You're Not Lazy, You're Time Blind: Understanding Time Blindness in ADHD and Autism

Let me tell you a story: My husband and I were doing a workout video together when the instructor told us to hold a plank pose for one minute. Sounds simple enough, right?

I got into position, ready to plank the plankiest plank you ever saw. A minute went by, and I dropped down, proud of myself for having done it…until I glanced over at my husband. He was still holding it.

The competitive streak in me kicked in at this point, and I re-assumed the plank position! There was no way he was going to beat me. I held it again for what felt like another minute and dropped down a second time. But…he was still going.

At this point, I'm thinking he's just being a show-off. There was no reason to hold it that long when all we needed to do was a minute. He’s competitive too (albeit, less competitive than me), and sure, maybe he’s stronger than me and in better shape than me, and maybe he just—

The timer beeped. One minute. One minute.

I hadn't held the pose for a minute once, let alone twice. I'd held it for maybe twenty seconds. Twice. My internal clock was just…in a time warp.

And that was the day I discovered how truly time blind I was.

What Is Time Blindness?

Okay, so, definition time: Time blindness is the experience of having difficulty intuitively feeling the passage of time, and it’s a really common part of the neurodivergent experience, especially for people with Autism, ADHD, or other neurodivergent traits.

It shows up in all kinds of ways: not knowing how long a task will actually take, showing up late (or ridiculously early) to things, completely losing track of time when you're focused on something. One second, you sit down to start a project or task, the next you look up and find the sun has gone down, you haven’t eaten in four hours, and you really need to pee.

But here's what you really need to know: time blindness isn't a personality flaw. It's not about being lazy or inconsiderate of other people's (or your own) time. It's about a true, real, genuine difficulty with feeling and managing time. Your brain literally processes time differently, which is a hallmark of ADHD and neurodivergent thinking.

The Real Impact of Time Blindness

My plank story is a classic example of time blindness in ADHD. But while the stakes were low in that situation, time blindness in ADHD and Autism can be really hard to deal with. Maybe you're chronically late. Maybe you miss deadlines. Maybe you feel rushed, anxious, and overwhelmed more often than not. Or you skip meals, forget to drink water. Basic self-care gets lost in the time void. Your productivity feels anything but productive, and your self-esteem takes hit after hit because you keep "failing" at something everyone else seems to do so easily.

It can be really, really exhausting. So let's talk about how to actually manage time blindness.

How to Manage Time Blindness

Do a time study – This is exactly what it sounds like: track how long it actually takes you to do things. While you can go the traditional route of writing down what you’re doing by setting a timer or recording the start and end time, there are tons of time-tracking apps that make this easy and allow you to track tasks in one click. To start, pick some common tasks like getting ready in the morning, doing laundry, writing an email, and time them. Do this a few times to get an average, and you’ll have real data instead of your brain's time blind guesses, so you can give real estimates about how long it will take you to do something!

Set alarms with labels for recurring routines – For daily routines like getting ready in the morning, set a series of labeled alarms to keep you on track. I actually used this myself when I found that I was late for work nearly every day. I wrote down every step of my morning routine, set an alarm anywhere from 5–15 minute intervals depending on the task, and labeled each alarm with the part of the routine I was up to. It drove my family crazy (sorry, guys), but it worked. I stopped being late, and over time, my mind learned how to do it without relying on the alarms. My family was very grateful for this bonus side effect.

Use timers for one-off tasks – Set a timer whenever you're doing something that doesn't happen every day or isn’t part of a routine. It can be for working on a project, taking a break, cleaning, anything (the number of times I’ve said “Alexa, set a timer for 5 minutes” while cooking…). Both timers and alarms externalize time awareness so you're not relying on your internal clock (which, let's be honest, is a bold-faced liar). Bonus if you use a really annoying alarm sound! This is not me being a sadist, I swear. You need something you can't ignore or tune out. If you're visual, try countdown timers or apps with progress bars.

Watch something in the background – If alarms aren’t your thing, that’s fine. Put a show on in the background! Or a movie. Or a CD (if you know what those are). Knowing the run time (aka how long the thing is) gives you an external anchor for time, and when it ends, you know the time block is up. The great thing about this is that you can use different shows/movies for different time blocks. Only have 20 minutes? Put on The Office. 45-minutes? Go for an episode of Ginny and Georgia. Oh? You have exactly 1 hour and 39 minutes? K-Pop Demon Hunters, don’t mind if I do.

Budget extra time for, well, everything – Tasks you enjoy fly by. Tasks you dread feel like they last forever (even a 1-minute plank). So default to giving yourself more time for things, especially those you really don’t feel like doing. So if something you think will take 30 minutes, automatically give yourself an hour (I give myself 2 weeks to put my clean laundry away…). And if it’s something you really love doing, make use of that timer because that hour will go by fast.

Tie transitions to behaviors, not time – Instead of "I'll start work in 30 minutes" (what even is 30 minutes?), try "I'll start work after I finish my coffee." This anchors your transitions to observable behaviors. I have zero concept of what 30 minutes feels like, but I know exactly when my coffee cup is empty…even if I drag it out sip by sip.

Body double with someone who isn't time blind – Body doubling means doing tasks in the presence of another person. It's been shown to improve focus and productivity, especially for people with ADHD. So use that time-sighted person’s internal clock to your advantage! They'll naturally move between tasks at appropriate intervals, and you can follow their lead. Just…don’t have the time, blind lead the time blind, okay? You’ll both get lost in the void.

Making Peace With Time Blindness

I may have just gone on and on about how hard time blindness can be, but here’s something important: there’s an upside, too. Time blindness is part of what lets you fall into hyperfocus and flow states, which are common in ADHD brains and neurodivergent minds. It’s behind those bursts of incredible productivity where you create something amazing in what feels like no time at all. And when you use strategies like these to manage the hard parts, you get to actually enjoy the good parts. You get to be fully present for what you’re doing without having to constantly check your watch or count every minute.

So when it gets difficult, I want you to remember: it’s okay to have self-compassion. It’s okay to give yourself grace. You're not doing this on purpose. You're not lazy. You're not dumb. You're not broken. This is just part of how ADHD and Autistic minds experience time differently. Your internal clock decided it wanted to be more of a Salvador Dali painting than a Rolex, and there's nothing morally wrong with that.

Besides, didn't Einstein show us that time is relative? You're just living that truth a little more literally than most.

Your Next Step: Start that Time Study

Listen, you are not lazy. You just have an internal clock that runs on its own special time. You deserve grace, not guilt, and the quickest way to reclaim your time is to stop guessing and start getting real data on how your incredible neurodivergent brain works.

Here is the first, single step you can take right now:

• Go grab your phone and open a new note. Pick just one routine (like your morning shower or loading the dishwasher). Use a timer to track the actual time it takes from start to finish, not the time you think it takes. This one little step is your first solid piece of evidence that you can leverage to gain control of time blindness.

Ready to stop struggling alone? If you’re tired of piecing together advice and want support that works for your brain, reach out today. I help neurodivergent adults and teens build customized, sustainable time management strategies tailored to your unique mind.