What is Executive Function – And Why is Executive Dysfunction so Bad for Mental Health?

Emma – Studio Mic: Hey, everyone. I’m Emma McAdam. I’m a licensed marriage and family therapist. So here is the thing. You, or someone you know, might have been diagnosed with ADHD, depression, PTSD, or anxiety because like 30 percent of the U. S. has had a diagnosis like this. Or even more likely, you might struggle with impulse control or procrastination or getting stuff done.

Or maybe you feel overwhelmed or like you’re not reaching your goals. And both the internet and professionals are quick to give a big diagnosis like ADHD or anxiety or PTSD. But what if it might be more helpful to think of it differently? What if we could describe the cause of your symptoms in a much more specific, actionable way?

Now, I cannot [00:01:00] say it loudly enough how important it is to learn about executive function. Because when you do, you might be amazed to find out that you have a specific name. for a specific problem that has a specific set of skills that actually solve that problem. So this is why we’re going to talk about what the heck is executive function and six things you can do to improve your executive functioning skills.

Executive function is a set of mental skills coordinated in the brain’s frontal lobe that sorts through information. It delays gratification, It manages thoughts and emotions, and it decides what is most important. It helps you take action toward your goals instead of just what you feel like doing. So yeah, it’s pretty darn important.

When you have specific deficits in executive function, and this can include a full diagnosis like ADHD, or it can be more discrete like learning disabilities or other neurodiversity, and maybe this hasn’t been diagnosed or identified, [00:02:00] and maybe you don’t have the skills to deal with it, you might look lazy or selfish or stupid or impulsive or otherwise bad.

You might have a pile of unfolded laundry. Or you might have dishes in the sink you just keep avoiding. Or your email inbox is overflowing and you don’t know where to start. Or you can’t seem to get places on time no matter how hard you try. Or you can never pay that credit card off or finish your homework.

It is not that you don’t care. You’re not lazy or stupid. It’s not that you’re not trying. You’re probably exhausted from trying. It’s that you struggle with executive functioning. So a deficit in executive functioning underlies a bunch of mental health disorders and a bunch of like adulting challenges.

And this can lead to a lot of shame and to feeling like you’re broken, and that can lead to you feeling really anxious or depressed. But there is hope, because you can develop skills to address your specific executive function issues. So, so first, I will acknowledge that [00:03:00] executive function is somewhat hardwired into our brains.

So people are born with differences in their inherent executive function. Dr. Russell Barkley has said that ADHD is essentially a disorder of executive function And ADHD is one of the most biologically predisposed mental health conditions, with a heritability estimate of upwards of 80%. But even without issues of hyperactivity or attentiveness, some people have deficits in executive function that seem practically invisible.

They might not be able to manage time or one part of their brain might process information super fast. And the other part is average. So that leaves these like huge gaps in understanding that a regular IQ test won’t even identify. And this can make it hard to organize tasks or delay gratification or hold and process thoughts in your mind.

But, even though executive function is somewhat hardwired into our brain biology, you don’t have to just accept that this is the way things always have been [00:04:00] or always will be. There really is a lot you can do to develop executive functioning skills. So when we can identify specific executive function needs, we can tailor specific executive function interventions, supports, and accommodations.

And this is really important to productivity and functioning and mental health. So basically what I’m saying is that when you learn about this, life can be easier. You can get stuff done and you can be happier. So let’s explore what executive function skills are, why they’re so important and what you can do to strengthen them.

And then in the next video, we’re going to talk about how deficits in executive function can directly contribute to other mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. So what are executive function skills? To learn more about this, I talked with Sean McCormick. He’s an executive function coach.

Sean McCormick: So your executive function skills are the skills or tools that help you reach your goals. And executive functions are a set of cognitive processes that you can develop by working on [00:05:00] those skills.

Emma – Studio Mic: So what he’s saying is that executive function is your ability to plan, organize, start, and finish tasks.

