentially, I would use a tedious project to relax my mind until I could go back to the more difficult one. On the slip side, I missed out a lot on my children growing up. 5) I have worked hard to reduce the things I bring into my life; the less clutter you own, the less cluttered your life is. 6) This was not intentional on my part; I think my father taught it to me: Gratefulness. I don't perfectly observe it, but I pray often, and with thanks for what I have been given, and sometimes for not receiving what I actually deserve... 7) You know how we sometimes have problems with memory? I have used that to forgive others. This is all I can think of right now.

Guilherme Ramos

Feel free to use my name :) I've developed two advanced techniques (contains sarcasm). 1) To avoid leave something important behind (like sunglasses or house keys): Wherever I leave the thing, I leave my car keys (or transport card) with it. The worst that can happen is forgetting my car keys, but I can't get too far without it. 2) To avoid taking too long in the shower: Created a playlist on Spotify with 10 minutes of songs I really like, and 10 minutes with songs I really hate. Always play it when I enter shower, when the songs I hate are about to start, I'm already rushing to leave the start. The cool thing about it is that I can replace the songs when I get tired of one of them, but I try to only change one at a time so I don't forget when the bad songs are about to start.

Mike Gruber

A lot of my strategies come from this channel. Some of my go-tos for cognitive tasks are always the same place ( my office), start with a win and some caffeine (for me that’s going to the gym or riding my bike), break down tasks, make a timeline for long-term tasks, clean my space. Make my work piles ( need these books for this class, need these files for this work thing), and order them in terms of urgency and importance. For more routine tasks (cleaning/dishes) I put on an audio book or podcast and do my chores with my body while my brain learns new things. Body doubling helps me stay on task. If I’m alone I just let my body do it’s thing. If I clean the tub and that reminds me to sweep the floor, I’ll finish the tub and do the floor next. I’m not married to any particular routine. Usually I make a list on these days too. I have a whiteboard that helps with this. Feel feee to use my name.

Chris

I think my most important tool is to control my visual environment. I plan ahead for things that I want to be reminded of and things I don't want to be reminded of. I want to be reminded about my grocery list, so I leave it out on the kitchen counter. I'll see it and feel like going to the grocery store. I don't need to be reminded about the new game on my iPad, so I put the iPad out of sight. I'll think about it soon enough when I need to rest and relax, I don't need it out in plain sight. (You can quote me in whatever way you like)

Sarah Miller

I take my meds if I don’t I’m all over the place doing work at my job and during work I’m a distracted mess I can’t do one thing with out doing the next thing sleep is hard to get because my brain is so active at night because it’s thinking to much last night was my first time in 2 or more years getting to sleep at 9:35

BrainAnnierysm

You can use mine if you’d like. I have a few tricks I use to help offset my bad brain days. I use a to-do list app (Todoist) on my phone to track everything I need to do (and I mean EVERYTHING). In Todoist, I can set variable due dates like “every 7 days” so the task comes back around 7 days after I last completed it. That’s great because now it isn’t something I have to do every Sunday, it’s something I have to do 7 days after I last did it. I combine that with giving myself a few days of lead. I don’t need to do laundry every 7 days; it’s actually more like every 10 days. That gives me 3 days of postponing before it becomes an issue. Another thing I do is keep a list of things that need to be done that don’t have a due date. Then, when I’m having a good brain day, I can grab from that list. It also helps me group similar tasks together. If I need to go to a specific area of town, I can pull tasks from my list that are nearby and get them all done at once. Likewise, if I’m cooking, I can look for other tasks in the kitchen. As a bonus, since these tasks are all documented, I get that feeling of accomplishment when I check them off the list. My biggest trick is accountability. When I have something I don’t want to do, I tell my husband I’m going to do it. He does nothing other than listen — not remind me or ask when I’ll do that thing, nor any mention of it again. It works well on two levels. First, telling him triggers my anxiety about letting someone down and motivates me not to postpone that task. Second, since he’s not actually tracking the task, I can be kind to myself if I need to postpone it. It’s like an anxiety fake-out to help me get something done. As a side note with accountability, he and I had many conversations around this method before implementing it. I never want him to feel like he has to monitor me. He knows this is us playing a trick on my brain, not me asking him to help track tasks. If there is something that I postponed but needs to be done soon, he’ll ask about it in a kind way (like “I was thinking of doing laundry today unless you had a plan”).

