ADHD: The Disorder Isn't a Common-Sense Problem, It's an Executive Function Problem Diseases/Disorders Mental Health

Many with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) get trapped in the thinking that they'd rather accomplish things perfectly or not at all. That thinking leaves out the most important part: learning.

With our executive function challenges (i.e. self-reflection, analyzing the facts of the experience), it can be difficult to understand why our actions caused the results they did let alone how to adjust our actions for the next attempt. This helps explain why many of us have difficulty learning from our mistakes and instead keep doing the same thing over and over again.

• Here's one solution: Your mind tends to process more slowly, so give your mind time to work with what happened. Don't settle for, "I don't know" and giving up on problem solving. Step away and let your subconscious work on it. The answer may pop in your head later. I've helped many clients get much better at this. 

• A more practical solution would be to review the scenario with someone and ask if they think you missed something. We may be accused of lacking common sense in this instance. That isn't the case at all – it's an executive functioning issue and asking for help from others is a courageous move.