Timers and Alarms for Time Management

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 phone, Galaxy Watch 7, and SHOKZ OpenFit 2 earbuds arranged on a wooden table, used for timers, alarms, and 45/15 breaks.

9.11.25
by: Jill@321Oak
Pennsylvania, USA

TL;DR: Alarms can help you respect other people’s time and move through your day with less stress. If time blindness or hyperfocus trips you up, try a reverse Pomodoro (45 minutes on, 15 minutes off). Timers make the “little” tasks at home and work doable—use them often and with intention.

The cure for time blindness, hyperfocus, and distractibility

Time blindness is a relatively new term for me. It describes the way minutes or hours can pass without my being aware of it. For many people, this happens often. You have 5 minutes before a meeting, so you decide to tackle a few emails. One is more complicated, more interesting, or more emotionally charged, and 10 minutes later you hit send and realize you're late.

This happens to me literally all the time. If I have to do something in 15 minutes, I have to set a timer. My husband just gets up in 15 minutes without the timer and does the thing. This completely mystifies me. It turns out most people have an internal sense of time passing that is reliable and consistent. They can use it with prospective memory (the ability to remember to do something in the future) to fairly reliably remember to act in 15 minutes. I can't do that.

Alarms – an essential tool in the ADHD arsenal

When I was a kid, I had cool watches that I could set alarms on – sometimes even specific alarms for specific days. (And I was one of those kids who knew how to use them.) Even though it took a while to figure out the right controls for each watch, and it took a few minutes every time you wanted to schedule or change them, it was totally worth it.

Now, though, when timers and alarms are a simple "hey Google" away? Love, love, love it. They make my life easier in so many ways.

Morning routine

First, for my morning routine. For the first time in years, my kids go to different schools (one hit junior high this year!). That means different bus schedules. So, I have 6 alarms, one set of three for each kid: one for wake up, one I call RTG – or ready to go – which means they need to put shoes on, pack their bags, and get their jackets, and the final one is for stepping out the door. I can literally lose track in the couple of minutes between when they put their shoes on and when they leave for the bus stop. I also have an extra one on days that something special is happening. Band day – there's an alarm to make sure kid 2's instrument is by the door. Field trip? There's an extra alarm to make sure they take a bagged lunch.

What happens on holidays? Well, I have all the morning alarms grouped in a set that I can turn on and off. Aren't I worried I'll forget to turn them back on? Well yes – so I have an alarm for that. At the same time I turn them off, I set another alarm for 7 pm the night before I have to turn them on.

Work routine

When I was working, my day started by reviewing my calendar and setting an alarm for two minutes before every meeting. Since I was in a very meeting-heavy job, my alarm could go off 6 or 8 times a day. But I'll tell you what – I was very rarely late to anything. Being late is incredibly disrespectful of other people's time and energy, so it has been important to me to build systems to prevent it.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 40mm on a wooden table, used for alarms and timers.

Pomodoro timers – and ADHD: meet the Orodomop timer!

I just made a new word, and I love it. Pomodoro timers are a thing neurotypical people use to enhance focus. They lower the stress of starting a project, built-in breaks prevent fatigue and minimize distractions. If a distracting thought comes up, they're supposed to write it down to address later. It also (and I can relate to this one) allows them to notice how much time they're spending on a task.

Orodomop timers

For me, I most often don't need help maintaining focus. I get to do things I love, and I'm happy to do them for 12 hours straight if I can. My body, my household, my family, and my dog all have problems with that schedule. I use a 45-minute timer with a 15-minute break. This reminds me to step out of focus and do things like take the dog out, do dishes, prep a snack or dinner, and the other random things a mom needs to do during her day.

I do occasionally use them to start tasks I'm not excited about: paying bills, taxes, school forms, and other things I'm avoiding. And it does help me get past procrastination sometimes on “project”-like things. Way more useful for me, though, is the 15-minute “off” time in the Orodomop method.

SHOKZ OpenFit 2 open-ear earbuds in an open charging case on a wooden table.

