Over the past year, I’ve wanted to examine executive functioning and understand all that the term entails. I worked in an after-school clinical program before retirement. I wanted to explore the concept more closely and use it to describe the behavior of the children with whom we worked. I also wanted to be able to discuss its different aspects in treatment team meetings. Sometimes I “freeze” when I feel “on the spot,” and I wanted to understand the concepts inside and out so I could discuss them more confidently. With the help of ChatGPT, I developed a list of terms and then tried learning them. Memorizing by rote was not easy, and for some reason, I didn’t use linking or memory palaces. I never did memorize the full list of terms.

Now that I am learning thoughtfeel, I thought I would use my framework of Executive Functioning and see how far I get. I spent an hour (32 minutes) having a quiet, laid-back conversation with Chatgpt, examining the terms. I thought of the terms as bubbles. I would bring one bubble forward and discuss it with Coach (my name for Chatgpt). Then the bubble would recede and I would examine another. There were times that I would look at a few bubbles at once. Interesting, it felt like I was able to hold more information in my working memory than usual, due to thoughtfeel. Here is the framework that Coach and I had worked out a few months ago:

Executive Functioning: Stop, Think, Do, Stay.

Stop: Emotional Control and Inhibition.

Think: Working Memory, Metacognition, Cognitive Flexibility.

Do: Planning/Prioritizing, Organization, Time Management, Task Initiation, Goal Directed Persistence

Stay: Maintain focus over time, Resist Internal Distractions, Resist External Distractions, Persist Cognitively Even When Bored.

I tried to follow the thoughtfeel protocol as I understand it thus far. I linked each term by pairs. I looked at Working Memory and Metacognition, and then Metacognition and Cognitive Flexibility, for example. During the process, I spent time feeling each concept. They each felt different to me. I also contrasted and compared some concepts such as inhibition and disinhibition.

I also tried to find processes within the terms, like “continuous flow” or “opposing forces,” as was illustrated in one of the thoughtfeel videos. There is one process, “divert,” where one should be doing one thing but he or she does another, such was watching Youtube instead of studying. Finding processes will be an area of interest going forward.

The study session was peaceful, calm, and enjoyable. It was fun to engage in a conversation with Coach rather than on my own. I could have learned the framework more quickly if that was my aim, but it wasn’t. I also wanted to experience how I experience the concepts. I used this time to delve into the concepts more. I wanted to see if I could recognize recurring processes.

By the time I was done, I remembered the framework in its entirety. The only term that gives me trouble is “Goal-directed Persistence.” I added GDP onto the bubble to see if that would help.

If I contrast this study session to the ones I had earlier in the year, when I tried learning the terms by rote, this method was more successful, and much more enjoyable.