Blog — adhd time management tools

ADHD in Women: How It Presents Differently Than in Men
When it comes to neurological disorders, everyone’s experience differs. This is especially true of ADHD, where the intensity of attention deficits can vary from person to person.
In the case of ADHD, one’s experience and symptoms can also differ based on sex. If you are wondering just how ADHD differs between males and females, then read on.

Time Blindness and ADHD
Whether it is at home or in school, one of the biggest obstacles to a productive day facing people with ADHD is time management.
There are many ways in which time can create problems for people with ADHD, and one of the biggest issues for people with ADHD is “time blindness”.
What Is Time Blindness?
Time blindness refers to an undeveloped sense of the passage of time, so that the present, “now”, tends to be the main focus of one’s sense of time, with the past and future being out of view.
Time blindness can also refer to difficulty in estimating how long a task will take.
Many people feel time passing, even if the sense of how much time has passed is not entirely precise. Anyone with memories of sitting through a particularly uninteresting class will remember how 5 minutes can feel like 50 minutes.
However, many people with ADHD have difficulty telling whether time is passing at all. This can make test-taking, getting ready in the morning, trying to finish a project by a deadline, really, virtually any time-oriented task, a unique struggle.
For children and adults alike, time blindness can be a serious hindrance to flourishing.
Because of time blindness, a student may lag behind in school, hurting the chances of getting into a good college down the line, or just missing out on a well-rounded education in general.
Adults who show up to work and meetings late may be at risk of losing their jobs or not advancing, career-wise, as they ought to be.
To prevent these issues, people with ADHD need time-management tools to help them stay on track. Luckily, Time Timer offers time-management solutions that are specifically tailored for those with ADHD.
How Time Timer Products Help with Time Blindness
Time Timer offers visual timers that come in many sizes and forms, from a wristwatch that can be great for discreet time-management on the go or in public, to a dry erase board that fits a visual timer.
Visual time-telling can be a game-changer for anyone who struggles with time blindness. This is especially true with our patented red-disk design, made iconic by our Original Visual Timer.
With the elapsing disk unique to Time Timer products, users get a better visual sense of just how much time has passed than when using a traditional clock.
This is because the red disk provides an immediate visual update as to how much time has passed, and how much time is left, in a certain task. Check out our Time Timer MOD visual timers to see how design and style can make using a visual timer an exciting and—crucially—visually interesting time-management tool.
By having a consistent reminder of the passing of time, represented visually, anxiety about time blindness will be relieved, and productivity, punctuality, and progress will become the norm.
More Great Time Management Products from Time Timer
Time Timer products have been essential for creating success in homes and classrooms around the world, with a variety of uses for Time Timer products for people with special needs.
Check out the rest of the Time Timer products, which includes the Time Timer Wash, a great handwashing aid for creating a healthier school or home environment.

