Blog — time management for adhd

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.  

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. 

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.

Routines to Set Children with ADHD up for Success at Home  

 
 
If you’re a parent of a child with ADHD, you know how difficult simple areas of the day can often be. Getting out of the house for school on time? Chaotic. Having your child sit down after school to finish their homework? A battle. Getting through the bedtime routine? Exhausting. 

You are not alone. One of the key components of ADHD is that symptoms occur in more than one setting - such as both home AND school - so it makes sense that multiple parts of the day become difficult. 

Children with ADHD have both inattentiveness and hyperactivity/impulsiveness that affects their ability to pay attention, remember items or steps in a sequence, stay organized during tasks, sit still, wait their turn, and carry out verbal instructions. This is not their fault - there are both genetic and neurological factors at play. 

One of the best ways to help children with ADHD across the board is to establish and follow consistent and predictable routines at home. Routines can be defined as a series of steps that happen in a particular order, in the same way, and at the same general time from day to day. Routines provide predictability, which helps your child know what to expect, what is expected of them, and how that experience is going to look. All of these things help the day run smoother! 

Though many parents already follow routines at home, there are four key components of routines that work particularly well for children with ADHD. They are: 

1. Movement - Children with ADHD need to move. Their bodies often require a higher threshold for sensory input (particularly proprioceptive and vestibular input, fancy terms for body awareness and body movement), and so movement that is sensory-based helps provide their body with that “just-right” amount that is needed to stay regulated. Rhythmic, linear movements, such as jumping jacks, and “heavy work” activities, such as push-ups, are the best kinds of movement. 

2. A decluttered space - This decreases the likelihood of distraction, as many children with ADHD are distracted by things that they see in their vicinity. Choosing a set place that is tidy to complete specific routines, such as completing homework, can help your child stay on task. 

3. Using timers - Visual timers, such as the Time Timer, allows your child to SEE time. This helps the concept of time become concrete. Timers can be used to transition to a routine (such as 10 minutes until bedtime) or to allot time that a routine will take place (such as 25 minutes to complete homework). 

4. Using checklists - Checklists are another way your child is able to better internalize their steps or responsibilities of a routine. Children with ADHD often have difficulty following directions that have multiple steps or tend to get lost or distracted in between steps, so writing them down and checking them off as they go can be very helpful. If your child can’t read yet, you can use pictures instead of words. Checklists also help YOU, the parent, from having to repeat yourself a million and one times. 
 

Keeping these four components in mind, let’s go over some sample routine ideas for three key parts of your child’s day. 
 

Sample Morning Routine 

• Wake up - Set a timer for the amount of time until you need to be leaving the house. 
• Wash up in the bathroom (Use toilet, brush teeth, wash face, etc) - Post a checklist in the bathroom to help your child remember what they need to do. 
• Get dressed - Choose the outfit the night before and lay out the clothing to keep mornings running smoothly. 
• Eat breakfast 
• Brush teeth 
• Gather belongings - Keep belongings in the same spot nearby the door so your child knows where they are. Post a list with words or pictures of the items your child needs to leave the house (shoes, jacket, backpack, lunch box, etc) 

Sample After-School Routine 

• Enter home 
• Unpack belongings - Have a clear, set place where your child places their shoes, backpack, and jacket. Use hooks, labels, and checklists to help them remember. 
• Eat snack 
• Outdoor play or 15 minutes of indoor movement - Jumping jacks, freeze dance, Go Noodle youtube video, etc 
• Complete homework - Have a predetermined tidy space, set a visual timer for how long they are expected to work 
• Preferred play activity - This helps them have something to work towards when completing homework 

Sample Bedtime Routine 

• Set a timer for how many minutes until bedtime 
• 10 minutes of movement - Consider whether your child does better with high activity movement before bed or something calmer like following along to a yoga video 
• Change into pajamas 
• Brush teeth 
• Read books 
• Lights out 

There you have it! As you can see, simple routines are best. It does not have to be complicated, but keeping these parts of your child’s day consistent and predictable can truly be a game-changer. The Time Timer is a great tool to use within these three routines and more. Click HERE for my affiliate link. 

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Jessica Rapp Irwin, OTR/L, is a pediatric occupational therapist, childhood routine expert, and lover of all things child development. She founded Rooted in Routine, an online parent coaching platform, to help parents learn simple, easy to implement routines for optimal child development starting at age one. She is passionate about educating parents on NORMAL, HEALTHY development, which is often simpler than we think. Jessica’s approach is largely rooted in going back to the basics to help you establish solid, age-appropriate routines for your child for things like eating, play, and sleep. She believes this is the most important foundation you can provide for your child - and she wants to help you do just that! Learn more about Jessica at https://www.rootedinroutine.com/about and follow her on Instagram at @rootedinroutine.