Executive Functioning: The Command Center Part 1: Planning

Thinking and functioning well involves a set of pretty complicated processes that are usually lumped together under one big, overlapping, confusing, and somewhat wishy-washy label: Executive Functioning. Simplifying and separating tasks might help you know what you want or need to work on. With that in mind, let’s break this down, take one process at a time, and put each in context of our lives.

One Executive Function we use every day involves planning, adjusting our plan, and organizing /reorganizing that plan to best meet the needs of the circumstances. Think about a trip to the grocery store to make dinner. Let’s assume you know what you want to make for dinner and you know how to make everything on the menu. You make a list of ingredients; decide what you have already and what you need to buy; and you go the store. Usually, that works well. However, what happens if you walk into the store and find that it has been remodeled and most items are not where you expect to find them? To locate and get everything that you need most efficiently, you have to assess the changes, adjust your plan, and reorganize both your thoughts and your list.

This kind of planning and shifting is not easy for some people. Those who have experienced some kind of brain trauma – TBI, stroke, effects of chemo therapy, concussion, cardio or vascular disease, or simply accumulated effects of aging – often have a hard time making these shifts. This simple trip to the grocery store to make dinner could take 3 or 4 times longer than normal for simple reasons like the list does not match the layout of the store or items are not grouped in a way that will allow you to go to the right sections of the store to find what you need.

Sometimes developing strategies to make up for slips in planning and shifting can be very helpful. Creating extremely exhaustive plans – putting in every detail before you start your task – is one of those strategies. Putting in more detail than you need helps you think through the pitfalls in advance and not be so thrown by a change or shift. Starting out way too detailed will allow you to decide how much detail you really need. Practicing anticipating change can make you more comfortable with shifts since you have done it successfully.

Practice what you need because practice will help you succeed. Success breeds confidence and confidence breeds more success!

Play while you practice at www.craniumcrunches.com.

Next up, problem solving!

BRAIN HEALTH, DIVIDED ATTENTION & THE ONGOING DEBATE OVER MULTI-TASKING

At the end of 2011, the media was buzzing about the harmful effects of multitasking and the evils of divided attention. True, according to a study done at Stanford, when we do multiple things at once, we don’t filter and sort information as rapidly and our ability to focus on one selected detail is diminished.

Great.... There are rare moments in my life when I have one task that I need to complete in isolation. Taking things one at a time is not always an option. Just when I decided that I was simply not going to perform at my best, most of the time, I read a book by Cathy N. Davidson, Now You See It. This much wiser- than-I woman took a different approach to Stanford’s findings. Here are two lines from her book (trying my best to keep them in context):

• I’m suggesting that the most important finding from this test is not that multitaskers are paying attention worse, but they are paying attention differently!

• In our global, diverse, interactive world, where everything seems to have another side, continuous, partial attention may not only be a condition of life but a useful tool for navigating a complex world. From: Now You See It, Cathy N. Davidson.

Insert huge sigh of relief here. What Dr. Davidson, Duke University, proposes and what is so freeing, is that we need to look at how our brains function from within our own busy, complicated, multi-layered lives. However, if we merely change the context and change the setting we don’t change the results. So, maybe change the question…?

Herein lies the other side of the multitasker argument . A group of computer science researchers that also work at Duke University, seem to understand that we, like computers, must multitask to, at the very least, understand and integrate what is going on around us. They get it and are now looking at this proposal: maybe “chronic multitaskers” are taking in bits and pieces of everything and sharing all that information among tasks – finding relationships between pieces of information and distributing what is needed to complete all tasks at hand, not one single task. I am paraphrasing (hopefully not taking too many liberties with their findings) but they seem to propose that brains, like computers, share expertise across tasks, learning what is important, useful and relevant by testing multiple sources (Duke Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering). If artificial intelligence can be programmed to learn from what is happening now and use that info to solve problems and develop strategies for future use, why can’t we program our brains to do the same?

Change the context; change the setting; and change the question: what can we do to better function in our multifaceted, multilayered, demanding world?

PLAY YOUR WAY TO BETTER THINKING

We have known for a long time that the best way to stay mentally sharp is to keep thinking. The “use it or lose it” principle is pretty sound – firing the electrical and chemical connections in your brain helps keep:

• brains healthy and
• functioning at a higher level.

The oldest and most common method to keep mental sharpness and improve memory is practice, and there is little question that practice may not make perfect but sure beats the alternative. The hotly debated topic right now is what to practice. Are crossword puzzles and Sudoku enough or should we be doing more?

The simple answer is practice what you need.

If you are having trouble finding everything you need to start your day successfully – your keys, your cell phone, wallet – practice focusing your attention on one thing and looking for it. Focused attention is not just blocking out sounds, smells, and other images. Sometimes focused attention means seeing things through the clutter of everyday things. Give yourself time, every day, and test strategies (ie. scan the room in a systematic way or try to isolate things of the same shape or color, or look for things out of place) to find what you need. Pay attention to what works and repeat it. Pay attention to what doesn’t work and think about why.

Practice what you need.

If you find yourself searching for a word or the right thing to call something, take the time you spend waiting -- on hold on the phone, standing in line at the grocery store, or waiting for your next appointment -- to practice. Look around you, find things -- a window, a painting, a shirt, a bus -- and try to think of three (3) names or terms for each thing. Say them out loud, say them in your head or, better yet, write them down. Practice digging for the right word and fighting until you get the perfect word. The best way to keep the words coming is to fire those electrical and chemical connections and keep them active.

Practice what you need and make it PLAY.

Every day is a new puzzle – same basic picture with some slight variations. The challenge each morning is to:

• Pay attention to the details.
• Look for anomalies.
• Restore order.
• Start the day off in cognitive balance!

Now where are my keys…?

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With over twenty-five years of expertise as a strategist, business development executive, and organizational behaviorist, Ms. Curran has developed a reputation as an exceptional business and personal development coach. Ms. Curran’s passion and area of intense study and exploration has been the connection between the brain and daily functioning. This passion spurred her latest project, www.craniumcrunches.com, a photo-based series of thinking puzzles and games that help work around the effects of age, disease, or injury (TBI) on cognitive functioning and quality of life. Ms. Curran’s primary focus is on using a wide variety of games and “play” – those that inspire players to imagine, use strategies, and focus to succeed -- as a path to better thinking, better functioning, and better quality of life.