ADHD and...Time Blindness 🕗

Pop quiz: You have an appointment today at 2 pm. Google Maps says it’ll take 12 minutes to get there. What time should you leave?

Well, in reality, you need more details to answer that question, right? Like, what’s the parking situation at the appointment place? How much walking will you need to do to get there?

With my ADHD, though, I tend to…well, NOT think about those things. When I’m in the moment and doing what I need to do to be ready to go, I’m pretty focused on just remembering that it takes 12 minutes to drive there.

And then, when do I leave? Probably 15 minutes before the appointment starts. I give myself that 3-minute buffer, thinking that’ll be perfect and I’ll be on time. What could go wrong??

Yeah you guessed it—I’m usually right in the nick of time or a couple minutes late.

Why does this kind of ✨magical thinking✨ around time happen to me consistently, even after it has made me late many times?

It turns out my brain (and yours, dear friend, if you have ADHD) was just made that way.

We just don’t see or understand time.

This video does a good job of explaining some of it:

Basically, I just can’t conceive of the future. I’m surprised (and angry with myself) when times come up and suddenly I’m late, when I felt like I was leaving on time.

I cannot guess or predict how long anything actually takes.

It’s either now, or it’s not now.

Time Blindness + Focus = Discombobulation

There’s something else, though, that time blindness affects, and that’s having a hard time conceiving of the passage of time.

You know when you get into a flow state (also called hyperfocus) and time just flies by? Like it was just 10 AM and you got into some deep work and now it’s 1 PM and man, you just realized you’re starving?

That happens to us ADHDers all the time. It’s not only during deep work, either—it can be while watching a movie, having fun on vacation, reading a book…whatever. I just don’t feel the passage of time.

It’s especially prevalent when I watch a movie. I don’t love going to theaters because of the ridiculous discombobulation I feel when I get out. It’s a total sensory deluge (dark, loud, possibly emotional, a huge screen…) and I’m incredibly discombobulated when I walk out. Like wait, what time is it? Where did time go? Who am I and what am I doing?

Anyway, I think this about sums it up:

My next recommendation for you has to do with (you guessed it) time blindness help. If you can’t see it below, sign up and then you’ll be able to!