#adhd to function

[bee-whistler]

Here’s a thought… how about we make the chore chart and if someone misses their turn we tell them in a respectful manner instead of being a martyr and doing it yourself and muttering about how lazy they are… to ME?

How about we come downstairs and clean the dishes we’ve left to soak and put them in the dishwasher so the martyr isn’t set off in the first place?

How about we say ok and just do our part without moaning about having to clean up after other people when we find out we’re just gonna each take a day and do the dishes that day?

How about we just stfu and help? The household is all over 17, dangit. Quit acting like babies!

[nightmare-from-heaven]

Hey. Your brain needs to de-frag. Literally it needs you to sit there and space out.

If you want your memory or executive function to improve, stare out a window at the skyline or sidewalk or trees or birds on the electrical wires for like 20+ minutes per day. (With no other stimulation like a podcast or TV if you can manage but hey baby steps innit). If you're fortunate enough to have safe outside with any bits of nature, go stare closely at a 1 meter square of grass and trip out on the bugs and shapes of grasses and stuff.

Literally this will make you smarter. Our brains HAVE TO HAVE this zone out time to do important stuff behind the scenes. This does not happen during sleep, it's something else.

That weird pressurized feeling you get sometimes might be your brain on no defrag.

Give your brain a Daily Dose Of De-Frag.

[omegasmileyface]

realizing that sticking to the "do it bad" "do it scared" mentality implies theres also a "do it bored"

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

yay water

time to drink water woo hoo yay

[reasonsforhope]

Workbooks to improve executive functioning

Since the post I made last night about improving executive functioning was so popular, I figured I should pull these out of my comments and give them their own post, in case it's helpful for people.

I have worked with the publishers of all of the books linked below and can vouch for their psychology books. The publisher of most of them, New Harbinger, is an extremely credible evidence-based psychology publisher.

Obvious disclaimer that everyone's brain is different and what works for someone else may not work for you.

Is there evidence that executive functioning can be improved? Yes. This book appears to be a very thorough overview of the field, and contains both advocates and detractors of cognitive training, for a balanced perspective. From the table of contents, I would really recommend jumping straight to Part 3: Developmental Perspectives for executive functioning (EF) writ large.

Certain therapy modalities are specifically designed for skill-building in areas like impulsivity, decision-making, emotional regulation, and cognitive flexibility, all of which are EF skills or very dependent on EF skills. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is probably the best field to look at for these - skill-building in those areas is its core goal.

Some DBT workbooks:

The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Tolerance

The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Teens

There are also a lot of workbooks for ADHD that are sometimes more broad but also can help with executive functioning:

The Adult ADHD and Anxiety Workbook: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Skills to Manage Stress, Find Focus, and Reclaim Your Life

The CBT Workbook for Adult ADHD: Evidence-Based Exercises to Improve Your Focus, Productivity, and Wellbeing

The Neurodivergence Skills Workbook for Autism and ADHD

General executive functioning workbooks:

The Executive Functioning Workbook for Teens

Executive Functioning Workbook for Adults: Exercises to Help You Get Organized, Stay Focused, and Achieve Your Goals

Hope these are helpful to someone!!

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

It's a weird fucking feeling realising that you actually have to plan ahead for and schedule in the things you like to do, as well as the things you have to do.

I don't mean the complicated stuff, that's a given.

If I'm going to the cinema, then I accept I'm going to have to look up film times and buy tickets and figure out when I'm going to leave the house. If I'm going to visit a friend who lives in a different county, then I accept that I'm going to probably be looking up travel times and planning activities and where to eat and what time we'll be doing what, for possibly days beforehand.

But its even the fucking lowkey stuff. If I want to watch a tv show, I have to plan time out of my day to do it, and I don't always get round to it. If I have a whole day free for some reason, and I decide I want to watch a film (at home, on the sofa) and I don't lay out a plan for when I'm going to do that and how long I'm going to take, then it just won't happen.

If I want to go for a walk just around my local area before it gets dark, or eat something with a slightly longer cooking time, or write my diary, or read a book I've been looking forward to reading, or even read fucking fanfiction that is longer than about 8000 words, then I have to set some sort of plan beforehand.

Like, I know intellectually that executive dysfunction affects more than just the things you don't enjoy doing. But fuck it doesn't really hit you until you realise that you haven't sat down to watch an episode of that show you like for over a week, even though you can't really name any activities you've been doing or commitments you have that would make it impossible to do so.

Anyway, this is a reminder to people who struggle with that sort of thing: schedule your days off, lest they be swallowed by the Pit before you get the chance to do anything fun with them.

[thebibliosphere]

Me: desperately trying to avoid a migraine over the next few days by getting as much sleep as possible.

My ADHD at 11:45pm when I’ve got shit to do first thing in the morning because it’s fucking Christmas: pst, hey.

Me: …

ADHD: You know that plot hole you’ve been stuck on for over a year?

Me: …

ADHD: wouldn’t it be wild if you suddenly figured out how to fix it AND had the motivation to work on it.

Me: …

Me: God fucking dammit.

[ireonic]

Me: how do I study as a neurodivergent person?

