Why is ADHD forgetfulness called “time blindness”?

PostedNovember 18, 2025

UpdatedJanuary 1, 2026

ByMy Patient Advice

Author: Phoebe Carter, MSc | Reviewed by: Dr. Rebecca Fernandez, MBBS

If you live with ADHD, you might have noticed how hours can slip away unnoticed or how you’re always running late despite your best efforts. This is often described as “time blindness”; a term that captures how ADHD affects the brain’s ability to sense, estimate, and manage time. According to NICE guidance (NG87, 2025) and NHS ADHD resources, this difficulty with time awareness is closely tied to forgetfulness and executive-function challenges.

What time blindness means in ADHD

Time blindness isn’t about being careless, it’s about how ADHD brains perceive time differently.
Research in Frontiers in Psychology (2024) explains that ADHD disrupts time estimation and awareness of passing time, making it hard to judge how long tasks will take or when to start them. This leads to late arrivals, missed appointments, or forgotten commitments, all classic examples of ADHD-related forgetfulness.

What happens in the brain

Studies using brain imaging show that ADHD affects the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia, areas that help regulate attention, planning, and time tracking.
A 2024 Nature study and 2025 PubMed review found that these timing networks rely heavily on dopamine, which in ADHD functions differently, altering how time feels and is processed. This explains why people with ADHD can hyperfocus on one activity for hours or completely lose track of smaller tasks.

Managing time blindness

Both NICE and NHS guidance recommend using external time supports to make the invisible visible alarms, countdown timers, calendars, and visual schedules.
Therapies such as CBT and ADHD coaching help people learn to externalise time, breaking larger goals into smaller, timed actions. Coaching and digital reminders can also compensate for prospective memory deficits, the ability to remember to do things in the future.

Medication may also improve temporal awareness by enhancing dopamine regulation, helping to “sync” internal time with the external world.

Why time blindness feels like forgetfulness

ADHD-related forgetfulness often stems from time misperception. Instead of forgetting information itself, many people simply lose their sense of when things need to happen. As Frontiers research (2024) shows, improving attention and time awareness can dramatically reduce everyday forgetfulness and frustration.

Takeaway

“Time blindness” is one of the most relatable and scientifically validated ways to describe ADHD forgetfulness. It’s not a lack of care or motivation, but a difference in how the brain tracks time. With structure, coaching, and medication, people can learn to “see” time again and reclaim control over it.

Phoebe Carter, MSc

Author

Phoebe Carter is a clinical psychologist with a Master’s in Clinical Psychology and a Bachelor’s in Applied Psychology. She has experience working with both children and adults, conducting psychological assessments, developing individualized treatment plans, and delivering evidence-based therapies. Phoebe specialises in neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), ADHD, and learning disabilities, as well as mood, anxiety, psychotic, and personality disorders. She is skilled in CBT, behaviour modification, ABA, and motivational interviewing, and is dedicated to providing compassionate, evidence-based mental health care to individuals of all ages.

All qualifications and professional experience stated above are authentic and verified by our editorial team. However, pseudonym and image likeness are used to protect the author's privacy.

Dr. Rebecca Fernandez, MBBS

Reviewer

Dr. Rebecca Fernandez is a UK-trained physician with an MBBS and experience in general surgery, cardiology, internal medicine, gynecology, intensive care, and emergency medicine. She has managed critically ill patients, stabilised acute trauma cases, and provided comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care. In psychiatry, Dr. Fernandez has worked with psychotic, mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders, applying evidence-based approaches such as CBT, ACT, and mindfulness-based therapies. Her skills span patient assessment, treatment planning, and the integration of digital health solutions to support mental well-being.

All qualifications and professional experience stated above are authentic and verified by our editorial team. However, pseudonym and image likeness are used to protect the reviewer's privacy.