Ever feel like you have two different brains?
One day, you're on fire. Laser-focused, crushing your to-do list, solving problems left and right. You feel like a genius, maybe even pull an all-nighter fueled by pure inspiration.
The next day... nothing. You can't start the simplest task. Your brain feels foggy, slow, completely offline. You know what needs doing, but getting your body to cooperate feels physically impossible.
This inconsistency is one of the most confusing and frustrating parts of having an ADHD brain. It’s why we beat ourselves up, calling ourselves "lazy" or "unmotivated." It's why others sometimes doubt our abilities, seeing our "good days" as the exception rather than the rule.
But what if this isn't about effort or character? What if it's just about who's actually running the show upstairs at any given moment?
Let me introduce you to "The CEO Problem.” It's a way of looking at executive function that helped me stop blaming myself for these wild swings.
The CEO Problem | Human AF: Authentically Focused
Your Brain's Brilliant Boss Who Takes... Unexpected Vacations
Think of your brain like a company. The prefrontal cortex (that front part of your brain) is supposed to be the CEO. In a typical brain, the CEO is pretty reliable. Shows up daily, sets priorities, makes decisions, keeps things on track.
In our ADHD brains? The CEO is brilliant, absolutely capable of genius-level work... but they have a tendency to, let's say, take abrupt, unscheduled leaves of absence.
Some days, your CEO is in the office, energized, running the company like a visionary. That's your "Productivity Machine" day.
Other days? The CEO left his desk, didn’t even bother packing up, and flew to Antarctica on a one-way ticket. The rest of the company is left in chaos, trying to function without leadership.
Why the Sudden Trip South? It's About the Fuel.
This isn't random malice on the CEO's part. Their attendance is heavily dependent on the fuel available.
Your ADHD CEO doesn't run on "shoulds" or "obligations." They run almost exclusively on dopamine.
They show up reliably when the work is:
Interesting: Genuinely captivating.
Urgent: The building is metaphorically (or literally) on fire.
Novel: Something new and shiny.
Challenging: A puzzle, a game, a mountain to climb.
But those routine, boring, "important-but-not-urgent" tasks? The administrative stuff? Filing reports? Your CEO sees those on the agenda, packs their parka, and books the flight. There’s simply no dopamine fuel to keep them engaged.
Stop Blaming Yourself, Start Building Scaffolding
Understanding this is helpful because it shifts the focus from blame to strategy.
You're not lazy; your CEO is currently unavailable.
You don't lack willpower; your CEO requires a specific kind of fuel.
You're not broken; your internal management system has variable attendance.
So, what's the plan when the boss is MIA? You don't just shut down the company. You build external systems. You create scaffolding – reliable structures and processes that keep things running even when internal leadership is inconsistent .
That’s what the Human AF method is all about. It’s the scaffolding your brain needs.
The Three-Pile System acts like your dependable COO, clarifying what really needs doing when the CEO isn't there to set priorities.
Dopamine Engineering is your strategy for bringing in external fuel sources to power through the necessary-but-boring tasks.
Pattern Detecting helps you anticipate when your CEO is most likely to be in the office, so you can align your most demanding work with those peak times.
You don't need a new CEO. You need better infrastructure.
The Human AF apps provide that infrastructure. It's the external support system designed for a brain whose boss occasionally takes polar expeditions. Start building your scaffolding.
When does your CEO head for Antarctica? Is it during tedious paperwork? Long meetings? Share one trigger that reliably sends your executive function on vacation!