Hidden ADHD Symptom That Could Ruin Your Relationship (Time Blindness)

00:40:24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1onkZGsknsk

Zusammenfassung

TLDRThe video explores time blindness, a prevalent issue among those with ADHD, which hinders their ability to accurately estimate how long tasks will take. This inability leads to procrastination, chronic lateness, and difficulties in planningboth impacting personal relationships and daily functioning. The discussion emphasizes the importance of recognizing time blindness as a significant deficit rather than a symptom of laziness or disorganization. The speaker suggests practical strategies for improving time estimation, such as tracking how long tasks take and using external timers and reminders to help individuals with ADHD manage their schedules more effectively. Understanding the underlying neurological aspects of time perception, such as the role of the supra chiasmatic nucleus, is also highlighted as critical in finding solutions to improve time management skills in individuals with ADHD.

Mitbringsel

  • ⏰ Time blindness significantly impacts ADHD individuals' ability to estimate task durations.
  • 🔍 Procrastination and chronic lateness are symptoms of time blindness, not merely laziness.
  • 🧠 Understanding the brain's time processing can help manage ADHD symptoms.
  • 📊 Tracking time spent on tasks can improve future time estimation.
  • 📅 Use external reminders and timers to compensate for impaired internal clocks.
  • 🔑 Healthy relationship with time involves balancing internal and external time cues.
  • 📈 Improving time estimation can enhance motivation and productivity.
  • 🚦 Overestimating task duration can lead to avoidance and procrastination.
  • 🛠️ Sensory strategies can aid in learning and overcoming time blindness challenges.
  • 👥 Relationships suffer due to chronic lateness linked to time blindness.

Zeitleiste

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Introduction to time blindness in ADHD and its significant impact on patients' lives, leading to overlooked issues like chronic lateness and difficulty meeting deadlines.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Identification of ADHD symptoms such as procrastination, emotional regulation, and problems with planning due to impaired time estimation abilities related to time blindness.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    An explanation of how neurotypical individuals can estimate time while those with ADHD struggle, leading to challenges in planning and managing time effectively.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Insight into the relationship between time perception, estimation errors, and the resulting procrastination or inefficiency in completing tasks for ADHD individuals.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    Discussion on the structural brain deficits affecting time perception, particularly focusing on the role of the suprachiasmatic nucleus and how they relate to symptoms of time blindness.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    Practical strategies for improving time estimation skills by measuring and tracking the time taken for tasks, enhancing sensory connections to strengthen memory and planning capabilities.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:40:24

    Conclusion emphasizing the importance of recognizing and addressing time blindness in ADHD for better time management and an improved quality of life.

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Mind Map

Video-Fragen und Antworten

  • What is time blindness in ADHD?

    Time blindness refers to the difficulty individuals with ADHD have in estimating how much time tasks will take, leading to issues with planning and procrastination.

  • How does time blindness affect relationships?

    Time blindness can cause chronic lateness and unreliability, which can lead to frustrations in relationships with partners, coworkers, and friends.

  • What are some strategies to combat time blindness?

    Strategies include using reminders, setting timers, tracking how long tasks take, and building in extra time for distractions.

  • Is time blindness a result of procrastination?

    Time blindness is a root cause of procrastination, stemming from an inability to accurately estimate the required time for tasks.

  • What brain areas are involved in time perception?

    The supra chiasmatic nucleus acts as the body's internal clock, but this is impaired in individuals with ADHD, affecting their time perception.

  • Why do people with ADHD procrastinate?

    Procrastination in ADHD is often due to overestimating how long tasks will take, leading to avoidance.

  • Can ADHD symptoms improve with time management strategies?

    Yes, improved time estimation through practice and external trackers can enhance time management and reduce ADHD-related challenges.

  • What role do external reminders play in time management for ADHD?

    External reminders help individuals with ADHD manage their time better by compensating for their impaired internal time clock.

  • How can one track time effectively?

    By measuring how long tasks actually take and recording them, individuals can build better time estimation skills.

  • What is the suggested approach to learning time management?

    It's recommended to measure time for tasks, utilize reminders and alarms, and adjust estimates based on actual experiences.