The ADHD Brain Works From Home- Time Timer to The Rescue
Today we have a guest post from Franki Bagdade. Franki provides academic and behavioral consulting, and workshops for educators, therapists, parents, and camp staff. Franki shares how she uses Time Timer visual timers to stay on track while working from home as an individual with ADHD. Read her 5 tips.
Managing Time as a Nurse With ADHD
There are many things about ADHD that contribute to being a wonderful nurse. For example, individuals with ADHD are likely to have high levels of empathy, they are spontaneous, high levels of courage, the ability to hyper-focus on a task, and amazing attention to detail. Unfortunately, there are also struggles that come with being a nurse with ADHD such as lack of general focus, inattention, and poor time management. As a nurse one of my biggest struggles has been time management. When I was hired into the ICU as a new nurse I was required to work for three months on a medical surgical floor first. I laugh when I recall crying in the storage closet every day feeling completely overwhelmed with feelings of inefficiency trying to manage all the tasks. All eight of my patients needed things at the same time that they felt were most important ranging from pain medicine, medication for high blood pressure, a walk, a bed bath, a turn, fresh water, ordering lunch, and countless others.
Fast forward nine months and I began a job in a nationally ranked Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit. This position was vastly different than the 10 bed Medical ICU in the small town I had been working in. The struggle with time management only became more intense. Whereas in the medical ICU it was required to assess the patient every four hours, input and output every two hours, and medication management, the Neurological/Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit had a much more regimented set of monitoring which included hourly neurological assessments, the amount of fluid they received as well as the amount the patients put out (through surgical drains, urine, etc) every hour, drawing labs at a certain time, changing the rate of continuous infusions to keep patients alive, charting, updating and educating families, changing surgical dressings, monitoring the pressure inside the head hourly, and many more important tasks.
All the tasks on my “to do” list felt like trying to paint a multidimensional piece of art with the same color grey. Having timed tasks that coincided with urgent tasks starts from the moment I clock in. Trying to organize the mountain of tasks heightened my anxiety and I found I would lose track of time as I was focused on a particular task at hand.
Once the tasks were (somehow) complete as a nurse I must take time to chart the information for doctors to see on the computer so they can recall it at any point. Charting has always been my bane of nursing because there is always something else I could be doing that (to me) felt more important.
All nurses have what they call “a brain” which is a sheet of paper that they take notes about the patient that they deem important. I developed a report sheet that worked perfectly for my ADHD mind. Not only did it have defined boxes for each body system, but it has a table at the bottom to put tasks, when those tasks are due as well as the important numbers that needed to be documented throughout the shift (Input/output, intracranial pressure, increase rate of tube feeds, and other similar notations). Once I began using the sheet I created I gained the ability to see the tasks in a more organized way of priority. Not to mention the way it was written on this sheet gave me the ability to use recall that “something” was due at a certain time.
There have been other things I have learned through the years to help with my time as a nurse. I have learned to set alarms if something needs to be reassessed like pain and blood sugar. Not only do I use alarms as reminders to do a task, but I’ve also found it helpful to set them to remind me to move on from a task. We have the ability to become hyperfocused and get lost in doing something without realizing the amount of time that has passed, so setting an alarm to notify us five minutes before we need to move on to something new is very useful for ADHD Nurse brains. I’ve also started using the Time Timer Watch for things such as IV push medication that I have to administer over a certain period of time like tPA and Lasix. It is easy to second guess exactly what second you began your 60 second countdown, or the exact minute for the four minute IV push. I love having the ability to set the exact time and visually see the time changing. There are many things to overcome as a nurse with ADHD, especially considering our natural struggles with time. Thinking outside the box and utilizing methods and devices that work for us can be empowering as we start to become nothing short of incredible in our field.
About the Author:
Jami Fregeau is a Registered Nurse who creates educational and supportive content for neurodivergent individuals through her podcast, The Neurodivergent Nurse and lnstagram account. Jami knows personally the difficulties of living and thriving with ADHD. Her diagnosis came in December 2020 at the age of 36. She spent most of her life struggling with social anxiety, lack of self-esteem, and self doubt unknowing much of it was due to being neurodivergent with undiagnosed ADHD. This became a catalyst in creating a safe and welcoming community for individuals to ask questions and find likeness in shared experiences. Jami is nationally certified as a Critical Care Registered Nurse and been awarded North Carolina's Great 100 Nurses. She facilitates diversity education through her local hospital educating Physicians, Nurses, and other staff the importance of recognizing inherent biases and inclusion in professional and day-to-day practices.

