What if Executive Dysfunction isn't actually real?

Amelia: 00:00:00

What if executive functioning and executive dysfunction isn't actually real?

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As someone who works in the neurodiverse,

ADHD, audio HD, and autistic spaces,

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I hear a lot of talk around executive

functioning and dysfunctioning.

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The idea that there is this disobedient

controller that stops people from

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doing the things that they want to do.

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Although the issues and the

problems and the struggles are

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real, is the controller real?

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I'm not entirely sure it is.

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Today, I'm going to talk about why

and how actually this idea seems to

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be doing more harm than good, and

what we can do about the struggles

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that really do exist instead.

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Now, executive dysfunction stems from

a model of the brain that assumes we

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have a mental CEO, a central executive

system, calling the shots accept, even

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as early as 1996, cognitive scientists

called it a conceptual ragbag.

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A placeholder term for something we

didn't, and even now, still don't

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fully understand; especially As

the ideas that we're talking about

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so much now are all still based

on one idea of how things work.

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So, this raises a big question if

executive dysfunction is based on

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a placeholder, is there a better

way to understand what the heck

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is actually going on for us?

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The simple answer, yes, it is

called Ecological Psychology.

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You'll find a link in the description,

which takes you to a page where I

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talk a little bit more and dive in.

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It's not about an internal controller

telling you how to act it's a signal,

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that disconnect between the information

that you're perceiving and the

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action that you're trying to take.

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Now, let's take a look at some common

problems that are normally attributed to

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executive dysfunction and see how we can

Maybe reframe or shift or move it away

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from a naughty mental CEO to something

that we can do something about - with as

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few mental gymnastics as possible because

goodness me, there are so many mental

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gymnastics that we have to do as it is.

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Doing the laundry

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You're staring at a pile of laundry

knowing it needs to be done, but it feels

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absolutely impossible You don't know

where to begin, it's just piling up,

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it's overwhelming, so it just sits there.

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Eventually, after a couple of

days, a couple of weeks, a couple

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of months, you get around to it.

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How?

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This is such a common issue

and thing that I experience.

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Did the conceptual ragbag suddenly

decide to give you a moment of respite?

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Why then?

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And not when you wanted to do

it or felt you needed to do it?

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Was it sheer willpower?

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But if it is sheer willpower.

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Why does it work sometimes and not others?

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Let's rewind.

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As you look at that massive pile of

laundry: do you even know where to begin?

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No.

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But when you managed to do it,

did you find a way to start?

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Yes.

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So what's changed?

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For me, it is usually groaning and saying

I don't care how I get this done, I

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just need to get this basket of washing

out of my way so I can do something

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else something I actually care about.

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If I take the dry laundry upstairs,

I'll be able to walk through

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my kitchen without tripping.

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Also, I won't have to come downstairs

in the freezing cold in the

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morning to find clothes to put on.

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I see possibilities for action, things I

actually cared about doing, and I did it.

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Let's look at another example.

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Too many hobbies that

you don't do anymore.

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When I work with clients, they often

mention their hobby bin, a collection of

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hobbies or variations or different bits

and pieces they were once excited about

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but quickly abandoned for something new.

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If you're a business owner, that

might also extend to tech tools.

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AppSumo is the hobby bin of tech tools.

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The ones you might

eagerly adopt, then drop.

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It's quite easy to blame the conceptual

ragbag for stopping you, forgetting

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about it, or even just killing your joy.

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However, my first question,

when this topic comes up is:

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Do you actually want to do this hobby

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?

The responses usually fall into two camps.

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Either: Yes, but I completely forget

about it and then I feel guilty, etc, etc.

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Or: No, but I spent so much money on

it, time on it, X on it, Y on it, that

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I feel like I have to keep doing it.

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So let's start with Camp 2.

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If you don't want to do it anymore, don't.

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Unlike laundry, a hobby is

something you do that you enjoy.

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It doesn't have to be something

that you don't really want to do.

