Got Executive Function?

According to LD Online:

“The executive functions are a set of [mental] processes that all have to do with managing oneself and one's resources in order to achieve a goal. It is an umbrella term for the neurologically-based skills involving mental control and self-regulation. Executive functions help you manage life tasks of all types. For example, executive functions let you organize a trip, a research project or a paper for school.”

Are you in a relationship with someone who lacks Executive Function? If so, like me, you are probably losing your mind! People who are born without this ability seem to go about solving a problem or completing a project from fifty different directions at once. It’s not “complete steps A-B-C”; rather, it’s do step 14, followed by step IV., go back to step c-92 and – oh we forgot about the precursory steps and maybe we should be doing the XYZ task instead...? You get the idea.

My boyfriend, God bless him, has a hard time finishing anything. I used to think it was just procrastination until I studied this ‘condition.’ I also know a project manager who, God bless her, can’t seem to wrap her head around a simple development sequence that my department has followed since the dawn of time.

>>I’m curious, does anyone here live with, or work with an individual without EF?

Sounds like the definition of ADD ,which I have,or so they tell me that is what I have.
I fix things,I'm a great troubleshooter,so I'm told,but I can't finish a project.
I lose interest and ready to move on to the next challenge.
The next high,you might say.

Originally posted by kdog1982
Sounds like the definition of ADD ,which I have,or so they tell me that is what I have.
I fix things,I'm a great troubleshooter,so I'm told,but I can't finish a project.
I lose interest and ready to move on to the next challenge.
The next high,you might say.

I can totally relate Kdog, as I have some ADD myself. This article gives a decent quick explanation of the difference between the two. I think it may just be another way classify peoples' natural behavior patterns.

What struck me about this condition is how well-intentioned people with ADD and/or EF disability seem to be. When you start a project, do you envision finishing it? Or, have you decided to focus your efforts on troubleshooting?

reply to post by graceunderpressure


As my wife puts it to me,I'm a rougher-in not a finisher.
I hate details,I like the big picture.
Does that make sense?

reply to post by graceunderpressure


You know, that's funny. I always initiate a project coming at it from all different directions--and then it'll suddenly come into focus and I'll stop and organize. Works for me. But I do (almost) always finish. I even look forward to (and visualize) getting down to the finishing-up details.

But for the first day or two anyone looking over my shoulder at what I'm doing would think I didn't have a clue in the world....

Originally posted by kdog1982
reply to post by graceunderpressure

 

As my wife puts it to me,I'm a rougher-in not a finisher.
I hate details,I like the big picture.
Does that make sense?

Oh, absolutely! And nature, or we, seem to pair ourselves with the other type of person. The thing is, once you realize it, you can figure out how to get things done together. But, whenever I forget that the BF is a rougher-in, it leads to disappointment on my part. Does your wife finish things for you (if you don't mind my asking)? Or, does she take the "honey do" list approach? I'm looking for coping strategies.

Originally posted by Ex_CT2
reply to post by graceunderpressure

 

You know, that's funny. I always initiate a project coming at it from all different directions--and then it'll suddenly come into focus and I'll stop and organize. Works for me. But I do (almost) always finish. I even look forward to (and visualize) getting down to the finishing-up details.

But for the first day or two anyone looking over my shoulder at what I'm doing would think I didn't have a clue in the world....

Great description! And, I am almost exactly like you. It's like reining in my ADD, but it's all part of the process. That's why I get frustrated sometimes when the BF does the "coming in at all directions" part but never gets to the organizational part. A part of me wants to say, "Oh, get it together, already!" But then, I don't want to make him feel bad for something that he can't help.

reply to post by graceunderpressure

Does your wife finish things for you (if you don't mind my asking)? Or, does she take the "honey do" list approach? I'm looking for coping strategies.

Well,for one,I'm not allowed to paint the trim work.
I made that happen long ago by messing it up.

She doesn't usually finish what I should have finished,I just get yelled at,tempers flare and so on.

But she does know how I am,and will have me do the rough work and she finishes it.Which means usually cleaning up after me.

reply to post by kdog1982


Smart, Kdog! And, may I say that I admire your dressed up Christmas avatar? Definitely not trim-painting attire.

Whenever the BF drives me up the wall with unfinished tasks, I remember the reasons why I love being with him, like he makes me laugh and he has a good heart, even if his intentions don't materialize into a mown lawn. Probably, your wife does the same.