(The Moment of Recognition)
Have you ever been reading something and suddenly thought:
“Wait… this is me.”
That happened to me early in my teaching career.
I was researching ways to support my students when I came across a term I hadn’t paid much attention to before:
Executive function.
The more I read, the more things started to click.
The Confusing Contradiction
I had always done well in elementary school. I was great at:
- Last-minute projects
- Cramming
- Working under pressure
Things became more difficult in high school. College, even more so.
I struggled with
- Planning ahead
- Managing deadlines
- Following through consistently
Exhausting.
And “adulting”?
That felt harder than it seemed for everyone else.
For years, I quietly believed I had a long list of character flaws.
That I was flaky. Scattered. Not disciplined enough.
Does Any of This Sound Familiar?
- Swinging between energetic and “lazy”
- Interrupting without meaning to
- Blurting thoughts before they’re fully formed
- Running late — and forgetting things
- Organizing… and then losing energy to follow it
- Never quite getting ahead of the mess
- Treating personal care like a chore
- Investing in projects or hobbies that stall out
- Struggling to start — or finish — tasks
I read the self-help books. Took the classes. Watched the videos.
Why couldn’t I “just do it”?
What Changed
Learning about executive function didn’t fix everything overnight.
But it gave me something I didn’t have before:
Language.
It gave me a framework. It shifted the story from
“What’s wrong with me?”
to
“How does my brain work?”
And that was the beginning. Understanding is the first step forward.