Looking for expert-recommended strategies for managing ADHD? How does ADHD affect executive functions?
In Thriving With Adult ADHD, therapist Phil Boissiere offers a collection of strategies meant to support people with ADHD. These strategies will help you improve your executive functions, which are skills that help with complex cognitive tasks.
Continue reading to learn how to manage ADHD and fix the problems with your executive functions.
Strategy #1: Mindfully Acknowledge Your Emotions
Boissiere asserts that one strategy for managing ADHD is acknowledging and spending time with your feelings without trying to change them. When you fight or ignore a troubling emotion, you usually make yourself feel worse. Your anguish about experiencing the emotion compounds your negative feelings.
Instead of fighting negative feelings, Boissiere advises, simply recognize their presence and name them. Let yourself feel them fully without doing anything to alter them. Giving yourself the chance to move through uncomfortable feelings without judgment allows them to abate naturally, making you feel better.
You can practice this technique by thinking about something at work or home that’s been bothering you. Then, write a description of the situation in a notebook. With your eyes closed, picture the thing that’s been bothering you. As you’re picturing it, name a feeling that arises in response. Breathe in and out slowly and naturally, allowing yourself to continue feeling the emotion you identify. The longer you sit and breathe with the emotion, the more it should fade.
Strategy #2: Prioritize Your To-Dos
To help you plan and prioritize, Boissiere suggests writing down a list of tasks you want to accomplish each day. Place each task in one of the following categories:
Category #1: I must complete this task. You must do these things because their deadline is today or because another person is depending on you to complete them today. There will likely be unfortunate consequences if you don’t complete tasks in this category.
Category #2: I should complete this task. These are things you should do today because their deadlines are coming up soon or because they’ll significantly benefit you in your personal or work life if you complete them.
Category #3: It would be nice if I complete this task. These are things that don’t necessarily need to be done today, but it could be helpful or enjoyable if they were. They’re the lowest-priority tasks.
Strategy #3: Tell Yourself the Story of Your Task
According to Boissiere, one way to prevent distraction and keep track of the steps of a task is to tell yourself a story detailing what you’re about to do before you begin. Practicing this technique can improve your working memory in general.
Choose a relatively simple task or chore, such as cleaning off your desk. Then, narrate the task using a beginning, middle, and end. This narrative should include every step it takes to finish the task. You can write it down if you find that helpful. Once you’ve created the complete story of the task, actually do the task.
For example, before cleaning your desk, you might say to yourself, “First, I’m going to gather all the papers that can be thrown away and put them in the trash. Then, I’m going to file the papers that I need to keep. After that, I’ll remove the other items from my desk and dust them. Finally, I’ll wipe the surface of my desk with a cleaning solution and put everything back in its proper place.”
Strategy #4: Examine the Consequences of Your Actions
Boissiere states that this strategy prompts you to examine your role in recent situations that resulted in a negative outcome. In doing this, you practice creating a mental connection between your actions and their consequences, which helps to reduce impulsivity.
Think of three recent scenarios when your behavior led to an unpleasant outcome. In a notebook, write down each scenario’s outcome. Then write down how the results of your actions made you feel.
For example, “My partner interrupted me while I was trying to focus on work and I snapped at her without thinking. This hurt her feelings and we got into a fight. Afterward, I felt ashamed that I upset her, and I could no longer focus on anything.”
Strategy #5: Solve a Problem From Multiple Perspectives
According to Boissiere, one way to improve cognitive flexibility is by frequently considering ideas and problems from different points of view. To practice this, start by asking yourself a question that poses a simple problem. For example, “How can I crack an egg?” Then, come up with an answer. You might say, “Tap the egg on the side of a bowl.”
After you come up with your first answer, consider how another person would approach the same problem. Make the other points of view as specific and interesting as you like. For instance, how would a world-class chef crack an egg? How would an engineer? How would a magician? By considering alternatives to your first thought, you expand your brain’s ability to come up with multiple solutions in any situation.
