In this post, I explain:
What is Executive Function?
An orchestra is made up of 70 or more individual musicians. If they all play at their own tempo, it would create a chaotic sound instead of the unified beauty that an orchestra produces. The conductor plays the important role of setting the tempo to ensure all the individual musicians perform together to create the music we enjoy.
Executive function skills are like the conductor in our brains, making sure we stay on task and focused on the millions of stimuli we experience every moment. These mental processes are crucial for setting goals, managing emotions, and solving problems, which are essential for academic progress and personal development.
Executive functioning skills is an umbrella term used to generalize ten different mental processes. Mastering this list of executive functioning skills is essential as they are crucial life skills that support both academic and everyday success.
When a child or adult has difficulty in one or more executive function skills, they may be labeled as “lazy” or “forgetful” instead of being recognized as having executive dysfunction. Executive dysfunction describes a disruption in the brain's ability to control behavior, emotions, or thoughts.
Disorders that Share Symptoms with Challenges in Executive Function Skills
Executive functioning difficulties are sometimes a symptom of a larger disorder. These disorders include, but are not limited to:
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Autism
Learning Disabilities
Emotional Disorders
How Long Does it Take to Learn and Use Executive Function Skills?
Learning executive function skills is like learning any new skill. You need to put in the effort even when it seems challenging, and eventually, you will see progress.
What Areas of the Brain are Associated with Executive Functioning?
The prefrontal and frontal cortex are associated with many executive functions, and they are among the last to fully mature in child development.
List of Executive Function Skills
Task Initiation
Task initiation is the ability to begin a task without procrastination.
Initiating a task is difficult! It often requires completing or stopping the task you are in the middle of. Do you really want to stop watching that movie to complete your math homework? How about putting aside your favorite sports show to file those taxes?
Task initiation helps us complete tasks at school, work, or in our personal lives in a timely fashion.
If you or your child can sometimes initiate tasks and other times cannot, motivation may not be the only factor. It may be that when tasks were initiated, executive functioning skills were being supported, enabling individuals to effectively accomplish tasks. It can also be that the individual has difficulty organizing tasks, making decisions about which task to tackle first, etc.
Task Completion
Task completion is the ability to finish a task in its entirety.
Do you know anyone who initiates a bunch of different tasks but fails to complete a single one of them? While task initiation is very important, task completion is necessary for success.
To complete a task, we need to be able to initiate it, stay organized, ensure proper planning, and allow for mental flexibility and problem-solving.
Organization
Organization is the process of keeping track of your belongings and maintaining order in your personal space.
We all know those kids with messy backpacks who can't seem to find their homework or the adults who don't have their papers organized professionally.
Students and adults need to stay organized to succeed at both school and work. Losing assignments, forgetting about projects, and not finding matching pants for your outfit will all impede one's ability to be successful.
Focus
Focus is the ability to attend to tasks while filtering out other distractions. There are two types of focus: sustained and divided. Sustained focus refers to the ability to work on a task long enough to complete it. Divided focus is the ability to manage several tasks at once.
Individuals, particularly children and adolescents with ADHD, often experience difficulty paying attention, which significantly impacts their ability to focus on tasks and achieve their goals.
Focusing is very difficult when one is disinterested in the activity. When we take into account outside distractions, it seems impossible.
Focusing is a crucial skill; without it, we may miss important details in a conversation, have a hard time sticking with a task, fail to learn a skill, and easily get sidetracked.
Working Memory
Working memory is the ability to hold information temporarily for immediate recall. There are two types of working memory: auditory and visual-spatial working memory. Auditory working memory is the ability to hold information that we hear (for example, listening to a story and answering questions afterward or following directions), and visual-spatial working memory is recalling information that we see (for example, looking at a map and then, without the map, recalling where to go).
Working memory helps individuals pay attention, boosts problem-solving, is needed for mental math, and assists children in becoming more fluent readers.