ADHD & Decision Making
Today we have a guest post from Bri Plyler who is an ICF certified life coach serving women and men with ADHD. Decision making can be especially difficult for individuals with ADHD. Bri shares tips on how to break through the hurdle of making decisions. Read more.
How Time Timer Helps Students with ADHD
Close to 10% of Children in the US have ADHD, making it one of the most common learning disabilities. The use of a visual timer can be a powerful tool in supporting children with ADHD. Learn how Time Timer can support students in the classroom with an ADHD diagnosis this coming school year.
Time Management Techniques for Adults That Will Make a Difference
If you’re someone who seemingly has tried everything to manage your time more effectively without consistent results, you’re certainly not alone. The team at Time Timer is providing inspiration for adults determined to hone their time management skills once and for all.
Give the Gift of Time Management this Holiday Season!
As we approach the holiday season everyone is wracking their brains on what to get their friends and family. This year especially it is important to hop on holiday shopping early! No matter a person’s age, season of life, or role at work or home; time management is an important part of everyday and accomplishing goals.
Are you an adult living with ADHD? Time management strategies can make all the difference!
Most often when people hear about ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), they think of children or adolescents. That’s likely because overall awareness of ADHD diagnoses and intervention strategies in schools have increased significantly in the last few decades. Children with ADHD often have difficulty in school and social settings, and positive developments have led to helping those kids succeed academically more than ever before.
As physicians, educators, and researchers dedicate more attention to understanding the disorder; great strides have been made in approaches to academic interventions, medication management, behavior plans, and much more.
ADHD is not only diagnosed in children. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians National Research Network, four percent of U.S. adults have ADHD. Many of these adults may have gone undiagnosed as children, leading to a worsening of symptoms over time. This can create significant difficulties with personal and professional relationships, productivity, and self-esteem.
When children with ADHD reach adulthood, they need to continue maintaining coping strategies and methods for dealing with its challenges in adulthood. For adults, these difficulties may manifest as late work assignments, difficulty with productive time management, forgotten to-do lists, an extremely disorganized or messy home or office, and a tendency to have difficulty finishing tasks at home and at work. In the workplace, an adult with ADHD may be perceived by co-workers as forgetful, disorganized, disinterested, and unproductive.
Success strategies that work for one adult, may not work as well for another. Everyone is different and it may involve some trial-and-error. These tactics will evolve naturally as an individual moves through various stages in life. Much like the difficulties children and adolescents may face, adults with ADHD need to work in overcoming struggles interfering with home life, professional achievement, and much more.
While it may improve somewhat in adulthood for many, ADHD symptoms generally are always part of the “fabric” of a person. The good news--the natural process of “maturing” often provides a boost for successfully dealing with the inevitable ups and downs that come with ADHD.
That said, just as children need structured support in tackling ADHD challenges, adults too need support from family and professional colleagues, as well (if they choose to share the information). Among those personalized approaches, all of us at Time Timer recommend creating time management strategies designed to make life at home and work go as smoothly as possible! Time management techniques provide some of the best tools for reducing the stress and anxiety that often come into play for adults with ADHD.
Are you an adult with ADHD? Take control with these time management tips!
1. Tackle work in “chunks”
An adult with ADHD may arrive in the office each morning and become quickly overwhelmed with the number of tasks they seem to have assigned to them. As is highly common in those with ADHD, procrastination is likely to follow, which can cascade into a host of bigger problems and job difficulties. The same is true for accomplishing decluttering or other household chores. Perfectionism may also play into this – another common trait in those with ADHD.
Instead, adults with ADHD should begin their workday in a quiet setting free of distraction, if possible, to review their day and make a realistic list of things to accomplish. From that list, extract the priority items and get started from there. An especially effective tactic here is assigning a specific amount of time for each task – make it realistic and something you can accomplish! Choosing Time Timer, the original visual timer, can make a huge impact in your efforts.
This way, viewing the workday as one long “stretch” of eight hours can be broken into just a few structured “chunks” of time where very specific items are to be accomplished. Using Time Blasts, a more flexible version of the Pomodoro Technique, time management tool proves helpful to many people with ADHD. When adults with ADHD complete a very specific set of tasks, a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction are sure to follow! Lastly, never be ashamed to ask for help or delegate when needed.
2. Use a physical planner
When combined with using Time Timer throughout your day; a physical planner is another great way for adults with ADHD to manage their time, responsibilities, and goals. Many adults find it helpful to use both a physical and web-based calendar, yet a paper planner may prove particularly effective as many with ADHD find various visual cues to be helpful.
Some planners are designed to be particularly helpful for adults with ADHD. One example is the Define My Day™ Planner and Journal. Its primary focus is helping adults avoid distractions in their lives and create detailed plans and tasks for each day – perfect for adults living with ADHD.
3. Do not multitask!
While many people excel in multitasking, it can create huge roadblocks for adults with ADHD. Don’t multitask - stay focused on one thing at a time. Distraction issues may lead to lots of unfinished projects and an increase in low self-esteem. Instead of attempting to complete eight tasks with 50 percent success, focus on completing one task at 100 percent.
When you are ready to tackle your own time management difficulties, do what works for you and secure the tools you need to help you feel successful and accomplished! Time Timer offers a range of amazing visual timers perfect for both children and adults living with ADHD. With the right support and planning, it is possible for adults with ADHD to live a focused, calm, and accomplishment-filled life!

I think my child has ADHD… Now what?
You think your child might have ADHD, but don’t know what steps to take next. Today we have a post written by The Childhood Collective on where to look for answers and advice. The Childhood Collective is a team of two child psychologists (Lori Long, Ph.D. and Mallory Yee, Ph.D.) and a speech language pathologist (Katie Severson, M.S., CCC-SLP).
Celebrating ADHD Awareness Month
ADHD Awareness Month is all about celebrating ADHD and seeking better understanding and support of ADHD for ourselves, our families and friends, and our communities.