ADHD Executive Dysfunction Isn't Permanent and Here's Why
You know what to do. You have read the books, listened to the podcasts, saved the reels, and tried the systems. You know exactly which task should come next and why it matters. And still, you cannot make yourself start.
This is ADHD executive dysfunction, and researchers call it the core deficit of ADHD. It is the reason your brain's management system keeps stalling out on things you actually want to do. Working memory, task initiation, planning, prioritizing, mental flexibility, impulse control, emotional regulation, self-monitoring. All of these live in the prefrontal cortex, and all of them take a hit when executive function is struggling.
The typical ADHD narrative says this is fixed. You are stuck at the executive function level you have, so slap a Band-Aid on it and hope for the best. Jenna pushes back on that, because it leaves out the part that changes everything: what state your brain is in while you're trying to use these skills.
When you are in fight or flight, blood flow pulls away from the prefrontal cortex, which is the exact region running your executive function. Stress goes up, executive function goes down. You lose access to focus, memory, decision-making, and task initiation. For most ADHDers, that survival mode switch is stuck on, and it's making everything look worse than your true baseline actually is.
What the episode covers:
What ADHD executive dysfunction is, and why researchers call it the core deficit rather than a side symptom of ADHD
The elements of executive function (working memory, task initiation, planning, prioritizing, mental flexibility, impulse control, emotional regulation, self-monitoring) and how each one gets affected when your nervous system is dysregulated
Why the standard advice to drill one executive function skill at a time doesn't create real change while the brain is still in fight or flight
How ADHD fight or flight pulls resources away from the prefrontal cortex, and what that means for your ability to start tasks and follow through
What ADHD survival mode actually looks like day to day, including urgency-driven work, short-term comfort seeking, and running on guilt and shame
Why ADHD paralysis has nothing to do with laziness, and why negative motivators keep you locked in the pattern
The difference between external negative motivation like fear and deadlines, and the internal positive drive that shows up once you're regulated
Two things you can start doing today to shift out of survival mode
The point of this episode is that ADHD executive dysfunction is not concrete. When you get out of fight-or-flight mode, executive function has room to grow. The prefrontal cortex gets its blood flow back, internal motivation wakes up, and you stop needing panic to get anything done. You still have an ADHD brain. What changes is the backpack of bricks you've been swimming with.
"You do not have to be in panic mode just because you have a different type of brain. It is not necessary."
Join Jenna for a free call on August 5th at 5 pm Mountain Time, all about the deeper side of ADHD and what life can look like when you're not just checking off to-do lists until you die. Grab your free spot here.
If you're a therapist, counselor, coach, or occupational therapist who wants to bring this work into your practice, get on the waitlist for the ADHD Regulation Method certification, launching in September 2026.
Another resource for you is Jenna's book, The Simple Guide to ADHD Regulation, which is available wherever books are sold. Don't forget you can also check your local library.
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More about ADHD with Jenna Free
ADHD with Jenna Free is a podcast for adults with ADHD who are done surviving their symptoms and ready to start thriving with ADHD without the endless tips, hacks, and workarounds that have never really fixed anything.
Hosted by Jenna Free, a Canadian Certified Counselor (CCC) and ADHD therapist, this show exists to give you a completely different way of understanding ADHD in adults and the signs of ADHD in women. Because the reason you're stuck, overwhelmed, and exhausted isn't a lack of willpower, it's that your brain is running in fight or flight. And once you understand that, everything changes.
This podcast covers the full experience of living with adult ADHD: the real science behind procrastination in ADHD and ADHD task paralysis, ADHD executive functioning strategies that work, why ADHD and perimenopause collide in ways no one talks about, and the honest, solution-focused conversations that most ADHD podcasts aren't having. Jenna also shares her own story, what it looks like to go from chronically dysregulated to genuinely thriving, so you can see that this is possible for you.
This show gives women with ADHD, and anyone who has ever wondered whether ADHD can be diagnosed in adulthood, a path forward that isn't about coping harder, but healing.
I’ll answer questions like:
Do I have ADHD?
What is ADHD task paralysis, and how do I get unstuck?
Why is my ADHD getting worse in my 40s?
What does ADHD and perimenopause do to your brain?
How do I manage ADHD emotional dysregulation without medication alone?
Why do I procrastinate so much with ADHD?
Why don't ADHD tips and tricks ever work long-term?
What does it look like to thrive with ADHD
Can you heal ADHD symptoms without just white-knuckling through life?
What does nervous system regulation have to do with ADHD?
How do I stop feeling overwhelmed with ADHD?
If you're an adult with ADHD who's tired of the commiseration and ready for a show that believes your life can look completely different, you're in the right place.
The unedited transcript for this episode of ADHD with Jenna
Seeking Fulfillment Beyond To-Do Lists
Jenna Free [00:01:25 - 00:02:04]: So if you're wanting more fulfillment, richness, enjoyment, while also getting things done, you can have it all, I promise. That is a great call to join. So again, you can get the info in the show notes, and I hope to see you there. All right. So do a little check-in right now. How you feeling? Are your shoulders around your ears? Are you breathing? Are you rushing? Yeah. Just see if you can soften a little bit as we talk about this today. Okay, so executive dysfunction or executive function, what is that? So you're gonna hear about it a lot with ADHD, and it is the brain's management system.
What is Executive Function?
Jenna Free [00:02:04 - 00:02:48]: So this is what comes into play when we're starting tasks, when we're holding info in our heads, when we're planning steps of a task or a project, switching when things change, the flexibility when things change. I know how we can Really like things to go just as planned. And when things are unplanned, it can set our system off. This is the part of the brain that controls impulses. It is in charge of a lot. And so executive dysfunction is when that system is not working. You know what to do, and I know you know what to do. If you are anything like the over 1,000 ADHDers I've worked with, My God, do you know a lot? You are so smart.Jenna Free [00:02:48 - 00:03:29]: That is not the problem. You just can't make yourself do it. And that is that executive dysfunction. So this is not a side symptom of ADHD. This is what researchers call the core deficit. Like, this is really the main thing that we are struggling with, this executive dysfunction. And just so you know exactly what we're talking about, the elements of executive function are working memory, And I will say that's still a struggle for me and something I need to really support myself in, but I'm sure you've felt the same. Task initiation, planning, prioritizing, mental flexibility, impulse control, emotional regulation, self-monitoring.
How Executive Dysfunction Shows Up
Jenna Free [00:03:29 - 00:04:28]: So, you know, self-awareness, observing what you're doing, but it doesn't affect the same person in every way or even every day. And it really can look different from person to person, but in most ADHDers, this area is going to be really challenging and the thing that makes life hard, right? The reason why we are seeking help and maybe why you're listening to this episode. There is a narrative in the typical ADHD space that I want to talk about first. So that is that symptom levels of ADHD, which Again, is very rooted in this executive dysfunction and our executive function level. So the levels of all those things and more that I just talked about, they can't really change. You know, even when I talk about this stuff, people say, well, there's nothing you can do to change your executive functioning level. So don't even talk about it. We really see in the narrative out there, you're stuck at the level you're at.Jenna Free [00:04:28 - 00:04:45]: So we just have to manage it. This is who you are. Yeah. This is your capacity. So simply put a bandaid on it, keep yourself afloat, and hope for the best. And so we take that on as ADHDers as well, is that, well, there's nothing I can do about this. This is just my brain. This is how it comes.
The Limits of the “Just Cope” Narrative
Jenna Free [00:04:45 - 00:05:15]: This is innately part of it. This is concrete. So, you know, I'm just going to manage as best I can. And that results in a very strong seeking of This bandaid approach of, I just got to keep my head above water because your system is so smart. If it says, hey, this is just the cards I've been dealt, there's nothing we can do to change them. All we can do is not drown. That is what your system will focus on. So for many, many years, that's probably been your approach.Jenna Free [00:05:15 - 00:06:33]: Don't drown, don't drown, keep your head afloat. It's still survival mode because you're just above water and you're working very hard Just not to go under, but you are quote unquote getting by, right? And if you know me and the work that I do, you know, I'm probably going to push against this narrative. So the thing that's missing from this messaging we're getting is that nobody's looking at the state the brain is in while using these skills. So of course, drilling the skill, trying to look at Each part of executive functioning, and I just brought a few up, there's many more, but trying to work on, say, task initiation or planning or prioritizing or impulse control one at a time doesn't do much because the brain is still in a dysregulated state and in fight or flight. And that is the thing that is missing. ADHD experts and even researchers are not explicitly saying Hey, this ADHD brain is in fight or flight. So let's, you know, figure out, well, what if this ADHD brain wasn't in fight or flight? Then what would happen? And the kind of secondary narrative is, yeah, it's in fight or flight, but that's just how it is. Can't change that either.
Survival Mode and the Fight-or-Flight State
Jenna Free [00:06:33 - 00:07:03]: Well, I have seen that not to be true, myself included, and over 1,000 adults doing this work. That isn't true. So if we believe these 2 things, executive function is what it is. Deal with it. Yes, you're in fight or flight, but nothing you can do about that. Deal with it. What are we left with? We are left with being in survival mode. Just getting by, just getting through the day, using things that don't help in the long term, but work in the short term.Jenna Free [00:07:03 - 00:07:34]: And so maybe this is where you're at right now. And here's what it looks like to be in survival mode with ADHD. So using urgency and intensity to just get through it. Yeah. Right? So that might be waiting till the last minute, waiting for the deadline to hit. So you have a lot of panic and you use that just to get through, right? Just get over the finish line. This is not a long-term approach to living a successful and productive life. This is a short-term approach, and short-term work is survival mode.
What Survival Mode Looks Like for ADHDers
Jenna Free [00:07:34 - 00:08:38]: That's what it is. I just gotta get through the day, 'cause if I die today, tomorrow is of no consequence. So it's a really smart Part of the brain, but you are not drowning. You are not in imminent life-threatening danger. And we want the system to know that so you can function in more of a long-term way. So living in survival mode is going to look like using guilt, shame, urgency, and fear to get yourself moving, right? Very short-lived motivation bursts, pressure, negativity, running away from You know, getting in trouble or just getting in on that deadline or even late, but you know, at least the same day or maybe the same week. It's going to include finding short-term comfort. Might be through food, might be through scrolling, might be through spending, might be through providing yourself relief by doing things that take less effort, like ordering DoorDash or deciding not to do that project, even though you actually really want to, but it's just the relief of like, okay, I don't have to do that.Jenna Free [00:08:38 - 00:09:24]: We are looking for short-term comfort when we're in survival mode. We're also looking for things that will just get us through the day. And that's what that rushing intensity is all about. All right. So I do want to talk a little bit more about this fight or flight or survival mode. So everything that I talked about when I said executive function, like working memory, task initiation, planning, prioritizing, mental flexibility, impulse control, emotional regulation, And more, all of that lives in the prefrontal cortex, that part of your brain. And when you are in fight or flight, it pulls resources and blood flow away from the prefrontal cortex. So when your stress goes up, that brain region's activity goes down.
How Stress Disables Executive Function
Jenna Free [00:09:24 - 00:10:00]: So you lose access to focus, memory, decision-making, flexibility. Task initiation, planning, prioritizing skills when you're in fight or flight. And then the amygdala gets hijacked. So this is the emotional brain that takes over before your rational brain kind of has a think. So you're going to be much more reactive, much more volatile. Maybe you say things or do things where you're like, ooh, that was definitely a knee-jerk reaction. And had I been mindful and calm, I wouldn't have reacted that way. That's what's happening.
