If you’ve ever wondered why some days feel effortless and others feel like walking through mud, you’re not alone. For adults with ADHD and executive functioning challenges, the biggest barrier is often not skill, motivation, or discipline. It is a lack of awareness about the patterns happening underneath the surface. Your brain, your body, and your sensory system all have default settings that influence how you respond to your day long before you make a conscious choice.
Most of us think our productivity problems come from “bad habits” or not trying hard enough. In reality, your defaults come from deeper systems. How your brain processes information, how your nervous system responds to stress, how your sensory system takes in the world, and how your energy naturally rises and falls throughout the day.
Once you understand your defaults, everything gets easier. You stop fighting yourself. You start designing strategies that fit how you already function. You move from self-criticism to self-awareness, and from self-awareness to self-support.
This is the heart of executive functioning. Not forcing yourself to do things the hard way, but figuring out how to work with your brain instead of against it.
Today, we’re going to walk through the four major types of defaults that affect your daily life and productivity.
- Executive functioning strengths and challenges
- Sensory processing patterns
- Nervous system responses
- Natural energy fluctuations
Then we’ll explore how to build realistic, sustainable strategies that support your real life, not an idealized version of you.
Let’s start with the foundation.
Understanding Your Executive Functioning Defaults
Every adult has executive functioning strengths and challenges, whether they have ADHD or not. Executive functions are the mental skills that help you plan, prioritize, start tasks, shift between tasks, manage emotions, hold information in working memory, and persist through challenges.
But these skills are not fixed traits. They shift throughout the day and with different contexts. They show up differently based on your sleep, health, stress, and sensory inputs.
The biggest insight is this. Your executive functioning is not one thing. It is a profile. A pattern. You may excel at one skill and struggle with another.
Common EF Strengths I See in Adults with ADHD
Most people underestimate their strengths. Here are some patterns that show up again and again.
1. Creativity and innovation
You see connections others miss. You think in possibilities. You problem-solve sideways instead of in a straight line. When something is interesting or personally meaningful, your brain goes all in.
2. Hyperfocus as a superpower
When you care, you dive deep. You produce high-quality work. You get lost in the flow. It is not reliable on command, but when it shows up, it is powerful.
3. Relational intelligence
Many ADHD and neurodivergent adults read people well. You’re intuitive. You sense tone shifts. You care about fairness and connection.
4. Adaptability under pressure
Give you a crisis and you lock in. The same brain that struggles with starting a task can become incredibly steady when urgency kicks in.
These strengths matter because they help you understand how your brain naturally wants to operate.
Common EF Challenges and Why They Are Not Your Fault
Your challenges are not moral failings. They are patterns explained by how your brain organizes information.
1. Task initiation
If something feels boring or unclear, your brain stalls. This is not procrastination. It is friction. You need clarity, novelty, or support to start.
2. Planning and prioritizing
When everything feels equally urgent or equally overwhelming, your brain struggles to sort. You might avoid the decision entirely.
3. Working memory
Out of sight truly becomes out of mind. You forget in the middle of doing. You lose your place. You have a dozen open loops at the same time.
4. Emotional regulation
Your nervous system runs loud. Rejection sensitivity, frustration, overwhelm, and worry can hijack your ability to think clearly.
These patterns are not your fault. They are defaults. Once you see them clearly, you can design structures that compensate for them.
Your Sensory Processing Defaults: The Hidden Layer
Sensory processing is the layer that many adults do not realize is affecting them. Sensory defaults shape how you take in information from your environment and how much input your system can tolerate before you lose focus or shut down.
Everyone has sensory preferences, but adults with ADHD often have stronger reactions. Your senses influence:
- How easily you get overstimulated
- How distracted you feel
- How well you can regulate
- What environments feel calming or draining
Recognizing Your Sensory Patterns
Here are the three major types of sensory patterns.
1. Sensory seeking
You crave movement, sound, pressure, or stimulation. You focus better with music, fidgeting, chewing gum, or background noise. You need input to stay engaged.