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Untertitel
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Automatisches Blättern:
  • 00:00:00
    it's noon on a Monday and you're sitting
  • 00:00:02
    there and you're thinking to yourself
  • 00:00:03
    man I have homework and your brain is
  • 00:00:05
    like yeah it can be you at 1:00 p.m. on
  • 00:00:07
    Monday 1 hour from now you could be done
  • 00:00:09
    with that task and then you're like damn
  • 00:00:12
    this is the last piece of homework I
  • 00:00:13
    have for the next 3 days I could have I
  • 00:00:16
    could relax for the next three days if I
  • 00:00:18
    just sit down and do one hour of work
  • 00:00:20
    right now but if your brain is like ah
  • 00:00:23
    this is going to take 3 days this piece
  • 00:00:25
    of homework has suddenly become a
  • 00:00:27
    dissertation So today we're going to
  • 00:00:30
    talk about time blindness in ADHD as a
  • 00:00:33
    psychiatrist this is the thing that
  • 00:00:35
    causes the most damage to my patient
  • 00:00:37
    lives that they are unaware of as a
  • 00:00:41
    problem with ADHD so what do I mean by
  • 00:00:43
    that so in ADHD like we're all aware
  • 00:00:45
    that there are attentional problems
  • 00:00:46
    right I have difficulty concentrating I
  • 00:00:48
    get distracted easily we know that there
  • 00:00:50
    are problems with things like um
  • 00:00:52
    emotional regulation so it's hard to
  • 00:00:54
    regulate my emotions I'm I sort of get
  • 00:00:56
    angry easily or I get frustrated very
  • 00:00:59
    easily so we're aware of some of these
  • 00:01:01
    deficits in ADHD but time blindness is
  • 00:01:04
    one of these deficits that we don't sort
  • 00:01:05
    of think about quite as much even though
  • 00:01:08
    it has profound impacts on our life so
  • 00:01:11
    I've seen Tim blindness lead to things
  • 00:01:13
    like divorce so these are spouses who
  • 00:01:15
    are chronically late to things who can't
  • 00:01:18
    be counted on to follow through and
  • 00:01:21
    stick with plans I've also seen uh
  • 00:01:24
    graduate students that I've worked with
  • 00:01:26
    who will get sort of threatened or even
  • 00:01:28
    kicked out of programs because they
  • 00:01:30
    can't meet deadlines so let's take
  • 00:01:32
    something simple like procrastination so
  • 00:01:34
    we all know that people with ADHD
  • 00:01:36
    procrastinate it's a part of the disease
  • 00:01:38
    right it's a part of this executive
  • 00:01:40
    function deficit where we have
  • 00:01:41
    difficulty planning and executing tasks
  • 00:01:44
    so if I were to ask you if you've got
  • 00:01:45
    ADHD how long would it take you to do
  • 00:01:47
    your homework you'd say something like I
  • 00:01:50
    have no way of knowing because it could
  • 00:01:52
    take 30 minutes or it could take 3 days
  • 00:01:55
    because that's our experience with ADHD
  • 00:01:57
    our brain has no way to calculate
  • 00:02:00
    how much time a task will take now we
  • 00:02:03
    make a fundamental mistake here which is
  • 00:02:05
    that we think that the reason we can't
  • 00:02:07
    calculate it is because it's so
  • 00:02:09
    inconsistent but that's technically not
  • 00:02:10
    true there's actually an impairment in
  • 00:02:12
    our brain's ability to estimate time now
  • 00:02:16
    if your brain cannot estimate time
  • 00:02:19
    properly right so that's what if I ask
  • 00:02:20
    you how long will it take you to do your
  • 00:02:22
    homework you'll be like I have no way of
  • 00:02:23
    knowing that is not a problem of
  • 00:02:25
    procrastination or deficit of attention
  • 00:02:27
    or things like that that is literally if
  • 00:02:30
    ask a neurotypical person how long will
  • 00:02:32
    it take you to do task X their brain is
  • 00:02:37
    processing a bunch of information that
  • 00:02:39
    allows them to produce an estimate oh
  • 00:02:41
    you need this paper written I can get it
  • 00:02:43
    done in a week whereas if our brain
  • 00:02:46
    lacks the capacity to estimate time then
  • 00:02:49
    how on Earth are we supposed to plan
  • 00:02:52
    right so if I have no idea whether this
  • 00:02:54
    piece of homework will take 30 minutes
  • 00:02:55
    or three days how am I supposed to make
  • 00:02:58
    a plan for the week how am I supposed to
  • 00:03:00
    make a plan for a semester how am I
  • 00:03:02
    supposed to plan for a vacation if I
  • 00:03:04
    have no idea how long things will take
  • 00:03:07
    if youall want to dive deep into the
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    description below hope to see you there
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    so I want you to think for a second
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    about how difficult your life would be
  • 00:03:43
    and this may be easier than it seems if
  • 00:03:46
    there it was impossible for you to
  • 00:03:49
    estimate the amount of time that actions
  • 00:03:51
    would take go to your neurotypical
  • 00:03:53
    friends and ask them like okay how are
  • 00:03:55
    you supposed to plan a party if you have
  • 00:03:57
    no way of estimating how long it uh how
  • 00:04:00
    how much time a task will actually take
  • 00:04:01
    to complete so this is a really prime
  • 00:04:03
    example of a deficit in ADHD which is
  • 00:04:05
    the estimation of time which then
  • 00:04:08
    Cascades out into the symptoms that we
  • 00:04:11
    frequently see with ADHD so we'll see a
  • 00:04:14
    lot of like symptomatic problems like
  • 00:04:15
    procrastination we'll see problems with
  • 00:04:17
    planning like we've already talked about
  • 00:04:18
    but those are all rooted in these
  • 00:04:21
    fundamental time blindness issues so
  • 00:04:24
    here's the really cool thing so a lot of
  • 00:04:26
    the times when I work with people with
  • 00:04:27
    ADHD they will work with they will try a
  • 00:04:29
    lot of things before they come to me
  • 00:04:31
    right cuz we're like this is the
  • 00:04:32
    internet generation and they're watching
  • 00:04:34
    Tik Tok to get ADHD tips the problem is
  • 00:04:36
    that most of these tips around ADHD are
  • 00:04:39
    sort of symptom focused they're not
  • 00:04:42
    looking at the root causes of ADHD they
  • 00:04:44
    are trying to fix the emergent symptom
  • 00:04:47
    so my problem is procrastination or if
  • 00:04:49
    you're in a relationship your problem is
  • 00:04:51
    chronic you're always late all the time
  • 00:04:53
    you're always late you're always late
  • 00:04:54
    you don't respect my time it's really
  • 00:04:56
    hard to be in a relationship with you
  • 00:04:57
    right we'll get these kinds of really
  • 00:04:59
    frust trading things and so if you're
  • 00:05:01
    someone who's got ADHD and you're like
  • 00:05:02
    someone is telling you this you're like
  • 00:05:04
    I'll try harder I'll try harder I'll try
  • 00:05:06
    harder but literally if your brain is
  • 00:05:09
    not able to estimate the amount of time
  • 00:05:12
    that it takes to do things how on Earth
  • 00:05:16
    can you be on time right if you just
  • 00:05:18
    colorblind to that that's why we call it
  • 00:05:20
    time blindness it's going to be
  • 00:05:22
    incredibly hard for you to ever be on
  • 00:05:25
    time to anything the challenge is that
  • 00:05:27
    our bosses our spouses and other
  • 00:05:29
    neurotypic people do not understand this
  • 00:05:32
    deficit and our society is not built to
  • 00:05:35
    correct for this deficit so in today's
  • 00:05:37
    video what we're going to do is we're
  • 00:05:38
    going to give you something of a power
  • 00:05:40
    adapter right so this is kind of what
  • 00:05:41
    I've realized when I work with people
  • 00:05:43
    with ADHD it's not that they're busted
  • 00:05:45
    it's that all of the sockets are like us
  • 00:05:48
    sockets that have this three pin plug
  • 00:05:50
    and everyone with ADHD is like has an EU
