Codename: The Time Thief
Tap here to jump down to the TL;DR
You've made a grand plan for the day and you're feeling good about getting everything accomplished. You've already crossed a few things off of your list as the morning came to a close —and the momentum feels great!
Now, you're just going to write a quick email and then you'll take a short break before getting back into the swing. Hold on a second... Did your email always have a signature like that? Have you been sending professional emails all this time with a default "Sent from my Mail App" line at the bottom? Why do we even have email signatures anyway? Let's just take one minute to look it up.
Two hours later you have a deep understanding of how and why an email signature is meant to function like a business card, and have crafted the perfect one.
But you never wrote the email you meant to in the first place, and you never took the break you needed either.
There's no time now, though, you'll have to rush through the rest of the tasks on your list if you want to get it all done before the end of the day. You feel silly for wasting so much time on something that you didn't even care about before today, especially since you were doing so well!
You're suddenly reminded of the time you lost an afternoon reading up on the etymological differences between "there", "their", and "they're" after you caught that typo —but that had been a bad day in general. Today was supposed to be different —no, today was supposed to be better. Today things were on track. Why does this keep happening?
The Time Thief keeps happening.
They appear as a friend, endlessly curious about everything in the most charming way. The Time Thief loves to pick things up and turn them over in their hands, pointing out strange little details, and they have a real talent for asking questions in a way that gets your wheels turning.
But therein lies the danger.
While genuinely innocent, The Time Thief is a bit of a kleptomaniac, and their favorite thing to collect is... well, time. They're always showing you the shiny hour they found here or the rusty patterns on the pomodoro they picked up there, and their prized possession is the velvet darkness of the five minutes before dawn that somehow ended up in their pocket.
Official Title: Time Blindness
The Time Thief's adorable curiosity is so troublesome because it exploits a core feature of executive dysfunction: Time Blindness.
In researching for this piece, I was shocked to learn that Time Blindness is not currently part of the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, since it seems to be one of the few nearly-universal elements of the ADHD experience. Even if it doesn't cause us to struggle, the vast majority of us can immediately relate to at least some of the common ways it manifests in our lives.
It's also potentially one of the most damaging, as Time Blindness unwittingly supports many of the heaviest hitters in The League of Executive Dysfunctions, including our now-familiar foes The Gatekeeper (Task Paralysis) and Major Minor (Decision Fatigue).
A literal inability to accurately estimate how long a task might take leads, or contributes, to the tardiness and procrastination that make us look and feel like we must be lazy, disorganized, or even careless. No matter how much we might know that isn't the case.
Over time, especially for the late-diagnosed, internalizing the narratives (based on "evidence") that we must be lazy, disorganized, or careless can decrease our self-efficacy —which stunts our personal growth and can affect both personal and professional relationships.
While the medical community is still working to understand the exact mechanics of Time Blindness in the ADHD brain, the evidence is clear on one thing: it is not laziness, flakiness, or carelessness.
This isn't a character flaw; it's a real, documented difference in how the brain perceives and processes the passage of time. Leading ADHD expert Dr. Russell Barkley refers to the downstream effects of this as an "Intention Deficit," where the brain struggles to connect with and act on future goals or potential consequences.
This is why the Time Thief's curiosities are so irresistible. As Dr. Thomas E. Brown explains, the ADHD nervous system is primarily driven by interest, novelty, and urgency, not by prescribed importance.
The Time Thief dangles an interesting question or "quick" task in front of you, and because it's more engaging in the moment, your brain latches on, all while the truly important task for your future-self fades into the background.
Modus Operandi (M.O.)
How the Time Thief might affect your day.
The Grab
You're sure you only need ten more minutes, but then you blink and half an hour has vanished. The Time Thief Grabbed it for a closer look, and (oops) forgot to give it back.
The Drop
Sometimes, usually during boring or tedious tasks when they have nothing better to do, the Time Thief checks their pockets and realizes they've taken much more of your time than they thought. Feeling guilty, they dump it all back on you at once.
The sudden surplus has the opposite effect of The Grab: it slows time down, making minutes drag on endlessly.
