I never changed my time clock at home and got up the exact same time I normally would, I also forgot how many minutes I set it so I was getting out of the house earlier than it was actual on the clock. I had a issuse with being late;and this is the only way I solved it. I also had prepare my lunch or clothing the night before going to sleep so I didn't lose time in the morning. I also tried showering at night or to relax a long bath . It helped me sleep and I got up when the clock rang. The clock is on the highest level and across the rooom . It will ring for a hour or more so I had to get out of bed to shut it off. I then would have to go to the bathroom because I was up. So there isn't any point in going back to sleep. I stop drinking caffeine after 2pm so I am not wired and have white noise on so I am not hearing the other erronous noises.In the morning don't let anything distract you getting out on the road to get to work. I know people who coffee maker automatically turns on. etc, so if you need time in the morning make sure you set clock to get breakfast all in. I am trying to stay organized so if I need to do things like bills shredding etc. I do It when I get home and straighten up the small stuff when I get home. Any major issues like redoing the room decor has to wait until the weekend. Make sure you go to sleep at a reasonable time and leave a enough time for what ever you need to do so you leave your house on time.... NO TV in the AM etc. have your tv set to record the evening is the time for the extra like setting a show in the day etc. Since doing this I have been in a 4 mo period was late 2 times and that is because I had car trouble ; and had to take a train missed the one to get me there at 7 ; and my daughter being sick. . If 8:30 works for you go with it if it better to be 10minutes early than 20 minutes late. This company sounds they are trying to work with you so let them know you will improve and do so. The work enviroment is so bad out there losing a job to tardiness will be really bad; and companies are looking for reasons. GOOD LUCK!!!! and make sure you get enough sleep so if your bed time is 8-6 get it. 9-5 or 9-6 what ever you need... don't stay awake to 3am unless it Friday and you have the weekend off. (Judi)

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I agree with ADD RN it's not the time you get to work. It's the clocks at home that need to be adjusted. it's on you to get to work on time. You can get up earlier. You can move all clocks ahead 5 min. At first you notice it. But eventually you get ahead of schedule. My boss complains I am always early... it's better to be early than late.

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I Just went through this. Im a nurse (for 35 yrs), excellent nurse (told by superiors), seldom ever call out of work, yet punching in every am 1 min - 10 mins late daily.my husband set my alarm clock and car clock ahead so that I have an idea of the time but not exactly. Never worked. Still late.I've also stayed up all night (still do sometimes)fearful I'd oversleep and be late for work.. Problem is I fell asleep an hour before time to get out of bed.The alarm sounded, and it was very hard to awaken, and late for work. Finally,after receiving repeated disciplinary actions due to lateness to work, I decided to inform my superiors that I have ADD. I don't really think it was a shock. I requested accomodations. My psych MD wrote a great letter explaining that I am a high functioning ADD adult, and have a difficult time in am due to A.M. medications not effective yet. Met with human resources and D.O.N., and requested that I be given reasonable accomodations (that doesn't cause undue harship to the workplace) due to my ADD. At first they refused to grant the 10 mins lax time in am but eventually approved my official work time to begin 30 mins later than it had been. Amazing as it seems, I have only been late a couple times since this began 6 months ago. Incredible how we can psych our brains out to be on time to prove something. In over 40 years of being continiously employed, I never had to request accomodations. I was successfull and so far so good. ADDis me

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I am very happy to hear they realized they have a great nurse and decided to work with you. I am also an ADD Rn hence the name used ; but I wasn't so lucky with telling them about my ADD. I needed time off in early to late 2008 due to my daughter who had been homeschooled and when went to highschool having a great deal of anxiety. They fired me because I took time off if I needed to.They also used my record of lateness . I let them know I would do my best and even though I no longer needed to take so much time off they fired me . I feel it has to do with my years as a nurse so I made a very big salary. I found if I was so stressed I took Ambien and I would sleep . I found now since I am not working in the high stress of an ED . I am able to sleep without medication. Still trying to find employment , I'm just hoping they can look over my ADD . (Judi)

