Are you smart, scattered, and struggling? You're not alone. Cutting-edge research shows that today's 24/7 wired world and the growing demands of work and family life may simply max out the part of the brain that manages complex tasks. That's especially true for those lacking strong executive skills--the core brain-based abilities needed to maintain focus, meet deadlines, and stay cool under pressure. In this essential guide, leading experts Peg Dawson and Richard Guare help you map your own executive skills profile and take effective steps to boost your organizational skills, time management, emotional control, and nine other essential capacities. The book is packed with science-based strategies and concrete examples, plus downloadable practical tools for creating your own personalized action plan. Whether on the job or at home, you can get more done with less stress.

See also the authors' Smart but Scattered parenting guides, plus an academic planner for students and related titles for professionals. 

Peg Dawson, EdD, is a staff psychologist at the Center for Learning and Attention Disorders in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she works with children and adults. With Richard Guare, she is coauthor of the bestselling Smart but Scattered and Smart but Scattered Teens.

Richard Guare, PhD, is a neuropsychologist and Director of the Center for Learning and Attention Disorders. His research and publications focus on understanding and treatment of learning and attention difficulties and neurological disorders.

I. Understanding the Executive in Your Brain
1. Are You Smart, Scattered, and Stressed?
2. Your Executive Skills Profile
3. Managing Executive Skills by Modifying the Environment
4. Improving Your Executive Skills  
II. Understanding the Impact of Executive Skills in Your Daily Life
5. Executive Skills in the Workplace
6. Executive Skills in the Home
7. Executive Skills in Relationships  
III. Strategies for Individual Executive Skills
8. Controlling Impulses: Response Inhibition
9. Keeping Track of It All: Working Memory
10. Being Cool: Emotional Control
11. Avoiding Procrastination: Task Initiation
12. Staying Focused: Sustained Attention
13. Defining a Path: Planning/Prioritizing
14. Clearing Clutter: Organization
15. Sticking to the Schedule: Time Management
16. Shifting Gears: Flexibility
17. Learning from Experience: Metacognition
18. Reaching the Finish Line: Goal-Directed Persistence
19. Rolling with the Punches: Stress Tolerance
IV. Looking Ahead
20. Aging without Losing Your Edge: A Prescription for Preserving Executive Skills  
Resources