3 Ways ADHD Time Perception Impacts Planning

As someone with ADHD, my time perception is often a little (or a lot) off. Not surprisingly, this inaccurate perception of time can really impact my accuracy in planning big projects and goals.

Fortunately, there are some simple supports we can put in place to ensure we’re planning more accurately and not overcommitting ourselves.

We explore each of them in episode 227 of the I’m Busy Being Awesome podcast.

You can listen to the episode above or stream it on your favorite podcasting app here.   

Prefer to read? No problem! Keep scrolling for the entire podcast transcript. 

In This Episode, You Will Discover

• Tips to manage time perception when you have ADHD
• My experience of a recent lack of time perception & why I’m sharing this
• 3 lessons learned that can trip up our ADHD brains when planning
• Next Steps: How to ensure you don’t fall into those traps

Episode #227: 3 Ways ADHD Time Perception Impacts Planning (Transcript)

Today we’re talking about the idea of time perception, time blindness, and the ways this can impact an ADHD brain when it comes to scheduling and planning, and this episode was inspired directly by my own experience about a month ago. 

By the time that you’re listening to this episode, it will have been about a month ago that I completed what I’m calling an unplanned work marathon. This means I unintentionally worked over 26 hours on one project between Friday and Sunday, and today I’m here to share what happened and what I learned in hopes that you can learn from my experience and sidestep it for yourself.

I’m also sharing this episode as a reminder that we are all human.

What’s more, even when we have the tools in place, and things are running pretty smoothly overall, we are still adults with ADHD and ADHD tendencies. While we can absolutely reduce how often things like time blindness and ADHD paralysis and rejection sensitivity can trip us up, it’s still going to happen every once in a while.

I offer this because I know how easy it is to slip into that trap of wishful thinking.

Once we learn every single tool out there, and once we’ve been able to successfully coach our brains and put all the proper supports in place, we will effectively switch out our prefrontal cortex and no longer have a neurological difference. But that’s not how it works.

So again, we can absolutely make things easier. We can absolutely put in the scaffolding that our brain needs. And also, we will still have ADHD, and our symptoms will still get in our way every once in a while.

Now please know this is not meant to be a discouraging message.

For context, the last time that I found myself entirely overscheduled and running intense work marathons happened way back at the beginning of the year in January. In fact, I looked back to check because I knew I had done an episode on it, and it was Episode 184: What to do when you’ve overcommitted your schedule. That means it’s been roughly 11 months since this last happened.

For context, prior to getting my ADHD diagnosis and increasing my awareness of time, and learning the tools that actually work for my brain, this used to be a weekly occurrence. I essentially lived my life in over-scheduled and over-committed. I was constantly pulling work marathons. I essentially lived in a marathon.

So, to go from living a life of marathons to navigating them once a year or so is a huge shift for me.

I want you to know that that is also possible for you.

I will never promise you that you can stop these situations from happening ever or that you will never struggle with your awareness of time again. That would mean we got rid of your ADHD completely, and that’s not a thing.

What I do want you to know is that this constant state of pushing and racing the clock and the reliance on adrenaline-fueled pressure to meet deadlines does not have to be your M.O. Truly, it doesn’t.

Tips To Manage Time Perception When You Have ADHD

Now, does shift in approach this take time?

Yes. I always like to remind my clients that their brains have been working one way for a LONG TIME. If you’re 46 years old, and you’re just learning about your time blindness, or you’ve learned about it over the past couple of years… give yourself a minute. You’ve been doing it this way for 40+ years. It will take a little while to establish new neural pathways.

So yes, it takes time. And also, the time is going to pass anyway.

Take the time and notice each win along the way

As it turns out, when you drop the judgment and allow things to unfold as you intentionally reflect on and learn from each experience, the shifts you want to see usually happen that much faster.

For example, I could have been beating myself up for misjudging the timing of this project. I could have been giving myself a hard time and should-ing on myself the entire weekend and throughout the following weeks. I could have been shaming myself thinking, “You should have known better. You’re a coach. Blah blah blah.”

But first of all, what good is that going to do? It just makes me feel terrible and I’d shut down even further.

What’s more, it closes down the opportunity to learn from what did unfold so that it doesn’t happen again.

In fact, after my 10-hour stretch of work that Saturday, and knowing I had a repeat of that the next day, Ryan and I went out to take Bruno for a walk.

I said “Well… This was definitely not how I planned to spend my weekend. But at least I’ll have some great podcast content in a few weeks after I reflect on what went sideways. Because I’m sure there are some powerful lessons in here somewhere. I’m excited to see what they are.”

