The idea of time blindness, or difficulty perceiving and managing time, has swept social media. While there is no diagnosis for it, some people explain that, despite their best efforts, they frequently lose track of time, underestimate or overestimate how long tasks will take, show up late, and miss deadlines.
One person questioned whether there should be workplace accommodations for it.
Time blindness is a psychological phenomenon that nearly everyone experiences from time to time, says Michael Manos, head of the Center for Pediatric Behavioral Health at the Cleveland Clinic.
“Who doesn’t get completely occupied with a hobby or a conversation they’re having with somebody, or some kind of activity that is so interesting that it occupies attention, and it takes attention away from other things that might be pressing?” he says.
Not all experts agree, but some suggest that it could be an impairment for some people.
There are practical ways to improve your time perception and management.Credit: iStock
Renae Beaumont, an associate professor of psychology in clinical psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine, says time blindness and flow, a state of intense focus in an activity that is engaging, enjoyable and temporarily distracts from the passage of time, are different phenomena.
“Flow is typically associated with positive emotions when you’re doing something you enjoy, and you are able to shift to a different task when you need to. Time blindness involves getting stuck, losing track of time and typically having trouble transitioning to a different task,” she says.
There is no clear consensus, but some researchers consider time blindness to be an impairment in temporal perception, or the way the brain experiences time.
Temporal perception differences are associated with neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and neurodivergent subtypes such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, Beaumont says.
