Executive Functioning
The term 'Executive Functioning Skills' gets thrown around a lot, but what does it actually mean?
According to Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child, EF skills are “the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. Just as an air traffic control system at a busy airport safely manages the arrivals and departures of many aircraft on multiple runways, the brain needs this skill set to filter distractions, prioritize tasks, set and achieve goals, and control impulses.”
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Sound daunting?
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Thankfully, there is an art and a science to these skills. And, once you’ve learned them, they become instinctive. They will serve you well for life, in ALL areas of your life.
Let’s break it down:
Executive Functioning enables us to...
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Know ourselves,
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Self-regulate,
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Learn and develop, and
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Engage in positive, healthy, and productive lives
The Eight Key Areas of Executive Functioning:
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Emotional Control - ability to understand and regulate our feelings
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Inhibition - ability to control our thoughts and actions
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Working Memory - ability to integrate different types of memory (visual, auditory, spatial, etc.) effectively
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Initiation - ability to begin a task
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Planning and Prioritization - ability to visualize a task and identify necessary steps
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Shift - ability to adapt and adjust as circumstances shift
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Organization - ability to arrange ideas and objects logically and efficiently
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Self-Monitoring - ability to assess one’s own behavior and progress
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Our emotional state directly impacts our ability to use EF skills effectively
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A ‘hot’ state is a high-stress, emotional response that can impair EF skills, triggering fight, flight, or freeze.
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A ‘cold’ state occurs when emotions are regulated, allowing EF skills to function optimally.