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When you're neurodivergent, particularly with ADHD, time can get away from you easily.
Some people call it time blindness, but that feels like an inaccurate and slightly ableist metaphor to me.
Instead, I use the phrase time black hole.
Because when it's happening to me, it truly feels like I'm lost in outer space, floating around waiting to hit some space junk and get knocked back into awareness.
And the best strategy I've found to help me stay more aware of time and how I'm spending it?
Extreme time tracking.
What is extreme time tracking?
It's tracking almost everything I do in a time tracking app.
Not just working time, not just productive time. All mindful time.
What's the point?
If you don't need to track time for billable hours or a productivity audit, some don't see the point.
But tracking my time has been the most effective way to increase my awareness of not just how I'm spending it, but it passing by in the first place.
How does it help?
There are 3 main benefits I get from it day to day, where I'm mostly working on my computer.
- Starting the tracker serves as setting an intention. I'm forced to make a decision about how I'm going to spend the next chunk of time instead of floating in space.
- Since my tracker can't automatically track multiple entries at a time, and my Type-A-ness wants accuracy, I don't multitask as much when I'm tracking.
- When I still get distracted and forget what I'm doing (it does happen), the open time tracker reminds me what to go back to.