2. Sensory sensitive
You notice everything. Noise, texture, lighting, clutter, smells, and movement can overwhelm you quickly. You shut down or get irritable when your system is overloaded.
3. Sensory avoidant
You withdraw from stimulation. You prefer predictable environments, fewer decisions, and familiar routines. Sudden changes feel intense.
You may be a mix of all three depending on the sense. You might be sound sensitive, tactile seeking, and visually avoidant. Your sensory defaults matter because they directly impact your executive functioning. An overstimulated brain cannot plan, start, or sequence tasks well. An under-stimulated brain loses focus.
Your Nervous System Defaults: Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn
Your nervous system has a default response to stress. This is not something you choose. It is something that gets activated, often before you consciously know you feel stressed.
Adults with ADHD and executive functioning challenges often have more sensitive nervous systems. You jump quickly into threat mode. You stay there longer. And when you get dysregulated, executive functions shut down.
What Is Your Default Stress Response?
Most people lean toward one of these patterns.
Fight
You get tense, irritable, controlling, or reactive. You try to push through. You want to fix the problem immediately.
Flight
You avoid. You distract. You shut the laptop. You scroll. You clean the kitchen instead of doing the task.
Freeze
You feel stuck. Your thoughts slow. You can’t decide. You stare at the screen but can’t act.
Fawn
You try to please. You over accommodate. You say yes even if you’re overwhelmed. You avoid conflict to reduce internal stress.
Your default response explains so much of your executive functioning challenges.
If your default is freeze, task initiation will feel impossible when overwhelmed.
If your default is flight, you will avoid tasks until urgency kicks in.
If your default is fawn, you will overcommit and then feel resentful or exhausted.
If your default is fight, you may push through but burn out quickly.
Understanding your nervous system default allows you to regulate before you try to think your way through a problem.
Your Natural Energy Defaults: The Daily Rhythm of Your Brain
Everyone has energy patterns. They influence when you can do deep work, when you need rest, when you can most easily make decisions, and when you should avoid heavy tasks.
ADHD adds another layer. Your energy is less predictable. It fluctuates more dramatically throughout the day. Stress, interest, hormones, sleep, nutrition, sensory load, and emotional demands all impact your capacity.
Common ADHD Energy Patterns
Most people fall into one of these profiles.
1. Morning starter
You can get big things done early in the day. After lunch, your energy and mental clarity drop.
2. Afternoon surge
You start slow but pick up steam in the afternoon. Mornings feel scattered, but by midday you can focus.
3. Evening operator
You do your best work at night when the world is quiet and expectations drop.
4. Variable energy
Your energy never follows a predictable pattern. You rely on interest or urgency to drive action. You might have strong days and foggy days.
None of these are wrong. They are defaults. The key is not to fight your rhythm but to plan within it.
Putting It All Together: Building Strategies Around Your Defaults
Self-awareness is the first step. Support is the second.
Once you understand your EF profile, your sensory tendencies, your nervous system responses, and your energy patterns, you can build strategies that fit your life.
Here is how to do that.
Step One: Identify Your Defaults
Use these reflection prompts.
Executive functioning
Which EF skills feel strong?
Which ones drain you?
Which tasks consistently cause friction?
Where do you succeed easily?
Sensory processing
What environments energize you?
What environments drain you?
Where does sensory input help you focus?
Where does it overwhelm you?
Nervous system
When overwhelmed, do you tend to fight, flight, freeze, or fawn?
What does it look like in real life?
What helps you shift back to calm?
Energy patterns
When during the day do you feel sharpest?
When do you feel foggy or sluggish?
What activities restore your energy?
What activities drain it?
Write down your observations. They matter more than any productivity hack.
Step Two: Build Supportive Structures
Once you see your defaults, you can design around them instead of trying to bulldoze through them.
If initiation is your challenge
- Use microsteps.
- Start with a 30-second starting action.
- Add clarity.
- Set up your environment the night before.
If sensory overload is your challenge
- Reduce visual clutter.
- Use noise-cancelling headphones.
