October is ADHD Awareness Month, a time to look beyond the stereotypes and better understand what ADHD really means. For many people with ADHD, the challenge isn’t simply being “organized enough.” We can have the planner, the calendar, the reminders, the color-coded lists and still struggle to start a task, remember an intention, manage time, shift attention, or follow through. That’s because ADHD isn’t a lack of caring, effort, or organization. It involves differences in executive functioning: the systems that help us manage attention, motivation, time, working memory, and actions. So when we tell someone with ADHD, “Just get organized,” we may be offering a solution that assumes the very skills they are struggling to access. Organization can absolutely help but it has to work with the ADHD brain, not against it. This month, let’s move beyond judgment and quick fixes. Let’s focus on understanding, practical support, flexibility, and the reality that doing something differently doesn’t mean doing it wrong.

What does it mean when we say that ADHD involves differences in executive function? What is executive function? Executive function refers to the mental skills we use to manage ourselves, our attention, and our actions so we can accomplish a goal. This is very different from knowing what we need to do. Executive function involves task initiation, planning and time management (and many more) required to follow through with an intention. Think of executive function as the brain’s management system.

When looking at strategies to manage ADHD it is so much more than just “get organized”. This is because ADHD symptoms and executive function challenges can also look like:
  • Task initiation
  • Planning and organizing
  • Prioritizing
  • Time management
  • Remembering information
  • Shifting attention
  • Impulse control
  • Self-monitoring
  • Emotional regulation
Another widely discussed and core feature of ADHD is time blindness. Time blindness involves difficulty sensing the passage of time, estimating how long something will take, or keeping track of time without external cues. Ten minutes can feel like an hour, or an hour can disappear before we realize it. Think of time blindness as a vortex. You start one task, maybe something interesting, urgent, or highly engaging, and suddenly you’re pulled in. Your attention narrows, the outside world fades, and your internal sense of time becomes less reliable.

Symptoms of Time Blindness:
  • Frequently running late
  • Underestimating or overestimating how long tasks take
  • Difficulty transitioning between tasks
  • Trouble sticking to a schedule or routine
  • Procrastination or hyperfocus
  • Poor time estimation or deadline management
To read about time blindness follow the link: https://add.org/adhd-time-blindness/

For information on ADHD coping strategies follow the link: https://add.org/adhd-coping-mechanisms/

Understanding ADHD means recognizing that the struggle isn’t always with knowing what to do, it can be with accessing the skills to do it and knowing when it needs to be done. Understanding executive functioning in ADHD and developing individually tailored strategies that address each person’s unique strengths, needs, and challenges can support greater success in daily life and across settings. If you or someone you know is in need of support in understanding and coping with ADHD our EAP team is here and ready to help. You can reach out to us at 518-465-3813 to connect with our intake team, who can help you set up an appointment.

By: Meryl Tremblay, LMSW, EAP Clinician