ADHD Questions
Does ADHD affect planning?
Charles Li, MD
May 12, 2023
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ADHD directly affects executive function, the part of your brain responsible for problem-solving and higher-level thought processes.
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Making and keeping plans involves thinking ahead, problem-solving, time management, and impulse control. These are all key parts of executive function.
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Studies have shown that those with ADHD struggle with these aspects of planning, though highly intelligent individuals with ADHD may be able to compensate with intelligence.
While ADHD is typically defined by symptoms involving attention and hyperactivity, experts are beginning to find that ADHD can affect many more parts of your brain and life.
One key part of cognition involved in ADHD is executive function. This is the part of your brain responsible for higher-level thinking, including making and following plans, reasoning, and self-control.
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(Executive Function) has been defined as “the ability to maintain an appropriate problem set for attainment of future goals and includes such abilities as components of attention, reasoning, planning, inhibition, set-shifting, interference control, and working memory.
Welsh & Pennington, 1989, p. 201
These are all areas where those with ADHD often struggle.
In fact, this is such a key part of ADHD, some experts consider executive function to be a fundamental aspect in the development of ADHD.
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Many clinicians mistakenly continue to
think of this as a behavior disorder characterized
by hyperactivity in children and excessive restlessness or impulsivity in adults. In fact, ADD/ADHD
is essentially a cognitive disorder, a developmental
impairment of executive functions (EFs), the selfmanagement system of the brain.
Studies on ADHD and planning
Studies have shown that those with ADHD struggle with executive function, consistent with the expert opinions above.
A key part of this can be found in difficulties with planning.
One meta-analysis found that 80% of studies on ADHD and executive function confirm the link between ADHD and planning difficulties:
Validity of the executive function theory of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a meta-analytic review
The effects of ADHD and planning difficulties
This difficulty with planning and executive function can affect key parts of life and work.
Making plans and schedules and sticking with them is particularly challenging for those with ADHD because of difficulties with executive function.
One study found that this difficulty can affect employment and job performance.
Those with ADHD who struggled with time management had more disciplinary issues, lower performance ratings by their employers, and more jobs where they dealt with behavior issues.
A study found that those with the most difficulty managing time had the most behavior issues and lowest employer-rates performance.
How are IQ affects planning in ADHD
Not everyone with ADHD necessarily struggles with making and keeping plans.
ADHD symptoms and IQ are genetically mostly separate, which means it can affect children and adults of all levels of intelligence.
Some studies have shown that highly intelligent individuals with ADHD can compensate for the effects of ADHD on executive function and planning.
One study found that those with ADHD and high intelligence did not show signs of deficits on tests measuring task management, flexibility, and attention, all key skills involved in planning. Those with normal intelligence and ADHD showed deficits in all of these tests:
High IQ May "Mask" the Diagnosis of ADHD by Compensating for Deficits in Executive Functions in Treatment-Naïve Adults With ADHD
Key Takeaways
ADHD makes it difficult for us to create and keep our plans. Studies have consistently found that ADHD directly impacts the part of your brain responsible for the higher-level processes involved in planning.
However, as a data in highly intelligent individuals with ADHD shows, it may be possible to compensate for difficulties and executive function and planning.