Some mornings I wake up and think, “I’ve got all day.”
Then I blink, and it’s already dark.
Other times, I sit down to write for 10 minutes, and it stretches into something that feels endless. Not productive. Just… stretched. Warped.
This is what ADHD does to time.
It doesn't just make us “late” or “lazy.” It breaks our internal clock — in quiet, invisible ways. It makes time feel flat, like a gray blur instead of a series of moving parts. It erases the natural pressure we need to get started. It disconnects action from urgency. It turns schedules into stories we can’t hold onto.
“Time Blindness” Is Real — and It’s Brutal
I used to beat myself up for missing things: deadlines, trains, lunch.
But the truth is, I didn’t ignore them.
I just… didn’t feel them coming.
Time blindness — the clinical name for this — means the future doesn’t feel real until it crashes into the present. It means that 4 PM isn’t 3 hours away; it’s not even there until it’s too late.
And it’s exhausting. Not just for us, but for everyone around us.
Planning vs. Feeling
One of the hardest parts of having ADHD is the gap between what I know and what I feel.
I know it’s 2:35 PM.
I know I have a call at 3:00 PM.
I know I should probably prepare.
But emotionally?
I don’t feel like anything is happening.
There’s no tension, no timer, no shift in gears.
So I scroll. Or I start something new. Or I wander off.
And then at 2:59 PM — panic.
I’m not lazy.
I’m not careless.
I’m just untethered from time.
Why Traditional Time Tools Don’t Work (For Us)
I’ve tried all the calendars.
All the apps.
All the alarms.
And honestly? Most of them made it worse.
Because:
- Alarms feel like punishment.
- Timers feel like stress bombs.
- Schedules feel like lies I tell myself and break daily.
They assume time feels linear and logical. But for me — and maybe for you — time is neither.
I needed something softer. Something visual. Something that didn’t demand discipline, but gently invited presence.
Rebuilding My Relationship with Time
What’s helped me isn’t “better planning.”
It’s better sensing.
Seeing time in shapes, not numbers.
Breaking my day into small, visible pieces.
Letting myself feel where I am, not just know.
For me, that means turning time into dots. Into colors. Into progress I can see, even when I can’t explain it.
That’s why I started building my own tools.
Not to fix myself — but to finally hear what my brain’s been trying to say.
“Don’t yell at me to hurry up. Show me where I am.”
If You Struggle With Time Too…
I see you.
I see the missed messages, the forgotten errands, the chronic guilt of “wasting” hours you didn’t even realize were passing.
You’re not broken.
You just need time to speak your language.
And if no one’s made that for you yet —
Maybe it’s time we start making it for ourselves.
If this resonates, I’d love to hear how you experience time. I’m not here to offer perfect solutions — just a space to talk honestly about how weird and nonlinear life can be when you have an ADHD brain.
You’re welcome at MyMindfulKit.com. We’re building soft tools for sharp minds.