You’ve tried every planner system and set countless alarms. But you’re still late to meetings, still missing deadlines, still losing track of entire afternoons.
Here’s why: traditional time management advice assumes you have an internal sense of time. But with time blindness, that internal clock doesn’t work reliably. You need external systems that do the time-tracking your brain can’t. This is what executive function coaching provides. At Kolli Psychiatric and Associates in Red Bank, New Jersey, we help patients build these external systems through targeted coaching with executive function coaching.
Why Time Blindness Requires a Coaching Approach
Time blindness isn’t about laziness or poor motivation—it’s a neurological difference in how your brain perceives and tracks time. Research shows that people with ADHD often struggle with time perception, estimation, and prospective memory, meaning they have trouble anticipating and preparing for future events.[1,2]
Medication can help improve focus and attention, but it doesn’t always fix the brain’s distorted sense of time. Executive function coaching bridges that gap by teaching you to externalize time, create structure, and build accountability.
If ADHD medication helps the brain see time more clearly, coaching gives you the tools and systems to act on it.
Key Strategies in Executive Function Coaching for Time Blindness
Every executive function coaching plan is individualized, but certain strategies consistently help people manage time blindness. These approaches make time visible, measurable, and predictable—transforming how you plan, start, and transition between tasks.
1. Make Time Visible
When your brain can’t reliably sense time passing, external cues take over. Coaching focuses on making time tangible so that minutes and hours become something you can see and respond to. Common tools include:
- Visual timers that show time physically depleting
- Alarms and reminders tied to transitions, not just deadlines
- Block scheduling with color-coded sections and buffer time
- Regular check-ins to reinforce accountability
One Monmouth County client explained, “I used to think 30 minutes meant plenty of time. Now my timer shows me exactly how much is left—and I actually get out the door on time.”
2. Track and Estimate Time Accurately
People with time blindness often underestimate how long tasks take, which leads to chronic lateness and rushed transitions. Coaching replaces guesswork with data. You learn to track how long activities actually take, build a personal “time library,” and identify patterns in where you lose time.
Coaches often recommend:
- Tracking routine tasks for one to two weeks
- Adding 25–50% buffer time to each activity
- Reviewing daily results to adjust estimates
When you plan based on real evidence rather than perception, you begin to use your time more effectively.
3. Use Backwards Planning
Backward planning helps you externalize the invisible prep time that your brain tends to overlook. Start with the moment you must be ready and work backwards to figure out when to begin.
For example, if you need to leave at 2:00 PM, and it takes 20 minutes to drive and 15 minutes to gather your things, you should start getting ready at 1:25 PM—not 1:50. This simple strategy helps reduce stress and last-minute scrambling.
4. Manage Transitions Smoothly
Transitions can be difficult for those with time blindness, especially when shifting between activities or coming out of hyperfocus. Coaching helps you develop consistent signals that tell your brain it’s time to switch gears.
These might include:
- Transition rituals such as closing tabs, standing up, or stretching
- Layered reminders—15-minute, 5-minute, and “now” alerts
- Step-by-step routines for ending one task and starting another
These habits create smoother movement through your day and reduce the time lost between tasks.
5. Strengthen Task Initiation
With “future time blindness,” tasks don’t feel real until they’re urgent. Coaching helps you build structure and accountability to begin earlier and with less resistance.
Strategies may include:
- Breaking large projects into smaller, time-anchored steps
- Using external accountability such as check-ins or body doubling
- Creating short “starting rituals” that cue your brain to begin
Over time, these systems help you start on time without waiting for last-minute urgency.
6. Manage Hyperfocus
Hyperfocus can be productive but often leads to losing hours without noticing. Coaching teaches awareness and time boundaries so that focus remains intentional.
Effective tools include:
- Multiple alarms to break up long work sessions
- Apps or timers that enforce breaks
- Awareness strategies to recognize when attention becomes excessive
Learning to manage hyperfocus helps you stay efficient while keeping control of your schedule.
Putting It All Together
These strategies work best when used together. By making time visible, tracking it accurately, and building reliable transition and initiation systems, you develop a daily rhythm that supports productivity rather than chaos.
At Kolli Psychiatry in Red Bank, NJ, Executive Function Coach Ken Erb helps patients apply these tools in practical, realistic ways—creating sustainable systems that work with your brain, not against it.
What to Expect in Executive Function Coaching in Red Bank
Each coaching session at Kolli Psychiatric and Associates is collaborative and practical. Our executive function coach works with clients to identify their unique patterns of time blindness and tailor solutions that fit their daily lives.
Coaching typically includes:
- Assessment: Identifying which executive function skills (time awareness, organization, initiation) need support.
- System Design: Building external structures—timers, calendars, reminders—that make time visible and actionable.
- Practice & Accountability: Testing strategies in real life, troubleshooting obstacles, and adjusting systems as habits form.
Most patients begin with weekly or twice a week sessions, then space them out as systems solidify and self-regulation improves.
Who Benefits from Executive Function Coaching
Executive function coaching is especially effective for:
- Adults with ADHD-related time blindness who struggle with lateness, deadlines, or follow-through
- High School and College students learning to manage independent schedules and coursework
- Working professionals balancing projects, meetings, and family responsibilities
- Individuals whose medication alone isn’t enough to fix time perception or organization
Many of our Red Bank and Monmouth County patients describe coaching as “the missing piece that finally made everything click.”
Frequently Asked Questions About Executive Function Coaching
Is executive function coaching the same as therapy?
No. Therapy focuses on emotions and insight, while coaching focuses on action. Coaching is skill-based, action oriented, and designed to improve day-to-day functioning.
Can I do coaching without medication?
Yes. Coaching works both independently and alongside medication, depending on your goals and needs.
Is coaching available online?
Yes. We offer both in-person sessions in Red Bank and telehealth sessions throughout New Jersey for convenience and flexibility.
Start Managing Time Blindness More Effectively
If you’re constantly running late, overwhelmed by everyday tasks, or losing entire afternoons without realizing it, executive function coaching can help you regain control.
At Kolli Psychiatry in Red Bank, NJ, Executive Function Coach Ken Erb works directly with patients and our psychiatric team to create personalized systems that make time visible, structure manageable, and goals achievable.
You don’t have to keep struggling with strategies that weren’t designed for your brain. With the right support, you can finally feel in sync with time—and with yourself.
References
1. Swartz, H. A., Palermo, S. M., & Masalehdan, A. (2016). What happens when CBT is not enough? The interface of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy for mood and anxiety disorders. Focus, 14(4), 393-400.
2. Barkley, R. A. (2012). Executive functions: What they are, how they work, and why they evolved. Guilford Press.
3. Ptacek, R., Weissenberger, S., Braaten, E., et al. (2019). Clinical implications of the perception of time in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): A review. Medical Science Monitor, 25, 3918-3924.
4. Weissenberger, S., Ptacek, R., Klicperova-Baker, M., et al. (2021). Time perception is a focal symptom of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults. Medical Science Monitor, 27, e933766.
5. Reimherr, F. W., Marchant, B. K., Gift, T. E., & Steans, T. A. (2017). Types of adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Baseline characteristics, initial response, and long-term response to treatment with methylphenidate. ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders, 9(2), 91-102.