The Miscalculation
The combined effects of The Grab and The Drop make it nearly impossible to trust your internal clock. You might budget twenty minutes for a task that, thanks to an unexpected Grab, took an hour last time. Or vice-versa thanks to a poorly timed Drop that made a twenty-minute task feel like it took an hour (or more!).
This inability to rely on your intuition can cause you to procrastinate, fearing that you may be wrong yet again.
The Wormhole
A devastating collaboration with The Locksmith (Perseveration). The Locksmith makes it impossible for you to switch tasks once you've entered focus-mode, and the Time Thief, fascinated by hyperfocus, wanders off with the rest of your schedule for the day —leaving you stuck in a Wormhole.
With the Time Thief so captivated by your focus and The Locksmith standing guard, there's no one to tap you on the shoulder and remind you that time is passing.
The Phantom Schedule
This is the ultimate, unintentional consequence of the Time Thief's companionship. Constantly dealing with the effects of Grabs, Drops, and Wormholes means we have difficulty developing a realistic time-horizon (the technical term for the perception of time relative to deadlines and events).
Armor Up: Wards and Counterspells
You can't really get mad at the Time Thief, but you can set some friendly boundaries. Wards are protective shields to help you keep your time, and Counterspells are reactive tools to use when you realize some of your time has gone missing.
I'm skipping most of the obvious ones here, like using a planner and setting reminders, since we've certainly all heard those before and you're probably here because you're looking for something less orthodox.
Wards
Stat Buffs
Boost your brain's defenses by getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, and eating nourishing meals. These are foundational Wards against the vast majority of The League of Executive Dysfunction. Remember: Glucose is important for decision making, and protein is important for people who take stimulants.
A tired, depleted brain is far more susceptible to even the weakest villain.
The Anthropologist
Observe your habits without judgement. For a few days, notice which activities seem to attract your Time Thief. When do you experience The Grab? Which tasks trigger a Drop? Shame-free data collection is the first step to knowing which other Wards might be your best options, and when to use them.
The Bookmark
Maybe obvious, maybe too simple to be obvious, but I personally use this one most often.Â
Keep an open pocket notebook or index card and pen or pencil on your desk in front of you. Whenever you come across something you want to look up, something you don't want to forget to do later, a quote you love, or something you need to add to your grocery list- don't do it! Write it down instead.
Cognitively offloading the rabbit trails that often lead to Wormholes by getting them out of our brain satisfies the itch that makes them feel urgent, without compromising them to forgetfulness- nothing gets lost and you stay on task. Everybody wins.
The Scoreboard
Using a stopwatch or timer that counts upward creates a visible record of time passing, making it much more difficult for minutes to sneak away without you feeling the impact of their absence until it's too late. Meditation timers are great for this, as they chime at regular intervals to help gently bring your focus back to where you want it.
Bonus benefit: Combining this strategy with the Anthropologist, to observe patterns over time, can help strengthen your ability to estimate how long recurring tasks take you to complete.
The Pre-Launch Sequence
Before you start a task that is likely to attract the Time Thief, develop a pre-launch sequence of gathering everything you need, and clearing away everything you don't. Remove points of interest that the Time Thief seems to "discover" on your desk, making it easier to stay on track.
The Kind Rewind
When you plan your day, or before you begin a focused task, instead of setting a goal to cross it off of your list, take a moment to think about how you want to feel at the end, envision the end of this block of time with as much clarity as you can muster.
Our brains are always so busy, and a lot of advice is focused on doing, but seldom leverages our powerful imaginations to pause and visualize a successful outcome.
By picturing what "done" looks and feels like first, we can more easily work backward from that feeling to find the necessary steps, creating a clear path forward that sidesteps our most common hurdles while keeping our eyes on the prize.
Perform a Temporal Ritual
Look, if you haven't realized by now, Rituals and Anchors are some of the most powerful magics we have when it comes to Warding off executive dysfunction —they're kind of the shiz. The problem with a lot of Rituals is that they're inflexible or just not fun enough to keep us doing them. Fortunately, these problems are totally solvable with a little curiosity and experimentation. Here are some things to try:
- Create a playlist that spans the length of time you plan to focus before taking a break, restart it when it's time for the next session
The first song will become a trigger, telling your brain that it's time to get into focus-mode, and the last few will help you wind down and get ready to transition to the next activity.