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Okay, I hear you say,

but what about sunk cost?

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That one is something that happens

and I can experience it too.

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Here's a question to help:

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What opportunities did you

gain from this experience?

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At the very least, if nothing else,

you've learned something you don't enjoy.

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That insight matters.

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It deepens your understanding

of how you actually work, what

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energizes you, and what doesn't.

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This knowledge can ripple into other

areas of your life or business, and can

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even be used to help you do other things.

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So, what about camp one?

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If you started a hobby and you love

the hobby, but you forget it exists,

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It's a visibility problem.

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Perception and action are coupled.

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You see, hear, experience

something, you re act.

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As you do something, you

perceive something new.

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You see, for example, a crochet

hook tied to a ball of yarn and

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you see an opportunity to crochet.

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Now you can choose to do that

or you can choose to not.

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If you see a crochet hook and you

don't see yarn, the opportunity

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for action isn't crochet.

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It's find this ball of yarn.

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That means you end up jumping between

tasks or things that you're doing

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because you keep seeing different

affordances or opportunities for action.

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Visibility works both ways.

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You can constrain visibility so

you see less options or you can

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change the environment around

you to give more visibility so

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you perceive more opportunities.

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For example, if you want to do

more crochet, put the hook and

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the yarn together and put it

somewhere you can always see it.

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So when you're walking past, you

see it and go I want to do that.

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For me right now, I have my crochet

hook and my yarn all ready, ready

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to go, literally outside of my door.

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So as I walk back into my house,

I can see it and go: I kind

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of want to do that right now.

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Or yeah, I'm too tired now.

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Sometimes it's strong enough

that you'll go straight to it.

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Other times it won't.

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If something keeps drawing your

attention too much, maybe move

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it to a less visible place.

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If you want to do multiple hobbies,

then put them in two separate

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but equally visible places.

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These strategies, like placing hobbies

where you'll want to see them, work

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because they turn the problem into a

solvable puzzle, not a broken system

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you have to force yourself to fix

and that right there is the issue

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with the term executive dysfunction.

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Now, let me be very clear.

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These things that you're

struggling with are real.

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These are real struggles that

we experience every single day.

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The problem I have with using executive

dysfunction as the reason is we risk

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accepting a narrative about ourselves.

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That there is something wrong

with how we work within the world.

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And honestly, that just sucks.

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There is no solution here.

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There is no way that we can move

forward if it's just a mental

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CEO in our brain that we have to

juggle over, find a way around.

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We spend an awful lot of time having

to find our way around life as it is.

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Why do we do it with ourselves?

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Well, what if we didn't have to!?

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What if the information we need

to act and do the thing we want

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to do is already around waiting

for us to notice or perceive it?

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What if those struggles are signals?

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Instead, as failures of a

central executive, a thing

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that we can't even control.

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It doesn't dismiss the real issues.

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It doesn't say, you just can't

be bothered, you are just lazy.

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I have never met one lazy Quote

unquote, neurodiverse person in my life.

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It allows us to get curious

about the way we actually work.

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Instead of assuming that we work wrong

and trying to fix how we exist in the

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world that doesn't make much sense.

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It allows us to take back that control

over how we operate in the world.

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It allows us to find reasons to do the

damn thing that we want to actually

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do; to create our own solutions so we

can do, or not do, as many activities

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or hobbies and things as we like and

we can feel incredibly confident that

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what we're actually doing isn't the

result of some faulty programming,

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but just part of who we are.

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And frankly, as someone who's blind

in one eye, hard of hearing in the

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other, autistic, a little bit ADHD

and navigating life as a trans person

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in possibly the most challenging

time I could, I've learned one thing.

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There's always a solution.

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I've not met a neurodiverse person

who isn't good at solving problems.

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But often, The solution being given

to us is we aren't able to do it.

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Instead of waiting for a conceptual

ragbag to magically allow us to do

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things, it's about seeing what's

possible and making it easier for

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ourselves, something we often neglect.