You might have executive dysfunction
this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2025
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I think it is worth being very clear that "Executive Dysfunction" is not a disorder, it is a term to describe a symptom that appears across multiple disorders as well as independent of disorders.
Task initiation is an uphill battle for MOST people, and on its own does not indicate a disorder. Uncertainty and anxiety are very real barriers that can overwhelm anyone.
... Which is probably why they qualified their statement with "might".
OP might have an executive dysfunction.
I am not a doctor, but I agree that the possibility that OP has an executive dysfunction is nontrivial. Depending on where you live, finding out might be free. Just saying.
Furthermore you don't diagnose symptoms, those are reported or observed. Definitely still valid to avoid the immediate jump from symptom to one of the many complexes which develop it.
I'm still not a doctor, but as a first-aid certified person, signs and symptoms can be extremely useful in helping someone. It gives you a starting point to try to figure out what's happening.
Further investigation is always required.
Medical diagnosis is a science. Things need to be proven. You can't just go on vibes or feelings or whatever.
Since OP describes some symptoms that can be associated with executive function disorders, doesn't mean that they definitely have those conditions. Only a qualified doctor should be making that kind of conclusion.
To be clear I'm agreeing with you. I'm saying Ios_chill had a point with executive dysfunction being a symptom of many conditions. So jumping to one of those conclusions based on one symptom without further context nor a systematic approach is wasteful for everyone.
Oh, I didn't think you were disagreeing.
My entire point is that since task paralysis can be a symptom of an executive dysfunction, it is worth the time for OP to talk to their doctor about it.
I don't think that the previous poster said, nor implied that OP definitely has an executive dysfunction because of this one symptom.
Neither of which I think you have refuted at any point, in any capacity. :)
Wasn’t sure if this was a dig or a legit suggestion so I looked it up and, honestly, yeah - maybe.
It sounds like ADHD is a prime (or the?) example of this and that definitely wasn’t on my radar. The HD part of ADHD does not ring true to me but maybe it manifests in unexpected ways.
Oh... Uhhh... Hyperactivity in the name, isn't behavioral hyperactivity. That can certainly be a symptom but the naming comes from hyperactivity in specific brain functions, as in, your brain works too much on things inappropriately.
While that can manifest as hyperactive behaviors, it doesn't always.
There are 2 types of ADHD: ADHD (hyperactive) and ADHD-PI (primarily inattentive). I have ADHD-PI, which does not really manifest hyperactivity. More like the "I can't drive once my meds wear off because I'll get distracted and drive up a curb"-type.
Executive dysfunction is a major part of my diagnosis, as well.
Not saying that you absolutely have ADHD, but it's something to be mindful of if you find that its hugely affecting your life in a negative way.
It presents in many ways that often don’t seem to make sense. Stimulants usually have opposite effect for those with adhd. They can be calming
Executive dysfunction is a symptom of many other conditions such as depression, stress/anxiety, and autism.
ADHD diagnoses are expensive, intense, and take a long time. You wouldn't want to spend your time, energy, and money on it if your real problem is something else.
In any case, therapy is the phase to start. Probably CBT or ACT as they directly focuses on OP's complaint and are the most common forms that help ADHD anyways. They should also be able to help you identify whether a diagnosis is worth pursuing.
I’ve heard that some people who have ADHD can have a real hard time with “transitioning” from one frame of mind to another as is required for starting a new task of any kind. I imagine people who don’t have ADHD can also struggle with that sometimes
Autistic people can also struggle with transitions from one task/state to another.
There's a large overlap between ADHD symptoms and autism symptoms.
I definitely have autistic traits but always hesitate to talk about; I think there’s a lot of negative sentiment towards undiagnosed folks self-diagnosing.
Frankly at this point self-diagnosis shouldn't be as demonized as it is. Because getting a diagnosis is, 1. Expensive, 2. Involved as all hell sometimes, 3. Not all professionals being great, and 4. In certain countries cough the US cough, it gets you literally put on a list
I say this as someone who is diagnosed. Just preface any statements you make with you not being professionally diagnosed and that you think you might likely have it and such, and you should be fine. Ultimately the point of the diagnosis is to help you. If you feel like the autistic framework is useful to understanding yourself, use it.
I self diagnosed myself and thought about going to get an official diagnosis but ultimately decided not to. I realized it didn't matter what a professional said because everything I was reading about how to deal with autism was helping me. If the "solutions" benefited me, it was in my best interest to continue believing I have autism; whether I do or not.
You are the most qualified person to diagnose yourself since you're the only one that knows what happens on the inside which is where autistic symptoms predominantly are.
Neurotypicals lump themselves to early with autism and autistic people do it too late since they feel the criteria is very strict. Think NT saying "yes, I have autism because..." and autistic people say "no, I don't because of...".
Honestly, just take some tests and use them as a screening tool and take it from there. Good luck!
I can understand some negative sentiment in contexts where it's used dismissively (e.g. "I'm [self-diagnosed] autistic and I don't have this issue, so you're obviously just a bad person"), or if you use it as an excuse to be a shitty person. Although I'd say that a professional diagnosis wouldn't make any of these scenarios better.
In your case, you're experiencing problems and you're trying to solve them. A self diagnosis helps a lot in narrowing down what the causes could be and help you prioritize different potential solutions to try. It makes no sense to handicap yourself and try to fix things like a neurotypical person when you have good reason to believe you're not.
Yup this is a typical symptom of adhd. This alone doesn't mean you have adhd, but it means you should put it on the possibility list and maybe get evaluated by a professional
What kind of professional and to what end? I don’t think an explicit diagnosis would really help, but I have been thinking talking with a therapist/counselor could help with numerous issues I have.