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Oh, the time clock is " so not our friend "!!! " TIME " start time, ending time , and in between time, is a constant challenge that just won't go away. The need to do "just 1 more thing" can be a real punctuality killer alone. To feel the accomplishment of being on time or heaven forbid, even early would feel so foreign, but GREAT. I also am still working on it as a 30yr. ++ hospital RN and there are many more of us out there! NO big projects, No TV, No later phone calls, To bed by a set time(earlier) is necessary. To have everything set out the night before,shower, and all is a must. I set 3 alarms out of arms reach, for different times. The first is set 30 min. before needing to get up and I have adderal and water right there to take. The past few weeks I have been setting my cell phone to alarm on vibrate starting 20 min before the 'reasonable for normal people ' time to leave. I don't shut off the alarm so it keeps reminding me every 5 min. : " Time to leave'' (It annoys me right out the door- on time hopefully) Car keys and ID badge have to be in plain view by other things to take to work, the night before, even if you have to tape them there to stay put. If I don't have it then, I can't take it, and I will STILL live through the day. And .....may you bless others with the many great ADHD qualities that you possess, including humor!!! Use your creative mind and then share what works . GOOD LUCK to you. You are not alone!

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You are definitely not alone. This has been a HUGE issue for me, all my life. In my late 40s I've just been diagnosed with ADD 9 months ago and with Aspergers 2-3 months ago. Adderall helps a lot! As does the counseling and EMDR work for Aspergers, abuse, neglect, ACOA, ISA, PTSD, rejection & victim issues, etc. etc. that help me handle my feelings & thought patterns that interfere with my getting to work.

Thanks to the other posters for ideas! I'll start doing those. Probably my key in the morning is to SIMPLIFY. And get to bed on time.

Being a very bright computer nerd, I'm also planning an assistive device / prosthetic / helper system for my house: along with being an alarm clock, automatically bringing up lights in the AM, etc. it would have sensors in various rooms. So if I e.g. get up, push the alarm-off button and go back to bed, it'd detect that and could play rousing music, motivational audio clips, etc. and eventually work up to shaking the bed, playing a mosquito whine, reminders about consequences, etc. It could detect whether there had been motion and humidity in the shower yet, responding with an audio reminder etc. if not.

I want this to be as much as possible a positive, firm, friendly helper -- a good parent that can help me when my brain isn't working yet in the morning and when I'm not conscious of time.

Something I picked up from the Barbara Coloroso video "Winning at Parenting Without Beating Your Children" is that it's not the severity of the consequence, it's the certainty. If I KNOW that going back to bed will result in lights, noise, etc. then I'll be a whole lot less likely to do it!

Ideas and suggestions are welcome! I'm hoping to work with DVR on this, and likely to do it as an open-source software project to help the most people.

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I can sympathize with chronic tardiness . For 16 years, my boss who put up with my lateness, forgetfulness, and general disorganization (because he had ADD too). Then he retired, and I got a new boss who took my lateness personally and went after me HARD. So hard, in fact, that I ended up with anxiety and a panic disorder on top of my ADD. After an extended medical leave, I returned to work armed with the following:

1. My husband, who has learned to coach/remind/nag/push me so I get to bed on time and out the door in the morning.

2. A multi-alarm wristwatch that alerts me to leave home in the morning, get to my meetings on time, drop out of hyperfocus, go home, and go to bed on time. I set the first alarm for 40 minutes before work starts (I live 25 min. from work) and the last alarm for 40 minutes before bed.

3. A PDA - a simple one - that holds my calendar appointments and acts as a second alert to appointments. My PDA calendar is backed up on my computer at work, so the same appointments show up on my desktop.

4. So I don't lose the PDA - a leather, zippered portfolio in which I can also carry pens, Post-It notes, and papers that I collect at meetings. I still forget to empty the folder with the papers, but I don't lose as many things as I used to.

5. I also use the alarm clock feature on my cell phone, as a third back-up alarm for getting out of the house and to work on time.

Oh, yeah - I also try to do some exercises as soon as I get out of bed, to wake my brain up. I take my meds just before I eat breakfast, so they have a chance to kick in by the time the first alarm buzzes (everything is set to vibrate, not ring, so I'm not calling attention to myself).

The biggest trick is turning everything around and learning to believe that you CAN, in fact, get there on time - with a little help from your friends.

I've thought about getting an i-Phone, so I don't have so much to tote around. BUT -- the beauty of my system is that, if I forget to take one or two of my devices to work, I still have back-ups and don't fall to pieces at work.