  • 00:05:53
    socket so they have a socket that
  • 00:05:55
    they'll try to jam into the wall but it
  • 00:05:57
    doesn't fit and all we need to do is f
  • 00:05:59
    figure out the right adapter right so if
  • 00:06:01
    I can create a like this you know
  • 00:06:03
    international travel adapter then you
  • 00:06:05
    can plug your socket in and you can plug
  • 00:06:07
    into the rest of society in a functional
  • 00:06:09
    way so that's going to be our goal today
  • 00:06:12
    okay now the first thing that we have to
  • 00:06:13
    do before we get into how to solve this
  • 00:06:15
    problem of time blindness is we have to
  • 00:06:17
    understand how time is UN is perceived
  • 00:06:20
    in our brain and what the deficits
  • 00:06:22
    actually are and once we understand the
  • 00:06:25
    root of the deficit we can solve the
  • 00:06:27
    root of the deficit over here in the Sy
  • 00:06:29
    sys will naturally improve on their own
  • 00:06:31
    the moment that your brain is able to
  • 00:06:33
    estimate time better Your Capacity to be
  • 00:06:37
    on time your chronic lateness your
  • 00:06:39
    procrastination your ability to plan all
  • 00:06:42
    of those things will naturally improve
  • 00:06:44
    with very little effort because now your
  • 00:06:46
    brain is able to actually use that those
  • 00:06:48
    time estimates okay so we're going to
  • 00:06:49
    have to get a little bit technical here
  • 00:06:51
    and we're going to have to understand
  • 00:06:53
    first of all how our brain actually
  • 00:06:56
    perceives and processes time and and
  • 00:06:59
    we're going to have to understand how it
  • 00:07:01
    utilizes time to sort of get things done
  • 00:07:04
    now I know that sounds kind of like
  • 00:07:05
    abstract but once I sort of start to
  • 00:07:07
    break it down and we look at the brain
  • 00:07:08
    regions I think it'll actually get
  • 00:07:10
    easier not harder and my hope is that
  • 00:07:12
    once yall sort of understand like these
  • 00:07:14
    components of time which no one ever
  • 00:07:16
    talks about by the way because
  • 00:07:17
    neurotypical people's brains just do
  • 00:07:19
    this automatically my hope is that it
  • 00:07:21
    will Empower you to solve a lot of your
  • 00:07:24
    problems okay so the first thing we're
  • 00:07:26
    going to do is talk about the Supra Kay
  • 00:07:28
    asmatic
  • 00:07:31
    nucleus
  • 00:07:32
    so this is the first kind of problem we
  • 00:07:35
    have this is our internal
  • 00:07:38
    clock so we as human beings have an
  • 00:07:40
    internal biological clock right so you
  • 00:07:42
    can wake up in the morning and you get a
  • 00:07:45
    sense of what time it is so there are a
  • 00:07:48
    lot of things like you you know when
  • 00:07:49
    you're sitting there and you've been on
  • 00:07:50
    the computer for a while you've got you
  • 00:07:52
    get a sense of how long how much time
  • 00:07:54
    has passed so our internal clock is
  • 00:07:57
    actually impaired in ADHD so this part
  • 00:08:01
    of our brain that basically is an
  • 00:08:02
    internal clock and tells us how much
  • 00:08:04
    time has passed is impaired now this
  • 00:08:06
    creates this this in and of itself
  • 00:08:08
    explains so many of the problems with
  • 00:08:10
    ADHD oh my God I was hyperfocusing for 4
  • 00:08:13
    hours I had no idea oh I completely
  • 00:08:16
    forgot that I was supposed to go pick
  • 00:08:19
    someone up from the airport now let's
  • 00:08:20
    think about this how is a neurotypical
  • 00:08:22
    person able to remember to pick up
  • 00:08:26
    someone from the airport it's because
  • 00:08:27
    they literally have this part of their
  • 00:08:29
    brain that's like a stopwatch that's
  • 00:08:30
    keeping track of time and once a certain
  • 00:08:33
    amount of time passes they know okay I
  • 00:08:35
    have to pick up my friend at noon it's
  • 00:08:36
    8:00 a.m. right now once 2 hours pass I
  • 00:08:39
    need to alert the Consciousness that it
  • 00:08:41
    is time to go so if we want to have a
  • 00:08:44
    healthy relationship with time there is
  • 00:08:47
    basically a balance of two things we
  • 00:08:49
    have an internal clock with external
  • 00:08:52
    time reminders so our internal clock is
  • 00:08:55
    not always perfect this is why we need
  • 00:08:57
    to do things like set alarm clock so
  • 00:08:59
    what we need for a healthy relationship
  • 00:09:01
    with time is an internal clock and for
  • 00:09:05
    the things that an internal clock can't
  • 00:09:06
    handle we need external time reminders
  • 00:09:09
    so we sort of know this right so if
  • 00:09:10
    you've got ADHD you've kind of figured
  • 00:09:12
    this stuff out you've realized that okay
  • 00:09:14
    I need to set alarms I need to use
  • 00:09:16
    things like calendars I need to get
  • 00:09:17
    notifications to keep me on track so we
  • 00:09:19
    can sort of balance deficiencies in our
  • 00:09:22
    internal clock with using external time
  • 00:09:24
    reminders and even in the case of
  • 00:09:26
    neurotypical people like they use things
  • 00:09:28
    like alarm clocks and calendar reminders
  • 00:09:30
    and notifications and things like that
  • 00:09:31
    right so a healthy relationship with
  • 00:09:33
    time involves these two things now
  • 00:09:36
    here's the key thing with ADHD and time
  • 00:09:38
    blindness there are a lot of things like
  • 00:09:40
    let's say procrastination or planning or
  • 00:09:44
    I don't know if being on time kind of
  • 00:09:45
    make sense here there are a lot of
  • 00:09:47
    problems that we have with ADHD that we
  • 00:09:49
    do not perceive as time benefits we
  • 00:09:52
    perceive them as laziness problems
  • 00:09:54
    willpower problems emotional problems
  • 00:09:57
    when really they deficits of of timelin
  • 00:09:59
    okay so this is the first thing we have
  • 00:10:01
    an internal clock comes from the super
  • 00:10:03
    chiasmatic nucleus and we'll get into
  • 00:10:04
    more detail so at the end of the video
  • 00:10:06
    today we're actually going to tap in a
  • 00:10:08
    member of our scientific Advisory Board
  • 00:10:10
    Dr Michaela thorderson who specializes
  • 00:10:13
    in Skilling up people with
  • 00:10:16
    neurodiversity so she specializes in
  • 00:10:18
    skills building uses a lot of worksheets
  • 00:10:20
    and things like that so I'm all about
  • 00:10:22
    like Theory and Neuroscience and
  • 00:10:23
    spirituality and stuff she's excellent
  • 00:10:25
    at this stuff she's going to be we're
  • 00:10:26
    going to be tapping her in at the end of
  • 00:10:28
    the video because this is where she
  • 00:10:29
    really specializes in helping people
  • 00:10:33
    level up some of these skills that are
  • 00:10:34
    necessary she's also going to be holding
  • 00:10:36
    a social skills workshop for
  • 00:10:38
    neurodiversity if you all are interested
  • 00:10:39
    in that so stay tuned at the end of the
  • 00:10:41
    video there'll be some info about that
  • 00:10:43
    okay second problem that we have with
  • 00:10:44
    ADHD is our
  • 00:10:47
    estimation of time is impaired so what
  • 00:10:51
    does this mean so this is basically our
  • 00:10:53
    brain trying to figure out how long a
  • 00:10:56
    task will take a neurotypical person
  • 00:10:58
    will be able to make a calculated guess
  • 00:11:00
    how long a task will take but if you
  • 00:11:02
    have ADHD the brain's capacity to
  • 00:11:06
    estimate that time will be deficient in
  • 00:11:08
    some way now we kind of already talked
  • 00:11:09
    about this but this is where we need to
  • 00:11:10
    go into more detail because we will see
  • 00:11:13
    how an inability to estimate time
  • 00:11:17
    creates a lot of problems so remember
  • 00:11:18
    that when we can't estimate something
  • 00:11:20
    properly we could do an overestimate or
  • 00:11:23
    an
  • 00:11:24