Do you see how different that is than thinking, “I can’t believe I did this again. I can’t believe I screwed this up. When am I ever going to learn? There I go again, never knowing how to schedule things properly.” Because that’s not true.

What’s true is that I’ve done so much better at estimating my time…so much so that I’ve shifted from living in that constant high alert state of running weekly marathons to having to actually scroll back in my podcast to help me recall the last time it happened.

So I hope this first message lands with you. Yes, we can put in support and scaffolding. Yes, we can absolutely make things easier for ourselves and reduce how often it happens.

We do not have to live in constant overwhelm or be sprinting marathons in order to reach outrageous deadlines on a regular basis.

And also, we still have ADHD.

Sometimes those situations will happen, and the less we can judge ourselves for it, the more we can learn and grow and figure out further supports so they happen even less next time.

Consider The 80/20 Rule

This is one of those areas where I like to play with the 80/20 rule. I don’t think I’ve ever done an episode on this concept, and there are so many ways you can use this lens.

In this situation, I like to think about it this way:

80% of the time, the tools are working

I’m putting in the support. I’m increasing my awareness. I’m working with my ADHD brain, and things are going pretty smoothly.

20% of the time, my ADHD shows

My executive functions don’t show up to work. I underestimate the time I need, or I overestimate how much energy I’ll have. Or unforeseen circumstances pop up, and I need to pivot, and my lack of cognitive flexibility has something to say about that because transitions are hard. And that’s OK. If I’m showing up doing the thing at least 80% of the time, then I’m doing pretty well.

For those of you who tend to set incredibly high expectations for yourself. For those of you who always think you should do more and never settle for “enough.” If this is you, I especially invite you to try on this 80/20 perspective with me.

What if 80/20 is enough?

Give it a try in one small area of your life for a month and see how it goes.

I have a feeling that you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results – not only in terms of the actual project or goal or thing you’re working toward but also in terms of how you feel throughout the entire experience, which one might argue is the most important component anyway.

Why I’m Sharing My Lack Of Time Perception Experience

1. Lack of Time Perception happens to all of us – myself included!

There is no final finish line where you stop having ADHD or ADHD tendencies. Yes, we can make it easier and put in more support. But I’m not handing out new prefrontal cortexes along with these strategies and scaffolding. That’s just not the way science works. Sorry about that.

2. We Can All Learn From These Real Life Scenarios

Second, I’m sharing this with you because when we can talk through what went “wrong” with a real-life scenario, we can learn so much from it.

So on a big-picture level, I invite you to notice the way that I approach this process so that you can employ it in your own scenarios, whether it’s related to time blindness and time perception, or any other obstacle in your life.

The framework – the process we’re doing – remains the same. You can apply it anywhere.

Additionally, as I share my actual experience, I invite you to reflect on the three specific traps that I fell into. Notice if your brain slips into similar patterns o that you can have them on your radar and catch them ahead of time yourself. Because the fewer unintentional marathons we’re running, the better.

Of course, I am not speaking literally here. If you want to run actual marathons, you do you. I’m talking about unintentional, anxiety-ridden, deadline-driven marathons that you’re not intentionally choosing to do.

3. Learn From My Experience (without having to go through it)

The third reason I’m sharing this experience with you is – as I alluded to – in hopes that you can learn from my experience without going through it yourself.

If you do notice yourself slipping into similar patterns and traps that I mention today, I encourage you to consider the supports I’m putting in place and how you might use a similar approach that will work for you.

Sound good? Awesome. Let’s dive in.

My Experience With ADHD & Lack of Time Perception

All right, let me give you a little bit of context of what happened and what went on. Then we’ll dive into the three traps that I fell into and what we can do to spot them ahead of time going forward.

It Started With The Holiday Season Blueprint

If you’ve been listening to the podcast over the last couple of weeks, you have heard me talk about the holiday season blueprint. To be honest with you, I think this blueprint is really awesome. It is such comprehensive support that covers almost every topic where you might need additional scaffolding during the holidays.

From mapping out and breaking down plans for entertaining, to gift-giving, to budgeting, to travel, to navigating challenging relationships, there is so much support within this document. I’m so excited that it’s out there and available for people to use and streamline their holidays.

As you know, every holiday season is a little bit different, and so the support we need might vary from year to year, too. That’s what’s so great about this blueprint. You get the actual PDF download, so you can pick and choose the sections that most support you this year, knowing you may need a different combination next year, and it’s right there waiting for you. 

