Emotional control, as an executive function, is the quiet force that keeps your ship pointed towards its destination, even in choppy waters. It is not about being emotionless or perfectly calm at all times. Rather, it is the ability to notice feelings as they arise, to pause instead of letting reactions take over, and to re-orient towards your goals with care.

Friction, in this context, is the invisible drag that makes starting, switching, or stopping tasks feel inexplicably difficult. Friction can appear as a series of small obstacles. Some are so subtle they are easy to ignore, while others are persistent enough to become familiar companions.

Frustratingly, for months, I have been finding it increasingly more difficult to get into ‘the zone’. The reason was what I call fluff. Fluff is the little bits that just clog up the machinery and get in the way of actually, properly getting stuff done.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably curious about why your mind seems to leap from fact to catastrophe with the agility of a caffeinated squirrel. You’re not alone. The Ladder of Inference is a universal human mechanism, but for those of us with ADHD, it sometimes feels less like a ladder and more like a high-speed escalator with dodgy brakes.

For many with ADHD, planning and prioritisation can feel overwhelming, disorienting, and fraught with missed connections. Yet, with the right tools and self-understanding, that station can become a place of purposeful movement, not paralysis.

For many of us with ADHD, beginnings can feel less like an open door and more like a heavy portcullis. Task initiation is the executive function responsible for getting us off the starting blocks. If you have ever found yourself staring at a task, knowing exactly what needs to be done and yet feeling physically unable to begin, you are in good company.

Have you ever caught yourself dodging an awkward conversation, putting off a bit of life admin or letting a nagging worry simmer quietly in the background, simply because it felt easier not to face it? If so, you might be carrying what was recently described as “emotional credit card debt”. It’s a phrase that struck a chord with me, and I suspect it will with you too.

Have you ever had that odd sensation where something you knew perfectly well yesterday has vanished into thin air today? It’s as if your brain has decided to play a game of hide and seek, but forgotten to tell you the rules. Welcome to the world of ‘wisdom fade’-something that can feel like a particularly cruel trick if you have ADHD.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably spent a fair chunk of your life wondering why some days you can take on the world, and other days you can’t even take on the washing up. This isn’t just the stuff of motivational memes or the latest productivity hack-it’s the lived reality of executive functioning variability, especially for those of us with ADHD

Stuck in mental overdrive, forever researching and planning but never quite acting. This article explores cognitive masturbation in ADHD, how overthinking and hyperfocus hijack your focus, and gentler ways to shift into movement.

Executive functions are the brain's management system. They are a set of cognitive processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. Understanding executive functioning is crucial for anyone navigating the ADHD landscape, as it forms the foundation of many of the difficulties experienced by those with ADHD.

For those with ADHD, the struggle between embracing change and clinging to familiarity can be particularly intense. Our nervous systems, crave the comfort of routine and predictability even when we intellectually recognize the need for growth and transformation.

The ADHD brain possesses a remarkable ability to think creatively and see possibilities that others miss. It's like having a radar that can scan far into the future and perceive a wide context around any given situation. The ADHD creative mind can connect seemingly disparate ideas and envision innovative solutions. It sees a project's original scope, but also recognizes opportunities to expand and enhance it in ways that surpass initial expectations.

One of the most important aspects of managing ADHD is developing greater self-awareness about where we may hit challenges and what we need to do to support ourselves.

This can be a substantial ADHD challenge in itself since it requires - foresight, planning, organisation and probably most importantly of all and often overlooked - permission from ourselves to make our own lives easier.

I was helping a client to explore her need for a filtering system to prioritise her demands, without this the ADHD brain is frustrated by executive challenges.

I’ve had an interesting conversation about stress and burnout recently. Burnout and tiredness often go together and this can impact cognitive functioning.

The creative brain is a fantastic thing. Many of my clients are solutions imagineers in some way, seeing the possibilities, making the impossible possible. I find their company rewarding and stimulating. But the creative brain comes with some challenges of its own including the propensity to overthink.

Have you ever seen piglets sleeping? It's the most amusing thing, for piglets sleep in a pile of little bodies, all bundled on top of one another. This has some parallels with the way creative ideas surface in the ADHD brain.

During a recent coaching session, I was helping a client explore her need for a simple filtering system to help prioritise a large number of opportunities. Without this, the ADHD brain is frustrated by basic executive skill challenges such as time management, goal setting and visualisation…

One of the things I've noticed recently is that there appears to be a dynamic that ADHD adults quite often fall into. It’s the need to be busy. The need to be up to capacity when it comes to all the tasks that they have to manage. The need to do this thing and that thing and not forget.