Time Blindness - An ADHD or Executive Dysfunction Trait

[@TherapyinaNutshell]

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[@veryberry39]

The irony of watching this while I'm supposed to be getting ready, and running late.

[@charlechung]

Me too 😂😂

[@eylon951]

Me too

[@eylon951]

​@@charlechungi cant solve dat problem it ruin my life !!!

[@stitches513]

Truth! I’m doing the same thing!

[@suzanne8264]

lol!

[@serena1232]

My get-together with my sister fell apart tonight and ended in tears because I - once again - wrongly estimated how long it would me to do something, which made me super late and my sister was mad and cold and the night was ruined. Drove home in tears, beating myself up and feeling super shitty and ashamed and frustrated. Not the first family gathering that's fallen apart or taken a dive due to my time blindness. I've got an appointment in two days to start my ADHD assessment and honestly I can't wait. I watched this when I got home, determined to find a way to do better, be better. Trying to be compassionate and practice self-forgiveness. Got some helpful strategies from this video that I'll be implementing. I already use copious alarms and calendar reminders and things, but I'll be adding a couple more clocks to my place and am trying to better document how long it takes for me to do certain things. If anyone reading this has a loved one in their life with ADHD, your compassion and understanding goes a long way.

[@indyd9322]

Time blindness can be so demoralizing. Hugs for anyone going through this struggle.

[@MeredithMacArthur]

Bless you, you have just explained my whole adult life...and my adolescence. And childhood! My dad got so frustrated with waiting for me to "come down stairs, we're leaving NOW!" that he finally drove of without me. If he only knew the more he yelled, the worse I'd be at getting ready.

[@almondmilksoda]

Exactly. Shaming and blaming people with this condition usually just causes us to panic, freeze, and take EVEN MORE TIME to do whatever it is that we're being asked of.

[@sayusayme7729]

Yeah

[@Groundedsquirrel]

I live in a house with time blind people and I thought it so odd they have a clock in every room. Now I get it! I also understand how it is that they are always doing unrelated projects instead of getting ready and have to be told something starts a half to whole hour before it actually does to get them there anywhere near on time.

[@pepperann1429]

I was super relieved when at 0:21 the music stopped. Even a soft music like that can derail me completely🥹

[@wx_kris8378]

Even with an official ADHD diagnosis, I have never heard of this time blindness concept. However, it is literally wrecking my life right now. Thank you, I will be incorporating some of these management strategies into my daily routines immediately.

[@jacquib256]

Ditto!

[@DurgadeviKarthikeyan]

As someone who suffers from time blindness iam really grateful for this video❤❤

[@sarahjeangallagher]

I use my amazon alexa to announce the time every hour! it’s worked wonders for me ❤️

[@Mypaintohelpyours]

🎉That sounds helpful

[@els1f]

6:22 I have read that it's easier for people with ADHD (me) to visualize time with an analog clock and i find it very true. I put clocks EVERYWHERE and they're all analog. The digital readout of 5:57am means essentially nothing to me (except making me know I'm gonna be late🙃). But seeing the hands moving and how much of "the hour" is left helps me visualize it. It kinda made me sad finding out that so many kids can't read that anymore when i learned how helpful it is to me 12:06 this is funny and adorable ♥️ But I'm going to be honest about this. In the mood I'm in rn (why I'm looking up these videos in the first place), when she made the realization "if you said 10 minutes i would get in the shower but 600 seconds" I started crying. I'm so tired of these realizations about why I hate myself so often

[@janesmucker7948]

I had the hate myself thing. This is such a revelation to me. I cried. This isn't my fault. Wow! I can really figure out ways to help this, & live with it. Mind blowing.

[@audaniataylor4853]

I am a merchant mariner and your visual representation of a ship moving closer to the dock is SO ON POINT. Once I was navigating a ship through the Puget Sound, overtaking another ship in the TSS (shipping lane, basically). I didn't move far enough to the side for my captain's requirements becuase I was just....watching. I felt like a spectator, waiting on the referee to make a call. It wasn't a "big deal" to me; we weren't going to hit the other ship, but the captain I worked for felt I definitely should have acted more proactively....and he was right. Lost that job.

[@kariwalstad7963]

I started crying in the middle of this because I finally feel understood. I thought it was just me.

[@Tina.Lucille]

🤣🤣 I have a clock in EVERY room, some rooms have two clocks. I have timers everywhere, calendar reminders on my phone and watch, and physical calendars in every room. I have so many tools in place and I still manage to experience my time blindness or should I say others experience it (I don't mind it actually). I'm older, so I've developed these life hacks for myself through the years, sometimes they work and sometimes not. I'm also an older student and that comes with old and new challenges. I love ADHD Love Rich and Rox! Thank you in a nutshell!

