Submitted by PoisonIvy on 02/24/2012.
I have a question about people with ADD/ADHD and time. It's often said that people with ADHD aren't aware of time and so don't realize how long it takes to get things done. Do you think that it's also possible that they don't realize how "short" it takes to get certain things done? This thought occurred to me just now while I was in the kitchen waiting for some cookies to finish baking. I staightened up a bit while waiting and thought about one of my routine "while waiting" tasks: emptying the dishwasher. I can do most of it in the time it takes my coffee to heat in the microwave. I wondered if my husband wouldn't think to do something like that because he has no idea how quickly the task is accomplished. Any thoughts?
Time to burn the cookies
Submitted by YYZ on
Absolutely! The thing is, we lose track of the time when we are engaged in a project, so we end up spending more time that we thought. I'll say "I'll be back in 15 minutes. I need to tell Bob about my new widget." Two hours later, I'll be home. On the other hand, since the process of emptying the dishwasher Seems like it takes an hour, we would avoid doing it because we only have a few minutes to spare or we will be late for whatever is coming up next. (also... If we run out of time emptying the dishwasher and leave it half done, we will hear about it later) and of course emptying the dishwasher is boring ;)
I agree on the boringness of
Submitted by PoisonIvy on
I agree on the boringness of certain tasks. That's why I like to do them quickly and in "found" time.
Thanks, as usual, for your insights, YYZ!
Efficiency ;)
Submitted by YYZ on
Thanks Rosered :)
You should read a few of my rants about the kitchen sink and dishwasher :) I really get annoyed with this job because the others in the house make the job worse by not doing some basic common sense things. I really don't mind cleaning the sink and doing the dishwasher, but when I start and find all the silverware, plates, glasses and bowls encrusted because they were too lazy to rinse everything off. I get Really annoyed because what should take a few minutes is now going to take twice as long. I am really efficient at doing boring tasks because I want to move on to something Fun ;)
"Found Time" I like your name for this! I do things in found time a lot, but I have to be careful because my Time Awareness is still Suspect and sometimes I'll seem totally ADD running around like crazy, but the difference now, compared to my pre-Adderall days, is that I'm getting twice as much done :)