| Individuals with ADHD and ADD often have | | | | Working MemoryThe ability to remember |
| difficulty with Executive Skills, also called Executive | | | | information while using the information to perform |
| Functions. These are the skills that help us | | | | complex tasks. |
| manage and direct our lives. They are analogous | | | | MetacognitionThe ability to take a top-down view |
| to the activities that an executive engages in to | | | | of your problem solving approach and to |
| manage and direct a company or business. | | | | self-monitor and evaluate performance. |
| Executive skills allow us to plan and organize our | | | | Response Inhibition |
| behavior, make well-considered decisions, overrule | | | | The power to resist the urge to say or to do |
| immediate desires in favor of longer-term goals, | | | | something; taking time to think before acting. |
| take conscious control of our emotions, and | | | | Self-regulation of Affect |
| monitor our thoughts in order to work more | | | | The ability to deal with emotions so that they |
| efficiently and effectively. | | | | don't get in the way of completing tasks or |
| There are a number of different theories and | | | | achieving goals. |
| definitions of the skills that constitute executive | | | | Task InitiationThe ability to start a task at the |
| functions. The following is a compilation that | | | | appropriate time without delay or procrastination. |
| illustrates the full range of skills needed to | | | | FlexibilityThe ability to adapt your responses, |
| effectively manage our lives. | | | | behaviors and plans when necessary in order to |
| Executive Functions | | | | achieve toward your goals. |
| Planning and prioritizing | | | | Goal-directed Persistence |
| The ability to create a plan to complete a task or | | | | The ability to follow through to complete tasks |
| to develop an approach to achieving a goal. This | | | | and achieve goals. |
| skill includes making decisions about what to direct | | | | Sustained Attention |
| attention toward and the ordering of the steps | | | | The capacity to pay attention to a task, |
| needed to achieve the goal. | | | | particularly if the task is not interesting. |
| Time management | | | | Disengaging AttentionThe ability to stop directing |
| The sense that "time" is an important concept, | | | | your attention towards one thing and direct it |
| the ability to accurately estimate how much time | | | | towards something else. |
| a task will take, knowing how to apportion your | | | | Regulation of Processing Speed |
| time, and how to stay within time constraints to | | | | The ability to make a conscious decision about |
| meet deadlines. | | | | how slowly or quickly to perform a task based |
| OrganizationThe ability to arrange ideas or objects | | | | upon its importance to you. |
| according to a defined structure. | | | | |