One of the first things we’re dealing with every day is what to get done and when.

What to start the day with, how to plan stuff so that it gets done in time. And how to go through the day.

But so many of us - Autistic-ADHDers and even some neurotypicals - struggle with tasks.

There’s a name for it... Executive Function.

Planning, prioritising, organising. Filtering your impulses to focus on one thing and eliminate distractions.

Task initiation, follow through, and completion. Responsibility management. Attention to detail. Remembering stuff.

Executive function is all these things. Call it your brain’s ability to get things done.

I don’t know about you, but all too often my brain is not my best friend.

So how do I get things done?

This is just me, and it might not apply to you so take what helps and leave out the rest!

• High-interest vs low-interest tasks

Before I go on trying to prioritise, I classify things into high-interest and low-interest. This is almost instinctive. Things that are high-interest will come naturally, and things that are low-interest won’t.

Things that I have high-interest in require lesser energy and motivation and low-interest stuff requires super higher motivation. So, knowing this makes task segregation through the day easy for me, and I kind of know what to do when.

• Being self-aware about your spoons

So, let me put it this way - spoons are the amount of energy and mind space you have throughout the day.

So usually, I have the most number of spoons at the beginning of the day and the least number of spoons at the end of the day.

So I typically start my day with low-interest high priority tasks, and end my day with high-interest low priority tasks. Because when something is really interesting for me, I find that I can do it with fewer spoons too.

So, overcoming resistance by segregating tasks based on priority, interest, and spoons really helps me!

• Autistic inertia & incidental attention

Some Autistic and ADHD brains feel a lot of inertia doing some tasks. It takes me long to start things, and when I do, I hyperfocus and I forget to take breaks, and end up burning out.

There’s also a constant fear of getting something wrong, so I’m tempted to delay a lot of my work.

When doing low-interest tasks, sometimes the smallest distractions catch my attention and I lose my focus. This is common to some ADHD-ers, and one way of working through it is by blocking out any external sounds.

I use noise cancelling headphones, or I listen to a brown noise video on YouTube.

• Negative self-talk

Getting into negative self-talk spirals is easy when the task at hand is just… boring!

The first thing I do in such situations is take a break. I’ll either take a nap, or I'll go take a shower. I’ll basically do anything that soothes my senses.

And I find that it’s so much easier for me to focus when my senses are at ease.

• Building strong relationships with someone who can support you

For me, having a sense of security and safety is important. Especially in a new space or someplace where I’m not comfortable. I find that gentle communication and external trust motivate me to do better.

And someone getting angry or impatient with me can have the exact opposite effect.

You can also body double, which is essentially sharing the same space with someone but doing entirely different activities. For teachers, scaffolding is a great way to support kids with executive function challenges.

• Routines

Executive function challenges might be one reason why so many of us autistic ADHD-ers like routines and sameness. It’s one way to ensure we get some of our things done.

I don’t put a time on my to-do list, because each day my capacity of task completion is different, but I’ll have a broad list of things I need to do that day, that week, or even that month.

• Rewards

Building small rewards into your system is a great idea, so you get that dopamine boost in small intervals.

I’ll pepper my day with small, healthy snacks that I’ll have after each big task, or I’ll take a couple hours off in the evening if I can push myself to finish off some things early.

Executive function challenges are real and difficult to work through.

And they can easily be misconstrued as purposeful irresponsible behaviour or insubordination or being incapable of doing something or plain lazy.

In reality, it’s much more complicated than that.

But initiating this conversation with someone who you see has visible challenges with time and task management is a good way to understand their lived experience. 

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