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Hello! I'm new to this site, but tardiness is an issue I struggled with. I discovered a site called Flylady! It is the most amazing site and completely free! Thousands of women belong to the site, just like us-men too-I would love to tell all about it but you have to see it to believe it. I just wanted someone to tell me "what" to do and "when" to do it, and this was it. I felt supported, encouraged, and not alone. There is also what is called "control journals" that are for children, students, budgeting, organizing, cleaning-you name it all spelled out, free, and printable, you can even order them ready made! There is soo much more on the site than what I put on here so check it out, and I pray that it can bless you as much as it has me. I also work for a chiropractor, and I've seen amazing results for ADHD, and ADD with chiropractic care. I currently talked with my boss regarding my own ADHD and we are coming up with a treatment plan-I am currently on med's but I still have an open mind to healthier alternatives for my treatment. Blessings to all, and check the site out-hope you can use it! Oh yeah, you also don't have to tell anyone else about it, you can take credit for being on time, organized, and much more "put together"! Have a great day!

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Hi everyone.! Well enough ADD guilt already! I was two weeks late being born, and have done quite a good job catching up.. usually only "10 - 20 minutes late", by non ADD standards. But let's be realistic here... who on earth made up a time schedule for accomplishing any meaningful task that had to start and end at a precise time??? I may be late by some clocks, but I sure don't bolt out of the building and leave a task undone at 5:00. How many people show up "on time" but "tuned out"? Their body is there, but that is about it. When I work, I am passionate about it, and I am sick and tired of trying to fit this energy into a pre-ordained time blockl Fellow ADDers, I know you relate to locking-in on a project - and putting everything you have into it, either on the job site, or at another location, (ie: home, in the car, half asleep...) until you are satisfied? In our hyper-focus phase we can do more in a few hours than most people do all day. So enough guilt and apologies. We will never be "on time" because we know it doesn't make one hell of a difference. We just have to play the game. If it is required, and you need to do it, then psyche yourself to hop into your car by a certain time, so you can listen to one of your books on tape, or what ever. But do it for you. Because the truth of the matter is that it really doesn't matter if you show up on time in the scheme of things, but it will matter to your boss.

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I do understand your point; and I wish I had the type of job where they appreciate the outcomes and didn't care when you were late. However unfortunately being a nurse and responsible to relieve another nurse who just worked 12 hour shift in a very busy trauma center the minutes late was not appreciated by them. I unerstand them too because after a very hectic 12 hour shift I was very irritable if I had to wait for someone who was late to be relieved. If I worked at say the Prudential center where my creative ways are appreciated, as long I made the meeting I needed to be at, is it safe to say it would be appreciated that I was late so as Iong I produce due to the ability to hyperfocus. In the world it is unfortunate but if we are employed we must work to the constrants of their agenda. If they can't let you be in at a certain time then you must figure a way to work and be on time. I had to come up with a few ways to get to work on time because I am responsible for the keeping of my job. If I have flexable time then I am happy because I can come and go when I choose. In this work enviroment you have a choice if you are willing to change be on time or risk the chance of being let go. It not easy now to find a job ; and many of them aren't paying you what you are worth (Judi)

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Hi Add-Rn and others, I am so happy to hear from you, and I totally see what you are saying... The whole picture changes when you are relieving someone of their duties. When we are not there to pick up our part of the job, it turns in to a very selfish thing, which is never good. In these cases, we never want to be a "hurray for me - the hell with you" kind of person. Obviously, you care, or you wouldn't be in the health care profession! I apppreciate your ideas! Linda

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I hate time clocks, too. I hate schedules in general, and the ones at work are insane! We are allowed 2 ten-minute breaks, and a 30-minute lunch in an 8-hour day! What idiot came up with that standard? It had to be a man! Just being a woman puts us at a disadvantage, because 10 minutes is not enough time to clock off your computer, and your phone, walk to the restroom, do your business, go to the break room and eat a snack, and then walk back to your desk and sign back in. If you have certain physical problems that cause the need for longer, or more frequent bathroom breaks, you've wrecked your break schedule long before the afternoon is over.

But, my biggest problem is being late to work almost every day. I'm constantly being called on the carpet, being written up, and threatened. I have been successful in evading termination because I often skip lunch or stay late to make up time, but I can sense my supervisor is getting fed up. I've been recently diagnosed with IBS, which causes a big part of my problem, because of last minute dashes to the bathroom, when I should be headed out the door. I also have panic attacks, which have been getting more frequent lately, even at work. I'm living in fear of being terminated. I don't know what I would do if I get fired at my age.

I'm hoping some of the hints I've seen here on the forums might work for me. I know I need to schedule my time better, and get to bed much earlier than I do, and I can see many areas for improvement. I haven't been professionally diagnosed with ADD, but on those self-tests, I'm off the charts. I've been this way all my life. I'm pretty sure at least 2 of my sons are ADHD, and possibly a daughter is ADD, but I wouldn't be surprised if all 6 of my children have it.

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