- Create a low stimulation zone in your home.
- Build transition rituals before shifting tasks.
If your nervous system defaults to freeze
- Break tasks into tiny chunks.
- Use grounding techniques.
- Schedule a co-working session.
- Reduce pressure and lower the bar to restart momentum.
If you are sensory seeking
- Add movement breaks.
- Use fidgets.
- Work with background noise or music.
- Change locations to regain focus.
If your energy fluctuates
- Match tasks to your energy.
- Do hard things when you feel sharp.
- Save routine tasks for low-energy windows.
- Build buffer time into your schedule.
These strategies are not random. They are rooted in your defaults.
When Managing Up Feels Like Managing Everything
Sometimes, professionals realize they are not just managing up, they are managing around. They track details no one else is holding, prevent problems that exist due to missing structure, and coordinate information invisibly on top of their main responsibilities.
This constant vigilance is exhausting and can make any role feel unsustainable, no matter how skilled the individual is. Recognizing this pattern is an act of self-awareness, not failure.
Step Three: Use Your Strengths as Anchors
Your EF strengths are your leverage points. They help you build momentum.
If you are a creative thinker, use brainstorming to start tasks.
If you hyperfocus, protect time for deep work.
If you are relationally strong, work with a partner, join a co-working session, or ask someone to check in with you.
If you thrive under pressure, create artificial urgency using timers or accountability.
Your strengths are tools.
Step Four: Expect Your Defaults to Evolve
Your defaults will shift based on:
- Stress
- Parenting demands
- Hormones
- Sleep cycles
- Season of life
- Burnout
- Health
- Workload
This is normal. Awareness is not a one-time activity. It is something you revisit. When things stop working, it is not a sign that you did something wrong. It is a sign that you need an updated strategy.
Think of this as compassionate calibration. Not self-criticism.
Bringing It All Together
Understanding your defaults is not about labeling yourself or predicting your limits. It is about finally seeing the patterns that have been shaping your days for years. When you know how your brain processes information, how your senses react to your environment, how your nervous system responds to stress, and how your energy naturally rises and falls, you gain something powerful. You gain choice.
You can stop forcing yourself into systems that never fit. You can release the shame that comes from comparing yourself to people who operate differently. You can create routines and environments that support the way you already function. When you work with your defaults instead of fighting them, life feels less chaotic and more intentional. And the more aware you become, the more confident, capable, and grounded you feel in your day-to-day life.
Key Takeaways
- Your defaults are patterns. They are not flaws.
- Executive functioning is a profile of strengths and challenges, not one trait.
- Sensory processing deeply affects your ability to focus and regulate.
- Your nervous system response shapes how you react to stress.
- Energy fluctuates naturally and becomes more intense with ADHD.
- Awareness allows you to build strategies that fit your brain rather than forcing yourself into systems that do not work.
- You can make meaningful progress when you align your tasks with your strengths, your sensory needs, your nervous system, and your energy rhythms.
- Your defaults will evolve, and that is expected. With awareness comes flexibility and self-support.
Learn more with Online Coaching for Executive Functioning / ADHD
Ready to gain control and enhance your executive functioning? As an experienced and compassionate coach, I specialize in providing support for executive functioning and ADHD. To embark on your journey, please reach out to me at 708-264-2899 or email hello@suzycarbrey.com to schedule a FREE 20-minute discovery call consultation.
With a background as a speech-language pathologist, I have a strong foundation in executive functioning coaching. My graduate degree program in SLP placed a significant emphasis on cognition, including executive functions, and I have years of experience in medical rehabilitation, providing cognitive-communication therapy. Additionally, I have completed an ADHD Services Provider certification program, I am Solutions-Focused Brief Therapy Diamond Level 1 certified and I am trained in the Seeing My Time® executive functioning curriculum.
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Please note that although I am a certified speech-language pathologist, all services Suzy Carbrey LLC provides are strictly coaching and do not involve clinical evaluation or treatment services. If you require a formal speech therapy evaluation and treatment, please inform me, and I can provide appropriate recommendations.