What is time blindness?

"Just 5 more minutes" → an hour passes. You leave with plenty of time → you're late anyway. Welcome to time blindness.

What it feels like

Imagine your internal clock isn't just a little off. It's completely broken:

• Time speeds up: "It's only been 5 minutes" → it's been 45
• Time slows down: A 30-minute meeting feels like 3 hours
• The future doesn't feel real: That deadline seems far away until suddenly it's RIGHT NOW
• The past is fuzzy: Did that happen yesterday or a month ago? Honestly, no idea

Real-life examples

At work:

• You estimate a project will take 2 hours. It takes 8.
• Deadlines "sneak up" on you even though you knew about them
• You miss meetings because "I still had time"

At home:

• The "5-minute" shower lasts 25
• Cooking "something quick" turns into a 2-hour production
• "Just a sec" on your phone = the entire afternoon gone

In relationships:

• You're late to everything, constantly
• "I'll call you in 5 minutes" → 3 hours later
• People assume you don't care (you do, time just doesn't cooperate)

Why does this happen?

Time perception relies on several brain functions that ADHD affects:

Working memory: You need to keep track of how much time has passed while doing other things. If your working memory is limited, that information just... disappears.

Attention: Monitoring time requires splitting your attention. If you're hyperfocused on something, there's nothing left over for the clock.

Executive functions: Planning and estimating time are executive functions, exactly what ADHD makes harder.

Strategies that actually help

Externalize time

Your internal sense of time isn't reliable. Use external tools instead:

• Analog clocks: You can see time as physical space that's disappearing
• Visual timers (like Time Timer): You watch time run out
• Frequent alarms: Temporal anchors throughout the day

Think in blocks, not hours

• Morning = 3 blocks of 1.5 hours
• Each block = 1 main task
• Way more concrete than "I have all morning"

Time your actual life

For one week, measure how long things really take:

• Showering
• Eating breakfast
• Commuting
• Common tasks

Use that real data going forward, not your optimistic guesses.

Create artificial urgency

The ADHD brain responds to urgency:

• Set intermediate deadlines
• Make commitments to other people (accountability)
• Reward yourself for finishing on time

It's not about respect

Time blindness is neurological. You don't choose to lose track of time any more than someone nearsighted chooses to see blurry.

The answer isn't "try harder." It's using external tools to compensate for what your brain doesn't do automatically.