4 Easy ADHD Time Management Tools
If you’re an ADHDer like me, there is a very good chance you’ve experienced some form of time blindness when it comes to managing your schedule.
Maybe you struggle with time estimation and you find yourself thinking you can squeeze in cleaning and organizing your entire garage before your kids basketball game at noon.
Or maybe you struggle with time perception and this inability to recognize the passage of time can lead to falling into a hyperfocus hole where you realize you’ve spent far too long reorganizing your sock drawer.
Struggles with time are incredibly common with ADHDers. In fact, when I surveyed my community about time management in August 2024, 67% of respondents said they struggle with keeping a schedule, 58% said they spend too much time on projects that don’t need it, and 50% said they struggle with being late and not scheduling enough time for projects.
This is precisely why I wanted to spend some time sharing some free time management tools you can start using right after you finish listening to this episode to help you better manage your time as an ADHD mom and entrepreneur.
ADHD Time Management Struggles
When you combine the executive functions involved with managing your time…
Decision making. Planning. Organizing. Prioritizing.
Along with struggles with time estimation and time perception.
You’ve created the perfect conditions for time management troubles.
And this information may be helpful for us ADHDers to not only understand WHY we struggle with time, but WHAT, if anything, can be done to help or improve our time management.
I have collected 4 ADHD time management tools that I feel like are easy to implement AND often involve things you already have around your home that can help you make serious improvements in how your manage and use your time.
ADHD Time Management Tools
How to Externalize or See Time with ADHD
Let’s start with finding ways to externalize or “see” time. 👁️👁️
We talked about ADHDers struggling with time perception or the ability to feel time pass. And because of this, it is important for those us with ADHD to find ways to signal the passage of time outside of our bodies and minds.
This could involve something as simple as having analog clocks around the house or using a visual timer like the “Time Timer”, especially in workspaces or when doing activities that may cause your to hyperfocus.
You could also externally signal time by using a timer to shut off your TV when it’s time to go to bed.
Or turn on the lights when you’d like to wake up.
Or maybe you use an app timer or app blocker to say “you’ve spent enough time on Instagram today”.
How a Task Time List Helps with ADHD Time Management
It’s easier to manage your time if you have an idea about how long a task takes.
As I said previously, ADHDers are notorious for underestimating how long a task may take or overestimating what they can complete in a given time.
Which is why having a list that details how long a task actually takes you to complete can be so helpful to managing your time when you have ADHD.
It is literally as simple as looking at the clock when you sit down to write an email newsletter and making a note of how much time has passed when are you finished.
Or starting the stopwatch on your phone when you start to was a sink full of dishes to gauge how long it actually takes to complete the task.
Knowing how much time it takes you to complete a task creates the necessary awareness us ADHDers need in order to properly estimate how much time we need to block out for a task. You know, since our time estimator isn’t the greatest.
Oh, and one quick way to jumpstart your time tracking list is to use the free Estimator from the Goblin tools app or at goblin.tools/estimator. Simply enter in the task you would like to complete it will give you a rough estimate of how long it will take.
Now, you might be waaay faster or slower than their estimate, which is fine. Remember, you are looking to create a better awareness around how long tasks take you…not compare your time with others.
How to Build in Margin to Help with ADHD Time Management
I don’t think I have a single coaching client who didn’t have their schedule jammed packed from wake up to bedtime when we started working together.
Appointment after appointment, slamming into each other with no wiggle room if you happen to hit traffic or need to run home to grab your kid’s violin on the day they have a playing test.
Some of this is due to our deficient time estimation making us think we can pack way more into an allotted time than is actually possible.
Or our time perception fails us when we get lost working on a project or lunching with a friend, causing us to arrive late for the next task or project on our schedule.
It could also, if you happened to see last week’s discussion with Dr. Julie Shafer, be due to our people pleasing nature and our struggles to say “no” because we want people to like us or think we’re a team player.
But regardless of what is causing our overpacked schedule, we simply cannot get a handle on our time management if we don’t build in some buffer.
Think of it like an emergency fund for your time. If you don’t need to use it, great. You have found time. I am sure you can find something in your busy mom life or busy entrepreneur life to fill that void.
And if you do need to use that extra time, it will have less of an impact on your entire schedule for the day or maybe the week.
How External Time Reminders Help with ADHD Time Management
If you’re like me and need shaken out of your hyperfocus on a regular basis, you need to set alarms or reminders.
When my husband bought me a first generation Alexa, I don’t think he thought it’s primary function in our house would be to set alarms and reminders throughout the day to help with mine and my son’s time management.
But alas, here we are.
And I am so grateful for these regular reminders.
In fact, when I sat down to write this episode, I set an alarm for 15 minutes before the coaching call I had schedule. You know, just in case I got hyperfocused and forgot to log on.
Setting the alarm gives me time and space to transition from writing a podcast Christy to coaching Christy.
It gives me space to fill my water cup or go to the bathroom.
It allows me to review my notes and develop questions for this week’s call.
AND since I know from my time task list that all of this takes me approximately 10 minutes, I have a built in buffer of roughly 5 minutes to finish my thoughts and make notes if I need to pick this task up later.
See how this all starts to work together???
As with so many ADHD characteristics, I truly believe that there are strategies you can employ to help improve your life if something like time management is causing you stress or anxiety.
And if you you’re struggling to implement ADHD time management strategies or make time for your priority tasks, we should chat. Click below to book your free, no obligation call to discuss how my programs can help you juggle business and mom life so you can see the success you know is possible.
