Ep 91: Executive Function Skills Series #8 Planning & Prioritization

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In this game-changing episode of our executive function series, I share how to master planning and prioritization—and why the beautiful, color-coded plans you spend hours creating but never follow aren't serving your ADHD brain.

📌 Key Topics:

• My Anime Expo breakthrough: going from post-trip chaos to calm confidence
• Why the planning itself became my dopamine hit (and how to break that cycle)
• The difference between executive function that's broken vs. inconsistent
• How to zoom out and ask "what really matters this week?" when everything feels urgent
• Building unshakeable self-trust through consistent small wins
• Time awareness challenges and the game-changing power of tracking task times

🗣️ Featured Quote: "I used to make these beautiful color-coded plans that took hours to build, and then I wouldn't follow them. The planning itself was the dopamine hit. I wasn't being lazy—it was just executive function dysregulation."

💡 Strategy Breakdown:

• Focus on just ONE thing per day (not always the "most important"—just one you'd be proud to complete)
• Use "Main Intentions" vs. to-dos with built-in flexibility for unexpected things
• Master the "Would be nice if" section with intentional language that prevents overwhelm
• Break tasks down so small it's easier to do them than deal with how you'll feel if you don't
• Apply the "when-where-what" commitment strategy (91% success rate vs. 35% for good intentions alone)

🎯 Coming Up Next: This concludes our Executive Function Series—but it's just the beginning! Summer courses on Overcoming Overwhelm, Getting Things Done, and more are coming.

🔑 Key Takeaway: Your executive function skills aren't broken—they're just inconsistent. With the right system that works WITH your brain instead of against it, you can build planning and prioritization like a muscle. It takes practice, not perfection.

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