Self-management involves the executive skills that are necessary to stay on track in life and then get back on track when we have lost our way.

Self-Monitoring

Self-monitoring is the ability to think about your thinking, self-evaluate, and self-regulate to stop unproductive behaviors and stay the course to reaching your goals.  Children with poor self-monitoring often struggle to know if they are on the right track when solving a problem at school and on the playground: most devastating, these kids and adults who are often brilliant in so many other ways also struggle to pick up on social cues from their peers.

Response Inhibition

Response inhibition is the ability to think about the consequences of our actions before taking action.  Problems with this executive skill can cause us the most problems in life.  Impulsively saying or doing the wrong thing at the wrong time hampers success in the classroom, at work, on the playground, and in life.

Dr. Russel A. Barkley has said (and I wholeheartedly agree) that this executive skill is a core deficit in ADHD: for example, a child’s ability to “focus” involves inhibiting all the other distractions around her.  In other words, lack of response inhibition is more than “impulsivity.”  This executive skill can be critical to developing and maintaining strong relationships.  The lack of this skill is often the most damaging to the individual and those who love and care for him.

Cognitive Flexibility

Cognitive flexibility is the ability to adapt plans in the face of change, obstacles, mistakes, or new information.  Children and adults who struggle with this skill can have tremendous difficulty making transitions and/or applying information learned in one setting to another setting.

Social Intelligence

Social intelligence is the ability to think about what others are thinking about you while thinking about whether your actions (words and deeds) help or hinder your ability to stay connected to others. Simply stated, those who struggle with this skill often miss social cues, struggle to make friends, and have difficulty keeping friends. This is an over-simplification of a complex skill.

Emotional Control

Emotional control is closely related to all aspects of self-management and involves the capacity to control one’s emotions to achieve goals, complete tasks, or manage behavior.   Our emotions reside in the limbic system in the brain but can be controlled by the frontal lobe.  When upset, the limbic system tells us to “fight” (get angry), “flee” (avoid or escape), or “freeze” (get stuck).  The frontal lobe is supposed to control this process, but if you have trouble with this executive skill, this rarely happens.  This executive skill can be critical to maintaining and improving mental health.

Need Help To Improve these Executive Functions?

The good news is these executive skills can be improved.  Contact us to make an appointment.

© 2010-2020, Monte W. Davenport, Ph.D.