15-minute putter

Puttering is moving about doing things in a relaxed way, without hurrying. This is what I do in my 15-minute breaks. I set a timer for 15 minutes and move around the house. I put dishes in the sink, change a load of laundry, clear off a countertop, pick an area and tidy it up. Nothing high concept, nothing hard, just a few minutes to put a little part of the house right.

For me, it's the “negative space” in the Pomodoro method that is most life-changing. On days when I practice it, I eat more regularly, get out of my PJs earlier, and have a tidier house. All things I struggle with if I'm focusing on a project. Part of the trick is that 15 minutes isn't enough to get anything “done.” So if you're not trying to finish it, even the biggest mountain of clutter isn't daunting. You're just doing a few little things without hurrying or trying too hard. It's kind of miraculous how much difference it can make.

It was similar, but not the same, while I was working. Many days, this didn't apply between 9 and 5 on workdays. If you have wall-to-wall meetings, or are otherwise not in control of your time, this isn't super useful. But if this is you, you probably have some blocked time to get things done. For those periods – whether they're a weekday afternoon you've carved out or an after-hours catch-up time, the Orodomop method is still useful. Forty-five minutes to focus on a task, 15 minutes to putter on other things—emails, phone calls, a bit of research or paperwork.

Just like a giant pile of laundry, little things piling up in your digital space can get untidy. And just like the laundry, when neurotypical people notice, it looks bad—and they judge (at least I think they do). Try it out. See what difference it makes when you reply to emails promptly, arrive at meetings having read the brief and jotted notes, or remember to ping a co-worker and tell them they did a great job on something.

Don't fool yourself or beat yourself up about it!

If you struggle with being on time—whether it's because of ADHD or not—don't beat yourself up! It may just be the way your brain is wired, and it's ridiculous to get upset with yourself for something you literally cannot control. Look at the problem, acknowledge it is real, and understand that it's not something you can “get better at.” What we're talking about here is not a skill, it's an ability. And it's an ability I don't have.

So, if I don't have that ability, I'll substitute something I can control—a system. Over time, I've experimented with many different alarms and timers, and the ones I like best are voice-activated ones on my phone and smartwatch. If I need to remember to check something on the stove – "Hey Google, set a timer for 5 minutes." I have an appointment at 1 pm? "Hey Google, set an alarm for 12:30" to make sure I have time to go to the bathroom, put shoes on, and do anything else I need before I leave the house. Also, "Hey Google, set an alarm at 12:45," so that I remember to actually leave. Seriously—I can always get sidetracked by a task or a thought, and I can lose track of time even when I'm specifically getting ready to leave.

Taking care of chores and being on time respects others, saves you hassle related to being messy, missing deadlines, being in a hurry, and the stress that comes with all of the above. In a work situation, it also makes you look professional, and that two minutes before a meeting allows you to get your thoughts in order and appear more competent. I've worked with people less able to keep up with this, and their reputations suffered.

Take the next steps

Whether you're neurotypical or not, time struggles are real. Think about how this affects your life. What do you forget to do? Is it the weekly tasks outside your daily patterns, like taking the trash out? Is it getting out the door on time, or getting to the meeting? Which seems more useful to you, Pomodoro or Orodomop?

  1. Try it out: Set two new alarms and see how they work. Commit to Pomodoro or Orodomop for an afternoon – 5 hours. See what kind of difference it makes. Then iterate. I'm convinced these tools can be revolutionary if you use them intentionally and keep a continuous improvement mindset.
  2. Share it: Have a friend, co-worker, or kid who you think struggles with time management? Teach them. Before you approach them, think it through in your head. How will you talk about it?
    • How has it / will it make your life better to optimize your use of these tools?
    • How will you talk about the difference between alarms – and the set-time things that need reminders, and timers—which are less formal but may be more powerful?
    • Which is better for you, Pomodoro or Orodomop?
    • Why?
    • Jot down 3–5 bullet points to help you remember what you want to tell them.

Feel free to reach out anytime if you have questions or comments about my content!

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