[@EmpowermentPsychology]

Fantastic video! As a psychologist, I can affirm how important it is to understand and address time blindness, especially for those with ADHD. Your explanation of the struggles and practical strategies is really well thought out and incredibly helpful. This channel has truly inspired me to start my own KZbin channel focused on therapy and psychology, with the goal of educating and supporting people just like this. The way you break down complex topics into relatable and actionable advice is something I aspire to do. Thank you for shedding light on such an important issue and for inspiring others to make a difference. Keep up the great work!

[@sarahhartnett5629]

I just realized I do this last one for my kids! Whenever they ask “how long until…?” I answer in TV time. 30 minutes = one episode of Octonauts. 15 minutes = an Elmo’s world segment. Saying “Two Octonauts episodes and 1 Elmo’s world” provides a much better perspective than “a little over an hour” - and embarrassingly, it helps me too!😂

[@Robinhoodsreviews]

I watched this. Stopped 5 times. Almost burnt my pot pies. Texted my g.f. whole bunch of stuff. All the commercials help too 😂 Much Love and Respect ❤ (I know you need the commercials)

[@janesmucker7948]

I just sat here sobbing. Finally, I can understand my problem. I had a bad concussion when I was in 1st grade. At about 55 I had a MRI for jaw problems. From that MRI, They saw a spot on my brain that was dead. They could tell him it had been dead for a long time. They asked me if I'd had any injuries a long time ago and I explained. Back then they didn't do much about it. I know I struggled to read, and struggled with a lot of things as a kid. I've naturally found some ways to cope but it's been difficult. And I've been so hard on myself. Now I understand and I can use more coping mechanisms. I've got to say a cell phone really changed my life because I started relying on timers and calendars with notifications. But do you have that 5 minutes explained in seconds was heartbreakingly real to me. We've all been taught to count seconds 1001 1,002. But how do you count 5 minutes. Thank you this is life-changing. I love the visual clock, it's wonderful to know I'm not the only one that feels an analog clock is mental gymnastics. And growing up in an era when everything was analog clocks was difficult. I struggle to listen to music while trying to do anything else. I feel like I'm always trying to memorize the words. I need to look into an app, and maybe even a smart watch. Thank you so much for helping change my life.

[@jacquelinereed8805]

This was great. Thank you! I'm happy to see you referencing other ADHD content creators whose dialogs I've also clicked with. It's a type of thumbs up for me ... signed, desperate

[@survivalcharades]

I was diagnosed with ADHD about 4 years after my dad began to develop dementia. We are pretty sure now that my dad was also ADHD, and it is very interesting to me that, early on, he went missing for over 6 hours. When asked how long he thought he was gone, he thought it was about an hour. It’s like his peripheral coping strategies had deteriorated and it revealed some of the stuff he had been successfully compensating for up to that point.

[@bunglejoy3645]

Sorry to hear about uour dad but I eould imagine time blindness proberly comes eith dementia my uncle had dementiachevusedvyo think it was night time even though it was light outside. I've got bpd and dissociation eith that snd I've possible autism I think I've had time blindness from bring about 18 but difnt know it. When I first came out of mrntsl heslth unit snd into shrltered houding I livevin a town busy exploring town centre had a doctors appointment 15 mins begore ridcovered time I was physically fitter then snd rushed to gp but scary thing was id lost nearly three hours and difnt knowcwhat id done in that time all my bags were empty do relieved id not done anything wrong but still to this day font kniw what id done for three hours

[@jose11032]

I LOVE HOW 17 MINUTES TO GET OUT THE DOOR WAS VERY SPECIFIC ….. 😂❤ I think you know this mornings as well as me! I get anxiety from habit trackers and apps, i cant get up the couch if i sit down - and if i start in the morning, I never sit down. Adhd is a mess.

[@charobautista2446]

¡Gracias!

[@mcwmcw6501]

For so long, I have so desperately been wanting to hear methods to manage this from a professional. At last! Thank you sooo much.

[@amypola5903]

I've never waited for a promised video before. There's plenty out there, but I'm on the edge of my seat for the video with the list of executive functions.

[@galaxies_etc]

This video came in at the -perfect- time for me.

[@MahmoodHasand3]

Metoo

[@JessicaDarling2]

Heh, punny 👀😂

[@CurlMeLots]

This is painful to acknowledge in my late 30s but I’m glad I’ve figured it out. Thank you so much for these tips, I’m going to implement them all.

[@chezniki]

Thank you for explaining this as a neuro-divergence. I thought my family member was just hard-headed!

[@nightmary]

A problem I have with ADHD and time blindness is being so fearful that even if I painstakingly estimate the time it will take to get everything done (break down in small steps, add a bit of time to each estimate, then add another time buffer to the final total, and hope that I've remembered every step or the whole time prep blows up in my face - again), if whatever I'm preparing for happens later in the day, I'm so afraid I'll miss the deadline to start getting ready to leave and/or do the task that I can't comfortably do anything else of consequence earlier that day. According to Jessica McCabe from How to ADHD, I've got lots of company. If I take your advice and use an alarm to know when to start getting ready to leave or start the task, that will definitely help me feel comfortable doing things earlier in the day (as long as a I remember to set the alarm and don't pick something I can't easily stop doing - so I need an alarm when it's time to finish the earlier things and an alarm to start the later one). It's so frustrating to me to have to go through all that commotion when neurotypical people don't have to, but, on the bright side, you've given me a workable solution. Thank you!

[@winospamo1]

Have been experimenting with using a smart bulb to change color over different times in the day...sort of a "color clock"..

[@amypola5903]

Thats brilliant

[@sayusayme7729]

I like this, thanks ⏰

[@Riaharmony]

Now that is a plan! Truely a lightbulb moment. 😂😂😂

[@felicityd9824]

That's clever!

[@christalintentions]

I’ve been learning and understanding more. I always think I’ve given myself enough time to get ready for whatever it is but frustrated that I’m still always late. I realized that I only figured the time to get ready but not all the things I need to do to get out of the house and into the car to get to the place on time!

[@hughmnyks]

Thank-you so much for this excellent video. It really hit the nail on my head. I might even have learned something!

[@newsoundacoustics7973]

I've worked on my time blindness for decades. This was excellent thank you

[@VictoryAviation]

My biggest negative character trait by far. I absolutely hate it. I’ve missed more than one flight because of this, to my own vacations 😅 Being late is the worst, and it’s a constant struggle every day.

[@indigoziona]

Hey, I hoped the video helped you see that this isn't a character trait? It's really an impairment x

[@skabarella]

while watching this and realizing how many of those strategies I already employ and how much I still struggle with being punctual, wait times where there is nothing you can do to speed it up or do something else in between, and so many other typical problems of being time blind: I am also realizing how sick and tired I am with all the struggles and strategies and the management of my impairments from adhd and cptsd and no one sees those struggles and I cannot talk about them (being honest about my mental health already cost me a job once) and seeing the judgement from work mates, bosses and the rest of the world. I am tired of "managing" myself, tired of all those strategies and extra work and extra effort I have to put in to barely being functional and still struggle, still being jugded as lazy and incompetent. Its exhausting. No matter how many strategies and thoughts and prayers I spent: none of that will really put me on a plain field with neurotypicals. It's a marathon and these impairments won't get better. Its a constant effort to put in, no one sees it, no one acknowledges it, no one even comprehends what it means to be time blind or whatnot.. fml

[@Nakomina7]

@skabarella I rarely respond to comments on here, but I feel your struggle and just needed to let you know you are not in this alone. My way of doing life has been to put everything into work and volunteering at my church- essentially always serving others- and after the past 6 years of living life this way- my apartment is a total mess, constantly, and I essentially have no personal life (keeping in touch with friends is hard enough!) I try not to play the comparison game but the fact that others around me are able to do school part time, have finished degrees, and started families in these past 6 years, KILLS me, it hurts my confidence and self-esteem down to the bone. It's easy to feel like all the work I've put in these years into just keeping it all together is still NOT ENOUGH. So something huge with this diagnosis, is to come to terms that YOU ARE ENOUGH! You're just neurodivergent and all those things that work for others will never work the same for you. That it's not laziness, or lack of effort, or willingness, but it's literally your brain that simply works differently. I think radical acceptance can be huge with this, and then learning to ask for help. I've heard body doubling as way to help get more things done, but of course it means like asking others for help and figuring out times and tasks to let them help with- that is enough for me to not try- but all to say- it's not over until it is. So reach out again! Get some therapy if possible, medication can help, and again- I'm sending you my love and prayers for patience and strength as you navigate this neurodivergent brain and life of yours. You CAN DO IT! And I can't say this enough, you are never alone. Peace!

[@charobautista2446]

Hi. I only can send a virtual (but warm) hug🫂 (and a shoulder to rest by during a while). I see you. I understand you. And none but you knows how much effort involves to be you, and how much you deserve some days a congratulation for being so great as you have been that day. 😊 I wish I could have you near to listen to you looking to your eyes, and getting to this conclusion, and saying it to you in person, with (doubtlessly) a big and truly hug. You're tough and courageus. There's no doubt about that.❤

[@5x7m]

@skabarella I was looking for this comment..... and of course, I'm late...lol. Seriously though, thank you for your comment because I now don't feel so alone in my 55 year struggle.

