Time Blindness and ADHD: Tips to Plan Ahead for College

Article written by Executive Functioning Therapist, Juliet Gutierrez, LCSW.

Starting college can be both exciting and overwhelming. It’s a period of many firsts and newfound freedoms. From balancing academics, meeting new friends, building your daily schedule, and navigating independent living for the first time. Phew! Perhaps just reading this list brought up some anticipation and anxiety. Starting college can feel like an exciting adventure with no compass or clear trail for guidance.

If you have ADHD, you may face an added challenge: Time Blindness. It’s like hiking without a watch or losing track of where you are on the trail over and over. The intention to start and complete the task is present, yet the execution of this plan rarely occurs. You are not lazy, and you are not alone. Many people with ADHD struggle with feeling like they’re in a constant state of playing catch-up. Unable to anticipate and meet deadlines can feel like moving from one crisis to the next. 

The good news is that there's hope for things to be different. Knowing our struggles is essential to making a plan for success. In this article, we’ll explore what Time Blindness is, how it shows up in college, and share some practical ADHD-friendly strategies to help you stay oriented and steady for this first year and beyond with greater ease and confidence. 

What is Time Blindness?

Time Blindness is a term coined by Psychologist Dr. Russell Barkley, a leading expert and researcher on ADHD. Time blindness refers to the difficulty in perceiving and managing one's internal sense of time to guide behavior. Although not an official diagnosis, time blindness is a symptom of ADHD. 

Time blindness can manifest as losing track of time, chronic tardiness, procrastination, and underestimating the time required to complete a task. Many interpret this as a character flaw rather than a neurological disorder. Dr. Barkley states, “ADHD is at its heart a nearsightedness to the future - just as people who are nearsighted can only read things up close, people with ADHD can only deal with things near in time, now is more compelling.” 

If you can’t anticipate the future, it's harder to prepare for what's to come. Without planning for what's next, impulse control and delaying immediate gratification might feel impossible. 

You may have believed that you just needed to improve your time management skills. Yet, if we apply an ADHD lens, it's not that simple; time management requires attention management and the use of executive functioning skills. Executive functioning skills are the skills we use daily to manage our emotions, solve problems, and guide our behavior to meet our goals. A helpful metaphor is to imagine your executive functioning system as the conductor of an orchestra, and your abilities, such as task initiation, organization, motivation, planning, and time management, as the musicians. 

When the conductor is working effectively, the correct music is selected, and the musicians are playing on tempo, resulting in a harmonious performance. In the ADHD brain, the musicians are all still there, with their talents and abilities intact. Yet, the music does not come together and often feels disjointed. With an underpowered conductor, the brain has greater difficulty integrating the skills necessary for effective time management. These are all impacted by ADHD and Time Blindness. 

Why Time Blindness Hits Hard in College

Those with ADHD often report the intention to start and complete tasks. Still, these intentions frequently fail to translate into action. This repeated sense of failing to execute one's purpose can lead to higher stress and anxiety levels. Over time, this can diminish self-esteem and confidence. 

Yes, college is a big transition, and you're more than capable of succeeding. Here is where we start to chart a path for this new adventure. Once we can anticipate the challenges ahead, we can plan for potential obstacles that may arise. In High School, there were many guideposts and markers along the way toward graduation. These included a set daily schedule, bells and whistles to help move between classes, and reminders from teachers and parents. In college, those supports are gone, and it can be easy to lose track of time. Dr. Barkley states that people with ADHD struggle with doing what they know versus not knowing what to do. 

You may start your day off thinking, "I have time to finish this", only to realize the day has passed. Again, it's about execution, not intention. The multiple tasks of laundry, homework, socializing, and managing meals are all competing for your attention. Assignments that are further in the future are less likely to be completed until the last minute. 

The structure and support of High School may be gone, but you can create your scaffolding of support that will give you a greater chance of success. Testing out and integrating these recommendations can serve as a map and compass to navigate this new adventure. It's not about perfection, but planning for challenges that lie ahead can increase self-trust and confidence. 