Chronic Fight-or-Flight in ADHD
Jenna Free [00:10:00 - 00:10:42]: And this isn't just a passing moment. What I've really seen with ADHDers is our survival mode switch is stuck on. So regardless if you're in a really busy time at work or on vacation or watching a movie with your family or writing emails, we're still in a similar state. Of course, it'll be heightened when we're busy and have lots going on, but it's always there. Just that chronic stress or urgency. Maybe you find, wow, I really do rush when there is absolutely no reason for it. I had a client in our groups program who's a therapist herself. So she came back the second session going, oh, when we were talking about this last session, I was like, oh, I know this stuff.Jenna Free [00:10:42 - 00:11:30]: Like I'm a therapist. But then she said, but then this week I noticed I picked up my son from school and I'm like dragging him home. Why? Why am I in such a rush? I'm in this panic survival mode constantly. I didn't even realize it. And that's what's so interesting about this work is when you start realizing, oh, if I'm in fight or flight every minute of every day, what does that look like? What can I notice? Because it will be more subtle, right? So you've heard about dysregulation and being in fight or flight, but probably mostly focusing on those huge moments where it's super obvious that you're in panic mode versus just this lower level chronic Stress functioning. And that's something that doesn't need to be there. That is not inevitable. That is not concrete.
Fight-or-Flight Stacks On ADHD
Jenna Free [00:11:30 - 00:12:17]: So if you put ADHD and chronic fight or flight together, you have temporary brain shutdown stacked on top of a brain that's already struggling with executive function. So I am not saying ADHD is not in play and it's not real and it's not affecting you, but But put those 2 things together and it's debilitating and you will be in survival mode. That's just how it is. Making symptoms much worse and making life much less enjoyable, much more stressful. But regulation truly changes this. So regulation gives back what fight or flight takes away. So whatever your true concrete baseline is, we cannot know. Until you get out of fight or flight.
Personal Story: Life in Regulation vs. Survival Mode
Jenna Free [00:12:17 - 00:12:57]: And I'll just share the difference in my own personal experience. So before, when I had ADHD plus being in fight or flight, one, a long time ago, I was really stuck in a restrict-binge food cycle for 10 years. And I see now how that's directly related to being in fight or flight and having ADHD. Very happy to report I've been 10 years out of that, but I worked very specifically on my relationship with food. Yeah. But now looking back, I see it was a lot of it was regulation related, which is kind of interesting, but I digress. I used to be in paralysis almost daily, especially 10 years self-employed. When you're self-employed, you do not have the external pressure.Jenna Free [00:12:57 - 00:13:33]: So if you don't have the external pressure and the negative motivators, and you also don't have access to your internal motivators because you're in fight or flight and just avoiding things whenever you can. You don't get much done. So I was in paralysis for hours a day when I was quote unquote supposed to be working. I was overwhelmed by everything. I was not someone who mulled over decision-making, but I was very impulsive. I wouldn't put any thought into it. I would just, you know, barrel through and that didn't always result in great outcomes. Now that I just have an ADHD brain, but I'm regulated, I do not experience ADHD paralysis at all.
Jenna Free [00:13:34 - 00:14:11]: I feel some overwhelm, but it's pretty rare, and I have a much busier life than I did before, which is pretty cool. But I will say this, things that still linger where I see, okay, now this is my true ADHD struggle, if you will. Working memory, still tough, still tough. If I don't write it down within like a minute, she gone. That's just simply a fact and something I need to work with. And then the second thing I still find very challenging is attention to detail. So if I have a bunch of little things I need to do, I'm forgetting one or two of those, no matter how hard I try. Like, I'm really trying to focus.
Jenna Free [00:14:11 - 00:14:40]: Okay, let me slow down, use all my skills to really see if I'm missing anything. I find it tough. And I do think that's why I find the grocery store still really overwhelming because there's so many little things. It's like, I can't see. I can't see the details, so I like can't find things. I can't see the Words on the signs in the aisles. I don't know what that's all about, but that's just where I see the ADHD still show up. But I would say it's 15% of what I used to deal with.
Jenna Free [00:14:40 - 00:15:17]: So this does not make ADHD disappear. You will still have a neurodivergent brain, and thank God, aren't we cool? I think we're funny as hell. I think we are cool people in all of our groups. It just shocks me every time. Every single time I'm like, this is such a cool group of people. What interesting, funny, lighthearted, fun people. I know if I did, you know, these groups with just the general public, it would not have this same vibe. So we are awesome, right? And you might hear, oh, ADG is a superpower, and feel like that's so offensive because you're drowning, but that's not just the ADHD.
The Role of Regulation: Beyond “ADHD as a Superpower”
Jenna Free [00:15:17 - 00:15:49]: That's the ADHD plus carrying a backpack of bricks and trying to swim, being the fight or flight. We want to realize, okay, there's something changeable here. And the goal isn't managing symptoms forever. The goal is lowering your baseline regulation. So the executive function part of your brain, that prefrontal cortex, gets more blood flow. You get more mental clarity, you get less panic, and your internal motivators will start to wake up. I promise you, there's just no way you don't. Yeah.Jenna Free [00:15:50 - 00:16:18]: I mean, really think in yourself. And I saw a quote recently from a very well-known ADHD expert. I will not promise this is word for word, but they said ADHDers do not have internal motivators, so their motivators must be external. And then he went on to explain like panic-driven and urgency-driven motivators. Excuse me, rude. Of course I want things when I'm in fight or flight. No, I can't always execute them, but I have a drive. Yeah.
Jenna Free [00:16:19 - 00:16:45]: And maybe you do too. Really think, okay, in my heart of hearts, do I truly have no motivation internally? Self-propelled? I'm sure you want things. I bet you desperately want things. I bet you have so many ideas, you want to execute them. You do have an internal drive that's positive and desire-fueled. We just can't act because we're in freaking fight or flight. So I really want you to remember that because you're going to hear that and it feels gross when I heard that. Yeah.
Jenna Free [00:16:45 - 00:17:23]: It's offensive. Of course I have a drive. And I will just say, as this continued self-employed person, the past 3 years being regulated with ADHD, with no boss and no external pressure, my gosh, has that motivation and internal positive motivation of like, I desire this, I want to work on that, I want to pursue this versus, I better get this done so I don't get in trouble. Those are 2 very different things. That has just grown and grown and grown and grown. Yeah. And I am just like bopping around on my merry way, doing what I want to do at a pace that's sustainable. It is just magical.
Jenna Free [00:17:23 - 00:17:49]: And anyone can have that. We just got to get out of fight or flight. So here's a couple things you can do to start this process and to get a couple more things pushing you along to this regulation approach. So one, observe your beliefs about executive dysfunction. All this messaging you've been getting up till now. Has probably put you into a place where you believe, hey, what I'm experiencing now is fixed. It's unmovable. This is how my brain is.
Challenging Limiting Beliefs About ADHD
Jenna Free [00:17:50 - 00:18:15]: Trying to change would be denying my neurodivergence, and I don't want to be neurotypical. That's just forcing me into a box of how I should be. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. Look, you getting out of fight or flight has nothing to do with being neurodivergent or neurotypical. You do not have to be in panic mode just because you have a different type of brain. That is not necessary. And the brain is so smart. Your nervous system is so brilliant.Jenna Free [00:18:15 - 00:18:54]: It's annoying because it thinks, it thinks we're in the forest being chased by a bear, so it's not so smart in that way, but it is so smart in the way that it is not going to spend energy on something it doesn't think will work. So if you truly believe, hey, this is just how I am, nothing can change, it won't. Because even if you learn about this stuff and kind of ponder it, but still believe, eh, but I don't really think this can change. You will not do anything to change it because why would you? You're too smart for that. Your system isn't going to go, yeah, I don't really think that'll work, but let's run straight for it. Of course not. You're going to go, nope, not worth the energy. So we have to work on those beliefs.
