Executive Function Disorder - Definitions/Suggestions

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I think I may have executive functioning problems. I've never been diagnosed, and what I read about it seems contradictory.

A lot of websites tie it in with hyperactivity or inability to concentrate in other areas. This doesn't seem to apply.

But in a more general sense, it seems to boil down to an inability to be adequately organized. This fits me.

It's not just that I'm a slob, I can't keep my things in order. I have a hard time remembering where I've put something. Oftentimes I don't even write down important thoughts/ideas because I fear I either won't do it "properly," and that I won't know how to file it and where to find it later when I need it; or when I do find it later, it will be by accident and it will be incomprehensible, I won't even know what it is.

So, how do you define Executive Function Disorder and if you have it (or know someone who does) what are some tips and suggestions for improvement? Do I sound like I have it to you?

By your description, I'm a candidate too, and the idea never occurred to any therapists I've seen, or the para-educators at my high school. Try to avoid letting your surroundings define you. There are far more positive, introspective pursuits than material organization for anyone on the Autism spectrum. When you can visualize what you'd look like without organization issues, chances are you'll already have done a lot to combat them. I doubt you'll feel the weight of this definition on your shoulders when you do get around to cleaning up.

No offense, but a lot of things don't occur to particular therapists about particular clients. Not saying you have it, just that it's poor rationale.



I don't think of it as a "pursuit," I think its a hinderence on my ability to function, or I could function better if I had a way of getting it under control that's satisfactory to me.



I've tried to get around to cleaning up before, but attempts always seem futile, so I was looking for any new ideas that have worked for others that I may not have thought about.

But I do appreciate your response.

a file cabinet helped me. i have a large pile of "to be filed" papers but for the really important, "can't afford to lose" bills and documents, the file cabinet helps me a lot. i have papers all over but i found for things i write down it helps to have legal pads by topic. i try to keep all the legal pads together but they somehow get scattered and when i need to find the correct topic legal pad it can be time consuming if i don't have all the legal pads in one location.

This is the the second time today that when I'm thinking about something, someone has started a thread about it. Anyways, I know what you're talking about. My place is always a disaster area. And everything in general is ramshackle and slipshod. I'm actually quite good at organizing and getting done, *if* I apply myself. Problem is, that only happens if I have a "gun to my head" metaphorically speaking. I was supposed to be ready to move to another state in a few days. But I've made very little progress, because I don't *have* to do it. It's purely elective. When something is a purely elective chore, it doesn't get done.

It's like I don't like doing things and getting things done, because I don't want to be under the stress of doing things and getting things done... However, not doing things and not getting things done, is stressing me out.

One of those vicious circle thingies I guess.

I suppose what I was getting to is that cleaning seems futile to you for good reason. Staying organized is an uphill battle (I've observed this in my parents as well as myself) and the same reasoning applies to your psyche - I wish I had a quarter for every time I wondered what a clean room is worth with a messy mind inhabiting it. Every time I finish cleaning, I immediately find something more interesting in the material world, which inevitably kicks up another huge mess. Perhaps rather than seeing yourself in your surroundings, you should try examining your intents towards them. Does everything have to be neat, or does there just need to be less stuff?

Both, in my case. I have WAY too much in the way of papers and books. But I don't know if I had less, it would make any difference. A smaller mess perhaps, but still a mess.

It's odd that I can't keep my living space organized -- home, vehicle -- but my smaller areas are VERY organized -- pantry, books, DVDs, earrings. And then my purse is a mess. Go figure...

I"m having trouble on my job even as we speak because of all this. I have certain duties I have to perform before I leave each night (I work at a convenience store), but I always leave late because I can't motivate myself to get to work until nearly closing time. As a result, I'm staying over to finish, and my boss is angry with me for not leaving on time. The problem is that I have issues with starting something -- stocking the cooler, cleaning the restrooms -- and then constantly getting interrupted by customers. I tend to forget what I was doing before the interruption and not getting back to it until much later. I'd rather work straight through on a project and get it done. But in order to do that, the store has to be closed...and we're back at square one -- how to get the work done before closing.

I don't know where to put things, so they pile up - on my desk, in my study, next to my bed. I don't throw things away because I am not exactly sure what to do with them. It seems that I keep everything "just in case". I still have my first computer from the 1980s, stacked up under a desk. I just haven't got around to advertising it as a collector's item on Ebay - it all seems too complicated, so I put it off. I'll do it "some day".

I have heaps of half-finished, interrupted projects at work. I start something, get interrupted, jump to the new thing, and never get back to finishing the previous thing. I can't do two things at once, so something falls by the wayside. Urgent things get done, the less urgent just get buried in a pile of papers on my desk. Perhaps the truth is - at least for me - "if it never becomes urgent, then it doesn't get finished". But some things can smolder away non-urgently for quite a while, and I get frustrated that I cannot bring myself to finish them. If only they were urgent!

I just feel like I have no will power unless something is urgent - and then I may panic. And other people were complaining about my (lack of) executive function back when I was nine years old - I would dawdle and daydream, rather than "put myself into" a task (whatever that means). And I remember working as hard as I could during a teenage job, and getting told off by the boss for not working hard enough. I don't know how people motivate themselves when a job is not intrinsically motivating (fun or *really* urgent). I am just fortunate that my current job has enough fun as well as urgency to motivate me to get things done (well, to get enough of the things done to justify my salary).

I am certainly not hyperactive - hypo-active or lazy maybe, but not hyperactive.

Yes

I did make lists (before I knew about AS) but I never seem to be able to follow up on those lists. Now i know more about my problems and I think that I ought to make lists again.

I also seems to function best at the afternoon/evening. I might be something with transitions, in many instances I am a very slow transistor (transitioner?). This do not nessessarily apply to my special interests

For me, my daily technological work, professional or otherwise, utilized so much of my organizational ability that I just assumed get outside rather than clean my room. Sound decision.