    underestimate and depending on which one
  • 00:11:26
    we do this creates a lot of the problems
  • 00:11:28
    that chances are you struggle with so if
  • 00:11:30
    we overestimate the amount of time it
  • 00:11:32
    takes so what that means is let's say
  • 00:11:33
    that doing my homework actually takes an
  • 00:11:35
    hour but I tend to overestimate the time
  • 00:11:38
    oh my God it'll take me 3 days if a task
  • 00:11:40
    takes an hour and your brain thinks oh
  • 00:11:44
    it's going to take 3 days how does that
  • 00:11:47
    affect your capacity to work today right
  • 00:11:50
    so if something can't be finished in the
  • 00:11:52
    next hour it's noon on a Monday and
  • 00:11:55
    you're sitting there and you're thinking
  • 00:11:56
    to yourself man I have homework and your
  • 00:11:59
    brain is like yeah it can be you at 1 pm
  • 00:12:02
    on Monday 1 hour from now you could be
  • 00:12:04
    done with that task and then you're like
  • 00:12:06
    damn I could be done with this task
  • 00:12:08
    Monday at 1 p.m. and then I can have the
  • 00:12:11
    rest of the day and not this is the last
  • 00:12:13
    piece of homework I have for the next
  • 00:12:15
    three days I could have I could relax
  • 00:12:18
    for the next three days if I just sit
  • 00:12:19
    down and do one hour of work right now
  • 00:12:22
    but if your brain is like ah this is
  • 00:12:24
    going to take 3 days this piece of
  • 00:12:27
    homework has suddenly become a dis
  • 00:12:29
    assertation so now it's hard to get
  • 00:12:32
    started right so our brain doesn't just
  • 00:12:35
    get started on tasks that take a large
  • 00:12:38
    amount of time I don't wake up one day
  • 00:12:40
    and be like I'm just going to get my PhD
  • 00:12:42
    today you can't do that so the larger
  • 00:12:45
    amount of time something takes the more
  • 00:12:48
    preparation our brain needs the more
  • 00:12:51
    guarantees it needs right so if I have
  • 00:12:53
    to do a three-day task I need to make
  • 00:12:56
    sure that all the other stuff that I
  • 00:12:58
    need to do over the next three days I
  • 00:13:00
    need to study for this test I need to
  • 00:13:02
    write this paper I need to prepare for a
  • 00:13:04
    birthday party all these other things
  • 00:13:05
    need to be taken care of because this
  • 00:13:07
    thing takes 3 days to do but remember
  • 00:13:09
    that my brain can't estimate any of
  • 00:13:11
    those tasks either e either so what ends
  • 00:13:14
    up happening is that when our brain
  • 00:13:16
    overestimates the amount of time
  • 00:13:18
    something takes it becomes incredibly
  • 00:13:20
    hard for us to get started the second
  • 00:13:22
    problem that we have with this is that
  • 00:13:24
    it also drastically Alters our value
  • 00:13:27
    calculation so when I sort of think
  • 00:13:29
    about okay what is the value of
  • 00:13:31
    finishing this homework well the value
  • 00:13:33
    of finishing the homework is like you
  • 00:13:35
    know it's like one piece of homework
  • 00:13:36
    that's done now what is the cost of
  • 00:13:38
    finishing that homework it's about an
  • 00:13:39
    hour's worth of of effort right so
  • 00:13:42
    that's like a pretty good trade small
  • 00:13:44
    gain small cost but if the homework
  • 00:13:47
    getting done is like a small let's say
  • 00:13:48
    it's 5% of my grade but it takes three
  • 00:13:50
    whole days to do then my brain is like
  • 00:13:53
    this is not an efficient use of our time
  • 00:13:56
    right this is not worth it to do such a
  • 00:13:58
    small thing for it to take so long it
  • 00:14:00
    feels incredibly inefficient and when
  • 00:14:03
    our brain feels like something is
  • 00:14:05
    inefficient it decreases our motivation
  • 00:14:07
    to actually complete the task so we see
  • 00:14:10
    that delays in getting started and
  • 00:14:13
    decreased motivation both are rooted in
  • 00:14:16
    an improper estimate of time and if we
  • 00:14:19
    can fix that time estimate our
  • 00:14:21
    motivation will increase our efficiency
  • 00:14:23
    will increase and it'll be easier to get
  • 00:14:26
    things started very naturally so kind of
  • 00:14:28
    related to this when I work with people
  • 00:14:30
    with ADHD they their ability to estimate
  • 00:14:34
    how much they can get done in a window
  • 00:14:37
    of time is too low so if I ask my
  • 00:14:40
    patients with ADHD if I ask a
  • 00:14:41
    neurotypical person you know how much
  • 00:14:43
    can you get done in an hour they'll say
  • 00:14:45
    I can get a lot done in an hour if I ask
  • 00:14:47
    my patients with ADHD how much can you
  • 00:14:49
    get done in an hour they'll say I can't
  • 00:14:51
    get much done in an hour so I want
  • 00:14:53
    youall to think about that for a second
  • 00:14:55
    okay so if my brain
  • 00:14:57
    estimates that
  • 00:14:59
    very little can be accomplished in one
  • 00:15:02
    hour I know I'm asking you'all to be
  • 00:15:03
    pretty abstract here so if my brain
  • 00:15:06
    estimates that the value of an hour is
  • 00:15:08
    incredibly low okay like I can't get
  • 00:15:11
    much done so now I want youall to think
  • 00:15:13
    about this if the value of an hour is
  • 00:15:15
    low what is the cost of wasting an hour
  • 00:15:19
    right if I can get very little done in
  • 00:15:21
    an hour if my estimation of the value of
  • 00:15:23
    an hour is actually artificially low it
  • 00:15:26
    makes it way easier to wait waste time
  • 00:15:30
    because my brain is actually telling me
  • 00:15:31
    like oh you can play one more game it's
  • 00:15:33
    like like and just think about this with
  • 00:15:35
    ADHD right I'm making this so abstract
  • 00:15:36
    just like think about it you're you're
  • 00:15:38
    sitting there like literally and you're
  • 00:15:39
    like ready to do your homework and
  • 00:15:40
    you're like oh my God this is going to
  • 00:15:42
    take me five hours to do like two
  • 00:15:43
    questions so if it takes you five hours
  • 00:15:45
    to do two questions you know playing one
  • 00:15:48
    game for an hour is only worth like it's
  • 00:15:51
    not even worth half a question so the
  • 00:15:54
    relative value of time when we estimate
  • 00:15:57
    it so lowly makes it way easier for us
  • 00:16:00
    to engage in dope and energic activity
  • 00:16:02
    because if my time isn't worth very much
  • 00:16:05
    it's okay to waste hours and hours and
  • 00:16:08
    hours so this too if you find yourself
  • 00:16:10
    wasting a lot of time chances are that
  • 00:16:13
    if you've got ADHD your ability to
  • 00:16:16
    estimate time is off and then you are
  • 00:16:19
    valuing your time at such a low level
  • 00:16:21
    that it becomes affordable to waste it
  • 00:16:24
    and this creates a vicious cycle where
  • 00:16:26
    we end up wasting a lot of time we don't
  • 00:16:28
    get a lot of work done and therefore how
  • 00:16:30
    much is our time worth not very much
  • 00:16:33
    okay so now we're going to dig a little
  • 00:16:34
    bit deeper what is it that actually
  • 00:16:37
    makes it so that our brain cannot
  • 00:16:39
    accurately
  • 00:16:40
    estimate the amount of time it takes so
  • 00:16:43
    there is a problem in something called
  • 00:16:47
    retrospective time
  • 00:16:51
    perception okay now this is fascinating
  • 00:16:53
    to understand so when a human
  • 00:16:56
    being starts a task we have a estimation
  • 00:17:00
    of how long it's going to take to finish
  • 00:17:02
    the task right so I think like okay I
  • 00:17:04
    have to do homework it's going to take
  • 00:17:05
    me an hour now once I do the homework
  • 00:17:08
    let's say I reach this point there is a
  • 00:17:11
    separate function of our brain that
  • 00:17:12
    looks back and says okay how long did
  • 00:17:15
    this time take I mean how long did this
  • 00:17:17
    task take right so there is a
  • 00:17:20
