What Time Is It???

The other day I was talking to a fellow ADHDer, and we noticed that we have something in common:  neither of us have a good grasp of time (time? what's that?). We found that we both can never judge how much time it takes us to get ready for something, and so we are frequently late because we don't know when we should start getting ready.

I got thinking about this, and started wondering about it. Are people with ADHD always late because they're always procrastinating? Or is the root of the problem simply that they can't tell time? I dug up my copy of Adventures in Fast Forward:  Life, Love, and Work for the ADD Adult by Kathleen G. Nadeau and found the section on time management. This is what I found under "chronic lateness":


"Chronic lateness is such a strong pattern among adults with ADD [note that ADD and ADHD are considered the same thing] that it is almost a hallmark of the disorder. This pattern is, of course, closely related to other time-management pitfalls. Lateness can occur due to:

1. Scheduling your day too tightly:  There's not enough time to be on time. ...
2. Overfocusing:  Some people find they are repeatedly late for appointments because they overfocused on an activity and lost track of the time. [done that] ...
3. Disorganization:  Another ADD pattern leading to late arrival is lack of advanced planning and organization; the process of getting ready to depart for an appointment, including gathering the items that will be needed for that meeting, isn't even begun until it is time to depart. [also done that] ...
4. Squeezing in 'just one more thing':  Many adults with ADD report that they are repeatedly late because they are always trying to do 'one more thing' before leaving for their appointment, or they may even try to squeeze in an errand on the way. ...
5. Getting sidetracked:  Although it may sound contradictory, often when an adult with ADD has too much time before a scheduled event, he or she is even more likely to be late. [guilty as charged] ..."

Sound familiar?  Does to me. I've been like this my entire life. My dad used to say that I have "no concept of time." So what to do? I'm still figuring that out myself, but I have found that while setting the clock a little fast does not work (I always remember that it's fast), writing down that you have to be there fifteen minutes earlier than you're really supposed to be there does help. (This way if I'm always ten minutes late, I end up still being five minutes early. Pretty clever, no?).