10 ADHD-Friendly Strategies to Manage Time Blindness in College

Consider Medication Support: The decision to take medication is a personal one and should be discussed with your healthcare professional. Medication is not suitable for everyone and should not be considered a cure-all. Stimulant medication has been shown to substantially improve emotion regulation, attention, and executive functioning skills such as task initiation, while also reducing time blindness. For college students, this may translate into starting longer-term projects earlier on, focusing for more extended periods, and being connected to your internal sense of time, navigating your inner compass with more intention and follow-through. If you are already taking medication, connecting to your provider over the summer to check in on your dosage may be helpful. Whether or not you choose to take medication, it can be beneficial to know what support is available to you. 

Connect to On-Campus Supports: There are many on-campus resources, such as the Student Disability Center or academic support centers, designed to serve as a guide for students. Asking for help and accessing these resources is your right, and connecting early on can provide you with access to essential accommodations, such as extended test-taking time, priority registration for classes, or support for note-taking. Early registration can lead to better academic outcomes and prevent you from feeling like you're scrambling to register for classes. Connecting with those who know the trail, such as your freshman advisor and tutoring office, can help you identify where to find support before it's needed. 

Use the ERO Method (Event → Response → Outcome)

Dr. Russell Barkley identified the ERO method as an approach to bring the intended outcome into the NOW. Start to see tasks as events - the things that are coming your way. The response is the action you need to take, which will result in the intended outcome. 

It can be hard not to judge oneself as lazy or irresponsible for waiting until the last minute to start on projects that were assigned weeks ago. The ERO method helps bring rewards and consequences into the present. 

Here's a basic outline:

Event - What’s coming up

Response - What you need to do now to prepare 

Outcome - What will happen because you acted 

An example in college might look like this:

Event: English paper due in two weeks

Response: Write for 15-20 minutes every day

Outcome: Feel more confident, less stress and anxiety, and avoid an all-nighter the day before. 

An additional tip is to shorten the time between the event and the reward (grade). For someone with ADHD, it may be harder to act on distant deadlines, so combining your response (action taken) with an immediate reward, such as a 10-minute break or a favorite snack, can help reinforce this desired behavior. Over time, your brain begins to connect the action today with the outcome for tomorrow. It’s like taking the next step on your hike instead of feeling stuck starting at the mountaintop. 

Chunk large assignments into micro-tasks

With time blindness, there is difficulty in underestimating the amount of time a task will take to complete. Larger projects that are further in the future can be more challenging to start. Breaking a larger assignment into smaller achievable parts helps them feel more manageable and creates a sense of urgency. As you complete your micro-tasks, your brain taps into the feeling of accomplishment, which can help maintain motivation and self-confidence.

An example from college is being assigned a 20-page research paper due in four weeks. You should break this project into small milestones with micro-tasks. 

For example: 

Week 1: Choosing the topic and selecting your sources

Week 2: Developing your outline and introduction

Week 3: Writing your first draft

Week 4: Revising and editing your paper

You can adjust the order of your tasks as needed. Make sure to add these micro-tasks to your calendar with alarms and schedule specific time slots. Keeping time blindness in mind, you would want to overestimate the time needed for each task, creating a time buffer if needed. 

Externalize Time

Increasing awareness of offloading time through the use of visible clocks, countdown timers, and calendars can free up mental space. For example, rather than working until you’re burnt out, you can actively set a countdown timer to take a study break every 15 minutes. Inputting your syllabus into your Google calendar with reminders for important upcoming assignments and daily tasks can help increase the likelihood that you will remember. You may still have the urge to silence your alarm when it goes off, so setting multiple alarms and pairing them with the other tools listed can help further bring the future consequences into the now.

Set Your Clocks Ahead by 15–20 Minutes

As simple as it sounds. Setting your phone, microwave, or car clock ahead of time helps reduce lateness and create a sense of urgency. In a way you are tricking the mind not to fall behind. Arriving at your destination earlier can give you built-in time to settle in, respond to an email, or take a breath before your day starts. Over time, arriving at places on time with enough time to spare can help reduce stress and anxiety levels. Minimizing tardiness can also improve relationships, as it helps you avoid constantly apologizing to friends and family for making them wait. 