    retrospective I.E looking back
  • 00:17:23
    perception of time so if I were to ask
  • 00:17:25
    you how long did it take you to finish
  • 00:17:29
    your homework how long did it take you
  • 00:17:31
    to write your dissertation how long did
  • 00:17:33
    it take you to go to the grocery store a
  • 00:17:35
    neurotypical brain is pretty good at
  • 00:17:37
    calculating looking back in time and
  • 00:17:40
    calculating how much time something
  • 00:17:42
    actually took this is the biggest
  • 00:17:45
    deficit in ADHD this is the root of all
  • 00:17:47
    of these time blindness problems so we
  • 00:17:50
    don't track and that's going to be part
  • 00:17:52
    of our solution we don't track how long
  • 00:17:53
    things actually take right I just go
  • 00:17:55
    about my day doing the things that I
  • 00:17:57
    need to do and then I trust that that my
  • 00:17:59
    brain is accurately
  • 00:18:01
    measuring the amount of time that it
  • 00:18:03
    takes to uh complete tasks if it
  • 00:18:07
    accurately measures the amount of time
  • 00:18:09
    it takes to complete tasks then I have
  • 00:18:12
    estimates of how long it takes to
  • 00:18:14
    complete tasks once I have estimates for
  • 00:18:17
    how long it takes to complete tasks I
  • 00:18:19
    can plan and execute tasks but if my
  • 00:18:23
    clock is shut off if I don't have the
  • 00:18:25
    ability to measure right and that's
  • 00:18:28
    where the super asmatic uh nucleus
  • 00:18:30
    internal biological clock comes from if
  • 00:18:32
    that is actually disabled then my
  • 00:18:34
    capacity to look back in time and say
  • 00:18:37
    okay this homework took one hour for me
  • 00:18:39
    to finish that is impaired so now we
  • 00:18:42
    begin to see that this is kind of like
  • 00:18:43
    how this looks okay so I'm going to draw
  • 00:18:45
    this out because I know I just said it
  • 00:18:46
    but I imagine it's confusing so why is
  • 00:18:48
    it that our brains have difficulty
  • 00:18:50
    estimating the amount of time so it
  • 00:18:53
    turns out that there's a very specific
  • 00:18:55
    deficit that is called a retrospective
  • 00:18:58
    time perception deficit so what does
  • 00:19:00
    this mean this means that when I'm over
  • 00:19:02
    here and I am planning to complete a
  • 00:19:05
    task I have I look forward and I say
  • 00:19:09
    this task will take one hour then what
  • 00:19:11
    happens if I'm neurotypical is I go over
  • 00:19:14
    here I complete the task so I end up
  • 00:19:16
    completing the task the task is done
  • 00:19:18
    then what happens is my brain has this
  • 00:19:20
    really interesting capacity where it's
  • 00:19:21
    able to look back and say oh my God that
  • 00:19:25
    didn't take an hour that only took 30
  • 00:19:28
    minutes I had to work on my resume turns
  • 00:19:31
    out and I'm sure you've experienced this
  • 00:19:32
    before turns out that it took way less
  • 00:19:35
    time than I thought or the opposite can
  • 00:19:38
    happen where I thought it would only
  • 00:19:39
    take 1 hour and it ends up taking 1.5
  • 00:19:43
    hours right both are options the key
  • 00:19:45
    thing is that we have a Time estimation
  • 00:19:48
    capability and we have a retrospective
  • 00:19:52
    I.E looking in the past time perception
  • 00:19:56
    capability as well so our brain has this
  • 00:19:58
    that looks into the past and says okay
  • 00:20:00
    how long this end up taking now if this
  • 00:20:04
    is impaired let's think about what the
  • 00:20:07
    effect is so if I cannot do this then
  • 00:20:11
    how am I supposed to form my estimates
  • 00:20:13
    right so if I do a task oh I think it's
  • 00:20:16
    going to take 1 hour ends up taking 30
  • 00:20:20
    minutes now the next time I have this
  • 00:20:24
    task to do my brain is like oh we know
  • 00:20:27
    this takes 30 minutes
  • 00:20:29
    so if my retrospective time perception
  • 00:20:32
    is intact this will allow me to make a
  • 00:20:37
    estimate that is accurate so if I have
  • 00:20:40
    an accurate estimate then this solves
  • 00:20:42
    all these other problems that we were
  • 00:20:44
    talking about about getting started and
  • 00:20:46
    estimating that things take too long and
  • 00:20:48
    undervaluing our time and all that kind
  • 00:20:49
    of stuff right so if we can't look into
  • 00:20:53
    the past and accurately estimate how
  • 00:20:55
    much or accurately measure how much time
  • 00:20:58
    it took it becomes very hard to make
  • 00:20:59
    estimates for the future if we can't
  • 00:21:01
    make estimates for the future we can't
  • 00:21:02
    plan things now the question is why does
  • 00:21:05
    this deficit exist where is the root of
  • 00:21:07
    this retrospective time perception
  • 00:21:09
    problem why is it that my brain can't
  • 00:21:12
    look back and say this is how long it
  • 00:21:14
    took well remember what is our core
  • 00:21:17
    problem our internal clock is impaired
  • 00:21:20
    the internal biological clock in the
  • 00:21:22
    supermatic nucleus cannot measure time
  • 00:21:26
    you don't have a stopwatch so if you
  • 00:21:28
    don't have a stopwatch in your body how
  • 00:21:32
    are you supposed to know how long
  • 00:21:35
    something took to do it's impossible
  • 00:21:37
    right if you don't measure the time
  • 00:21:39
    right and this is what sounds kind of so
  • 00:21:41
    crazy because like normal humans just do
  • 00:21:43
    this all the time like if I like you
  • 00:21:44
    just know how long something took like
  • 00:21:46
    if I like I'm I'm going to bake some
  • 00:21:48
    bread it's like how long did that take
  • 00:21:49
    took about an hour right we just know
  • 00:21:51
    that but if that is impaired that means
  • 00:21:53
    that we can't accurately measure how
  • 00:21:55
    long things take if we can't accurately
  • 00:21:57
    measure how long things take we can't
  • 00:21:59
    estimate how long things will take if we
  • 00:22:02
    can't estimate how long things will take
  • 00:22:05
    it becomes impossible to be on time so
  • 00:22:08
    all these things that people think of is
  • 00:22:09
    like oh I have ADHD therefore I'm lazy
  • 00:22:12
    like I'm chronically late I have
  • 00:22:14
    difficulty planning things I have
  • 00:22:15
    difficulty getting started I have
  • 00:22:17
    difficulty with motivation all of these
  • 00:22:19
    things kind of fall back to this core
  • 00:22:21
    problem of time blindness okay and this
  • 00:22:24
    is where it's like when I when people
  • 00:22:26
    sort of figure this out and when they
  • 00:22:27
    correct this kind of thing which we'll
  • 00:22:29
    talk about in just a second it changes
  • 00:22:31
    so much Downstream stuff I hope that
  • 00:22:33
    makes sense so one of the things that
  • 00:22:35
    I've learned as a doctor is that like
  • 00:22:37
    treating the root of the problem is way
  • 00:22:40
    better than treating the symptom of the
  • 00:22:42
    problem now how do we know what's the
  • 00:22:44
    symptom and what's the root very simple
  • 00:22:47
    the symptom is what you see right so
  • 00:22:49
    I'll give you all a simple example of
  • 00:22:50
    this so asthma is a medical problem of
  • 00:22:54
    hyperreactivity of the smooth muscle of
  • 00:22:56
    our lungs okay so like asthma is a lung
  • 00:23:01
    problem right and that's what we sort of
  • 00:23:03
    think of but the truth of the matter is
  • 00:23:04
    that as asthma isn't a problem in the
  • 00:23:07
    lungs asthma is a hypers sensitivity of
  • 00:23:10
    our immune system so when we give people
  • 00:23:13
    medications like steroids steroids
  • 00:23:15
    happen all over the body right steroids
  • 00:23:17
    just suppress the activity of our immune
  • 00:23:19
    system when we suppress the activity of
  • 00:23:22
    of our immune system things like an
  • 00:23:24
    acute asthma exacerbation will like
  • 00:23:26
    completely go away that's like first
