How to Overcome ADHD Time Blindness: Best Tips and Tactics

Ever lost hours immersed in a task, only to realize time has slipped away unnoticed? Welcome to the realm of time blindness, where estimating how long something takes and managing it effectively can feel like navigating an ocean without a compass.

If you’ve ever felt adrift, wondering where the day went, you’re not alone. In this post, we’ll explore the challenges of time blindness and reveal two potent strategies you can try.

Time Blindness

Time blindness is when you struggle with noticing the passage of time, estimating how long things will take, and effectively prioritizing and planning based on time constraints. In some ways, it can feel like you are on a raft drifting in the middle of the ocean: There’s not much past or future; it’s all about right now.

Hyperfocus

One kind of time blindness is hyperfocus. Hyperfocus is being so engrossed in a particular task that you lose track of what is going on around you, including the passage of time.

Sometimes, I struggle with hyperfocus if I am playing a video game or engrossed in a cool project. I can go down the research rabbit trail, getting sucked into forgetting what is going on around me. I’ll forget what time it is, and suddenly several hours have passed without me realizing it.

Task Avoidance

Another example of time blindness is when you avoid tasks because you really have no idea how long something is going to take. You tend to think it’s going to take forever, and so you don’t do things.

For example, I might avoid emptying the dishwasher because I think it’s going to take too long. But if I timed myself on a stopwatch, I might discover that it only takes me three minutes. If I know how long it takes, then I know that I have enough time to empty the dishwasher after I start the coffee pot in the morning.

The Power of Timers

The first time trick is using a timer. Timers can help with structuring activities and making you aware of how time is passing. It’s empowering to know how long typical tasks take (like the dishwasher example). This information can help you fit tasks into your schedule.

Another way that you can use timers is to use time blocking. Time blocking is simply setting aside a specific time that you’re going to work on a project. For example, let’s say that you have to pick up your kid from school at a certain time. You look at the clock and see that you have two hours to work on a project. So, you can set a timer to remind you of when you need to stop.

Time blocking + Pomodoro

Another way that you can use time blocking is in conjunction with something called the Pomodoro technique. This is when you work for a set amount of time, then you take a short break, and then you repeat the cycle several times.

If you had a two-hour work block, simply working for two solid hours might be difficult to do. But if you break it down to work for 25 minutes, then take a five-minute break, and repeat that cycle several times for your two-hour block, you can stay focused on what you’re supposed to be doing. The timer will keep bringing you back.

Countdown Timers

A Time Timer is an example of a countdown timer where you set the dial for however long you want to work. As the time ticks away, the red part gets smaller and smaller. It has the option of having a beeper go off because you might forget to look at the clock. But you can turn it off if you don’t like that kind of interruption.

I like to physically see how much time is going by and how much time is left. Some people prefer a digital version where you can see a countdown to zero. Depending on which way your brain works, you can use an analog timer or a digital timer.

Besides physical clocks, you can also download apps on your phone that do the same thing. Both visual and digital countdown timers are available.

Alarms

Time trick number two is using alarms. Alarms are your personal reminders that can notify you of upcoming events and appointments.

I use my Google calendar all the time to notify me that it’s 10 minutes before an event so I have a chance to break out of whatever I’m doing and get ready for the next thing. It gives me time to prepare to go out the door if I’m physically going somewhere or take a break if I’m attending a virtual meeting.

Alarms also help with making transitions between activities. You can set reminders that go off so many minutes before you need to pick up your kid from some event (so easy to forget!).

I know I literally did that yesterday. I was supposed to pick my kid up and I looked up to see that it was already three o’clock! I hadn’t even left the house yet because I forgot to set a reminder for myself. Alarms are super helpful.

Future events and Deadlines

Alarms can also help you remember recurring things. For example, if you take medication at certain times of the day, you may need a reminder to go off to tell you to do that.

It’s easy to put things off until the last minute and then scramble around trying to get things done. Alarms can be helpful when you have a big project deadline and you need some reminders along the way to keep working on that project. You can set a reminder to show up a day before it’s due, three hours before it’s due, or an hour before it’s due to keep you on track for getting that project done before the deadline.

Hyperfocus Escape

Another thing that alarms are good at is nudging you out of hyperfocus. My daughter has a watch that has a chime-the-hour feature that beeps twice at the top of every hour. That alone helps pull her out of hyperfocus. At least once an hour she’s getting a reminder that she should be doing something or that time is passing.

I asked her one time if she thought having a grandfather clock that chimes a different little song every quarter hour would help her be aware of the passing of time. She thought that would be amazing.

Customized Alarms

Another thing you can do with apps on your phone is customize the alarm sounds for different kinds of activities. You might have one sound for something you must stop and do right away and another sound as a reminder that time is passing. Maybe you have one sound that’s for appointments that you need to leave the house for and a different one for Zoom calls.

You might need to change your alarm sounds occasionally so that you don’t tune them out. A new sound suddenly makes your brain pay more attention to it. You can use whatever alarm sounds make sense for your brain or would help you organize yourself (plus it’s fun to have different sounds).