Google: how to help your autistic child study

Me: how to study as an autistic adult/teen

Google: teachers guide to how to deal with autistic children

Me: how do I study as an autistic teen/adult

Google: study tips for autistic people(-written by this allistic man that will talk about autistic people like they're zoo animals)

Me: how to study as a neurodivergent adult, tips from neurodivergent person to neurodivergent students, on how to study independently as an autistic person, no reliant support needed

Google: high functioning autism and school

Me: fuck just. How do I focus during this test that I'm in rn as an AuDHD person

Google: ok, so, to focus on this thing that you currently are doing and need to get done TODAY; weeks before the test you'll need to eat healthy and exercise, meditate, study, set timers, take breaks, drink water, sleep, find the secrets to a happy life, adopt five children, sacrifice a goat, take short showers, brush your teeth

Executive dysfunction:

My fucking deadline:

[saltywinteradult]

i don't know who needs to hear this but do not listen to the voice in your head telling you you don't need to prepare tomorrow's breakfast or pick out tomorrow's outfit tonight. don't listen when it tells you you'll have time to do that tomorrow morning. that is the voice of the devil talking. do not listen.

[turtlesandfrogs]

I'm trying a new thing called "after work, I'm not doing anything that requires executive functions".

"But, but, Turtle Face McGee" you say, "isn't that just (insert executive function related mental illness/ learning disability/developmental disorder of choice here)?"

But it's NOT, which is the cool thing. See, in a typical after work day, I'd be sad and grumpy at myself while not being able to get myself to go grocery shopping. With "after work, I'm not doing anything that requires executive functions" instead of being stuck not doing anything because I can't make myself do whatever it is I think I should do after 10 hours of executive function marshaling, I'm out in the garden, going on a walk, engaging in hobbies- without any feelings of guilt or shame or "ought-to" because I'm doing what I planned on doing.

This does mean I do need to make sure my laundry and food prep happens in the mornings and/or weekends, of course, but is much, much easier to marshal my executives in the morning/weekend than after a long day of work.

I believe this "after work, I'm not doing anything that requires executive functions" thing will lead to a more positive mood, greater engagement with hobbies and interests, and more feelings of accomplishment.

I guess I'll have to check back in after a week or so.

[autism-affirmations]

[asexual-amanita]

Unpopular opinion, but there is such a thing as being more disabled than someone.

For instance, I’m currently a non ambulatory, full time wheelchair user with a variety of conditions. I am mentally and physically disabled. I can’t live alone, I need regular prompting to complete daily tasks, and I have frequent mental health or medical episodes that require the support of another person.

This being said, someone with late stage ALS or level 3 nonspeaking autism, is, and always will be more disabled than me.

Along with that, someone with a sole diagnosis of mild, inattentive ADHD is less disabled than me.

And since disabilities are spectrums, some people with the same exact diagnosis may experience disability differently. For instance, one person with Cerebral Palsy may be able to walk, talk and live alone, while the next person with CP will be a full time wheelchair user unable to self propel, need a full time caregiver and use an eye tracker to speak.

Taking all this into consideration, someone being more or less disabled than you doesn’t make your disability, experience, or accessibility needs invalid, it’s just a fact that they have higher support needs than you.

[ironwoman359]

I had this video idea and felt like tumblr would appreciated a lot more than tiktok, so here you go. Do things the easy way.

[emmbrr]

artists/makers with adhd — how do you… do it. how do u get your shit done. bc some days i really cannot. like today

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

What is Executive Functioning?

Neurodivergent Insights

[psqqa]

yes, yes i know edgeworth’s big wet eyes and loser boy personality have captivated us all, but listen. listen.

phoenix wright

phoenix “genuinely unable to reconcile the girl on the stand with the girl he dated for eight months, a cognitive dissonance so profound it’s ultimately explained by them being literally two different people, but which he first sits with for five years and does not talk about at any point to anyone” wright

phoenix “don’t mention that name to me. i don’t want to talk about it. i don’t want to think about it. i am just going to keep myself in this state of perpetual crisis mode focus on other people’s problems until eventually i die and get to hang out with mia on the astral plane and never have to deal with any of these emotions ever again” wright

phoenix “overnight loses his career and reputation and sense of identity while gaining an adopted, probably pretty traumatized eight-year-old daughter, and rather than leaning on his friends for help, or getting therapy, or taking any time to process any of this, he *checks notes* spends seven years dedicating all his free time and energy to investigating the weird fucking circumstances around it and maintains a friendship with the guy he suspects was behind it all” wright

phoenix "runs across a burning bridge and falls through it, half a day after the game establishes that he is terrified of heights, because his friend is on the other side of that bridge" wright

phoenix “i sure felt surprised. maybe i had my poker face on” wright

phoenix “looking back on it that was actually a pretty dark period in my life” wright

phoenix “don’t ask me how i got started. i don’t remember” wright

phoenix “only you stood still, your eyes calmly watching” wright

phoenix “sometimes, life just sucks” wright

just

phoenix wright

crunchiest man in the world

and all i wanna do is chew and chew and chew on him