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Executive Functioning: Where does it matter?

Writer's picture: Thoughtful CoachingThoughtful Coaching

Updated: Jan 28


What are executive functioning skills?


Executive functioning skills are key for our daily living. They can be thought of as the mental processes that help us plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and manage multiple tasks successfully. These processes help us with moving through the various tasks we need to attend to in daily life. We rely on executive functioning skills for decision making, managing our behavior and feelings, and planning for the future. Let's explore some key areas where executive functioning skills support us and how to check-in with ourselves around these areas.


#1 - Supporting emotions and behavior


Self-regulating involves responding to things that matter, and not responding to things that don't matter. It also means having resources to allow us to come back to center. This can vary depending on each person, as we all have unique skills and specific events that we have experienced.


To explore how this shows up in your life, we can ask, if something unexpected happens, do you respond with a quick reaction, get stuck in a big emotion, or are you able to move through it with intention?


#2 - Accomplishing cherished goals


We often know the goals that are important to us, however, sometimes motivation gets in the way of consistently achieving goals that matter. One good question to ask ourselves to notice if this is an area worth exploring is, when you set your mind to goals that resonate, is it hard to maintain motivation or effortful to reach those goals? Do I find myself having trouble daily taking steps to do what I want to do?


"Believe you can and you're half-way there." – Theodore Roosevelt

#3 - Building friendships and community


Executive functioning skills influence perspective taking, picking up on social cues, and conversational skills. These are important aspects of creating good connections with others and building trust and reciprocity. Since social networks are a key component to well-being, struggling with these areas can cause added strife and impact resilience. If you notice struggles in these areas, it may be a sign that seeking out for additional support may be helpful.


To check-in, you can ask yourself, how does my social circle feel at the moment? Do I feel like I'm showing up authentically? Do I feel small? Would I benefit from more aligned connections?


#4 - Starting a new project or to-do item


Starting a new project or a new to-do item requires some level of motivation, planning, and task initiation skills. If it is unexpectedly hard or not particularly interesting, it can be challenging to get started, and we can try to avoid and procrastinate. Working with our executive functioning skills can improve our ability to stay focused and on-task with what is meaningful to us.


You can ask, do I feel like its been hard to get my goals done? Do I feel bogged down lately or overwhelmed? Do I feel bad about myself because I've procrastinated?


#5 - Managing time and schedule


Decreased executive functioning skills can impact our ability to manage our schedule as overwhelm and overstimulation can take over, especially when many things need to be planned or completed in a given time.


If you feel overwhelmed, you can ask is anything different in my day or week? Has anything changed? Do I need help organizing at the moment?



One way to best help ourselves, is to seek support in the areas we need, and build our skills to manage our time in the way that suits us best.


So, why is it important? Executive Functioning is key for our well-being.


When these skills are developed, it can help us manage time and schedule, prioritize what is important, start and complete tasks, regulate our feelings, and help us build good friendships, amongst other core aspects of life. If you are looking for additional support in an area of executive functioning, schedule a clarity session on us: here. We are happy to support you or direct you to who can.


For more resources, stay tuned!

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Website: thoughtfulcoaching.com
Email: info@nikitapangarkar.com

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