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Mapping Your Executive Skills

'Executive function' isn't a single ability you have more or less of — it's a cluster of about twelve distinct skills. Most people, neurodivergent or not, are strong in some and stretched in others. Mapping yours by name turns a vague sense of 'I'm bad at adulting' into something specific and workable.

Strengths first: This is not a deficit checklist. Everyone has executive-skill strengths AND stretch areas. Knowing your strong ones is as useful as knowing the hard ones — you can often lean on a strength to prop up a weakness.

Rate Each Skill

For each of the twelve, rate how strong it is for you (1 = real struggle, 10 = genuine strength). Don't overthink — first instinct is usually right.

Response Inhibition — thinking before I act or speak
Rate from 1 to 10: ____

Working Memory — holding info in mind while doing something
Rate from 1 to 10: ____

Emotional Control — managing feelings to keep going on a task
Rate from 1 to 10: ____

Task Initiation — starting without undue procrastination
Rate from 1 to 10: ____

Sustained Attention — staying with a task despite distraction or boredom
Rate from 1 to 10: ____

Planning / Prioritization — making a roadmap and picking what matters
Rate from 1 to 10: ____

Organization — keeping systems for tracking info and materials
Rate from 1 to 10: ____

Time Management — estimating and staying within time
Rate from 1 to 10: ____

Flexibility — revising plans when things change
Rate from 1 to 10: ____

Metacognition — stepping back to observe and adjust myself
Rate from 1 to 10: ____

Goal-Directed Persistence — following through despite competing pulls
Rate from 1 to 10: ____

Stress Tolerance — coping with uncertainty, change, and demand
Rate from 1 to 10: ____

Your Profile

My 2-3 STRONGEST executive skills (highest ratings):
______________________________________________

My 2-3 STRETCH executive skills (lowest ratings):
______________________________________________

Where does my weakest skill cost me the most in daily life?

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

Build the Supports

Executive skills improve far more from changing the environment than from 'trying harder.' Pick the supports that fit your hardest skill.

  • [ ] Off-load memory: calendars, to-do lists, whiteboards, reminder apps
  • [ ] Reduce distractions: change my physical/social environment, noise control
  • [ ] Change the task: make it shorter, build in breaks, add something to look forward to
  • [ ] Make time visible: timers, alarms, time-blocking, Pomodoro
  • [ ] Use templates and default routines so I'm not deciding from scratch
  • [ ] Lower the start cost: just do step one to build momentum
  • [ ] Build in rewards: something to look forward to when a piece is done
  • [ ] Use checklists and 'what's my plan / how did I do?' self-questions

Your First Move

The one executive skill I'll support first:
______________________________________________

The specific support I'll put in place this week:
______________________________________________

Source: The twelve-skill executive-function taxonomy here is from the work of Peg Dawson and Richard Guare. The ratings, prompts, and supports are our own; their full Executive Skills Questionnaire and books go much deeper.

A gentle note: This worksheet is a learning tool, not treatment. If your relationship currently includes abuse, ongoing harm, or active crisis, please work with a qualified couples therapist instead.

Go deeper

Ready for more? These lessons pick up where this worksheet leaves off.

  • Executive Function, from The Neurodivergent Brain. Why the ADHD brain runs on interest not importance, why autistic set-shifting is costly, plus time blindness & task initiation.
  • Working Memory, Clutter, and the Doom Pile, from The Adult ADHD Course. Why 'out of sight' means 'out of mind' with ADHD, how the doom pile forms, and how to build an external brain.
  • Your ADHD Operating Manual, from The Adult ADHD Course. The capstone of the Adult ADHD Course: turn everything into one personal page — your strengths, watch-outs, tools, people, and a one-line reminder.
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