Time blindness…. more than just running late and what you can do about it!
Time Blindness Understood
Time Blindness is often thought of as lateness. They’re not the same thing. While this can be the most commonly observed aspect of time blindness, it definitely doesn’t define it. A person who is frequently late because they are too busy, or they are not committed to a meeting is not necessarily time blind. Time blindness is about a general inability to conceive of time in a manner that works well for the person.
What Does Time Blindness Look Like?
Time blindness is influenced by the difficulty to break down tasks into time increments to complete it. This can lead to the person not understanding how long a task will take. This is an example to illustrate the concept. Someone is thinking they can go to multiple places in an hour with three children in tow. It’s not that they’re comfortable being late, they genuinely don’t understand how long things will take even when they have done them before. This could be influenced by the impulsivity factors, the excitement to “get things done,” when I have the motivation and energy to do so, and also just genuinely thinking I can get “it all done in time.”
Time blindness can look like a person who knows they need to have a shower, wash a load of clothes and make a grocery store stop in a specific amount of time to meet a scheduled commitment. They know the laundry will take an hour, they know the shower will take half an hour, and that the stop will take 15 minutes. They know they need to be at their friend’s at 5pm. Maybe they cannot remember that the shower and laundry could take place at the same time, and have to do each item one after another. Maybe they start at 9am, even knowing it’s way too early and then spend several hours waiting anxiously for it to be time to leave. Maybe they start at 4pm, focused on the hour it will take to do the laundry, and not making enough time for the other tasks.
Impacts of Time Blindness
People can come to be perceived as unreliable, or uncaring of others time. Their family, friends and workplaces may shame them for their lateness, not understanding that this form of lateness is not purposeful. It can lead to the breakdown of relationships. While everyone’s experience with time blindness can be influenced by different factors, it can lead to the same outcome of feeling like they are a failure for not managing their time, or being able to get things done, or that they are not a good friend or family member, or employee, etc. This is internalized ableism, and potentially impacted by high levels of masking with neurodivergence where people are trying to be viewed as “normal.”
What Strategies can Address Time Blindness
Some people manage time blindness with carefully scheduled days. They know what time they need to be places and because they are aware of their time blindness they leave lots of time to complete tasks. Others may use a series of alarms to ensure they leave the house ready and on time. Some people create logs or charts as a visual guide to planning their tasks and commitments so they can understand how long regular activities (showering, getting ready for work, driving to different places) will actually take and giving themselves enough time to complete those activities. It’s really important to find a strategy or combination of strategies that work for you!
Seek Professional Help from a Neurodivergent Affirming Approach
If you are interested in creating self-knowledge about how your neurodivergence shows up in your day to day activities reach out for support today. Professional support can be a significant help to building support strategies that then transform your inner dialogue of criticizing yourself negatively, and positively shift your life to be sustainable.
Meet Amanda, blog post author, and BSW student.
Amanda Broderick, an autistic, disabled, white bodied female who is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Social Worker degree from Dalhousie University. She is completing a practicum placement with a clinical social work focus in Shelley Restall’s Counselling practice. Amanda is passionate about supporting late diagnosed autistic females (including self-diagnosed, exploring neurodivergence), to build a life that is based on self-knowledge, self-acceptance, creating systems of neurodivergent affirming support for daily life, and de-constructing internalized ableism that is self-limiting.