It’s like the air traffic controller for your brain. Your executive function takes a big picture view of all the things going on, decides which ones are most urgent, which ones are most important, and how to solve any problems that come up. It’s a super important part of your ability to function, to regulate emotions, and to succeed.

And then the processes of your executive function can be managed by various skills. So Sean has an acronym for these skills.

Sean McCormick: Because there’s so many different skills, I’ve come up with this acronym, POSITIVE, to help people understand some of the skills you can work on. So POSITIVE stands for planning, organization, self-management, inhibition, time-management is the T.

The next I is initiation of difficult tasks. V is visualizing outcomes or using your nonverbal working memory. And then E is evaluating priorities. So can you actually identify what the [00:06:00] next most important thing is in your kind of domain of things that feel like they’re priorities?

Emma – Studio Mic: Okay, so why is executive function so important?

Sean McCormick: There’s a major study done on executive function skills by this lady named Dr. Adele Diamond. And if you Google her, there’s videos of her teaching the Dalai Lama about executive function skills. And she did this study called Executive Functions. And it’s one of the most cited studies across all research disciplines.

And basically what she found in it were that executive function skills improve your quality of life, they reduce the potential of divorce, they improve societal mental health outcomes. And for students, they actually predict better long-term success in school, higher rates of graduation. So executive function skills are highly critical for a high quality of life. So that’s the kind of fact in the research. That’s what it tells us. But then as an executive function coach, I’ve worked with so many students and adults who their lives were significantly impaired by a lack of executive function skills. It’s almost like [00:07:00] you’re in the ocean and you’re swimming and waves just keep crashing and you just keep getting stuck and you can’t get out, right?

You’re just like swimming against these waves and you just keep getting crushed. That’s how people are experiencing the day to day life without executive function skills. Developing executive function skills is like getting that surfboard and being able to ride those waves and actually have a good time knowing that you can’t ride every wave at the same moment, but you can ride one, have a good day and then paddle out the next day and catch another good wave and make progress towards your long-term goals.

Emma – Studio Mic: Now, most of us know that we struggle in one of these areas, but most people also just assume that they are lazy or undisciplined or stupid or that they just need to try harder. And usually this isn’t a very helpful strategy. The problem isn’t that you don’t care or that you aren’t trying. It’s that you don’t know what you’re lacking and what you need.

So we give it a name and then we can tailor specific accommodations or support strategies to help fill that gap. So let me give you an example. I was [00:08:00] working with someone who was super smart and very talented and hard working. He had a hard time finishing his projects. So he would work longer hours and do more research and work harder and harder and still struggle to finish his projects.

Finally I gave him an assignment to write an article on time blindness, which relates to a specific executive function deficit in your ability to keep track of time. So after he researched it, he came back to me and said, wait a minute. I have time blindness. He had never heard of that term, but for once he had a word for it.

And then he could learn a bunch more about it and learn a bunch of strategies to help him, like setting visual reminders and alerts and timers, using a visual calendar and an app specifically designed for time blindness. And because he had a name for it, he started being more productive. So with each of the areas of executive functioning, there are specific strategies and interventions we can use to help ourselves.

So for example, if we have a hard time [00:09:00] prioritizing, that’s an executive function skill, we can use strategies like making lists, using visual trackers or apps like ClickUp to manage tasks. If we have a hard time initiating tasks, we can use things like Pomodoro timers or specific routines and cues associated with like incentives and rewards or things like body doubles, which is really common in the ADHD community.

Here’s another example. If we get super overwhelmed by things that we need to do, we can use brain dumps, coaching, physical organizers, planners, calendars, and mind mapping to break tasks down into small manageable chunks. So, it really is possible to improve your executive functioning. But before we jump into strategies you can do on your own or with a coach, let’s talk about testing for a second.

So, you can get psychological and academic testing to learn more about your executive functioning. It’s often pretty expensive, unfortunately, and it’s often also unfortunately not covered by insurance a lot of times. But if you’re a [00:10:00] student, they’ll sometimes do it for free. And these tests can be really valuable in helping you get a better understanding of your strengths and deficits, but they can also be used to help you get the accommodations at work or school that you need to be able to use these skills to manage those deficits.

So you can talk with an academic counselor or a psychologist who specializes in these assessments to come to understand what your baseline is. After you understand what your specific needs are, then you can develop skills, to help you out. And there are a ton of small, simple, executive functioning skills that can make a huge difference.

As Sean says, small tweaks can lead to big peaks. So let’s talk about how. Number one, get super clear on your big picture goals. Like, why do you care about this? You could have the best skills in the world, but if you don’t have a direction, you won’t arrive at your destination. And then next, we want to help you explore specific areas where you struggle.

And again, get as specific as [00:11:00] possible. So if your problem is, I can’t get my homework done. Replace it with, I don’t know where to start with my homework, so I avoid it by watching a bunch of TikToks. And you might think that your problem is having Instagram on your phone and you might not be wrong, but the executive function issue is an organizational skill deficit.

Or you might say something like, after a brainstorm, I get overwhelmed and I don’t know how to select the best idea for the paper. Or you might identify a problem by saying, “Oh, I can draft the paper, but I hate editing it.” Or after I finish it, I forget to turn it in and I lose it, or I missed the deadline.

So you’ve got to make it concrete. So you might need to write down your problem or talk it through with someone like a coach to help you figure out what you’re missing. And that takes us to getting coaching. So there are people trained in helping people develop executive function skills. And these might be coaches, like Sean, or school counselors, tutors, therapists, and ADHD specialists.

[00:12:00] And I would say just don’t be ashamed to ask for help. The highest performing athletes and CEOs use coaching to help them. So you can too. And then once you’ve kind of identified your problem, you’ve had someone maybe give you a second opinion on it or their outside perspective on it. The next thing you want to do is kind of explore executive functioning skills for that specific area.

So you probably don’t know what you don’t know, but you can find out what you’re missing. So take the time to make an executive function playlist on YouTube. And learn from others or read a book or two. There are a gazillion executive function skills and I, I can’t cover them all in this video. So the third video in this series, I’m making a big video with a huge list of executive function skills and you could watch for that to learn more. And then it’s also just really important to build out systems and test those out and try them and see how they worked. And this includes only making one change at a time. Like I, like Atomic Habits people, like I love it. If you haven’t read it, read it.[00:13:00]

So for example, let’s say, every time I do my homework, I’m going to do it at my desk and when I finish my homework, I have a place to put that homework in, the red folder, and that folder goes in my backpack and that’s a system right now. This may sound too simple, but seriously, like systems work.

So for me, I used to lose my keys all the time, like multiple times a day. I thought this was normal. I just got used to it, but when I got, when I got married, it drove my husband crazy. So, we work together to figure out a system where every time I walk in the door, I just hang my keys on a hook by the door.

And this has worked really well. So, I probably lose my keys now like once a week, instead of 10 times a day. So systems can be really important. And once you build out good ones, the systems turn into routines and they can become almost automatic. They require less and less energy over time. And then, you know, if we are looking at executive functioning, there’s the big three for brain health, sleep, exercise, and good [00:14:00] nutrition.

Anything that can help your brain health can improve your executive functioning. Okay, so just to summarize, executive function is your brain’s ability to start and finish tasks, remember things, think flexibly, delay impulses, and organize and prioritize things. Some people have biological deficits in their executive function, and most people also need to learn and develop executive functioning skills to really be able to get stuff done and to live the life that you value.

So with coaching and practice, you can develop stronger executive function skills. And it can help you improve your emotional regulation, your relationships, and your productivity. Okay. Hope you found that helpful. Links to Sean’s channel and his coaching program are down in the description too, if you’d like to learn more about that.

Thanks for being here and take care.