Sarah Miller

And everything else with Executive function is crazy and sometimes I don’t know how I do it all I know is that if I don’t take my adhd stimulant med I’m a disaster some people don’t understand or get that when I don’t take my med I can be pacing and not realize it and have a harder time staying on the conversation of what we said before a lot of the times I don’t realize i closed the restroom door half way it’s a bad habit where we had to close the door all the way because of my dog getting stuff out of the trash can so I guess it’s a habit I have been doing for a long time and with dealing with a 99 year old and 76 years old who is not understanding sometimes the 76 year old grandma will cover for me because a lot of the time I will say I don’t remember doing I did? Because I really don’t remember but both of my grandma’s are not the most understanding And it’s frustrating because it makes me feel like I’m not wanted that it’s not ok to be who you are because we don’t like it they completely take over on situations that’s not for them to take over on and it’s frustrating because that’s the way I feel but they would dismiss it because they are not willing to change but I still love them the same and care about the u can use my name and Quote what I said for both sometimes it’s just going to work out like this for a season

Jennifer Noce

I write them down. I write things down I need to do, forget about them, and then when I'm in the right headspace, I can evaluate them and see if they are a necessary task for now or for the future. I also use times to give myself allotted breaks if I become fatigues if I'm at home and have tasks I need to accomplish. Obviously, I still am not perfect, but at the end of the day I'm trying my best, just like everyone else.

Adam Glenn

For managing the tasks I'm currently working on I use https://todoist.com . I have 2 categories called work and personal to help me switch contexts between the two. When it's working hours I filter my tasks to work that is due today (or overdue). I use it for _EVERYTHING_ reading, self care, research projects, etc. I have it on my phone and on my work computer so I am always able to see all of my tasks and I can enter them quickly when I get a new one. I spend some time each morning reviewing my tasks for the day and I try to be realistic about what I can accomplish. What ever I intend to do that day, or have to because of a deadline, stays in my daily view. Everything else gets punted to tomorrow. For taking notes I use https://obsidian.md/ I could literally spend hours explaining what I love about it and how I use it but the TL;DR is that I treat it like a personal wiki. Anything that's an idea I have goes into the Obsidian Vault. If it's something I learned while working on a project, it goes in the vault. It's a great program for taking text notes and with the Excalidraw plugin, visual notes. I'd be happy to chat in more detial if you're interested.

Luke Goldstein

Feel free to use my name: Over and over I've tried creating lists. On paper, in notebooks, in apps, etc. Sometimes I have success for a while, but the well runs dry on it eventually. I'm still learning about why that is and how to counteract it (some of that help coming from your videos!) I definitely need to see my tasks in front of me in some fashion if I am ever going to remember to do them.

Andrea McPhee

Feel free to use my first name w. initial. As another member of the recently-diagnosed-as-a-mature-adult-and-we're-still-working-out-the-meds club, I still struggle with some (okay, a lot of) executive function issues, but I did develop some strategies growing up. The main one is alarms. All the alarms. Some of my alarms have alarms. I used to feel ridiculous with my alarms, but now I embrace them because they get me where I need to go. I use other audio cues as well: listening to the morning radio show with very predictable and defined news broadcasts on the hour and half-hour helps me avoid the worst of the time-blindness as I get ready for work/get distracted by that "just one more thing" I need to do before leaving. Having all my mostly analogue clocks set ahead to slightly different times also tricks my brain: I get the visual "oh, it's that time, or close to it; I need to get going" and since I don't know if that clock is the one that is 5, 7 or just 3 minutes ahead, it gives me a push. Putting a clock in the bathroom is also very helpful. And bless the people who have put Pomodoro timers on YouTube because while I have those set up on my computer and phone, I never remember to turn on the timer to end my breaks!.

DoubleKnott

I don't remember who first told me to work with my brain not against it. Probably you, but like many things I didn't really understand what it meant, until I did it. So cleaning my house for example. I could tell myself I'm going to do the dishes today. I will set alarms, ignore them. Get distracted with a billion other things. Finally go to the dishes, get overwhelmed with the amount and either panic and avoid or do them but it takes me all day and I'm exhausted after. Like the work to force my brain to do this thing when my brain to do one particular thing is exhausting when actually it would rather organize under the sink or the pet meds or the closet or something else. So I allowed my brain to lead. I butterflied all over the house whereever my brain decided to fixate on at the moment and you know what? I got stuff done and a lot of stuff done. Not the dishes LOL but I got way more done than what I would have. The next day my brain let me get some of the dishes done and then I butterflied elsewhere. So not fighting with my brain didn't make sense until it did. Also I rely on friends to 'mom' me sometimes and I help them when they're struggling in other ways. I helped my friend by going to do something she had no energy left to do, but she helped me navigate a situation I usually panic in and reminded me to eat. Lol