[@steveneardley7541]

I use to-do lists that are prioritized. That allows me to "manage" more or less. But it seems to reduce my life to a series of chores. I also hate how much work it all is. On the other hand, what's the alternative? The hacks that I have learned for my autism and ADHD have allowed me to have a sort of normal life--well, at least to hold down a job. They are hard, but I don't see any other choice. And I don't even try to talk about this with anyone who doesn't have the problem themselves. They don't get it, aren't really interested, and often think you are full of it. Discovering the online autism and ADHD communities has been a great plus. This time-blindness thing, for instance, is something I always knew was "missing" but couldn't articulate it at all. Now I can and it explains a lot.

[@elspethfougere9683]

Wow! This is so helpful! I definitely measure time in songs! 😅 I also work backwards from a deadline to project manage, I know alot of people do this but I reeeeeaaaaally need to do this. Wierdly, (but not so wierd at all, its totally studied for my type of neurodivergence) I can estimate the amount of time needed to do something really accurately, and I can totally be on time to something if I reeeeaaally concentrate, but more often than not i measure things in whats needed for each task, in sequence in order to get stuff done, so the meaning if what needs to be done is far more important to me than the amount of time or being accurate about time needed. It means I often work incredibly hard and get a lot done, I can defer my personal happiness in order to do what needs doing first, and my life feels full of passion and meaning, but if I have to arbitrarily be on time somewhere, or the task isnt meaningful to me or contributing to my greater sense of whats important in the world, or participating in making the world a better place, its really hard for me not to zone out. If I was a different type of person I could waste a lot of my life daydreaming, or rebelling I guess, but thankfully I can mostly harness this and lean into the meaningful side of my life, and make my life and the lives of others I hope better too.. but if you asked me to do that on clock time, forget it. Having said that, because I guess I'm visualising the whole thing from the start, I'm generally on time with projects and can scale things to the amount of time given, but by meaningful events and tasks that need to be done, not by quarter hour measurements. Um and also, counting in seconds could be truely actually helpful for me! 😂❤

[@gabyzzivi]

This is sooooooo helpful!!!!!! Thank you Emma!! I've taken courses on time management and applied some techniques, but I'm still struggling with time, and thanks to you I now know that this behavior has a name, that it's a real thing and that I'm not the only one who loses track of time. Now I can apply the techniques you give us and create new ways not to get lost in time.

[@swapnil988]

I have 5 mins before leaving for work. And I don't think it's wrong for me to watch this 15min video before I leave.

[@neonennui]

This is me, 100%! I have a clock in every room because otherwise I'd be lost in time. I also use multiple alarms when I have an appointment, like "start getting dressed", "prepare to leave the house", "leave the house" 😅 When I'm preforming a task that takes some time, I put on a playlist and measure the time in songs, to have a vague idea of how much time I'm spending on that task. Otherwise I can keep going for 6 hours or more, because I'm too focused. When I have a deadline to meet, I need to break down the workload, divide the tasks in various days, write everything down on a physical calendar and place it above my desk, where I can see it at any time.

[@jacquib256]

Another much needed video - it’s like a full blown description of me

[@HelenPapanagiotou]

So useful. Especially for the undiagnosed ones.

[@maryma8921]

Thank you Emma for another outstanding video. I have all the problems on the list. After watching this video, I tried to figure out the obstacles for me to overcome the time blindness. I realized there are mainly three obstacles. First, I grew up being expected to do as many things as possible with my time, so I developed this mindset that if I'm passively waiting something to happen, I'm wasting my time, so I got to do something while I'm waiting. However, here comes the second obstacle. When I do something, I tend to be super focused that I lose my awareness of time very quickly, although when I'm not doing anything, my time awareness is super sharp. For example, when I have insomnia, I can accurately estimate how much time has passed since I was in bed. So for me, it's not the inability to estimate time passage, it's the concentration that I put in whatever I'm doing that makes me unaware of the time. The third obstacle is my inability to switch between different tasks. When I'm doing one thing, it's very difficult for me to leave it unfinished and start the second one because it is time to do the second one. Unless the second one is an appointment that I have to abide by the time, I feel compelled to finish whatever I'm doing and then take care of the second one. I wonder if anyone else has the same "habit" as I do. Replies are welcome!

[@commonsense17]

WOW! If only I knew the 5 min=300 sec thing when I was younger, I might have been early to everything since then 😂 That seriously blew my mind!! This whole video blew my mind bc now, I have some answers and a lot of research and practice to do to help retrain my brain. Thank you!

[@sayusayme7729]

I’ve definitely struggled with this often throughout my life. Reminder gadgets have helped but it’s with everything in my life. Thank you. The ship analogy.