  • 00:23:28
    line treat for like really severe asthma
  • 00:23:30
    but it's not specifically lung specific
  • 00:23:32
    lung is just where the problem manifests
  • 00:23:35
    but the root of the problem is in these
  • 00:23:37
    little like white blood cells and we get
  • 00:23:39
    like histamine release and we get
  • 00:23:42
    interlan one release and interlan six
  • 00:23:44
    release and all this kind of stuff we
  • 00:23:46
    got all these like these tiny little
  • 00:23:48
    cells that are all over our body that
  • 00:23:50
    are a little bit too hyperactive and
  • 00:23:53
    when they start activating when they
  • 00:23:54
    start panicking we get all these
  • 00:23:56
    problems in our lungs but the lungs is
  • 00:23:58
    not not where the problem starts it's
  • 00:23:59
    just the symptom of the problem now the
  • 00:24:01
    problem is that when it comes to ADHD we
  • 00:24:05
    are just now developing this
  • 00:24:08
    sophistication of understanding of
  • 00:24:10
    Neuroscience for a long time we've been
  • 00:24:12
    treating ADHD symptom logically right
  • 00:24:15
    because we don't know what's going on in
  • 00:24:16
    the brain we haven't done all these fmri
  • 00:24:18
    studies and pet scans and EGS and all
  • 00:24:20
    this kind of stuff we don't know exactly
  • 00:24:21
    what these deficits are so we're taking
  • 00:24:23
    a a kid who has trouble sitting still
  • 00:24:25
    and we're saying Hey kid take a
  • 00:24:27
    stimulant because that'll help your ass
  • 00:24:30
    sit still and stop getting in trouble at
  • 00:24:32
    school we're treating these symptoms
  • 00:24:34
    instead of treating the root cause Okay
  • 00:24:35
    Dr K maybe you're right maybe time
  • 00:24:38
    blindness has something to do with it
  • 00:24:40
    how do we fix it so this is the cool
  • 00:24:42
    thing when I work with people with
  • 00:24:45
    ADHD there are some circuits of the
  • 00:24:48
    brain that are intact and in a
  • 00:24:50
    neurotypical person we have like you
  • 00:24:52
    know circuit number one and circuit
  • 00:24:53
    number two and we're going to like
  • 00:24:55
    balance them right so both of them work
  • 00:24:57
    pretty well so I use 50% of this one and
  • 00:24:59
    50% of this one now in ADHD what happens
  • 00:25:02
    is I have one circuit that is deficient
  • 00:25:03
    in some way so instead what I need to do
  • 00:25:06
    is and I have another circuit that's
  • 00:25:08
    intact so I need to utilize this circuit
  • 00:25:11
    to overcome this deficit and I'll give
  • 00:25:13
    you all a prime example of this okay so
  • 00:25:16
    people with ADHD are distractable they
  • 00:25:19
    get distracted super easy right so I'm
  • 00:25:21
    I'm trying to focus on this video but
  • 00:25:23
    there's a light blinking over there so
  • 00:25:25
    it's hard for me to concentrate or hard
  • 00:25:26
    for me to focus if I get distracted raed
  • 00:25:28
    over here so what does this mean this
  • 00:25:30
    means I have a sensory hypers
  • 00:25:33
    sensitivity so people with ADHD people
  • 00:25:35
    with neurodiversity they also struggle a
  • 00:25:38
    lot with things like too many Textures
  • 00:25:39
    in the food there's this um you know new
  • 00:25:42
    diagnosis called arfid which is avoidant
  • 00:25:44
    restrictive food intake Disorder so
  • 00:25:46
    people with ADHD are very very sensorily
  • 00:25:49
    stimulated right senses matter a lot so
  • 00:25:52
    what we're going to use is use our
  • 00:25:55
    senses to
  • 00:25:57
    correct for our time blindness see we
  • 00:26:00
    learn through our senses especially if
  • 00:26:03
    we have ADHD they're very sensory
  • 00:26:04
    Learners so you know if I've got a kid
  • 00:26:07
    like my daughter who probably has ADHD
  • 00:26:10
    you know when I'm trying to teach her
  • 00:26:11
    about something I'll give her something
  • 00:26:13
    to play with so if I'm like teaching her
  • 00:26:14
    about gardening I'm not going to sit
  • 00:26:16
    down and have an abstract conversation
  • 00:26:18
    we're going to go out into the garden
  • 00:26:20
    and I'm going to give her things to
  • 00:26:21
    touch so for example if I'm trying to
  • 00:26:23
    teach her how to sit still the way I'm
  • 00:26:25
    going to teach her to sit still is not
  • 00:26:27
    by telling her to sit still it's by
  • 00:26:29
    tickling her and then I tell her okay
  • 00:26:32
    I'm going to tickle you don't move her
  • 00:26:35
    if I sit there and I tell her hey sit
  • 00:26:38
    still don't move for 5 minutes she won't
  • 00:26:39
    be able to do it she'll start wiggling
  • 00:26:41
    but if I tell her hey I'm going to
  • 00:26:42
    tickle you do your best not to move if
  • 00:26:44
    you move a little bit I'm going to
  • 00:26:45
    tickle you more if you if you don't move
  • 00:26:47
    at all I'll stop so it's really
  • 00:26:48
    interesting so when you engage in your
  • 00:26:50
    senses with ADHD you are harnessing this
  • 00:26:54
    hyp sensitive circuit it's a potent
  • 00:26:56
    circuit it's not hyper sensitive it is
  • 00:26:58
    potent that's the way that I want you to
  • 00:26:59
    think about it this means that
  • 00:27:00
    especially with time perception we need
  • 00:27:02
    to use our senses so what I strongly
  • 00:27:05
    recommend for people who do who do this
  • 00:27:06
    is to first of all literally measure and
  • 00:27:10
    track and write down how much time it
  • 00:27:14
    takes you to do everything you cannot
  • 00:27:16
    track it in your head now this is
  • 00:27:18
    important to understand this is why you
  • 00:27:20
    have to write it and record it see when
  • 00:27:22
    I think here's my brain and when I think
  • 00:27:25
    that happens over here these are the
  • 00:27:27
    coures here is my
  • 00:27:33
    hippocampus okay so when I think that
  • 00:27:37
    happens over here and my hippocampus is
  • 00:27:39
    over here these two are pretty far
  • 00:27:41
    apart thinking and learning in memory
  • 00:27:45
    don't connect very clearly I know this
  • 00:27:47
    sounds kind of weird but I know it
  • 00:27:48
    sounds crazy you just think about it for
  • 00:27:50
    a second right I cannot think through my
  • 00:27:53
    problems and suddenly my behavior
  • 00:27:55
    changes I don't necessarily learn from
  • 00:27:58
    my mistakes by thinking through them if
  • 00:28:00
    anything the hippocampus feeds our
  • 00:28:03
    courtesies right so the things that I've
  • 00:28:05
    learned will show up in my thoughts but
  • 00:28:08
    the things that I think won't always
  • 00:28:10
    become part of my memory this is why if
  • 00:28:13
    you have a great idea for a video game
  • 00:28:17
    or a novel or a hilarious joke if you
  • 00:28:20
    don't write it down you will forget it
  • 00:28:22
    not all of your thoughts are put down
  • 00:28:26
    into memory in fact your brain sort of
  • 00:28:28
    uses thinking as a way of getting rid of
  • 00:28:30
    stuff like thinking is a way of
  • 00:28:31
    processing stuff but what is in your
  • 00:28:33
    memory will show up in your thoughts
  • 00:28:35
    what is in your thoughts doesn't always
  • 00:28:36
    get put into your memory now what does
  • 00:28:39
    it have to do with ADHD over here we
  • 00:28:41
    have the
  • 00:28:43
    thalamus now the thalamus is our sensory
  • 00:28:48
    gateway to the brain so our our eyes go
  • 00:28:52
    into the thalamus our ears go into the
  • 00:28:54
    thalamus our olfactory senses go into
  • 00:28:56
    the thalamus all of these things go into
  • 00:28:58
    the thalamus and then the thalamus
  • 00:29:00
    connects very very very tightly to the
  • 00:29:02
    hippocampus so the first time that
  • 00:29:04
    you're seeing a volcano are you
  • 00:29:06
    remembering it do you have to try hard
  • 00:29:08
    to remember it of course not the first
  • 00:29:11
    time that you taste something you know
  • 00:29:13