Use Social Accountability
Think about the last time you were worried about turning in your portion of a group project, meeting with your teacher about a late assignment, or having your caregivers ask about a chore you didn’t do. If the thought of this brings up worry or pressure you're not alone. We want to tap into this healthy social pressure and utilize it as a form of accountability. Having external accountability through the use of study groups, meeting with your professor during office hours, roommate check in, texting a friend your goal for the day or even asking your therapist to hold you accountable on your goals can bring some healthy urgency to starting and completing tasks. 

Make an “If…Then” Plan
Having a pre-planned action plan for when distractions arise can give your brain the permission to adjust in real-time, rather than feeling stuck and fighting with yourself to “get it together.” For example if I get distracted by social media I will put my phone away for 20 minutes or head to the library. Suppose I don't understand a concept after three attempts. In that case, I will go to the tutoring center or see my professor during office hours. If I need more support, I will ask for help. A cope ahead plan can decrease self-blame, procrastination, and the feeling of being stuck. 

Recognize Physiological Cues and Build Self-Awareness

Because time-blindness is about struggling to identify your internal sense of and usage of time, increasing your self-awareness through body cues can bring you into the present moment. Connecting you to time by getting better at noticing when you're off task, doom-scrolling, or procrastinating. You have a better chance to course correct in the moment. When you can identify what is happening in the now with physical cues like feeling restless, bored, or zoning out, you can gently redirect your behavior. You can pair these physical cues with concrete tools like getting up to stretch, drinking water, taking an intentional 5-minute break, moving rooms, a breathing exercise, using a fidget, anything that helps reset your brain. This will allow for you to refocus and recommit to the task at hand. Intention with execution. 

Consider working with an Executive Functioning Coach or Therapist: 

Working with a therapist can be beneficial in managing stress and anxiety levels, as they can help you connect to your values and goals for college and support you through the college transition process. Most colleges have a counseling center that provides short-term counseling free of charge as part of your tuition. In addition, connecting to an Executive Functioning coach can help illuminate the specific executive functioning skills you need to strengthen and tailor a plan to hold you accountable on improving these skills over time. 

Encouragement: Using Supports Is Strength, Not Weakness

Asking for and seeking out support can be a challenge. It can evoke feelings of inadequacy, self-blame, and self-doubt. I have worked with Adults and students who report feeling “weak” for needing help or see it as a personal failing of “not trying hard enough.”

In these moments, imagine how you would respond to a loved one or best friend who was asking for support or help to complete a really important goal. What might you say? Knowing yourself, including your areas of challenge and growth edges, can help support your long-term success. I’ve worked with many adults who were diagnosed with ADHD later in life and spent years blaming themselves for difficulties in meeting their personal and professional goals. You deserve the opportunity to enjoy college, to have it be an experience that challenges and helps you grow. Knowing yourself can provide a personal map to help you plan for this adventure. It’s not about being perfect, it's about giving yourself every opportunity to succeed at achieving your goals and aspirations.

Time blindness is a real phenomenon, and support is available. Acknowledgement is the first step to minimizing its impact. By properly labeling this challenge, you can effectively begin to navigate solutions and course-correct, stepping outside the catch-up loop. This can help decrease shame, disappointment and self-judgment. Although the suggested tips won't eliminate time blindness, implementing and testing these skills can give you a greater connection to your future goals, increasing self-trust, confidence, and self-esteem. Remember, it's not about perfection, but about taking daily action that helps set us up for greater success and mental well-being.

Sources and additional reading:

Barkley, R. A. (n.d.). Time blindness and ADHD [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHgbNGPZphc

Barkley, R. A. (2020). Taking charge of ADHD: The complete authoritative guide for parents (4th ed.). Guilford Press.

ADDitude Editors. (2023). Losing track of time? 8 ways to end ADHD time blindness. ADDitude Magazine. https://www.additudemag.com/slideshows/time-blindness-adhd-strategies/

Moscovitch, A. (2023, March 28). Time blindness in ADHD. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/time-blindness-adhd-7558570

Toplak, M. E., & Tannock, R. (2019). Clinical implications of the perception of time in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1912.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01912

Want to learn more about how to better manager your ADHD? Reach out at hello@mindchicago.com or call 312.667.3775. We’re here to support you.