The sleepy conductor:

Unlocking the secrets of the ADHD brain

ADHD is very poorly named. People with ADHD don’t actually have a DEFICIT of attention-sometimes there is actually too much attention. And not everyone is hyperactive- in fact, many people with ADHD have a hard time getting going at all. Sure, struggles with attention or hyperactivity can be part of the ADHD picture but it’s not the case for everyone, and it’s certainly not the only thing that people struggle with.

That’s because ADHD is not a disorder of a lack or deficit of attention but rather a disorder of the REGULATION of attention. It’s also not a disorder of too much action (hyperactivity) but rather a disorder of the REGULATION of activity. When you have ADHD you struggle with when and how to turn your attention and action on, how to focus it, where to place it, when to switch it on and how to turn it off. These skills are called executive functions and I like to think of them as the conductor of our brain’s orchestra.

The Brain’s Orchestra

Imagine that all of your brain’s abilities and functions were individual members of an orchestra. Your ability to put ideas together is the violin, your ability to play with words is the bass, your ability to recognize shapes and manipulate them in your head is the oboe, and so on. Each individual ability has its own instrument and its own piece to play in any given composition. The executive functioning system is the conductor. This is the part of the brain that tells the others when to start, when to stop, to work harder, to ease up, get faster or get slower. This is the part that tells one part to stop playing together while another section builds. The conductor makes sure everyone is on the same page, is playing the same song, and leads the group so that they can work together.

Have you ever heard an orchestra warm-up and tune up? It’s not a horrible sound, but I certainly wouldn’t pay to listen to it for 2 hours. Each individual player is focused on their own instrument - they are each immensely talented and yet as they all play their own tunes the group as a whole sounds pretty bad.

The ADHD Conductor

The ADHD brain has a conductor (your executive functioning system) which is underpowered. Its not that there is no conductor at all (though after a long hard day it may seem that way) but the ADHD conductor has less energy than the non-ADHD conductor and so it sometimes has a hard time making it through a particularly long or hard piece because it has so much work to do and it gets depleted early. And when that conductor is exhausted and asleep at the podium? Then, those individual orchestra members may be the most talented in the world but the music that comes from that orchestra is going to start to leave a lot to be desired.

So what do we do to help that conductor?

Charge it up:

First, we want to give it as much power as we can. Like the battery meter on your computer or the gas gauge on your car, you want to power up that conductor as much as possible. You do this with self-care: sleep, exercise, nutrition, and medication. All of these things make sure that the conductor is starting each piece with the most energy possible.

Outsource

We want to take as much off the conductor’s plate as possible. So, maybe someone else could take a song, or for some songs, the procession section doesn’t need as much attention. In the world of the ADHD brain, this is done by habit creation, routine building, system building. When you automate a task through routine/ habit creation you take the effort out of the executive functioning system and put it in your basal ganglia to enact. This gives your EF (executive functioning0 systems a break and allows it to focus on more important (or at least more novel) tasks.

Limit responsibilities

We don’t tell conductors that they also have to operate the lights or take tickets while working. Similarly, we want to limit the responsibilities of the brain- don’t make it avoid or resist distraction repeatedly- eliminating it ahead of time. For example, it’s much easier to not check your phone if it is on do not disturb mode in your bag than when it is ringing away right beside you. So, limiting the amount of effort the brain has to expend to stay focused through distraction management and environmental management.

Group the brain’s tasks

The conductor is responsible for choosing new music and developing programs but it doesn’t do that while directing a score. Your brain shouldn’t have to do all of its executive functioning tasks at the same time either- it’s exhausting and inefficient. Front-load the planning of your day by using a planner, organize by grouping and enacting tasks, use outlines when writing or find all the phone numbers of all the calls you have to make ahead of time. These are all examples of grouping tasks and front-loading the executive functioning demands of the day.

So, don’t forget about your conductor. In fact, keep him and his needs front and center. Give him as much energy as you can and make his job as easy as possible and your orchestra will have the best chance of making use of all that talent within.

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