I can’t wait to hear how people use it so they’re not slipping into ADHD paralysis as we think about all the extra things to do during these last few months of the season. Grab a copy below…

I’d Been Planning The Blueprint For Months

This blueprint, as I mentioned, it’s incredibly comprehensive, and it’s something that I had been thinking about for months. The idea originally popped into my mind toward the end of August or early September of this year, so I had been pondering the different sections that I wanted to include over a few months.

I share this to stress that it wasn’t just a last-minute decision.

It wasn’t a brilliant idea that popped into my head Thursday morning, and by Thursday afternoon, I decided to start implementing it. No. It was something that I’d been turning over in my mind, and I knew it was a full-body yes project. I knew it was something I wanted to share with all of you, and I was so excited to do it.

Now, I also ended up doing the bulk of the project in roughly 26 1/2 hours between Friday and Sunday.

As you might imagine, this was not what I initially intended! This was not part of the plan, nor was it something I was super excited about. Of course, I wanted to spread it out and not force myself into that massive hyperfocus that I relied on for so much of my life.

I know many of you know this hyperfocus I’m talking about…

Hyperfocus is that experience where you can produce an unbelievable amount of work at a very high quality… but it comes at a cost. And that bill collector always comes to collect on the other side.

So, while I was able to channel my focus and produce high-quality content in a very compact amount of time, on the back end, my executive functions were toast. That following week, my constant flow of new ideas for podcasts and social media content and new courses and new concepts was at a drip rather than – what is often – more like a fire hose of ideas.

Again, I knew this was going to happen when I decided to go full-on marathon monde.

As I mentioned, this was how I used to live my life – especially in academia – so I’ve really learned how those marathon experiences impact my brain on the other side.

I knew it would happen So I prepared for it

I removed any of the additional tasks from my week ahead, and I reserved all of my energy and focus for my clients so I could show up fully for them. And I did not put any expectations on myself to create new concepts or put new content out into the world. That had to go to the back burner as I recharged for the week.

3 Lessons Learned When Time Perception Went Sideways

But how did I get here? What happened? As I reflected over the last couple of weeks, I realized there were three key moments that tripped me up. Honestly, they all revolve around the first moment, but all three play an important role.

So as I go through each moment and share the key lesson or takeaway from each, I highly encourage you to listen to them through the lens of your life. Notice if similar traps come up for you and, if so, when that happens most often.

Lesson #1: Thinking about something does not equal planning

Here’s the deal, I unintentionally tricked myself into thinking I had done much more planning than I actually had.

As I mentioned, I’d been thinking about this project for months. I knew I was so excited about it. I’d been pondering the different topics to include planning pages to share and decision-making strategies to incorporate.

I’ve been thinking about how useful this will be and the power of using it throughout the entire season.

All of that thinking about the project had me believing that I had actually planned for it…but I hadn’t. Thinking about something is not the same as planning for something.

So keeping this in mind, I invite you to consider this concept in your life.

When have you…

• Talked about a project over and over with your team without actually breaking down the steps and deciding who’s doing what?
• Constantly thought about some project you want to do around the house, but you never actually broke down the steps to see what’s involved?

This is SO easy to do, because when we’re thinking about something all the time, we assume we know the steps involved.

This isn’t true. Just because we’ve been transferring a project from one to-do list to the next over the past couple of weeks or months, it doesn’t mean that we’ve taken the time to plan it out and understand what’s involved.

Key takeaway and lesson number one: thinking about something does not equal planning.

I invite you to check in and notice if and when your brain sees “thinking about” something and “planning” something as the same thing. Wherever that’s happening, press pause. It’s time to step back and reevaluate here.

Lesson #2: Define a detailed version of ‘done’

The next trap that I slipped into was that I did not define my detailed version of done.

Again, in my case, it was because I had mixed up thinking about and planning as the same thing. Because I thought I had planned, I assumed I had defined “done.” I had not.

If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a minute or you’ve worked with me either one-on-one or in small groups, you know I love to ask, “what does done look like?” And when we’re talking about big projects, I love to get really detailed about what done looks like.

So if we think about my holiday season blueprint as an example, I don’t just mean defining “done” as: a completed blueprint that’s ready to share by November 6^th. No. That’s not clear enough.