    that's absolutely delicious do you have
  • 00:29:14
    to try hard to remember it absolutely
  • 00:29:16
    not so our brain is is literally
  • 00:29:19
    anatomically wired so that our sensory
  • 00:29:22
    portions and our memory are very closely
  • 00:29:25
    linked together very very tightly
  • 00:29:28
    connected so if we want to learn and we
  • 00:29:32
    have ADHD we don't want to use our
  • 00:29:34
    thoughts we want to use our senses so
  • 00:29:37
    this is why the first thing that I I
  • 00:29:38
    recommend people do is get a clock okay
  • 00:29:41
    and we're going to do a couple of things
  • 00:29:43
    with a clock the first thing that we're
  • 00:29:44
    going to do is measure ourselves so
  • 00:29:47
    anytime you do a task okay you want to
  • 00:29:51
    literally like measure how long it takes
  • 00:29:53
    and then put it into like an Excel
  • 00:29:55
    spreadsheet or put it into a notebook or
  • 00:29:57
    thing like that something like that okay
  • 00:29:58
    now you all may have some technical
  • 00:30:00
    questions of okay like how like when do
  • 00:30:01
    I start the measurement so what I would
  • 00:30:03
    say is if you want to try to do homework
  • 00:30:05
    right so like literally grab all the
  • 00:30:06
    stuff and you can procrastinate don't
  • 00:30:07
    worry about procrastination sit down and
  • 00:30:09
    start the clock and then do a real world
  • 00:30:12
    assessment of when is the homework done
  • 00:30:14
    so over the course of four hours I get
  • 00:30:17
    very little done or in the middle you
  • 00:30:19
    sit down and actually start doing some
  • 00:30:20
    work and so you set a second timer and
  • 00:30:22
    you set a second timer and for 15
  • 00:30:24
    minutes I'm working how much time did I
  • 00:30:26
    how much did I get done so it'll be a
  • 00:30:27
    little little bit Dynamic when I work
  • 00:30:29
    with people there isn't like a one- siiz
  • 00:30:30
    fits-all solution one thing that I find
  • 00:30:32
    is that like using a calendar for big
  • 00:30:34
    blocks of time and an actual timer when
  • 00:30:36
    you sit down is very very helpful for
  • 00:30:38
    like small blocks of time so as we take
  • 00:30:40
    measurements what we're going to do is
  • 00:30:42
    we're going to be feeding our senses and
  • 00:30:45
    this is the beautiful thing when you
  • 00:30:47
    feed your senses your brain is going to
  • 00:30:49
    learn on its own so the problem here is
  • 00:30:52
    that your brain doesn't have access to
  • 00:30:54
    this internal clock from your supermatic
  • 00:30:57
    nucleus and so the supermatic nucleus is
  • 00:31:00
    connecting to your frontal loes let's
  • 00:31:02
    say here's our hypothalamus somewhere
  • 00:31:04
    over here here's our frontal loes these
  • 00:31:06
    guys are trying to plan a day this is
  • 00:31:09
    our
  • 00:31:10
    clock now this guy normally talks to the
  • 00:31:15
    the frontal loes and it gives it
  • 00:31:17
    information it it's not about right or
  • 00:31:19
    wrong it automatically is giving
  • 00:31:21
    information the more information you
  • 00:31:24
    feed to your frontal loes the easier
  • 00:31:27
    easier it is to plan does that make
  • 00:31:29
    sense like the more data the frontal
  • 00:31:30
    loes have the easier it is to make plans
  • 00:31:32
    so if I make you know if I make five
  • 00:31:34
    measurements and then over time I spend
  • 00:31:36
    a year practicing homework and then five
  • 00:31:38
    years doing homework and then 10 years
  • 00:31:39
    doing homework then I'll figure out how
  • 00:31:41
    long it takes for me to do homework does
  • 00:31:42
    that make sense the more information we
  • 00:31:44
    give our frontal loes the better they
  • 00:31:46
    perform now here's the problem in ADHD
  • 00:31:48
    we don't have this so the frontal loes
  • 00:31:51
    are trying to plan without any info so
  • 00:31:53
    what we want to do is we want to take
  • 00:31:55
    this bad boy the thalamus
  • 00:31:58
    and we're going to use this to fre feed
  • 00:32:00
    the frontal loopes doesn't matter it can
  • 00:32:03
    be like low quality information the more
  • 00:32:05
    info you give it the frontal loes will
  • 00:32:08
    do their job they will start
  • 00:32:11
    to make estimates they will correct
  • 00:32:14
    their estimates so it'll make an
  • 00:32:16
    estimate you sit down tomorrow you try
  • 00:32:17
    to do it turns out that it's off you're
  • 00:32:19
    off you underestimate it by 50% the next
  • 00:32:22
    day you overestimate by 50% the next day
  • 00:32:24
    you underestimate by 25% the next day
  • 00:32:26
    you overestimate by 25% so as long as
  • 00:32:29
    you continue feeding the
  • 00:32:31
    thalamus right again and again and again
  • 00:32:35
    your estimates will improve over time
  • 00:32:37
    and this is what neurotypical people do
  • 00:32:39
    on their own because the supermatic
  • 00:32:41
    nucleus is doing it for them they don't
  • 00:32:43
    need this external scaffolding okay now
  • 00:32:45
    the second thing that we need to talk
  • 00:32:47
    about so remember we said that a healthy
  • 00:32:48
    relationship with time involves some
  • 00:32:51
    amount of internal clock and some amount
  • 00:32:53
    of external clock so if I'm neurotypical
  • 00:32:55
    you know my brain can keep track of
  • 00:32:57
    something and I need to use an alarm sum
  • 00:32:59
    if you've got ADHD your internal clock
  • 00:33:02
    is going to be impaired but your sensory
  • 00:33:05
    sensitivity is going to be higher and
  • 00:33:07
    are so we're going to have to rely on
  • 00:33:09
    external time signals external trackers
  • 00:33:12
    of time to help us out so this is where
  • 00:33:15
    calendars reminders um you know I I use
  • 00:33:19
    alarms all the time like even when I'm
  • 00:33:20
    like procrastinating I'll use an alarm
  • 00:33:23
    so I have a 20-minute timer set on my
  • 00:33:24
    phone that's my procrastination timer so
  • 00:33:27
    set it like if I'm if I want to play
  • 00:33:29
    like you know a video game for 20 more
  • 00:33:30
    minutes like I'm let's say I'm playing
  • 00:33:31
    Elden ring so I'll literally what I'll
  • 00:33:33
    do is like I'll set a 20- minute timer
  • 00:33:34
    and I'll be like okay I should start
  • 00:33:36
    working now but I'm going to set a 20
  • 00:33:37
    minute timer and then 20 minutes rolls
  • 00:33:39
    around I'm like okay like that's enough
  • 00:33:41
    like I because really think about it
  • 00:33:42
    when you're like procrastinating you
  • 00:33:44
    don't want to start work but when you
  • 00:33:46
    really look back there's been my
  • 00:33:47
    experience when you look back at the 20
  • 00:33:49
    minutes that you wasted you're like was
  • 00:33:51
    this really worth it to waste this time
  • 00:33:53
    and the answer is always no the problem
  • 00:33:55
    is that you don't have that step because
  • 00:33:57
    you don't have that external anchor
  • 00:33:59
    that's pulling you in and like actually
  • 00:34:01
    helping you realize what the hell you're
  • 00:34:03
    doing so we want to create an external
  • 00:34:05
    scaffold of reminders timers calendars
  • 00:34:09
    Etc so those are the two things that
  • 00:34:10
    we're going to focus on and now I'm
  • 00:34:12
    going to turn things over to Dr
  • 00:34:13
    thorderson because she's going to give
  • 00:34:15
    you all some awesome tips that she's
  • 00:34:17
    taught a bunch of people who have time
  • 00:34:19
    blindness ADHD and this is what really
  • 00:34:21
    works for like larger populations in
  • 00:34:23
    terms of skills building Dr K's idea of
  • 00:34:25
    timing yourself is one of my favorite
  • 00:34:26
    tips to better learn how to manage your
  • 00:34:28
    time you can do this by timing yourself
  • 00:34:30
    for the whole project or you can do it
  • 00:34:32
    by timing yourself an increments both
  • 00:34:34
    strategies are helpful because it's
