Executive functioning – also called executive dysfunction – is currently a hot topic. There are many “executive function hacks” posts with tips and tricks to make our lives easier. But what is executive functioning, really, and how do you know if you’re struggling with it?
Executive functioning coaching can be a lifeline in the sea of things we need to manage in life, for teens and adults alike. In this blog, we’ll talk about how executive functions affect adults, what adult executive functioning coaching looks like, and how to know if you could benefit from it.
This blog is focused on executive functioning coaching for adults. To read more about executive functioning coaching for teens, please read this blog
and this webpage.
What Are Executive Functions?
Executive skills are essentially the “CEO” of our brain: they handle organizing our days, prioritizing tasks, and managing time to meet deadlines. We use our executive skills all day: remembering to switch over your laundry, planning your meals for the day, getting to work on time, focusing at work, keeping your home clean.
The 11 executive functioning skills are:
- Response Inhibition
- Working Memory
- Emotional Control
- Flexibility
- Sustained Attention
- Task Initiation
- Planning & Prioritizing
- Organization
- Time Management
- Goal-Directed Persistence
- Metacognition
These skills are essential to daily life. When certain skills don’t develop as quickly as others, we struggle with important everyday tasks.
How Do Executive Functioning Skills Affect Adults?
As adults, we lean heavily on our executive functioning skills. We have to juggle a lot of tasks in our lives:
- Managing work deadlines
- Keeping on top of bills
- Managing insurance and paperwork
- Making sure to eat enough and pay attention to good nutrition
- Allocating time for exercise, rest, and hobbies
- Maintaining a good sleep schedule and sleep hygiene
- Making and keeping doctor appointments
- Keeping in touch with friends and family
- Cleaning our homes and regularly do laundry
- Feeding pets and taking care of their medical care
And yet, this list doesn’t cover everything that adults need to keep track of. To successfully manage this case load, we need to rely on our time management, prioritization and planning, task initiation, organization, and metacognition. To maintain healthy work relationships, we need to have strong response inhibition, emotional control, and flexibility. To reach our professional or personal goals, we need to have strong goal-directed persistence and prioritization. Success and satisfaction in our adult lives rely on our executive functioning skills.
When we have weaknesses in these skills, we start to struggle with many of these tasks. While the skills may seem like they should be “easy”, executive functioning skills weaknesses make our lives incredibly frustrating.
What Is an Executive Functioning Coach?
An executive functioning coach is a supporter who helps you:
- Learn your strengths and weaknesses, and how to leverage your strengths to compensate for weaknesses
- Figure out how to “trick” your brain into doing what you need it to do
- Develop systems to compensate for executive function weaknesses
What Does Adult Executive Functioning Coaching Look Like?
Executive functioning coaching for adults can look different depending on the individual and their particular executive functioning struggles. The first meeting is designed to determine individual strengths, weaknesses, and goals. In practice, adult executive functioning coaching can include:
- Finding the right tools and strategies for time management
- Practicing realistic goal setting
- Creating manageable schedules and commitments
- Adjusting organizational systems
- Exploring tools to help stay on top of various tasks
- Developing strategies to manage time
- Integrating external tools for keeping track of time
- using digital tools as reminders
- Building habits of regularly tracking bills, deadlines, and commitments ● Creating personalized tools and strategies to make everyday tasks easier
How Do I Know if I Could Benefit From Executive Functioning Coaching?
Anyone whose life is impacted by weaknesses in the skills listed in this blog could benefit from executive functioning coaching.
Here are some types of adults who could benefit from executive functioning coaching:
The Overachiever – Juggles a million things but struggles with burnout, time management, and saying “no.”
The $500 in Late Fees – Constantly forgets bills, deadlines, and appointments, leading to financial chaos.
The Mom (or Dad) Juggling It All – Managing kids, a household, and possibly a career, but feeling scattered and overwhelmed.
The Creative Genius – Has amazing ideas but struggles with follow-through, deadlines, and organization.
The “Why Can’t I Adult?” – Feels behind in life, struggles with responsibilities, and never quite gets it together.
The “I Swear I Wrote That Down” – Loses notes, forgets tasks, and constantly searches for misplaced information.
The “I Work Harder, Not Smarter” – Stays busy all the time but lacks efficiency, leading to exhaustion and minimal results.
The “Just One More Episode” – Gets caught in hyperfocus on entertainment, hobbies, or social media while important tasks pile up.
The Clutter Collector – Can’t seem to manage physical space, leading to stress and decision paralysis.
The Procrastinator Extraordinaire – Always putting things off until the last minute (or never getting to them at all).
The “Wait, That Was Due Today?” – Chronically underestimates time, forgets due dates, and scrambles at the last second.
The “I’ll Fix It Tomorrow” – Has a growing pile of unfinished projects and unaddressed problems.
The “OMG I’m Getting Fired” – Struggles with deadlines, communication, and workplace organization, causing professional issues.
The “I Have 73 Tabs Open” – Jumps from one thing to another, never fully finishing anything.
The “What Was I Doing Again?” – Easily distracted, losing focus mid-task and constantly starting over.
The Perfectionist Paralysis – Wants everything to be perfect, leading to procrastination and decision fatigue.
The “All or Nothing” Worker – Either hyperfocused for hours or can’t start at all—no in-between.
If you relate to one or more of these descriptions, then executive functioning coaching may be helpful for you.
To chat about executive functioning and whether it would be a good fit for you, please reach out to Hailey (hailey@mindfish.com) to learn more!
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