Speaking of tasks though, finding and choosing a counselor has been daunting and keeps leading me to decision paralysis.
Ideally a psychiatrist. Failing that, a licensed therapist. If you can get a hold of a social worker they can often point you in the right direction.
[edit: or talk to your doctor about it]
Because task starting is legit hard and I don't think it needs some mystical explanation. The way to adress this is to break it town to small tasks and start at it. When I start my remote software engineers work day I start with a checklist to what I want to do - thats already first tiny task that sets me into work mood. Then make the first points easy loke "check email x", "check website Y" etc.
It's important to be descriptive with your tasks and just don't write "check all emails" because those are demotivating and tiring just looking at it. Use multiple points of "check customer X emails", "check email replies".
Ive been working remotely for over 20 years so I'm very familiar with this issue and this tip is the best one I can give!
This is true for starting anything. When I'm getting ready to run, I know I have a five minute warmup then a stretch, then the run, but when I start, it's just a five minute warmup -- nice and easy, no rushing.
For a work example, if I'm dreading starting something, I'll spend a little time the day before just getting ready for it. Get the data accessible, write a checklist (as above, very helpful for offloading brain work onto the page), get reference documents ready (printed), etc.
I've learnt some "hacks" from How to ADHD (both the YouTube channel and the book).
Something that works for me is "bribing" myself. Either with a planner you enjoy filling, a calendar with stickers, or a reward like TV time or music (not food), give yourself a reason to do your activities beyond the activities themselves.
Another one that's not always possible for me, but works, is getting non-negative external pressure. Deadlines often get people to start, but that's too much stress, and we don't want that stress. A similar thing to a deadline without the anxiety is body doubling. It consists of doing your activity while other person or people do theirs, and you can report back in the middle or only at the end. The idea is that you feel like you need to do it because people are counting on it, without it being super stressful. You might feel watched, you might feel their expectatives on you, you might simply want to exchange your results at the end. However it goes, it might work for you. A variant of this is telling your plans to someone important and then you'll feel like you need to do it so you can tell them how it went.
My emergency remedy (only when I'm unmedicated for ADHD, because I wouldn't mix it with my medication): caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant, so it has interesting effects on people with ADHD. Depending on age, metabolism, and quantity, it can be relaxing or "quieting"; it can also help with focus; and it can give a boost to productivity. A cup of good coffee and I do the laundry, cook, write back to people, etc. Now, be careful because a) you can become hooked to caffeine and become one of those people that cannot function without it, b) even without an addiction, if you use it too much, your body will get resistant for a time and it will lose its effectivity, c) some cannot tolerate caffeine well, for example, people with cardiopathies or bipolar disorder. I cannot drink it for long without causing havoc in my sleep and mood. Be careful with caffeine.
And those are the strongest for me. I do recommend getting the How to ADHD book, even if you're not dealing with ADHD but a mood disorder, a difficult time in your life, etc. The tips are helpful nonetheless.
I have ADHD (inattentive type) and I call this task initiation avoidance, which I derived from the similar community term pathological demand avoidance. It's fundamentally related to executive dysfunction but more specific.
How do you get anything done ?
Asking for a friend
Honestly: either hyperfocus (mostly only works on tasks I like), setting consequences for not doing it and sticking to them so my brain hates not doing it more, or just... not getting it done.
A lot of the things in my life don't get done. I'm not on meds because I can't afford it. :P
A lot of the things in my life don't get done. I'm not on meds because I can't afford it. :P
That’s very sad :(
Meds
Because everyone is struggling and tired of it? I think mental exhaustion, burnout, anxiety are common currency these days. Don't be hard on yourself if you need a warm up before you get started, like an old reliable beloved car.
In Norwegian there's an expression that translates roughly to "The threshold mile" (threshold, as in door threshold).
Because Dørstokkmila (which is obviously a metric mile - 10km), is terribly long when you need to start something.
The closest expression I've heard as a translation was when Green Day sang:
Peel me off this Velcro seat
And get me moving
I sure as hell can't do it by myself
A lot of people are saying ADHD, but I think in some cases it could also be anxiety or depression.
I don’t feel depressed, but anxiety is definitely on the menu…
Depression isn’t “feeling sad.” It has a lot of symptoms people do t commonly associate with it, including irritability and lack of motivation.
I think the cause isn't as important because, for all of them, I think, the solution could be the same.
Take one small bite of that huge daunting pie, and get the ball rolling. Then take another bite; do something easy. And then another. And now you're off.
I have tasks lined up for yeeeeears I think. It's daunting. I do it a bite at a time.
I don't know why but this reminded me of a joke..."My parents took me to the doctor because they thought I had mono. Turns out I was just lazy". I think that underneath it all we are like cows and just want to eat grass and bask in the sun as a default behaviour.
A body at rest requires more energy to reach a given speed than one already in motion.
Do you perhaps fear failure? That you might do it incorrectly?
That's a bit what's stopping me often from starting something new.
That’s definitely part of my anxiety issues. But that wasn’t what was slowing me down from the particular task in my sights when I made this post.
Shut up! And get out of my head!
Because "knowing it" isn't the whole picture.
It's actually only a very tiny part of the picture.
You're asking about what motivates you. Knowing can motivate. Experience motivates more tho. So does habit and some other stuff.
I don't know but I know the feeling.
ADHD
I think it all comes down to attitude if you approach the new task as a welcome challenge as opposed to a chore it tends to be a more positive experience initially
I don’t think this is it. Like I said, I actually know I’ll enjoy it once I get started but I will scramble to come up with anything else to do instead to avoid starting it.