[@nalkarj2840]

The coincidence/synchronicity here is creepy. I haven’t been diagnosed with ADHD or anything like it, but this morning I had a big fight over how long I take in the shower, and I tried and failed to explain how my brain seems to shut off in the morning and I have no sense of time at all. (My mother and I used to argue about this throughout my entire time in high school.) Then I left for physical therapy and was late for it, as I have been every single week for a year. And I’ve been brooding and berating myself over it for weeks because a family friend started teasing me a few weeks ago about it, and I couldn’t let it go. (Like Emma’s husband, I once was at the airport and missed a flight because I lost track of time.) So, basically, you read my mind. Many thanks for the tips. I’ve tried the timers, but not the rest, so I’ve got a lot of options. Really so much appreciated.

[@joannachulek]

I love the idea of using a timer for routine activities, but whenever I want to time myself... I usually forgot to swich it off and realise I have a timer on about a few hours later 🙈

[@xxpowwowbluexx]

Or days!

[@aosidh]

Thanks as always to you and Dr Barkley 🙏

[@gysst]

Never thought i have this, and i check every box. Very creative strategies, so cool

[@shawnholbrook7278]

I am aware of time, I can usually tell you what time it is without looking at a clock, but getting myself ready , avoiding the "one more thing, or planning correctly disintegrates me.

[@rebeccaoprea9917]

Don’t forget parents that if you’re always telling your kids what to do and when to do it, they don’t learn how to manage on their own. So instead of saying it’s time to go to bed, say, it’s 9, what do we do at 9?

[@catboxcleaner3532]

Emma! I tried to buy this Focus on All the Good Things sweatshirt from Target, but it sold out. I’m glad to see it on you! I bought a cream color sweatshirt and iron on letters to make my own version. Wish me luck 🍀

[@karipedersen1012]

This is life changing.

[@TheCuriousCorrespondent]

OMG...I task switch at the speed of light!!! I have to create tasks just to have a new one in front of me...LOLOLOL

[@schoolneverteach]

I saw this and I went "oops!" Thk u for giving a name to my experience.

[@patriciawhitbeck33]

I've always had clocks in every room and alarms. Now I know why. Thank you for the information!!❤

[@indigoziona]

Haha I love this video - the first part especially where you explain how it works - I'd like to save it and make sure every non-ADHD person watches it if they have an ADHD person in their life (...which they will 😊) Strategies that often help me - having a series of alarms for leaving the house in the morning, so one at 20 mins, one at 10 mins and one to leave... and have the last one be a little early. I can't put it too early or it doesn't have the right amount of urgency 😅 On a weekend or before going away it can help to start the series of alarms earlier, like 40 mins or an hour. Plans for several weeks/months in the future will often go awry unless I give myself time beforehand, so often if I've pencilled a date in with a friend, I'll set a reminder for a week or two weeks before to check they can still make it and to start making proper plans. Another thing in itself is that sometimes I find people who don't understand time blindness will sometimes say "hey, you shouldn't need that" or at least imply that we should *just know*, and we have to stick up for ourselves and remind ourselves that we know ourselves best. I also think we should embrace "better late than never" as our motto because so often deadlines aren't hard and fast. I literally got a job interview after emailing after the deadline to ask if I could apply, so it's often not a total catastrophe. I'm also impressed that Emma's husband still made it to China after missing his flight! Many of us would have just gone home.

[@indigoziona]

Oh, and if you have an analog watch, or any watch you have to set yourself, set it 5 minutes early.

[@NicholasLashway]

Thank you for the video :) For me, there have been days in the past where I didn’t work, and I would wake up and 6pm would be there before I knew it, and I had done nothing productive or nothing I really wanted to do

[@Jen-j2u]

These were great! It helped so much how you got straight to the point and clearly explained how to implicate things. Are there anymore videos like this you could direct me to?

[@AllIsWellaus]

The ship analogy is good. Presently, the ship is my bus, a bus I missed despite seeing it travelling on an app. Longer stretch of time, middle age. You know, you hope that is Parton your future ;) and yet still a sobering sight when it's dockside.

[@keric3673]

I’m here watching this video when I should be sending an email! There was a clock in my university dorm”s bathroom- I loved it!

[@goddessfreya13]

Haha! I giggled at the idea of using a playlist, because when I put on music I *really* lose track of time … This is very interesting though. I would say this video describes me well, and it can be very stressful and frustrating - but on the other hand, I can often tell what time of the day it more or less accurately. For instance, I was on vacation once with a friend. We didn't use any watches or mobile phones to tell the time, but our natural rhytm was on time. Not "on the dot" time, we pretty much knew what time it was and it was correct when we checked. So I definitely have a sense of time - just a different kind of sense. And maybe it's really a more natural way of living than constantly having to be somewhere at a certain time? There is also a vast difference between how different cultures perceive time, after all. In some cultures it's a deadly sin to be late, in others it's a lot more relaxed. Here in Europe, it's typically Northern vs. Southern Europe. And if you spend a lot of your time planning ahead you might miss out on living in the moment and being in a flow state. I don't think I have ADHD, but I have more of a creative brain (not as dominated by the left brain hemisphere). And I think we live in a very left brain dominated society.

