I write a blog post each month focusing on a different executive function skill. Executive function skills are brain-based, and they help people accomplish essential life tasks (Dawson and Guare, 2016). Executive function skills include emotional regulation, metacognition, organization, stress tolerance, and goal-directed persistence. This month’s skill of focus is planning and prioritization.
People with ADHD often have “spiky” executive function profiles. This means that people with ADHD can have some executive function skills that are great strengths, whereas others are quite challenging. Contrary to popular opinion, executive function skill challenges do not reflect a lack of caring or effort on the individual’s part; they reflect particular strengths and challenges. When we learn about our executive function skills, we can decide if we want to work on improving them (Mutti-Driscoll, 2024).
Planning and Prioritization Defined
Planning is all about creating a larger-picture roadmap to reach your goals. Planning tasks often include:
Breaking bigger tasks down
Estimating how long sub-tasks will take
Or deciding when to work on particular projects
Prioritization is about making choices in the moment. It is figuring out what matters most right now—what needs your attention and what can wait.
Signs that planning and prioritization are areas that challenge you may include: lacking a plan when you begin your day, difficulty focusing on essential tasks when busy, and or challenges breaking down tasks into steps with timelines.
Simple Strategies For Working on Planning Skills
There are many ways to work on your planning skills. First, identify situations that may need a plan. You don’t have to plan constantly; if you do, you might have difficulty and fail to execute.
I have found that there are a few times when time spent planning can be helpful:
- When you are working on a large, complicated project and need to get a sense of the steps
- When you have limited time and need a structure in place to get it all done
- When you work on something, and you aren’t sure where to start
You can make planning work for you. For example, if you find yourself overwhelmed when mapping the steps for a project, you can ask yourself, What is the best next step?”
If taking the “best next step” you come up with feels too hard, make the “best next step” even smaller.
When you have accomplished your first “best next step,” you can ask yourself that question again, or, if you need a break, you can ask yourself that question the next time you work on that project.
Simple Strategies For Working On Prioritization Skills
Prioritization can be helpful when you need to cut through the noise and decide what matters in the moment. It is handy when:
● You feel overwhelmed by too many choices
● You do not know where to start
● You need to shift gears due to a change in plans
Prioritization is about moment-to-moment decision-making and figuring out where to put your energy and focus. I can often focus well unless overwhelmed by too much on my plate. When I am not overwhelmed or overly busy, identifying the most critical task feels easy, and if I make a mistake, the results do not seem too dire. In contrast, when overwhelmed, I often cannot determine which tasks are more critical than others.
When experiencing this, I use a tried-and-true ADHD strategy:
● I list everything on my mind, stressing me out, onto a notecard or a post-it that I can carry in my back pocket. I often focus on tasks that I need to do today or tomorrow.
● I then label urgent tasks that must occur today with an “A” and label tasks that would be “nice to do” today with a “B.” Finally, I label tasks that are not important or urgent with a “C.”
● If the list looks too cluttered, I will create a new notecard or post-it list with only the “A” tasks to work on those, and then come back to the other list if I have time and energy.
Conclusion
This describes the executive function skill of planning and prioritization. To develop your skills, you can work on determining when you need a plan and when you do not. You can try one of these simple strategies when you need help planning or prioritizing.
