Is there something you’ve been putting off?

A task that’s been quietly sitting in the background of your mind … following you around … occasionally popping up to remind you that it still exists?

Maybe it’s something big.

The garage or loft that needs sorting. The paperwork that’s become a mess. (I’m writing this knowing full well that I need to spend time sorting my own garage.)

Or maybe it’s not one big thing at all.

Maybe it’s the small everyday tasks like emails, admin and life maintenance. They’re not overwhelming in themselves but starting them feels like climbing Mount Everest.

So instead of taking action, you find yourself scrolling, tidying something unimportant or doing anything except the thing you’re meant to do.

And then comes the aftermath:

“I should have done that.”

“Why am I like this”

Cue the negative internal monologue and the emotions that go with it.

Why Starting Feels So Hard

Starting tasks isn’t just about willpower - it’s part of our executive function...

The festivities have all passed and we’re well into the second part of January which means … drum roll please …. Blue Monday is behind us and Spring is somewhere up ahead in the not too distant future.  

Executive Function challenges are not part of the diagnostic criteria for autism but they are strongly correlated and often pose major roadblocks in everyday life.  

So what are Executive Function Skills?

I wish there was a simple answer but unfortunately we have little consensus on the subject. Researchers are still debating which skills should be included under this umbrella term.

I like to think of them as the “office manager of the brain”. They are the complex brain processes we use in the many day-to-day tasks that keep life on track.  

Dawson and Guare’s 2009^* model highlights key Executive Function skills which include the ability to:

• think flexibly and revise plans when there are obstacles, setbacks, new information or mistakes (Flexibility)
• hold inform
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