[@yousefka9067]

Dr. Emma, ​​we would be happier if there was voice dubbing in more than one language. Dr. Tracy's videos have become like this and it makes it easier for us to understand some sentences(arabic 😊)

[@AmarNika-q3p]

Cool video, My relationship of 5 years ended a month ago. The love of my life decided to leave me, I really loved him so much I can’t stop thinking about him, I’ve tried my very best to get him back in my life, but to no avail, I’m frustrated, I don’t see my life with anyone else. I’ve done my best to get rid of the thoughts of him, but I can’t, I don’t know why I’m saying this here, I really miss him and just can’t stop thinking about him

[@Jennyfenty-n1b]

its difficult to let go of someone you love, i was in a similar situation, my relationship of 12 years ended, but i couldnt just let him go i did all i could to get him back, i had to seek the help of a spiritual counselor who helped me bring him back.

[@AmarNika-q3p]

Amazing, how did you get a spiritual counselor, and how do i reach him?

[@Jennyfenty-n1b]

His name is Father Obah Eze, and he is a great spiritual counselor who can bring back your ex.

[@Jennyfenty-n1b]

he is father obah eze, he has great powers, he can help you.

[@AmarNika-q3p]

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[@rgfs71]

I find the timers on my Apple Watch immensely helpful but using a stopwatch to time things is futile, since I ALWAYS forget to stop it 🙄. Rather than time how long something takes, I suggest guessing how long it will take and setting a couple timers. I’ll set one to the expected time, say 15 minutes, then another to a shorter period, say 5 minutes. When a timer goes off I hit the repeat button. This is a KEY part of the strategy as it requires my attention. The short timers offer me a sense for how much time has passed which I can gauge against my progress as well as how much time remainsl. If the longer timer goes off before I’m done, I repeat it as well. This allows me track how much longer it took than I expected. One of the benefits of the short timer is they keep bringing my attention back to my watch, which means I’m much more likely to check how much time is left on the longer timer when I’m done and, if I don’t check, the short timer will go off soon, allowing me to estimate how much time it took within at least the short interval. The overall goal here is to get better at estimating the time, not measuring it. If I was way off the first time, I try again and make a game out of it… not to get done within the time estimate but to get the time estimate right. The timers can be helpful for gaining a sense of time, even when I’m not specifically doing something. I’ll set a one hour timer going in the morning (or whenever I remember to start it) and repeat it throughout the day. Again, the MOST IMPORTANT STEP is to manually repeat the timer (which is a simple tap of the repeat icon 🔄). An hourly chime or self-repeating alarm will go unnoticed or forgotten. When I hit repeat, I make a mental note of what I’m up to at the time and try to recall what I was doing the last time it went off, i.e. an hour ago. Tracking one hour intervals in this manner helped me a lot. When the timer goes off I am either surprised by how much has happened since (i.e. how MUCH time has passed) or I realize I’m still stuck doing the same thing I was doing an hour ago and need to take a break or move on to something else. More often than not, I find an hour is a lot longer than I expected and the benefit is a sense RELIEF, reducing my anxiety over how much time I have and making it FAR MORE LIKELY that I’ll take a break and feel less stressed over time.

[@LindaengelustrupBlogspot]

Thank you SO MUCH for spreading the messege!!!!!

[@mlouw8218]

Thanks! This actually was very helpful. I haven’t been diagnosed with adhd but suspect I may have it for very reasons, including being perennially late. Just yesterday I was twenty minutes to my doctor’s appointment because I thought that I could drink my coffee, eat breakfast, get dressed, and put everything back in the fridge in five minutes… well, not more than ten anyway 😅🙃🙄

[@steveneardley7541]

You describe it well. I always knew that something was up with my complete inability to believe in the future. It's just a nothing for me. I use to-do lists and calendars to manage my time on a day-to-day basis, and that did actually solve my early problem with procrastination. With big decisions, however, I've often acted on impulse, which at times works out very well. When I try to plan major life changes in an adult, analytical way it never seems to work. I chose a graduate school on the flimsiest of reasons and almost no research. But if I had done the research I don't think I would have ever gone. It seems important for me to act when the energy is actually there. I have to backtrack sometimes, but decisions have to be abrupt and RIGHT NOW. If the decision-process lies too much in the future it loses its reality for me, and slips through my fingers. I end up doing nothing, because how do I know how things will play out? The whole thing becomes unreal.

