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Free exercise · 6 executive functions

Find the one Executive Function to work on first

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Watch the video first - you'll need the examples. Then come back and do it here, at your own pace.

1

Read the situation

Six ordinary moments, one for each function

2

Say how often it's you

Rarely, sometimes, often or constantly. No score, no total

3

Leave with your one

A simple rule picks the function to start with

The map we're using

Six functions, from three sources

Executive functions is an umbrella term, and it's been surprisingly hard to define. The research consensus names three core ones. Barkley's model adds more. For a practical exercise, this is the map.

InhibitionDiamond, A. (2013), core
Working MemoryDiamond, A. (2013), core
Cognitive FlexibilityDiamond, A. (2013), core
Self-MonitoringClinical rating scales
Emotional RegulationBarkley, R.
Planning and SequencingDiamond, higher-order

Before you start

They come as a group

Nodding at four of the six isn't failing the exercise. In ADHD these tend to cluster. The rule at the end handles it.

It's one lens, not the whole picture

Not everyone with ADHD has measurable executive function problems. Plenty test in the normal range.

This isn't a test

It's a sorting exercise, not a psychometric instrument. There's no score. We're only looking for where to start.

The exercise

Six situations. Which ones are you?

Go in order. For each one, answer the question honestly - it's for nobody but you.

01

Impulse inhibition

The ability to stop a response that's already started - to put a gap between the impulse and the thing you do.

The situation

Someone's halfway through a sentence and you already know what you want to say back.

Low Impulse inhibition

The moment you think of something, you say it.

High Impulse inhibition

You feel the pull to interrupt, and there's a gap. You might still interrupt - but it was a choice.

The gap is the whole thing. And it's not only talking - it's the tab you opened, the thing you bought, the message you sent at eleven at night.

How often is the behaviour already done before you decided to do it?

What you said, sent, bought, opened

02

Working memory

Holding information in your head while you're actively doing something with it.

The situation

You read the back of the packet: air fryer, ten minutes. You throw the packet in the bin, tip the food onto the tray, slide it in, reach for the dial - and it's gone. Eight? Ten? Fifteen? You read it eleven seconds ago.

Low Working memory

The number is gone by the time you need it.

High Working memory

The number is still there.

This isn't about being stupid. The information was simple and you understood it completely - you just couldn't hold it while your hands did something else. Same function as walking into the kitchen and not knowing why.

How often does something simple disappear in the few seconds between getting it and using it?

A number, a thought, a decision, your keys

03

Cognitive flexibility

Switching. Changing the plan, changing the approach, letting go of the version of the day you'd already built.

The situation

It's eleven in the morning. You've got lunch with a friend at one. Then the message: "So sorry, something's come up, can we do next week?"

Low Cognitive flexibility

The day is ruined. Not just the lunch - the whole day.

High Cognitive flexibility

Annoyed for ten minutes, then the slot becomes something else.

Everybody's annoyed when plans get cancelled. The question is what happens to the next four hours - whether a new plan can go into the empty slot. If it's the feeling that's stopping you, hold that: it's number five.

How often does one change to the plan take out the rest of the day?

04

Self-monitoring

Noticing, while you're in the middle of something, whether you're still doing the thing you meant to be doing.

The situation

You sit down to answer one email. You open a link in it, check your phone, start reading an article. Forty minutes later you look up - and the email is still sitting there, unanswered.

Low Self-monitoring

You find out at the end, once the forty minutes are gone.

High Self-monitoring

You catch it a few minutes in - "Wait! I was answering that email!" - and you go back.

If you're bad at catching yourself drifting, you're also bad at noticing that you drift. So ask how long it takes you to catch it: five minutes, or forty? Not sure? Ask whoever lives with you.

How often do you look up and realise a lot of time has gone?

05

Emotional regulation

The size and the length of an emotional response. Not whether you feel things - how long the feeling runs the show after its cause has finished.

The situation

A message from someone above you. Short, no greeting: "Can we talk later?"

Low Emotional regulation

It bothers you for the next three hours. You can't work, you're rehearsing the conversation, re-reading it for tone.

High Emotional regulation

It lands badly, you feel it, but you can do something else while you wait.

It isn't about the event, it's about the duration. And it's behind a lot of procrastination: you're not avoiding the task, you're avoiding how the task makes you feel.

How often are you still carrying something hours after it happened?

06

Planning and Sequencing

Breaking something large into ordered steps - and knowing which one is first.

The situation

A project with a deadline in three weeks. You've thought about it every single day.

Low Planning and Sequencing

You can't name step one.

High Planning and Sequencing

You can say out loud what the first three actions are, in order.

Thinking about it daily for three weeks isn't apathy - it's carrying something heavy without being able to put it down. "Sort out the website" isn't an action. "Water the plants" is. When your brain sees a task but no action, it doesn't act.

How often do you know something matters but can't name the first step?

How it works out

  1. We first look for your highest-frequency answer. For example, this is "Constantly". If only one function has it, that's your one.
  2. If two or more functions have it, the one higher in the list wins. For example, if Working memory and Planning and Sequencing both have "Constantly", Working memory is your one: it's second in the list, and Planning and Sequencing is sixth.
  3. If no function has "Constantly", we move down to "Often" and apply the same rule. Still nothing? Then "Sometimes", and finally "Rarely".

Answer all six and you'll see exactly how your result worked out.

Your one

Answer all six to see it

0 of 6 answered

The order they're built in

the base

Impulse inhibition

-

the base

Working memory

-

built on those

Cognitive flexibility

-

needs working memory

Self-monitoring

-

Emotional regulation

-

needs most of the others

Planning and Sequencing

-

One honest note: training one of these doesn't automatically improve the others. You'll still work on each. But one clear starting point beats deciding to fix all six on Monday - which produces nothing, and leaves you collecting proof that you're the problem.

Choose one. Improve one

This exercise is a self-reflection tool, not a diagnosis or psychometric test.

Coming soon · course

Wired to Freeze

An in-depth look at three of the hardest parts of living with an ADHD brain - and what to do about them.

  • Why it's hard to start
  • Why it's hard to finish
  • Why it's hard to prioritise

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Evie Ran

Who made this

Hi, I'm Evie

I have a science degree in psychology and I'm a university-trained cognitive-behavioural coach, working mostly with people who have ADHD.

Work with me one-on-one →