Jenna Free [00:18:54 - 00:19:36]: So just notice this. What do you really think in your heart of hearts? Have you kind of come to this narrative and been convinced, yep, can't get any better than this, just gotta cope? Or are you ready to open your mind to like, but what if this kind of makes sense? If I'm also in fight or flight, I can see that in myself. Whoa, what if that could get better? What if this could really improve? Getting into that place and that belief and that view is going to send you in that direction. And then the second is really observe what's motivating you. Are you functioning on negative motivation right now? Probably. And that's okay. No guilt or shame here. Can't have guilt or shame about using guilt and shame as your motivation.
Shifting Away from Negative Motivation
Jenna Free [00:19:36 - 00:20:12]: It's just stacking dysregulation on dysregulation. But we want to observe, am I motivated by urgency, fear, guilt, shame, pressure, negative self-talk? Probably. I'm just saying you're not alone. Very typical when you're in survival mode. That's where we kick in all these negative motivators and it makes sense. Right? I say negative motivators as in you're running away from something quote unquote bad that you don't want, like getting in trouble, being eaten by the bear, whatever it is. I'm not necessarily going towards the thing I want. I'm running away from the thing I don't want.Jenna Free [00:20:12 - 00:20:49]: So is that what's motivating you? That's okay, but we want to observe that. Oh, what do I even believe about that? A part of you thinks that's helpful. It feels productive. It feels like the only way. Because of the little tiny bits where it does quote unquote work, right? That did get me to write 15-page papers the day or two before they were due, but my God, it wasn't working in the long run because the whole week before that I was in paralysis and I was miserable and I was empty and I was just checking off to-do lists until I died. It was horrible. It was horrible. So it's not working in the long run.
The Power of Neutral Observation and Language
Jenna Free [00:20:50 - 00:21:23]: We got to start noticing that. Yeah. Because when we use these negative motivators, it is keeping your nervous system in fight or flight. And as we talked about, that's the exact state that's making executive functioning worse. So it's really putting fuel on the fire, even though it feels helpful in the short-term moments. So the shift isn't like flip to positive thinking and use toxic positivity and just be really ridiculous, but a great place to start is just neutrality. Like, oh, okay. Um, I'm really beating myself up about this.Jenna Free [00:21:23 - 00:21:45]: Could I at least go to neutral? Right? You're in, you're in reverse. We want to at least go to neutral. Like, okay, this is what's happening. Without the, this is what's happening and because of that I'm a piece of shit and this is so horrible and I'm such a bad person. I can't believe I can't keep up with this. Well, everyone else can do it. Why not me? Okay, this is what's happening. How neutral can you make the language? And it's neutral usually just means factual.
Jenna Free [00:21:45 - 00:22:05]: Okay. The laundry hasn't been done in a long time. Period. No need to get that panic going. And I get in the short term, that's going to feel scary to let go of because it feels like the only thing that's propelling you. But if you want to create change, we have to start somewhere. And this is a great place to start. Okay.
Key Takeaways and Next Steps
Jenna Free [00:22:05 - 00:22:33]: So today I hope you've taken away a few things. One, hey, it can get better than this. You are not destined for this level of struggle. 2, you don't have to check off to-do lists till you die. I hope you join that free call. I'm really excited to dive into the deeper part of this work. For me, it is like the reason why I have such a richer, more fulfilling life now, and I have more capacity and I'm more productive, but I feel less like I'm going to burn out. It's just so cool.Jenna Free [00:22:33 - 00:23:02]: And there's a couple of things you can do right now to start moving forward. And that is looking at those beliefs. And observing what's motivating you. So let me know if this brings up any questions. Feel free to comment on Spotify or review on Apple Podcasts with any insights you're having or questions you're having. I'm always here to support you, and I can't wait to see what you can do when you are out of fight or flight. Be sure to grab your spot on that free call on August 5th, and we'll see you next week.