- Light a specific scented candle when you start, and blow it out when you stop
Scent is powerfully linked to memory, using the same scented candle for your focus sessions will create an association between the scent and the focused work.
- Use a silly visual timer to help you mark the beginning and end of a focus session
Finding something that you like enough to do repetitively will train your brain to recognize it as a herald of focused-time, making it easier to flow between modes, and this awareness leaves fewer opportunities for the Time Thief to absently abscond with your minutes.
The Anchor
I meant what I said. The presence of another person acts as an external clock. Schedule a call with a friend or work alongside someone. Their presence provides a gentle grounding force, making it harder for your thoughts —and the Time Thief— to wander off for too long.
Counterspells
The Altar
The Altar was almost a Commencement, but it didn't quite fit there, I'm glad to finally have a place for it here. Visual and kinesthetic folks, as well as those who struggle with object permanence (the out-of-sight, out-of-mind phenomenon), will appreciate this one.
Assign a physical token to each of your main tasks. A token can be anything: crystals, Lego bricks, poker chips, coins, Skittles, even sticky notes. Place all of the undone tokens on one side of your desk, the Intention side. As you complete each task, physically move its token across your desk to the other side, the Completion side.
Try combining this strategy with The Bookmark (above) by setting the token for your current task on your bookmark of choice, where it will serve as a passive reminder to help your priorities stay in check.
Making your tasks tangible brings them off of the page and into reality. Physically moving an object through a process, feeling the weight of the remaining tokens, and watching your Completion pile grow as your Intention pile shrinks can all help increase the accuracy of your time-horizon; while also providing motivation through the satisfactory act of moving a physical token. These constant, quiet reminders of your commitments make it much harder for the Time Thief to pull you into a Wormhole.
The Gauntlet
Use an interval timer to add an interesting challenge to boring tasks, and make the consequences immediate and tangible. For admin tasks that could mean finishing one email per interval, with the reward being three M&Ms, or the penance doing three pushups.
The Magic Mirror
Hold the magic mirror up to a boring task and ask "How can I make this fun?" (if you're competitive The Gauntlet may be the answer!). Turning drudgery into a game transforms your relationship to the work and your perception of the time it takes to complete.
The Curse Breaker
When a Miscalculation makes you think a task will take forever, give yourself permission to do it badly on purpose. Shatter all-or-nothing thinking and maybe even get things done in a fraction of the time you expected.
The Heirloom
Picture your Future Self as a completely separate person —a dear friend you want to help and protect. Every action you take today is an "heirloom" you are either creating or tarnishing for them.
Are you finishing this report now so Future You can have a peaceful evening? Are you putting your keys by the door so Future You won't be late tomorrow? The Heirloom reframes mundane chores, or what might otherwise be impulsive actions, with profound and intentional kindness.
The Time Thief may be innocently distracting you now, but The Heirloom introduces another friend, Future You (and also the perfect excuse when you need to get out of plans the Time Thief made without asking). "I'd love to explore color palettes inspired by river rocks with you, Time Thief, but I promised my friend Future Me that I'd get this done so they can relax."
This directly combats the "intention deficit" by making the future feel immediate, personal, and deserving of your care in this moment.
✂️ TL;DR
The Villain: Meet the Time Thief, the charming, innocent personification of Time Blindness. He’s not a malicious monster; he’s a curious friend whose kleptomania for minutes and hours derails your day. This isn’t a character flaw—it’s a real, documented difference in how your brain perceives the passage of time.
The M.O.: He operates through moves like The Grab (where time vanishes when you're focused on something interesting) and The Drop (where time slows to a painful crawl when you're bored). These effects make it nearly impossible to accurately estimate how long tasks will take, leading to procrastination and missed deadlines.
The Strategy: You can’t get mad at him, but you can set friendly boundaries with two types of magic:
Wards (Prevention): Make time tangible and visible. Use The Scoreboard (an upward-counting timer) to feel time passing, The Altar (physical tokens for tasks) to make your to-do list real, and The Anthropologist to learn your own patterns without judgment.
Counterspells (In the Moment): When you're stuck, change your approach. Reframe boring tasks as a challenge with The Gauntlet, turn chores into a game with The Magic Mirror, and build powerful motivation by treating your Future Self like a dear friend with The Heirloom.