[@drnik66]

Being a doctor who recently self diagnosed her condition of ADHD. I now understand myself for the first time in my life. Now realising whatever I was going through all my childhood, adolescent and adult life was not my fault. It’s because I have this condition called which adhd which unfortunately not many are aware of. Adhd as a condition is much worse than we think it is. But when you know all the answers the sufferings become easier. You can look for solutions as now you are more aware of your problems. Many people still are under the assumption that adhd is a condition specific to childhood. But it’s not completely true. As it may start in childhood but it never goes away. Do get yourself checked if you are facing any symptoms similar to adhd.

[@dianegordon2702]

So helpful! ...and enlightening for me. 😮

[@myriamfaraj]

I am struggling really bad with time nowadays. I procrastinate a lot. I’m late. As I listen to this: I am somewhat timeblind. I’ll try some of these strategies. I probably have some form of neurodivergence but these days I’m stuck in freeze response and depression over the genocides and the state of the world (climate change, late stage capitalism, rising fascism and authoritarian surveillance) . The attacker is too strong and I don’t have anything to leverage. It’s not about me as an individual (all in all I’m so privileged: I’m food and house kinda secure and not under bombs), it’s about the collective. I can’t seem to manage to gather myself to be the person I need to be in this world. As much as I love therapy, I have not found the resources for collective trauma. If anyone has resources for that, I’d appreciate.

[@charobautista2446]

Myriam, your comment really touched me. Thanks I read it in... "a good day", because I also feel overwhelmed by those thoughts sometimes 😢 I try to look closer (very, very close) and try to make the little space around me a better place, with the "right" principles I believe in (respect for every person -that doesn't mean respect for every idea-). I hope you find some solace in this videos and reflecting time. My best wishes 😘

[@myriamfaraj]

@@charobautista2446❤

[@TheLiberaceTheory]

I’d love to see a video on social skills and scripting for autistic people

[@kierstymiller6305]

300 seconds!! No wonder I'm always late! 🤦‍♀️✌️❤️

[@leehayes4019]

Visual timer, thats nifty

[@elizabethramsey9295]

Both of my parents had time blindness. My dad always wore a watch but my mom refused to wear one because she thought smart people always know what time it is. So in the military there’s a saying “If you’re early you’re on time. But if you’re on time you’re late”

[@Miguel_El_Chileno]

I wish i knew more about this 15-20-25 years ago, I am 44 years old and have autism,

[@susaville]

My husband has this. If he's chatting with someone, time just simply doesn't exist.

[@Axterrix]

I am 67 in my case this is slightly different. I don’t know which hour of the day it is and in which day I live. of course I don’t know the month and year. I have an obsession with watches. I tried to control the time through the watches since I was little.. But even applying the strategies you have told I had a very hard time in my life because of this problem. Thank you for the tactics to deal with the problem.

[@brandonbuchert5259]

I struggle with this at work. A job I’ve done 1000 times still takes me longer than everyone else. I’m afraid I get perceived as slow, lazy and stupid but I genuinely can’t understand how time flew by so fast when I look back at that job. Like it’s so defeating and I’m starting to lose hope that it will ever be fixed

[@nyuuuchan]

I have to start getting ready 3h before leaving the house... manage to get NOTHING done the whole day, in anticipation of an afternoon appointment 😭

[@Hmy8799]

Thank you SO SO MUCH for these ADHD videos🩵🩵🩵 Unfortunately due to physical health conditions, I’ve experienced much MORE severe ADHD after becoming an “adult” (and I was already considered to fall in the “severe” area on the adhd spectrum according to the 4 psychiatrists who tested me at different points, haha). The way you word things is incredibly helpful, and it’s so great to use your podcast or a video like THIS and show it to my mom in order to help her better understand what I experience (she’s been my rock throughout the health roller coaster I’ve been on due to all of the chronic illnesses and autoimmune conditions I’ve been dealing with since the end of college). I don’t know how to properly put it into words so that she can actually understand (due to me being emotionally tied to the situation I think)-so the way you put things in a way that someone who’s never experienced true time blindness (in this instance) can understand-has really helped us get passed that barrier of misunderstanding. I truly cannot thank you enough. Both for what these videos provide for myself, and for how much it helps both my mom and me so that we can communicate in a more positive and productive way! 💚💚💚💚💚

[@pyry624]

This was useful, thanks!

[@kiranjoshi6721]

For me, time has been frozen since 2020.

[@marcse7en]

Maybe put a NEW BATTERY in your clock? ⏰👍🤣 Glad I could help!

[@loobylou5457]

Since lockdown?

[@neelsnprayer]

You're amazing!!!

[@js119]

Awesome. So helpful. Thank you.

