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Time Timer: the gadget helping my daughter get ready for school on time
by Patrick Vogt
Time blindness: when the side quests take over
26/2/2026
Translation: Katherine Martin
If you’re always running late, your tardiness puts both you and the people in your life under strain. However, it doesn’t mean that you’re lazy or unreliable. You might just have a different concept of time.
When I was at school, I was constantly being marked down as late. Almost every day, I’d fail to turn up for class on time. Understandably, this aggravated my teachers and drove my parents – who desperately tried to make me realise I had to be on time – up the wall. Although I was aware of what I needed to do, I never managed to get a handle on my punctuality. No matter how hard I tried, something would always distract me.
Even now, people often say things to me like, «Ah, did you underestimate the traffic again?» While these comments don’t surprise me, they always awaken my inner critic. Thoughts like «I should’ve learned how to do this by now» or «Everyone thinks I’m unreliable and rude» come into my mind.
Not all time is created equal
Most people have an internal clock that gives them a sense of what a particular time span feels like. They can intuitively estimate how much time they’ve got between finishing work and starting dinner or going to volleyball training, or when to begin studying for the physics exam they’ll be sitting in six months’ time. To them, time is predictable and calculable.
People who don’t develop this ability, who struggle with that internal concept of time, might be experiencing time blindness. Psychologists often identify the issue in people with ADHD or autism, but it also affects people with a general executive function deficit. To these people, hours feel like seconds if they’re doing something interesting, but if they’re bored, minutes feel endless. They remember events from years prior as if they only took place a few weeks ago. Events happening in the distant future, however, are perceived as either infinitely far away or overwhelmingly soon.
When side quests run your life
In people with an executive function deficit, the brain prioritises activities perceived in the moment as «more important» or «more interesting» over the big-picture goal. It blocks out what the person actually intends to do, focusing purely on the here and now instead. At the same time, it enters a kind of flow state. In ADHD, however, that state becomes uncontrollable, a condition known as hyperfocus.
For people with time blindness, planning takes a gargantuan level of effort, as they have no reference point for how much time they need to allow for certain activities. This is especially true for repetitive daily activities, as the brain classifies them as less urgent. This phenomenon of underestimating time is also known as the planning fallacy. Allow me to describe a morning before work – complete with the distractions that run my everyday life.
To get to the office on time, I’ll need to hop on my bike and leave in the next ten minutes. All I need to do now is pack my laptop and put on my shoes and jacket. Easy.
Once I’ve packed my bag for the working day, I walk past a houseplant. Noticing that it needs water, I put my backpack down on the floor and grab the watering can. As I’m watering the plant, some water spills over the side of the saucer. I run into the kitchen to get a cloth and wipe up the spill from the window ledge. Since I’m doing that, I decide I might as well give the entire ledge a clean. I also pluck two brown leaves off the plant – they’ve been bothering me for a while. Glancing out of the window, I notice that new neighbours have moved in across the street. «Aww, they have a dachshund,» I think to myself, «How cute is he, lying there on the sofa? Hang on, did he just notice me? Oh crap, I should stop staring.»
And then it hits me. «Dammit! I’ve got to get to work. And I should’ve left ten minutes ago!»
Tips for the chronically late
Perhaps you experience time blindness or struggle to meet your deadlines too. If so, here are some tips that have helped me.
1. Don’t take on too much
This is something I’m all too aware of. When I have a commitment-free Saturday, the day seems to stretch endlessly in front of me. It feels like I have enough time to do my laundry, eat brunch, go to the gym, reorganise the fridge, fill out my tax return and meet up with friends. Sadly, that’s not how things pan out in reality. If you start out by setting yourself just one or two tasks instead, you’ll be on time more often and stay more relaxed over a longer period of time. You’re also more likely to experience self-efficacy (page in German), the belief that you’re capable of dealing with things on your own. Between these tasks, you’ll even have time to relax or do something spontaneous. Remember that most things can wait until tomorrow.
2. Trust your gut – except when it comes to time management
If you have a history of misjudging the time you need to get to places, always add a generous buffer to your estimated travel time. Personally, I always feel like it’ll take me 20 minutes to get anywhere in the city of Zurich by bike. Door to door. Yep, I know that’s optimistic. But that’s my reality. In my experience, I always need to increase the time estimated in my navigation app by a third.
3. Set an alarm
As annoying as alarms sound, make them your friend. Set them early enough so that you have ample time to get ready to leave, even if little distractions pop up. If you’d rather not be constantly distracted by your phone, you might want to try using a mechanical alarm clock. My colleague Patrick Vogt’s daughter, Zoe, tried one recently.
You can also trick yourself by setting your watch forward.
4. Ask for help
Does planning a day involving multiple events and train journeys seem impossible? I feel you. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice from someone who finds time management easier. In the best case scenario, they’ll point out potentially time-consuming moments and help you calculate how long you’ll need. Again, the less you take on, the less pressure you’ll be under.
5. Don’t expect to master time management overnight
Lateness is annoying – especially for the person on the receiving end. However, the better the tools you have supporting you, the easier it’ll be for you to be on time. Don’t judge yourself if you still slip up – your brain works differently.
Even so, show empathy towards the person waiting for you. After all, standing around in the cold and rain, unsure when someone’s going to show up, is exasperating. If you’ve arranged to get together with someone, link it with a positive emotion by focusing on the idea that they’ll be pleased if you’re on time. Your brain will then classify the activity as important and worth working towards.
If you still end up being late, apologise to whoever’s waiting for you and explain that it has nothing to do with them. Let them know you’re running late and say roughly how long you’ll be. Doing this sometimes feels really shameful, but it gives the other person the opportunity to find their own way of bridging that waiting time. If it happens often, negotiate rules you can stick to instead of making excuses. For example, the person you’ve made plans with could set off later than agreed or you could hold your weekly team meeting online.
Differences across the world
Perceptions of time don’t just vary between individuals – they also vary between cultures. The Lewis model explains this and roughly divides time perception differences into three categories: linear, multi-active and reactive.
In countries such as Switzerland and Germany, most people perceive time as linear. In other words, we’re future-focused and consider the past to be behind us. We don’t move onto the next task until we’ve completed the one we’re working on. What’s more, we plan our days efficiently and meticulously so we don’t «waste» any time. As they say, time’s money. With this in mind, it’s not surprising that we consider turning up late to be impolite – delays rob us of our precious time.
It’s a different story in south European countries, where people in multi-active cultures consider time to be flexible. Interpersonal relationships take centre stage. Even if someone’s due to go to an appointment, they won’t break off an important conversation until it reaches its natural end. Experiencing the moment is at the heart of everything. In places connected to these cultures, time blindness is less noticeable.
Even further removed from both concepts is the reactive perception of time, commonly held in Hindu and Buddhist cultures. These people see time as circular, a perception based on naturally occurring cycles such as the seasons, birth and death or sunrise and sunset. Since everything repeats itself, there’s always enough time for things. If something doesn’t work out this summer, then there’s always next summer.
Time is a philosophical issue
These differences demonstrate that there’s no right or wrong, even if it sometimes feels that way. It’s interesting to make use of the advantages of each concept. Linear time perception drives efficiency. Multi-active time perception strengthens interpersonal relationships and helps you live in the moment. Reactive time perception allows you to see the big picture – and demonstrates that seemingly urgent things can often wait. Perhaps even until the next life.
But your next appointment can’t. So wrap up that online shopping session, put your phone away and get going. You don’t want to be late again, do you?
Header image: Stefanie Lechthaler
Painting the walls just before handing over the flat? Making your own kimchi? Soldering a broken raclette oven? There's nothing you can't do yourself. Well, perhaps sometimes, but I'll definitely give it a try.
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