The term time blindness describes a persistent difficulty in managing time and perceiving how quickly it passes. People who struggle with time blindness may be frequently late, find it difficult to plan their day or meet deadlines, or become easily absorbed in time-wasting activities (playing video games, for example) without realizing how much time has passed.
How to Manage Time Blindness
Because time blindness can be a serious impediment to academic, workplace, and relationship success, figuring out how to get better at recognizing and managing the passage of time is of paramount importance. Fortunately, there are many small, concrete steps one can take to make time more visible and its passing more noticeable. These include wearing a watch, setting reminders and alarms throughout the day, and building buffer time into one’s schedule to account for inevitable missteps.
Setting frequent alarms—one when you need to start getting ready, for example, and one when you need to leave—can keep you on track. Changing your “focus time”—the time you associate with an event—can also help. If you know you need to meet your spouse at 6:00 PM, focusing on 5:45, rather than 6:00, can get you moving earlier and give you some much-needed breathing room.
Alarms can be helpful here. If you know you tend to get lost in a particular activity—whether that’s drawing, reading, or playing video games—setting an alarm for when you want to wrap up can help you enjoy your hobbies without derailing your other obligations. Avoiding time-sucking activities altogether on days when you have especially important things to do may be a useful strategy as well.
Absolutely. Many therapists and counselors specialize in helping clients identify their time management weaknesses and develop specific strategies to overcome them. Cognitive behavioral therapy, while not the only option, has shown to be effective at improving time management and thus may be a particularly useful approach to try.
Explore More About Time Blindness
For a comprehensive understanding of time blindness, read our complete guide: