ADHD & Time Management

One of the first things I focus on for ADHD clients is time management. I love using Sarah Ward’s strategy of drawing on an actual clock with a dry erase marker.

Why an analog clock? Analog—or traditional wall clocks—help children start to see and feel the passage of time. Is 5 minutes a little bit of time, or a lot? What about 40 minutes? Children with ADHD often struggle to understand time and visualizing themselves completing a task. It’s why they so often become reliant on you, their teacher, or another adult to tell them what to do—and you’re left thinking, “how many times have I told him to put his shoes on?!”

That’s when I come in with my clock and dry erase marker! We first start with a highly motivating task like making slime!

“I think it will take us 30 minutes to complete this task.” (shades in 30 minutes on the clock).

“Let’s see if we can do it!”

I will then check in during slime-making and draw my client’s attention to the clock to see if we are still “on time.”

Once my client starts understanding time, can draw on the clock themselves, we start adding on a couple more elements to encourage even more independence like a to-do list, materials needed, and we may even “act out” steps of the task to help the create that mental image to help them complete tasks more independently.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why does my child with ADHD need so many prompts to complete a task?

  • Your child may have difficulty understanding time and the passage of time. For example, when you say, "Five more minutes," they may not know whether that feels like a long time or a short time.

    Many people with ADHD also have challenges with episodic memory—the ability to mentally revisit past experiences. For example, you might easily picture your last birthday party, remembering where it was, what you wore, or what you ate. Children with ADHD may have more difficulty recalling these details, especially when the event wasn't particularly exciting or emotionally meaningful.

    These challenges with time awareness and memory can make planning, estimating how long tasks will take, and learning from past experiences much more difficult. If you'd like to learn more about episodic memory and ADHD, you can dive deeper here.

• How can I start to help my child with ADHD become more independent?

  • One of my favorite strategies is pairing visual supports with Sarah Ward's strategy of "miming" (acting out each step of a task). Children with ADHD often know what to do, but remembering the steps in the moment can be challenging.

    For example, if your child is learning to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, first show them a picture of the finished sandwich so they know what they're working toward. Then create a simple checklist with each step (e.g., Get two slices of bread. Spread peanut butter. Spread jelly. Put the slices together.). As you teach each step, have your child pretend to complete the action before actually doing it—for example, pretending to spread peanut butter while saying, "Spread peanut butter on the bread."

    This combination of visual cues and movement helps children better remember the sequence of steps, reduces the load on working memory, and builds the routines needed to complete everyday tasks more independently over time.