ADHDers Need a Memory Assistant, Not a Running Timer

Coke and Mentos.

Tom and Jerry.

ADHD and time tracking.

These are some of the things that don’t mix well. Not inherently bad or wrong in isolation but incompatible when put together.

Time is a painful subject for many people living with ADHD. Time blindness, extreme multitasking, hyperfocus, and revenge procrastination are all symptoms of a tense relationship with time that many ADHDers have.

And yet, tasks need to be accomplished, deadlines need to be met, and clients need to be invoiced. If you’re a person with ADHD working in professional services, you understand the pain of keeping track of time more acutely than any of your colleagues.

In this article, we’re exploring the nuances of time management and ADHD. 

ADHD and time blindness

Even though time blindness is not exclusively associated with conditions such as ADHD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it’s extremely common among ADHDers.

In simple terms, time blindness can be characterized as inability or difficulty in perceiving and managing time. It’s not a medical diagnosis but rather an umbrella term. People experiencing time blindness struggle with the following.

• Estimating tasks
• Sticking to schedules
• Meeting deadlines
• Knowing when to start and finish the task

In neurotypical people, these are all signs of bad time management. For people with ADHD, time blindness is an often overlooked cognitive symptom calling for ADHD-specific solutions and tools.

Why time tracking doesn’t work for ADHD

Let’s consider the reasons why traditional time tracking does not work for people with ADHD.

They’re all related to the way the ADHD brain works and what productivity can look like.

1. High/low cycle

Many ADHDers experience time in so-called high/low cycles. A high period is a period of peak productivity, often associated with states of hyperfocus (more on that later) and maximum efficiency. This is the period of getting things done and it can last for days on end.

A low period is the opposite of that and is characterized by the feeling of being stuck and unable to perform or even focus at all. 

2. Non-verbal time

Non-verbal time is often coupled with hyperfocus, a period of extreme concentration and productivity common during the high periods. It’s also associated with high irritability as being interrupted can snap the person out of the high period (looking at you, stopwatch).

Anybody who’s ever experienced the flow state knows how rewarding it is and how important it is to maintain the focus. Uninterrupted work is important to ADHDers because it prevents feeling overwhelmed, pressured, and lacking control over time.

3. Extreme multitasking

Many of us are habitual multitaskers but nobody does it quite like people with ADHD. Their need for stimulation drives them to using multiple screens and too many tabs, making it very hard to trace what it is they’re working on until it’s done.

Traditional time tracking is entirely too limited to keep up with the speed of context switching that feels natural to the ADHD brain. Imagine switching between a PowerPoint, YouTube, and Reddit, while starting and stopping the timer every time you minimize the window. 

4. Revenge procrastination

When ADHDers work in a neurotypical environment, they often find themselves wanting to reclaim the time spent trying to focus, responding to interruptions during non-verbal time, and keeping track of the stopwatch. This results in revenge procrastination – pushing back tasks and demands until the sense of control over time is restored.

Of course, pushing back tasks only perpetuates the cycle of procrastination and feeling stuck. The running timer is not kind to a procrastinating ADHDer struggling to hold onto what poor control they have of their workday.

Why ADHDers need a memory assistant

To succeed in the professional service industry, people with ADHD need to find tools and strategies for better time management. Whether it’s meeting deadlines or calculating billables – or both – there are many tasks where time tracking is the answer. It just needs to be done right.

We hear a lot from ADHDers who struggled with time management and billables before they found Memtime. Here’s what they had difficulty with.

• Estimating and keeping track of tasks
• Switching timers on and off
• Losing billable hours

A solution that proves to be effective in all of these scenarios is having a memory assistant such as Memtime. Here’s how it works.

What’s a memory assistant?

A memory assistant is a piece of software that works in the same way an admin assistant would. It keeps track of your time while you work so it’s always there to remind you what you did and for how long. Once you’ve installed Memtime, it runs quietly on your computer without ever interrupting your focus work.

Because it’s a program, it can guarantee superhuman precision and uncompromised privacy. Memtime follows your mouse and keyboard and keeps up with the most intense multitasking (we’re talking unlimited browser tabs and screens). It documents every minute of your time on the computer, giving you a detailed overview of your busy day.

5 ways to use an ADHD time tracker

ADHD time tracking works when you remove the time tracking part from it. A memory assistant like Memtime takes care of timekeeping in a way that you can forget about it but still enjoy its full benefits. Let’s take a closer look at what you can do with an automated ADHD time tracker.

1. Turn hyperfocus into hyperprofit

As an ADHDer, your ability to hyperfocus and get things done must be rewarded according to the tasks accomplished. The problem is, the state of hyperfocus can last any amount of time, including outside of work hours.

This is where a memory assistant comes in handy. An ADHD time tracker such as Memtime works in the background 24/7, making sure all of your time on the computer is captured down to the minute, day or night. You can easily recover all billable time and invoice for it at your convenience without losing a minute.

2. Make sense of multitasking

Multitasking is tricky to measure without superhuman speed and precision, which is what an automatic ADHD time tracker gives you. Every click and mouse movement is registered so you can trace your work and accumulate billable time as you go.

If you switch across projects, Memtime is there to help you assign work to the right tasks and clients, however many you’re handling at once.

3. Improve estimates and planning

If you, like many ADHDers, struggle with estimating tasks and planning projects, a memory assistant will help you improve estimates by showing how long it took you to complete similar tasks in the past.

Memtime stores all of your time tracking data offline on your computer from day 1 of installing it and until the day you format your PC. You can go back in time and check how fast you handled projects of the same scope to give a realistic estimate to the client.

4. Nail timesheets

If you have ADHD and work in an industry that uses timesheets to measure utilization, you probably have a tense relationship with your PM or accounting department. With a memory assistant as your disposal, you’ll never struggle with timesheets again.

Memtime, for one, gives you a detailed breakdown of any day in the past and allows you to instantly create time entries for export into your timesheet. Memtime connects to 100+ apps for project management, accounting, etc. – so you can complete timesheets in a couple of clicks.

5. Uncover impulsive spending

Time blindness and impulsive buying go hand in hand. Many ADHDers find themselves struggling with impulse shopping, especially in a hectic work environment or pressed against a deadline.

An ADHD time tracker that works as a memory assistant is an excellent tool to uncover impulsive spending patterns and triggers. By looking at your past work days, you can figure out what precedes episodes of compulsive spending and how to prevent them in the future.

Final thoughts

Time tracking in its traditional sense is incompatible with ADHD. It’s invasive, distracting, and counterproductive to the effort of improving focus and getting things done. What ADHDers need is not a running timer, it’s a memory assistant.

A memory assistant like Memtime aids in every aspect of time blindness, so common among people with ADHD. It helps estimate tasks, meet deadlines, and make the most of the state of hyperfocus. By doing all that, an ADHD time tracker helps reclaim control over one’s time, feel more at peace with a demanding job, and get compensated fairly for one’s work.

I hope this article gives you a new perspective on time tracking and ADHD. If you’re ready to switch to ADHD-friendly time tracking with Memtime, don’t delay your free trial and start seeing the results right away.