Not having good time awareness was my big issue growing up and for a significant part of adulthood. I was always losing track of time and showing up late for just about everything. People often suggested that I set an alarm to remind me. I didn’t know how to explain to them that if two alarms wasn’t enough, how would setting more do any good? (also those alarms needed to be maintained and adjusted, which added to the stress.)

After my diagnosis I made two significant changes. First, I became self-employed. That eliminated the time clock issue. And since I could set my own schedule, it was much harder to actually be late. Second, I decided that I would not longer be upset with myself for being late for appointments. If I was late, that was something I could not go back and fix therefore it wasn’t worth getting upset about.

This had a dramatic effect on my ability to arrive on time. Almost overnight I was almost never late for anything and my stress level about it went down to almost nothing.

I still get lose track of time on occasion. I can begin work on a project in the morning and suddenly realize that it is no longer daytime and several hours have gone by. But now I also have a dog and he reminds me to stop and take a break every two or three hours.