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For many people with ADHD, their perception of time is really disrupted, and this means that they can often have time blindness. The way that humans sense time is through a mixture of internal and external cues. Using these cues, a typical person can have quite an accurate sense of what time of day it is, how much time has passed and how much time there is before future events are going to occur.

Time blindness is a real difficulty in sensing the passing of time and it affects many aspects of a person’s life. It is like a sensory issue, rather than a disregard for time.

Although we don’t fully understand the process yet, the most widely accepted framework for time perception among researchers in the scalar expectancy theory (SET). SET describes time perception as being like an internal clock where time is measured out in pulse rate.

For most people, they can estimate reasonably accurately when one minute has passed because their brains know roughly how many times their heart beats in a minute. As that number of beats approaches, they intuitively feel as if the minute is almost up.

The brain combines this pulse information with other sensory messages, such as the level of brightness and temperature changes in their environment, to work out where they are in time and space.

Time blindness happens when that process is faulty, leading to problems that often get mislabelled as poor time management. This includes underestimating or overestimating how fast time has passed, how long a task will take, or how much time is left before an event. It can lead to always missing deadlines or arriving late, even when you are looking forward to something. It can make it hard to make a realistic schedule or stick to one.

It can mean constantly losing track of time. It can show in more subtle ways, too, such as having slow response or reaction times, difficulty adjusting speed of movement, and difficulty estimating how long ago an event happened, even with questions such as “When did you have your lunch?” It can feel like being in an internal present and it makes planning ahead very difficult. It can be hard to know how much time you would realistically need to meet deadlines, as you can’t anticipate accurately how long a complex task, like writing an essay, for example, will take.

People with ADHD consistently have challenges with perceiving time (estimating how much time has passed or how much time is left before a future event), time sequencing (correctly recounting the order in which events happened), and time reproduction (repeating a task for the same length of time that it occurred previously).

This could be one reason why people with ADHD do better with hot cognition tasks (highly emotional tasks).  One study showed that people with ADHD consistently performed worse on neutral perception tasks than the control group, as expected, but performed better than the control group on emotionally charged tasks.

There is a growing body of research which shows that the intense emotions which can end up disrupting cognitive functions in a non-ADHD brain are actually what an ADHD brain needs to get those same functions working efficiently.

The need for emotional stimuli to perceive time accurately is also confirmed by research which links time blindness in ADHD to dopamine deficiencies.

Therefore, time blindness in ADHD seems to be a combination of the brain failing to intuitively interpret sensory input such as pulse rate, light rate and temperature changes as indicators of time passing, and too low dopamine levels to trigger a conscious or intentional tracking of time.

There are good ways to cope with time blindness, luckily. Medication can certainly help because medication can boost dopamine and increase focus and executive function skills.

Also, developing time management strategies helps. You can consciously track time by using time tracking apps (such as Time Timer, Activity Timer or StayOnTask), or a spreadsheet, where you start timing yourself for tasks where you need a correct perception of time. When you start a task, you immediately log what time you started and then estimate how long you think it will take. You note when you stopped for breaks and what time you finished the task.

Quite quickly, this gives you very valuable information and self-knowledge, helping you to plan your future schedule, because it gives you a much more accurate picture of how long different tasks take. This is motivating as it also shows how much work has already been done and it is an excellent visual reminder.

Using a timing technique, such as the pomodoro technique, can also really help, as by working in short 45-minute chunks with a visual timer in front of you, it is possible to set short-term goals and work productively without losing focus. There are apps which help you stay off your phone, too, such as the forest app, or flora app, as the phone can be a significant distraction, especially for someone with ADHD. Putting the phone away in another room whilst working can also really help, so that clearer focus can be given to the work.

As time blindness may be linked to dopamine deficiencies, increasing dopamine levels can help this. Actions which increase dopamine include eating foods which are rich in B6, which include fish, chickpeas, bananas, oranges and dark leafy vegetables; going out into the sunlight, as sunlight stimulates neurotransmitters that can trigger the release of dopamine; and exercise, as this also stimulates the production of dopamine. Physical activity and natural light early in the day, particularly being in nature, can be a great start. However, overdoing exercise reduces dopamine so it is important to maintain a balance.

Because time blindness can mean losing track of time completely, setting timers can be extremely helpful, and having clocks so that it is easier to keep noticing the time. For example, when cooking, set a timer; when going on social media, set a timer so that not too much time is spent on it. Keep deciding in advance how long you want to spend on an activity, and set the timer, so that awareness of time is really well supported.

Multiple alarms or alarm clocks can be really useful, too. Some people find it helps to set a clock ten minutes fast – the shock value of the time gets you into gear earlier. Old fashioned analogue clocks can work better than digital clocks for some, because seeing the hands move is a great way of seeing time passing. Another strategy is to change the time that you associate with an event, so that you plan to always start getting ready half an hour before you need to leave, or that you plan to meet the work deadline at a time before it is needed. This can help you be more conscious of how long things take.

Including buffer time in a schedule is another important strategy, as with ADHD underestimating the time that you have to do a task is so common. For example, it might take double the time to write an essay than you think it will. This will prevent you from overloading your schedule and it means that important things will hopefully be completed without a panic, and appointments will be made on time. Anticipating difficulties and thinking things through carefully can really help, which means focusing enough on the planning.

For people with ADHD, listening to music can also improve the ability to perceive time, as well as helping with focus. Background music may provide an external cue for the brain to track time whilst focusing on another task, especially if it is music which you enjoy, as that will help with the emotional stimulation too, which can help to engage the time perception system. It could also be used as a timer, as you could make a playlist that lasts for an hour, for example, and work to that, and have playlists which are for different set lengths of time.

Frequent rewards while or after you work can also help, as well as breaking work down into smaller, manageable sections.

Positive breaks and rewards could include a chat with a friend, having done some work, or even working with a friend next to you, to help you stay on track and prompt you if you start to daydream. A friend can also prompt you when you need to change activities. To help you be more aware of time, be aware of which activities suck you in and cause a waste of time, so that you can avoid this happening.

Try to have a routine with breakfast, lunch and an evening meal at similar times, so that the day is naturally broken into sections, and the balance of being awake and then sleeping is more of a healthy habit. Getting into bed on time and having enough sleep is a big part of a successful morning. Having activities with others will help with this.

Allowing for free time also helps, because then your calendar doesn’t feel like a straitjacket, and you are more likely to follow your schedule if you have some flexibility.

Professor Barkley also writes about the importance of setting reasonable, specific, well-defined goals for both the short and long terms. When you do this, you end up with a plan for each day, week and month, which is easier to follow and is satisfactory. Having support with this from a coach is often really helpful here, at any age.

As an adult, following your passion will also help with achievement and success. It could be that there is a career in which time blindness is less important, or where it is supported, especially if working creatively or in a team with others.

Daydreaming can be an important part of being a writer or an artist, and working with others can also be extremely motivating to people with ADHD, such as in a medical team, in sport, and in the creative industries, so it is often about balancing the different parts of our personalities, finding the positive and interesting in what we are doing, building on our strengths, managing our weaknesses, and thus leading our lives in a way which works really well.

Time blindness can be managed and time management and more awareness of time can be learnt, and so actually someone with ADHD doesn’t need to be held back.

Frequently, those with ADHD are entrepreneurs, and leaders because of their energy and enthusiasm, and if they have a good team around them, there can be great success.

Author. J Bayley

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