30 Essential Ideas you should know about ADHD, 5A ADHD is Time Blindness

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ADHD is time blindness, no sense of time, it is always now.
ADHD people's brains on an instinctual and emotional level can't prioritize to the future since the now is so important.
A story of a lawnmower.
Nearsightednessof Time
Pyramids of Behavior, Behavior in a Hierachy
Back of the Brain is Knowledge, the front of the brain is how you put that knowledge to use.
ADHD is not a question of what you know, you may be the smartest person on the planet but if you have ADHD you will do stupid things (doing stupid things is different than being stupid). ADHD is a performance disorder about using that knowledge.

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[softfishy]

Lol, well this explains why all those "where do you see yourself in 5 years" questions were so difficult.

[toni_smith]

I just bawled my eyes out. Especially at the point where Russel says "...it doesn't matter what your intentions are, you're not going to do them". And then hearing the audience members LAUGH. The shame I feel when I reflect on the years and years of trying to be better and the struggle to mantain the appearance of normality in the world, despite my best intentions is heartbreaking enough. To hear a group of people laugh at that - that's crushing.

[romanbrandle]

ADHD school report, "has a great general knowledge and seems highly intelligent if only we could get him to focus on a task for five minutes". And my dads response, "your just not trying pull yourself together", I did try I just couldn't pull myself together .

[RC-gtlb]

I just wish time blindness was a wider-known trait of ADHD. I've literally been searching for *years* for an explanation of my inability to comprehend time. It's affected my life so much that I can't explain how often I've googled 'time comprehension disorders' and had '10 tips on how to overcome procrastination' -type articles come up. *Thank you* so much for literally explaining my life in such a compassionate way, I know it's up to me to manage it but it's nice to have an expert sincerely acknowledge those struggles and not jump straight into treatment/how 'we need to fix it'

[elnino]

This is so relatable. My parents always say that I'm not caring enough and I'm not sincere enough but actually it's just that I'm failing at everything no matter how hard I try. It's sad they don't get it.

[Ellie]

no wonder we get so frustrated with ourselves. we know what we need to do, how to do it, but we just can't seem to turn the knowledge into action.

[tesslily]

this made me want to cry it was so accurate

[kekero]

I’m glad people have broken up this lecture into pieces that I come across in the wild to really give me the full ADHD experience

[bjelfin]

Well this explains a lot. It explains getting fired from jobs and losing relationships due to chronic lateness. It explains all the missed plane flights. It explains why none of the dozen books on time management I own haven't helped. It explains why I feel that the world is moving too fast and no matter how fast I try to move, I can never catch up. I've often said I only have 3 time references - Now, Later (infinity) and "OMG, I'm running so late!".

[cheriseudell]

Diagnosed decades ago and yep, time blindness has created havoc in my life. I was still able to go to UC Berkeley for undergrad and Yale for grad school but I did every assignment last minute in an adrenaline-soaked frenzy of activity. I also have struggled my entire adult life with being on time. I have been fired from numerous jobs not because I was not good at them, but because I was chronically late. Yes, time blindness has been the bane of my life.

[gravityx]

I just saw someone share their funny experience with ADHD anf thought I'll share mine. This condition is serious enough, for us not to have a laugh at our own expense. And hopefully this read makes somene elses minute.

My lovely girlfriend was calling me on her way back home from work and just wanted to chat with me. She is utterly important to me, so I make sure I pay my best mind and be as attentive as I can possibly be. At this point I'm standing in our kitchen, as I just got home from work and I've been very hungry, preparing some food.

She then gets home, while I'm sitting in my room out of sight and starts laughing out loud. I ask her what the deal is and she waves me over to the kitchen.

She opens the dishes drawer up top and there it is, my cold, unmicrowaved food, sitting on all the other clean plates with the drawer shut all the way.

I was sitting hungry in another room and forgot that I wanted to eat even.

At that time it was a testament to myself, of how much I valued her and what she has to say. And even though looking back in hindsight, that is very true regardless, I can't help but attest part of that to ADHD 😂 A very precious memory nonetheless.

[Mhavespass]

"it's not the sincerity, it's the inability to organise within the intention" ohhh this makes me cry 😭😭😭😭 I always wonder why it's very hard for me to keep my promise (especially regarding time) when I REALLY MEAN TO CHANGE 😭 IT'S HARD 😭😭😭

[Rollwithit]

Have a horrible time being on time to work, appointments with friends, etc. Unaware of the actual passing of the years. I'm always surprised how quickly 10 years flies by, and how it still literally seems like yesterday when people speak of 20 years ago.

[Dreamy-writer]

“Visual Timers” are timers created specifically for people with ADHD. Look it up! They have really helped me with managing time blindness

[kenna]

Thank you so much. I could cry right now from how seen and understood this made me feel. I’m currently in one of those adhd crises and am on a serious time constraint. The stakes of my situation are so so high and I know that, but I still can’t seem to actually do anything about it until it starts getting dark out. I was so good about it when I was a kid, but from age 15-now (21) it started really affecting my life. Right now my bachelors degree is on the line and subsequently my ability to do the masters degree I’ve planned the next year of my life around, but I still can’t get up and do my work and be productive. Even now, I’m watching this because I’m at such a loss with why I keep doing this to myself and why I can’t seem to learn from my plethora of mistakes just like this. It’s caused me a lot of confusion and self-loathing and constantly feeling misunderstood because people think I’m just lazy, when really I want so badly to do what I know I need to do, I just can’t. Every time I’ve explained my horrible perception of time to someone they look at me like I’m making excuses. ADHD is such a misunderstood and for lack of a better term, underestimated disorder. People don’t seem to understand the severity of how it actually impacts people’s lives because I’m not just easily distracted, lazy, and a bit more energetic than others, it’s so much more than that. I wish more people understood this. Anyway, sorry for the long rant, I’m just feeling a lot of feelings at the moment. Thanks again for making me feel understood and helping me understand myself and know that I’m not just stupid or lazy like I’ve been made to feel for so long. It’s nice to have someone put into words what you can’t.

[GenXer]

This is so true (and so sad). Too bad people have to suffer this frustrating condition, living with constant struggle, and eventually leading to other mental health conditions (anxiety, depression). Medication helps a great deal, but does not cure. The key to surviving this is to find your passion in life and pursue it. One also needs strong faith and a good support system.

[Ahmed-usns]

We have a saying in the Middle East that is like “water moves beneath you, and you have no idea” what is devastating in adhd situation is you are sort of aware of your life’s counter moving and moving, meaningless and messy, is there a more difficult feeling than being aware of your misery?!

[cprime]

I also found this painful to hear, yet completely accurate. The truth hurts. I am 47 and was just diagnosed with ADHD. I am happy now that I am understanding why I've struggled so much. But at the same time I am so so sad that this was not caught sooner! None of the doctors even considered this of all of the doctors I have seen over the last 20+ years. In my desperate need for help none of them helped me! The reason I was finally diagnosed with ADHD is because I figured it out thanks to the internet and YouTube! A doctor then confirmed my suspicion, unprompted by me. Medication changes are already helping me feel tons better! I have a lot of therapy ahead.

[Blue-owl]

idk what it is about this guy, but the way he speaks, the information stores itself really easily in my brain. It's really easy to understand him.

[nleem]

Wow. So, this is why I skipped the planning a wedding and went to the JP. And why when I'll be 10 min early to work, but get an idea to stop at the grocery store, I do it, but then end up 30min late to work. And, I'm 43 yrs old, so I everyone is like what were you thinking. Then the last week I did it again. See his previous videos.

These are great videos to know it's not just me, but I need solutions.