What Is ADHD?

You might recognise patterns such as:

These challenges are not about laziness or a lack of care. They’re often about a mismatch between the way your brain works and the systems you’ve been trying to force yourself to use.ADHD also commonly overlaps with other neurodivergent profiles. It’s not unusual to see dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia alongside ADHD, and some people identify as AuDHD (autistic and ADHD). Anxiety and low mood can also show up, particularly after years of stress, masking, criticism, or feeling as though you’ve had to work twice as hard to keep up.

What are executive functioning skills?

Executive functions are the brain’s “management system”. They help you take in information and decide what matters, plan and organise tasks, hold information in mind while you work, manage time and switch between tasks, regulate emotions and impulses, and keep going when something is boring, difficult, or unclear.

For adults with ADHD, these skills can be inconsistent. You might do brilliantly when something is urgent, interesting, or high-stakes, and struggle when it’s routine, multi-step, or requires sustained effort without immediate reward.

Common executive functioning areas affected by ADHD

✔ Attention and concentration: directing focus and returning to a task after distraction (including internal distractions like thoughts).
✔ Working memory: holding information in mind long enough to use it, such as remembering what you were about to do or tracking steps in a process.
✔ Motivation and effort: starting and sustaining action when something isn’t stimulating, even when it’s important.
✔ Learning from experience: noticing what helped or hindered and adjusting your approach next time, rather than repeating the same stressful cycle.
✔ Impulsivity: acting quickly to get relief or stimulation, sometimes without space to consider consequences.
✔ Hyperactivity (often internal in adults): restlessness, fidgeting, a racing mind, or feeling “driven” even when you’re exhausted.
✔ Organisation: organising time, tasks, information and belongings in a way that’s easier to maintain.
✔ Social and communication skills: managing overwhelm in conversations and meetings, and navigating turn-taking and social cues.
✔ Emotional regulation: managing emotional intensity, recovering after setbacks, and avoiding spirals of shame, frustration or self-criticism.
✔ Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD): a term popularised by ADHD psychiatrist Dr William Dodson, describes the intense emotional pain some people with ADHD experience when they perceive rejection, criticism, or failure. It can lead to people-pleasing, perfectionism, or avoidance, and while it isn’t a formal diagnosis, it’s often discussed as part of ADHD-related emotional dysregulation.

What causes ADHD?

ADHD is still being researched, but several well-established factors are consistently associated with it:

✔ Differences in brain chemistry: neurotransmitters involved in attention, motivation and reward processing can function differently.
✔ Differences in brain structure and connectivity: variations have been observed in areas linked with executive functioning and self-regulation.
✔ Genetic factors: ADHD often runs in families, with strong evidence from family and twin studies showing a significant genetic component.

Living with ADHD

ADHD can create real challenges, and it can also come with genuine strengths. Many adults with ADHD are known for creativity, curiosity, humour, empathy, big-picture thinking, and strong problem-solving when they’re engaged and supported well.

Understanding ADHD is often the turning point. It helps you stop blaming yourself and start choosing strategies that are realistic, personalised, and sustainable.

At The Adult ADHD Coach, I offer bespoke ADHD coaching for adults. My work is practical and tailored, with a focus on strengthening executive functioning in day-to-day life and work, reducing procrastination and overwhelm, and building reliable time and task management using ADHD-friendly systems.