Jordan Contreras

So, I'm not sure 100% if this counts (and maybe it's a little tmi, but I also feel like it's important to share because bodies are all weird. ) But the biggest thing that's helped my executive function these last 2 years has strangely been letting my birth control lapse. I've used the birth control implant for around 6 years, and I stopped having periods completely in that time. But when the world shut down during 2020, I ended up not being able to get it replaced for various reasons (Dr's office not wanting the schedule the procedure, insurance issues, etc) so, I haven't been able to get it replaced. And, let me tell you, my menstrual cycle has changed A LOT since I started the birth control. I also had no idea I could have ADHD when I started it, so there's been a lot I didn't understand. So, with this new understanding of myself, it's been very helpful in understanding both how my mental state and body change as I go through my cycle, but also how that all affects my ADHD symptoms. It's helped SO MUCH to understand myself this way and has felt so empowering. If there are any other menstruating humans who haven't noticed these correlations, pay attention to your cycle. It will tell you a lot and help you do better for yourself. Also, quote me however you like. I have no preferences.

Rudraksha Rishi Mitra

Feel free to use my name For me, switching from a polarizing (aka focused vs not focused) to a more flexible approach helped. So now I try and be "focused enough" for the tasks which I can be a little more relaxed about. Maybe it takes me a little longer to clean my room, or to complete a task at work, and maybe I get carried away a little here and there, but that's okay as long as I circle back. The other thing that helps is making space for my own tendencies, aka working with my brain rather than against. If I know I'll do something at the last minute, and I'm sure I'll be able to pull it off, I just let myself do that. I don't pressure myself to be on top of it until the last minute, and I accept the result as my best. This way, by taking pressure away from stuff I can do without needing to be perfect, I can reserve my energy for the things I really need to get on top of. For those, I do my best to set up systems that keep me going. This includes making it easier for myself to get started, making myself as comfortable as possible while I'm doing them, setting up gentle accountability checks, and making clear priority lists and setting aside deliberate time for them. I think shifting the narrative from doing everything "correctly" and in a neurotypical way, to accepting my mess and focusing on getting stuff done my way, according to my priorities, has been key.

Eric Mock

Can you use my first name and last initial? (Eric M.) 1. So honestly the brain timers on your YouTube channel have been an absolute lifesaver! Anytime I need to do work where there's not a hard and fast deadline I use the timers and it helps me stay on task and do consistent work. 2. I use checklists for a lot of things, but especially for items I need to take with me before I head out the door. I use the app called "To do" but I know there's many other good ones. 3. I use multiple calendar apps, Google calendar and my outlook calendar so that I can put reminders in multiple places. 4. A big benefit from your channel has been helping me realize that it's OK to give myself rewards for doing things that are hard for me but typical for neuro-typicals. So I'll earn "video game time" with however many hours I work, or tasks that I complete, etc. Hope this helps! Thanks for all you do on this channel.

TheJason

First name and Last initial work. My biggest unusual executive function tip is whenever I need to remember something vital, such as a checklist of things, someone else's name, an important phone number, etc, I like to associate it with something nonsensical or humorous to make it stand out. For example, every time I walk out the door, I do the four-way pat: got my phone, got my keys, got my wallet, got my spaghetti! It's a random meme I found on the internet and it has helped immensely with the little details!

Liz Cullen

Feel free to use my full name. I use so, so, so many alarms. I have learned I WILL forget food in the oven, soaking dishes, laundry, watering my plants with a sprinkler, etc. (basically all of my housework). I use alarms at work also to remember to get up and stretch, get water, use the bathroom. Sometimes I get so focused I abuse my bladder and get leg cramps. I have also found that because I'm so hooked to my phone and mostly don't forget it, I use it as my personal planner/lists. I'd like to believe I will stick to a physical planner but I won't. I love using Google's free products because I can type almost as fast as I think, so I am less likely to lose the thought. And I can use it on my android phone and any computer I'm on. I use a physical journal for self reflection, organizing thoughts, and breaking down goals/steps because it forces my brain to slow down a little bit since I can't write fast. At work my employer pays for Office 365 and the Planner app has been great because I can break down projects and tasks as fine as I need. I can also store EVERYTHING in one or two places.

A Arctic fox

Im ok with being quoted however you want as long as you dont involve my age *enter* the only way I can really exeuctive function is by relating the sfuff i have to do to my life goals and dreams so that way I feel the motivation to do it by relating it to something thats important to me, I've tried routines but everything I miss it the whole thing breaks so I usually just go with a "do this more" sorta thing which works a lot better with my other mental health conditions and most importantly my chronic illness