  • 00:34:35
    really useful to know how long is it
  • 00:34:37
    really going to take me to get something
  • 00:34:39
    done with ADHD we look at tasks and
  • 00:34:41
    we're like oh my God it's going to be so
  • 00:34:43
    much work and we overestimate how much
  • 00:34:46
    effort and time it's going to take us
  • 00:34:48
    which ends up leading to lots of
  • 00:34:50
    procrastination I don't know how many
  • 00:34:52
    things I've had to do on my to-do list
  • 00:34:54
    I'm like oh it's going to take forever
  • 00:34:55
    it's going to take forever I put it off
  • 00:34:56
    for months and then I get to it and it
  • 00:34:59
    takes me 10 minutes do I learn from that
  • 00:35:01
    not often and these strategies can help
  • 00:35:04
    right because then instead of looking at
  • 00:35:06
    that and being like Oh my God it's going
  • 00:35:07
    to take hours I can look at a task and
  • 00:35:10
    say hey I don't like that task and it's
  • 00:35:13
    only going to take me 15 minutes if I
  • 00:35:15
    can just get it done on the flip side
  • 00:35:17
    for tasks that do take longer periods of
  • 00:35:19
    time it can be really helpful to set
  • 00:35:20
    smaller increments any 2hour task is
  • 00:35:23
    going to be at least in my opinion um a
  • 00:35:26
    little bit overwhelming to get started
  • 00:35:28
    with and so it's helpful for me to look
  • 00:35:30
    at okay what can I get done in 10
  • 00:35:32
    minutes of time so that that way it's
  • 00:35:35
    easier for me to approach because I can
  • 00:35:37
    think oh this is all that I need to do
  • 00:35:40
    or you can think about well um I only
  • 00:35:42
    have 10 minutes right now and 10 minutes
  • 00:35:44
    is still a meaningful amount of
  • 00:35:46
    productivity to be able to be kind of
  • 00:35:48
    like working away at that bigger picture
  • 00:35:51
    learning how much time things takes us
  • 00:35:53
    is much easier because when we think
  • 00:35:55
    about what we need to get done instead
  • 00:35:58
    of thinking oh yeah that's fast or oh
  • 00:36:00
    that's going to take forever I can think
  • 00:36:02
    concretely about the amount of time so
  • 00:36:06
    instead of relying on my sometimes
  • 00:36:07
    impaired internal clock I'm relying on
  • 00:36:10
    my logic and learning about the facts
  • 00:36:13
    about how much time things are going to
  • 00:36:14
    take me part of having ADHD is getting
  • 00:36:17
    distracted you can map out routines or
  • 00:36:20
    tasks to the exact number of minutes
  • 00:36:22
    that it's going to take you and still
  • 00:36:24
    almost every time blow that time and you
  • 00:36:27
    think to myself over and over how is it
  • 00:36:29
    that this took me an hour and a half
  • 00:36:31
    when I knew it was supposed to take me
  • 00:36:33
    an hour and the reason for that is we
  • 00:36:34
    didn't factor in any cushions for
  • 00:36:37
    distractions so let's think about a
  • 00:36:39
    specific routine right um morning
  • 00:36:41
    routines we all do it we all have to get
  • 00:36:44
    up get ready and get on with our days we
  • 00:36:46
    know exactly what we need to do every
  • 00:36:48
    morning it's a pretty predictable
  • 00:36:50
    experience and so you can break down
  • 00:36:52
    that routine into really specific
  • 00:36:54
    increments of time it takes me how many
  • 00:36:56
    minutes to to get dressed brush my teeth
  • 00:36:59
    wash my face use the restroom right um I
  • 00:37:03
    love my electric toothbrush because it
  • 00:37:04
    times it for me I don't have to think
  • 00:37:06
    about it I just know it takes two
  • 00:37:08
    minutes two and a half minutes right I
  • 00:37:10
    know exactly how many active minutes a
  • 00:37:12
    morning routine takes me however every
  • 00:37:15
    morning without fail I manag to get
  • 00:37:17
    distracted too so I'm doing something in
  • 00:37:19
    oh look a text message or I'm brushing
  • 00:37:22
    my teeth and wait a second what do I do
  • 00:37:25
    I need to be doing something with my
  • 00:37:26
    eyebrow so we need those cushions to
  • 00:37:29
    account for the fact that we can
  • 00:37:30
    reliably expect ourselves to be
  • 00:37:32
    distracted so if you are somebody who
  • 00:37:34
    gets mildly distracted or slightly off
  • 00:37:36
    task you might factor in like 5 10 extra
  • 00:37:39
    minutes of cushion into that morning
  • 00:37:41
    routine if you're someone who is real
  • 00:37:42
    slow moving in the morning or someone
  • 00:37:44
    who is really highly distracted or has a
  • 00:37:47
    very distractable environment in the
  • 00:37:49
    morning you might build in more than
  • 00:37:51
    more like 15 to 20 minutes so often time
  • 00:37:54
    blindness is so like excruciating or
  • 00:37:56
    confusing for us that we are get really
  • 00:37:59
    focused on what we're trying to do and
  • 00:38:01
    it's a lot of effort to stay focused and
  • 00:38:03
    stay on track and go step to step to
  • 00:38:05
    step what we then think about afterwards
  • 00:38:08
    is the impact it has Downstream right
  • 00:38:10
    and a lot of those times those impacts
  • 00:38:12
    are social in nature so I get so
  • 00:38:15
    distracted in my morning I'm late every
  • 00:38:17
    day even though I try so hard and what
  • 00:38:20
    that ends up doing is creating
  • 00:38:21
    resentments um or kind of like feelings
  • 00:38:25
    in my co-workers we we needed you hear
  • 00:38:27
    on time we need to do at the start of
  • 00:38:28
    this meeting that can generate anxiety
  • 00:38:30
    in me I'm like ah what's it going to be
  • 00:38:32
    like when I get to work uh I'm not sure
  • 00:38:34
    if I'm doing this well we can also think
  • 00:38:36
    about tasks around the house that take a
  • 00:38:38
    lot of time or more time than we're
  • 00:38:40
    anticipated and then we have frustrated
  • 00:38:42
    partners and roommates we can think
  • 00:38:43
    about social events right where we're
  • 00:38:45
    expected to be somewhere at the start of
  • 00:38:46
    an event or we made dinner reservations
  • 00:38:49
    for 6:30 so we get there at 6:45 or 7
  • 00:38:52
    and now we have a really frustrated and
  • 00:38:54
    probably pretty hungry party of friends
  • 00:38:57
    who are kind of like why did I invite
  • 00:38:58
    you in the first place Dr Michaela right
  • 00:39:01
    time blindness is hard in and of itself
  • 00:39:03
    for us but then layering on top of that
  • 00:39:06
    the people creates all these complicated
  • 00:39:09
    ripples for us on that note from my own
  • 00:39:11
    experiences I know what it's like to be
  • 00:39:12
    in social situations and feel like I
  • 00:39:15
    don't know what's going on or like I
  • 00:39:17
    don't know how to get what I want out of
  • 00:39:18
    the situation or like I'm always playing
  • 00:39:20
    catch up to the other people who are
  • 00:39:21
    involved I'll be hosting a workshop on
  • 00:39:23
    March 29th and 30th from 12: to 3:00
  • 00:39:26
    p.m. Central Time the workshop will be
  • 00:39:29
    six hours over two days and we'll have
  • 00:39:31
    limited seats we'll go over practical
  • 00:39:33
    skills with exercises to help you learn
  • 00:39:35
    how to communicate more authentically
  • 00:39:37
    and feel like you have confidence when
  • 00:39:39
    you're in social situations so if you're
  • 00:39:41
    interested click the link in the
  • 00:39:42
    description to get signed up hey y'all
  • 00:39:44
    hope you enjoyed today's video we talk
  • 00:39:46
    about a bunch of topics like this on the
  • 00:39:48
    channel so be sure to subscribe for more
  • 00:39:50
    if you're already subscribe to GG and
  • 00:39:52
    we'll see you in
  • 00:39:56
    chat for
  • 00:39:59
    [Music]
Tags
  • ADHD
  • time blindness
  • neurodiversity
  • procrastination
  • planning
  • emotional regulation
  • time estimation
  • super chiasmatic nucleus
  • time management strategies
  • brain science