[@SuperMar10GalaxyBro]

🎉 I like this new shirt!! 😊

[@waynegerhart5570]

I wish every one of my school teachers could have watched this. Especially the ones that would "break through the noise in my head only to be standing at my desk saying "WELL?"...

[@lezup]

I stress about figuring out what time to call my Uber to get places on time.

[@katiecat5500]

OMG! This is so much me!

[@Sprinklgrl]

I feel like giving symptoms a term like that eventually evolves into us viewing them as an unchangeable personality trait rather than something that can be worked on and practiced and trained like a skill. We should just call it “issues with telling time”

[@astonishingmelanie]

Thank you!

[@tina1061]

I'm still doubtful of me having time blindness but the amount of strategies that I kept up with when I was a teen is basically a part of the list and the less known ones are the ones I use now 😅😂 Call me addicted to my phone for playing videos while showering and having to have a familiar video/content creator in the bg while I'm doing work but I can literally live without my phone if society don't need em 😅😂

[@morgadoapi4431]

Thanks for the great video

[@KaMiQa16]

Love them, I really care about not being late so I end up being ready 1-2 h too early and sitting and waiting for the time to come, which stresses my husband as he doesn't even started to get ready :D it is also hard for me to estimate how many hours is between 2 times when using only AM and PM system: how much time you have between 10:45 and 4:17 - I have no idea..

[@gen_li7725]

The only thing I’ve ever gotten in trouble for, since I was a child, is being late. And because I’m so anxious, I’m always just a couple minutes late, and I’m rushing to get where I’m going on time. Trying to be on time has been one of the most challenging things I’ve dealt with, and it’s also one of the most humiliating things for me because everyone assumes I’m lazy, unreliable, and careless just because I’m a few minutes late. It’s demoralizing and makes me kinda resent society. I feel like a fish being reprimanded for not climbing a tree

[@CindaMurphyRealEstate]

I have started a timer on my phone hundreds of times and I completely forget that I am timing myself. Days later, I will pull up the timer and it’s got 56 hours on it. I wish someone would come up with an app that has my voice someone else’s and it will come on every 10 minutes and say “are you still working on that report? How’s it going?” I wish that that same app would offer different awards/rewards. I don’t like closing a circle. That does nothing for me. It does not resonate with me as a reward. It feels like a chore. I’d rather have a bar graph 📊 where every time I do a task, it vibrates and makes a fun little noise 🎉 and fills in the bar gradually (or all at once). Rewards throughout the task or day help things move along cause I’d want that bit of praise and dopamine. I wish I knew an app developer!!! I could help a lot of people! 😂

[@Zichqec]

the thing about analog clocks is, you don't need mental math... you only need math if you're trying to pin down a precise number. they're better used as a way to say "hey, look, i can quickly see visually that the hour is halfway through". they're more like a progress bar. If anything, analog clocks are the ones that don't require math, and digital clocks are the ones that do 😅 I personally suck at analog clocks because i didn't really learn to read them that way when I was young, and now I just don't have many of them around me. But I heard that from technology connections and it was kind of a lightbulb moment for me. I'd like to pick up an analog clock one day

[@Zichqec]

like....... you said analog clocks bad, but then you showed something that performs the same function as an analog clock ??? 😂 i feel like we need to spread awareness of how you're supposed to actually use the things...

[@Mabelliot]

i think correction: experience the passage of time differently. I think it's not "doesn't experience the passage of time", its not "people with ADHD don't perceive the future." It's not "she had no concept of 5 minutes". It's a *difference* in time perception

[@Kb84903]

I just missed an event (although I set an alarm on my calendar) because the meeting before it took 4 hours rather than 2. Then, I forgot that I had the event. I don’t remember when I ignored the alarm when I was hyperfocusing in the meeting.😢

[@Jo-Anne.Clarke]

Instead of a play list, I use the 9 minute snooze on my smartphone alarm. I have no idea of 20 minutes. So I label the alarm “Two snooze buttons till I leave”. That’s 18 minutes. When the alarm goes off the third time I drop everything, grab my purse and run to the door (that takes 2 minutes. 18+2=20). I have successfully used 3 snooze buttons (to measure ½ hour) but more than this and I loose track of counting the times I’ve pushed the button.

[@charobautista2446]

😂 Great

[@rosemary4608]

I have this 😢I can’t get anything done in time

[@dariuskx]

Alternatively, "Time Blindness" is a by-product of the fact that we are often instrumentalised. Counting minutes is not (necessarily) a natural way to live. It is a way of living imposed on us in a society where we have to do something for someone else in a specific way and at a specific time. Perhaps we're starting to ignore schedules and temporal demands because the scale at which we're now alienated is reaching a threshold. This may also explain why more people are either being diagnosed with ADHD or showing "symptoms" of it.