Response Inhibition
Response inhibition is the ability to control impulses and keep yourself from doing the first thing that comes to mind.
Response inhibition will keep us safe (e.g., looking both ways before crossing the street), help maintain friendships, and ensure success in school or at work.
Time Management
Time management is the ability to use your time effectively.
Poor time management skills can lead to chronic lateness or rushing to complete tasks at the last minute, which negatively impacts performance.
Do you know those people who are chronically late or exceedingly early (or are you one of those people)? Time blindness is under- or overestimating how much time has passed, how long it will take, or how much time is left before an anticipated event. In this case, it refers to overestimation.
Flexible Thinking
Flexible thinking is an executive function skill that involves the ability to shift plans or ideas given a change in conditions.
We all know the importance of flexibility. How many of you wanted to change up your routine once COVID hit? How many of you wanted your fifth graders home all day? Flexibility was what we needed to get through COVID.
Flexible thinking is vital for understanding different perspectives, following agreed-upon rules for discussion, modifying one’s own ideas as more ideas are brought to the table, and understanding the points of view of two or more individuals.
Self-Regulation
Self-regulation is the ability to manage one’s behavior, emotions, and thoughts in order to achieve long-term goals.
How many of you have tried eating healthy? It takes a lot of self-regulation! We need to pause between “feeling” that we need to eat those french fries and the “action” of eating those french fries.
Self-regulation is important for becoming an independent learner, being responsible with money, using social media safely, exercising, and managing stress.
Emotional Self-Control
Emotional Self-Control is the ability to manage one’s emotions to achieve positive outcomes.
Emotional self-control is vital for success in social situations, relationships, friendships, school, and work. Emotional self-control is a vital skill that needs to be nurtured in the developing child to ensure they can manage their emotions effectively.
Recall the conductor example, if one of these 10 executive functioning skills are missing, it can have a big impact on the ability of the orchestra to produce the music we know they can produce.
To learn more about how you can help your child with executive functioning skills, look here.
Executive Function Coaching near Skokie, Illinois
At Speak with Stephanie, we are dedicated to offering specialized and personalized executive function coaching near Skokie and nearby Illinois neighborhoods designed to meet the unique needs and goals of each client.
Collaborative Approach
We believe working together is important. To fully support our clients, we team up with educators, psychologists, and other professionals. This way, we make sure all our clients' needs are met, providing a complete and effective coaching experience. Whether it's setting up routines, organizing daily activities, or creating a supportive environment, we are here to help.
Support for All Ages
Our services help both children and adults. For children, we improve executive functioning skills, which are important for school and social success. Developing a child's executive function skills through structured environments and supportive relationships is crucial for their long-term success. We focus on setting up routines to make the school day easier, helping them organize their school work, and ensuring they develop self-monitoring skills. For adults, we help with time management, organization, problem-solving, and self-control, so they can handle daily life better and reach their goals.
Personalized Care
We know that every client is unique. That’s why our coaching is tailored to each person's specific needs and goals. We offer simple strategies and practical exercises to help clients improve their executive functions. Our goal is to help clients make big improvements, enabling them to thrive in their personal and professional lives.
Additional Services Offered at Speak with Stephanie
At Speak with Stephanie, we offer a wide range of speech therapy services for both children and adults. For children, we help with language disorders, articulation disorders, and stuttering/cluttering. For adults, we provide support for communication issues like language disorders, articulation problems, stuttering, and aphasia. Services are offered both in person near Skokie and remotely throughout Illinois, New York, and New Jersey.
About the author
Stephanie Jeret is a Speech-Language Pathologist and the owner of Speak with Stephanie. She obtained her Bachelor's and Master's degree from the City University of New York. She has practiced speech therapy in a number of settings including outpatient rehabilitation, telepractice, skilled nursing facilities, and schools. She specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of a variety of communication disorders including articulation disorders, receptive/expressive language disorders and fluency disorders.