A detailed version of ‘done’, means a detailed outline of each of the steps:

• What are the topics I’ll cover?
• What are the key concepts and ideas that I’ll teach within the pages?
• What are the questions I will ask to help the reader create clarity on their ideal season? Which templates will I include that allow them to easily make decisions and map things out?
• How many pages do I want this template to be?
• What will the design look like?
• What images will I incorporate?
• What will I include on the landing page where people can purchase the blueprint?

When I say create a detailed version of done, that’s what I’m talking about.

This level of detail is what allows you to create a greater estimation of how much time you actually need to complete this project from start to finish without requiring marathon mode.

With that in mind, I invite you to think about your current or past experiences.

• Have you provided yourself a detailed version of “done” in the current projects you’re working toward? If not, which projects do you want to start with?

• Think back to the last time you were in marathon mode. Had you provided yourself with a detailed version of done? If not, what might that have looked like?

• What could you learn from that to better inform future projects and commitments?

Key takeaway #2: Define a detailed version of done.

Lesson #3: Don’t believe your brain without checking the facts

This one needs a little bit of context, too, but I think you’re all going to resonate with this idea quite a bit.

Throughout the end of September and the beginning of October, I had a pretty busy time at work. I was…

• Wrapping up the June cohort of We’re Busy Being Awesome and getting ready to welcome in new members for the October group.
• Running my free training: Vision to Action, all about making our Q4 goals happen
• Fielding a lot of questions about the group
• Sending out emails to invite people in…

For those of you in the business space, I was in launch mode and this can be a pretty demanding time. I knew this, and I had prepared for it. I worked ahead and set myself up so I wasn’t in marathon mode throughout the launch, which is awesome. I have definitely been there before.

What tripped me up was my brain offering the thought, “I’ll have plenty of time to work on the blueprint after the launch is done.”

Now intellectually, this makes sense. Once a busy season ends, things are often less busy. Once the project is over, you don’t have to work on it any longer, and space opens up. This all makes sense in my brain.

But I never actually checked the facts. I never actually looked at my calendar to see if it was true.

I’m sure it will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that was not true. My schedule was not less busy because I had intentionally waited on other projects, interviews, classes etc. and I filled them in my open time after the launch.

In other words, I fell into the trap of believing my brain, and I did not actually check my calendar to ensure that I had the hours in October – about 30 hours worth of time – before November 6th to get everything done.

Now on reflection, when I did look at the calendar, I really only had about 3 hours of time available…3 hours of unaccounted time. Math is not my strong suit, but I do know that 3 hours is not enough time for 30 hours of work – even in hyperfocus. This was not going to add up.

So for you…

• Where are you believing your brain without checking the facts?
• When are you telling yourself, there will be plenty of time, or I’ll make it work, or I’ll find the time?

Notice these moments because they’re important. Always check the facts.

As ADHD brains, our time perception is not accurate. Our time blindness is very real.

So when the brain says, “There will be plenty of time,” let that be a flag going up in your mind. Pause and ask yourself, “Am I sure? Have I fact-checked this thought? Let’s make sure that’s actually true.”

Because when we start asking ourselves these questions, it will likely trigger a check in with the other key points, too…

Hold on, have I actually made a plan for this project? Have I defined a detailed version of done?

Key lesson #3: Check the facts and your time availability.

–

This was my perfect storm of a situation

1. I mistook thinking about the project for actual planning.
2. I did not have a detailed version of done
3. I believed my brain instead of checking the facts when my brain offered, “you’l have plenty of time after the launch.”

When I put all three of those together, it landed me right smack in the middle of a deadline-fueled work marathon.

Again, I’m not mad about it. It’s fine. In fact, I love that I can use the experience to learn and grow and share what I’ve learned with each of you on the podcast.

I also love that I can use this moment as a reference point and remind myself that it’s been almost an entire year since this last happened. It shows me how the time between these marathons is growing increasingly long, which is pretty awesome.

Time Perception & ADHD: Next Steps

Going forward, you better believe I’m going to set a reminder so I’m checking in with each of these three touch points whenever I approach a new project. And I invite you to do the same.

Notice the areas of your life when you find yourself often dealing with an inaccurate time perception, and you’re running more figurative marathons than you’d like.

In those moments, check in and ask yourself:

1. Have I actually made a plan, or have I just been thinking about and talking about this project?
2. Did I defined a detailed version of “done” for myself?
3. Have I checked the facts of my calendar, or am I just believing my brain’s story?

If you answered yes to each of these questions, amazing. You’re probably right on track with this project, so get started.

But if you’ve answered no to any of the above, do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Circle back and follow these three steps before proceeding any further. I promise, your future self will thank you.