ADHD and Time Management: Why “Now vs. Not Now” Gets Harder in December

If you’re raising a child with ADHD, you’ve probably already noticed that time works differently for them. You ask them to get dressed, and ten minutes later they’re still on the floor playing. You give a five-minute warning, and when the moment arrives they look shocked, as if those minutes never happened at all.

This isn’t disobedience.

This is ADHD time blindness, a core difficulty in how the ADHD brain perceives, tracks, and organises time. Research shows that children with ADHD experience time as fragmented and struggle to visualise “later,” making transitions especially hard when routines loosen or days change pace.

And nowhere is this more visible than during the holiday season.

Why the Holidays Intensiy ADHD Time Blindness

December changes everything.
Bedtimes drift. Meals shift. Visitors appear. Excitement skyrockets. The day’s rhythm becomes unpredictable.

For an ADHD brain, these “anchors”, the consistent cues that help the nervous system understand what comes next are essential. When those anchors disappear, so does the child’s ability to hold onto when things are supposed to happen.

Studies on ADHD and executive functioning show that predictability reduces cognitive load, while unpredictability increases emotional dysregulation and impulsivity. So when the environment speeds up, your child’s time perception slows down even more.

What looks like ignoring…
is actually a brain that can’t grasp “not now.”

How This Looks in Real Life

Imagine your child is building something, fully absorbed. You ask them to get ready. They hear you but the instruction doesn’t “stick” long enough to turn into action. Their brain can’t pause the current focus to shift to the next task.

This is not a motivation problem.

It’s a working memory problem and research shows that ADHD brains lose information quickly when demands compete.

Or when you ask them to wait.

One minute feels like forever. The nervous system fills the space with movement, noise, or restlessness because they don’t yet have the tools to tolerate pause or ambiguity. Emotional responses arrive before regulation kicks in, a hallmark of both ADHD and the dysregulation described in our Neurodivergent Dysregulation Model.

None of this is intentional.
It’s the brain doing its best under too much stimulation and not enough predictability.

What This Feels Like for You

When time slips away for your child, you end up holding the weight of it.

You become:

• the scheduler

• the reminder system

• the external working memory

• the emotional buffer

These are the exact pressures that lead many parents to feel like they’re “walking on eggshells,” a phrase I hear constantly in coaching sessions at Sinaps.

Feeling frustrated or overwhelmed doesn’t mean you’re failing.

It means you are carrying more executive function than one adult was ever meant to hold alone.

What Helps Bring Calm Back

Children with ADHD don’t need rigid structure but they do need steady touchpoints that help their nervous system anticipate what comes next. This isn’t just behavioural; it’s neurobiological.

Here are evidence-based supports that help your child manage better.

1. Preview transitions

Give a clear, concrete marker:
“We will leave when this episode finishes.”

Research shows that external cues lighten the load on working memory.

2. Make time visible

Visual timers, countdown apps, checklists, and “first–then” boards help children see time passing, supporting their weaker internal clock.

3. Protect sleep and meals

Stable sleep and nutrition regulate dopamine, cortisol, and emotional stability, the three systems that become dysregulated in ADHD and even more so during holidays.

4. Slow the environment

Reduce competing demands. Use one instruction at a time. Offer softer cues. This helps the child stay within their window of tolerance.

5. Stay close during transitions

Co-regulation supports the emotional and sensory dysregulation that often comes with shifting tasks.

These strategies don’t remove ADHD but they reduce the friction and help your child feel safe, understood, and more capable.

A Calmer December Is Possible

You don’t have to guess why this season feels harder, and you don’t have to struggle through with limited tools to cope on your own.

I created a free Holiday guide that walks you through:

• Why your child’s behaviour gets worse during the holidays, and why it’s not their fault (or yours)

• What actually happens inside their brain during a meltdown so you can recognize the signs and catch the meltdown before it even happens

• The first steps to creating calmer, more connected days with fewer power struggles and more peaceful moments

If you want this December to feel gentler, more predictable, and far less stressful for your child, and for you, you can Download the Free Holiday Guide – How to Prevent Holiday Meltdowns”