"It Can't Be Time Already?"

6 Comments: "It Can't Be Time Already?"

1. “It seems to be an attempt to convince the person with ADHD of the notion that, “With a LOT OF EFFORT, you, too, can become neurotypical and “time aware”! NOPE! It doesn’t happen that way! ”

   “I think I need a time blindness guide dog!” 🙂

   This.

   Also: The only thing that *does* work for me is my internal clock, which works unconsciously. Maybe it can be trained as a guide dog if I trust it more. It does not learn from external timers.

2. I am admittedly, very much “time blind”. These suggestions are good, but, to be truthful, they don’t really “mesh” well with the ADHD brain. I have gone through nearly or ever one of these things, sometimes together and sometimes separately. It seems to be an attempt to convince the person with ADHD of the notion that, “With a LOT OF EFFORT, you, too, can become neurotypical and “time aware”! NOPE! It doesn’t happen that way!

   I believe that “we” (who have ADHD related time blindness) need surgery. We need a device, externally programmable, that is like the cochlear implant, the internal cardiac defibrillator, the insulin pump, and so on–to “poke” our brain at the times we need “poking”. I have set “repeating” alarms, and (eventually), they only annoy me for going off every hour and needing to be shut off. I have used reminders on my phone, my laptop and everywhere I can access a technical device with multiple “apps” to do so. I have used TWO kitchen timers. My phone has 3 or 4 “timing” apps, including an audible “count-down” app (which drains the battery so mich that I must have the phone on the charger to use it.

   I keep a calendar, a journal, a reminder list, sticky notes–you name it. AND, I still have difficulties (and a lot of stress) when it comes to “time” activities. There really are not “glasses” to help me “see” time much better than I already do. An “Alexa” might be very helpful, but only at home; I couldn’t take an “Alexa” with me wherever I go. If my phone battery didn’t drain so fast (with all the reminder apps I already have), perhaps “Siri” would be useful for reminders. (I don’t use Siri, generally.)

   Those are just muy thoughts on my own experience of time blindness.

   One question: Does the writer of this article HAVE time blindness, if so, how severe is the “blindness”? Do these strategies work for someone who is severely time blind, as I am? (I think I need a time blindness guide dog!)

3. I have always had clocks in every room, even hourglasses with sand and so on. I have pomodoro timers.

   This is the main symptom from which I began to realize I have ADHS.

   But: I do not hear the alarms. I even wake up before the alarm clock rings and turn it off, then sleep on.
   I look at the clocks and do not see the time.
   I start the Pomodoro app and do not notice it until 3 in the morning, though it is beeping and ringing all the time.
   I spend a day setting it up with custom timing and nice colors, then let it run for a few days, then forget all about it for weeks.
   I started a calendar/notebook just to try for 1 main task a day. Write down a schedule for the day???? This worked fine for about a week. Now the last entry is three months ago.

   If I try to leave the house a half hour early, I can’t find my keys, or my mask, or my wallet and then spend an hour looking for things. I now pack my bags on the day before leaving for a trip. Sometimes it takes until five the next morning.

   I spent a week picking out focus apps for my pc, then had to break them every time I used them because they blocked what I was supposed to do.

   If my boyfriend is with me when I am supposed to be working, either I do things for him, start cooking dinner, tell him stories, or get mad at him if he tries to remind me to work. As a last resort, I go to the bathroom, then start doing the laundry.

   The only thing that does work is my internal clock, which works unconsciously and as a last resort. Without that, I would never have held a job or caught a train.

   My mother is a model for ADHD, and for her also, missing some things was not an option. She ran her life with a mental to-do list that was always ticking away. Now at 90 she still has a super memory of whom she wants to call or write to, all in her head and on tons of little notes, and is just learning to relax.

   I am not that diligent, but still hoping to get a system going that will let me have a “mind like water” (David Allen from GTD). GTD is not a system but a method of “growing” a unique system for yourself. So maybe one day my unconscious mind will learn …

4. Many of the articles on this site describe me pretty well, but this one is 100% me!

5. Virtual assistant devices (Amazon Alexa, Google Home, etc) have really helped in our house. My son gets reminded through his morning routine and out the door, instead of us nagging him to keep moving.

6. “Tomorrow” used to be my favorite word, before I fully realized I had ADHD. I think I will try out “Today” and see if I can get comfortable with it.