I've had a real problem with time lately. I lose track of time even more often than I lose my keys. Time doesn't seem to mean the same thing to me as to everyone else. I have my watch set ten minutes fast. Other people tell me that doesn't work for them because then they'd compensate for it. It usually works for me because I forget that it's fast. Forgetfulness can be a positive side effect of ADD!
Seriously, time can be a real problem for those of us with ADD. It's not that we don't want to be on time or that we want to be late in our commitments, it's just that our time perception is a little different from the rest of the world's perspective on time. I know if I'm really interested in a project (or hyper-focusing, as you'll see it called), I can hardly be pulled away from what I'm doing for anything - even for making dinner or going to the bathroom (until it's absolutely necessary, anyway!).
I told my husband just this week that I've been in an ADD time warp again. And it really feels that way. There are a number of things that I have intended to accomplish that haven't been accomplished. I look at what I've done at the end of the day and I simply don't know how time got away from me that quickly. But I do know. ADDers have a very hard time with prioritization. Other people, I am told, can look into the future and break things down and determine what needs to be done in a nice organized way. My mind simply tells me that these 437 different things need to be done. It doesn't tell me what needs to be done first or second or third and it doesn't tell me how to break the tasks down to make them easier, either. No wonder ADDers seem overwhelmed much of the time - we are!
Time is divided into past and present, but with ADD, time doesn't seem to be divided so clearly. I honestly can't remember whether things happened two weeks ago or two months ago. Sometimes it isn't important. My calendar (when I can find it) is a lifesaver when it is important, because my mind doesn't break time up in the same way as it seems to be broken up for the rest of the world.
Does this mean the ADDer is less valuable or can't survive in the world as we know it? Of course not! We just, as usual, have to work at it a little harder than most to be on time and to do the things that need to get done at work and at home. But let me leave you with a positive note, we ADDers of today are not the only ones who have had trouble with time - Thomas Edison, who is thought to have had ADD, also had trouble with time. Robert Conot, in his book, Thomas A. Edison: A Streak of Luck, stated:
