More Than Motivation: Understanding Executive Functioning Skills Using Behavioral Science

Do you ever feel like your to-do list is never ending? Every day, we are expected to plan, focus, complete tasks, follow through on action items, while also navigating stress, fatigue, the news cycle, family and relationship interactions…the list goes on and on. In order to complete all our tasks, we rely on a set of skills known as Executive Functioning (EF) and it is a large part of how we manage our lives and move through the world.

Our EF skills are influenced by our environment, our habits and are based on how our brains respond to motivation, effort and external stressors. Many people often blame their EF challenges as personal failures. They see procrastination, losing track of time, or even decision fatigue as unavoidable setbacks. However, behavioral science shows us that human behavior is rarely about willpower. The way we manage these challenges are often predictable responses to our cognitive load and how our environment is designed.

Executive Functioning through a Behavioral Lens

When moving throughout our day to day lives, we can feel influenced by:

• Cognitive load - too many decisions to consider at once

• Friction - small obstacles that make tasks seem bigger or harder than they are

• Ambiguity - unclear steps, next actions or direction

• Energy availability - stress and burnout can lower our EF levels

When we step back and take a look at what’s shaping our behavior, we can replace the self-blame with supportive strategies. We can meet our brains where they already are.

Hacking Your Motivation!

Using behavioral science principles, you can increase your EF skills and design a life that flows for you! Consider the following principles and how you can apply them to support your EF skills.

Regulate Your Cognitive Load

When you feel stressed, this increases your cognitive load, which leaves less room for emotional regulation or task execution (Arnsten 2009). Small adjustments, like limiting your notifications or reducing visual clutter can give your brain more space to problem solve.

Choice Architecture

Planning can feel very difficult when each step requires a decision. Make it easier by automating your choices into defaults. Small environmental tweaks like prepacking your bag the night before or having designated spots for your essential items help to relieve ambiguity, making planning feel less mentally heavy.

Reducing Friction

Most people don’t struggle with completing a task, they struggle with getting started. By reducing friction and creating easy entry points, you can increase your follow-through on tasks. Each smaller step that you complete for a larger task can create an environment of micro-wins which can give you more momentum to complete a task in full.

Temporal Discounting

Many times, completing larger tasks feels difficult because the reward feels far away, which is known as temporal discounting (Frederick et al. 2002). Completing long term tasks or goals can feel distant and less rewarding, even when it’s very important to you. Consider bringing the reward closer to you by working in shorter sprints or using visual progress trackers. When you feel rewarded sooner, your motivation to complete the task in its entirety can become easier to sustain.

A More Sustainable Approach

Executive Functioning, as a system, is how we get things done. Behavioral science can give us a better look into why we do (or don’t) get things done. With better alignment in our environments, habits and internal narratives, EF can stop feeling like a battle to overcome and start feeling like motivational momentum.

Increasing your EF skills can help you create a life that feels easier, more intentional and more sustainable.

References

1. Arnsten, A. F. T. (2009). Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(6), 410–422. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2648

2. Frederick, S., Loewenstein, G., & O’Donoghue, T. (2002). Time discounting and time preference: A critical review. Journal of Economic Literature, 40(2), 351–401.