Time Blindness App for ADHD: Why Tasks Take Longer Than Peers
A personal task-time tracker that measures your own context-switches and interruptions against your own historical baseline, instead of comparing you to an imaginary 'should take' number.
Do you feel the same task takes you longer than your colleagues/spouse?
I have heard of the term "time blindness" but I also feel like I am spending the time I need to do to complete the task. At the same time, I feel like my peers or colleagues at work seem to be able to do the same thing in a shorter amount of time. Part of the problem I know is that I prefer to think through the steps and just wrap something up at one go instead of going back to it after a period of time because then I have to remind myself from the beginning all over again. But that's only a small part of it. I just feel like I am slower to finish something (it doesn't mean my output quality is bad) and it seems to me like my colleagues seem to be able to do a lot more professionally and personally too. Would appreciate inputs on others that feel the same way. If you did or do, how do you objectively measure how much time something should take and keep yourself to it?
The problem, in the searcher’s words
I feel like the same task takes me way longer than it takes my coworkers or my partner, even though my output isn't worse. I've heard of 'time blindness' but I genuinely think I'm spending the time the task needs — I just can't tell if that's normal or if I'm actually slow.
Part of it is that I need to finish something in one sitting, because if I stop and come back later I have to re-load the whole context in my head, which burns extra time. I also catch myself reviewing my own work multiple times before calling it done.
I want to know objectively how long a task 'should' take, and how to hold myself to that, instead of just feeling vaguely behind everyone else.
What the thread shows
Multiple commenters independently point to the same hidden cost — self-interruption and context-switching — as the real reason tasks feel slower than peers', suggesting the pain is real and shared, but no one in the thread indicates they'd pay to solve it.
“I realized the task wasn't taking longer. I was interrupting myself more often without noticing.”
“The 'how long it should take' number is the trap. There's no objective should, just how long it takes someone who's done that exact task forty times and reuses last time's setup.”
“If stopping halfway means re-reading from the top, interruptions are what actually cost you here, so guard one uninterrupted block for the thinking-heavy part.”
“I definitely take longer because I review my work 3x. I blame my 'writing hobby' for this tendency.”
Target customer
Who
Knowledge workers (and self-identified 'time blind' or possibly ADHD-adjacent individuals) who feel chronically slower than colleagues despite comparable output quality
Context
Mid-task, when they notice they've drifted, re-read work multiple times, or lost their place after an interruption, and want to know if their pace is actually abnormal or just unmeasured
What to build
- Simple start/stop timer per task with a tag for task type
- Passive detection or manual logging of interruptions/context switches during a session
- Personal baseline report: 'this type of task usually takes you X, this time it took Y'
- End-of-session summary showing time lost to self-interruption vs. actual work time
- Single-sitting mode that nudges you to protect an uninterrupted block for thinking-heavy work
Build note — Passive interruption detection (app-switch tracking, notification logging) requires OS-level permissions similar to RescueTime; a manual-log-only version would be a lighter, more private MVP.
Later, if it lands
Who’s already out there
Automatically tracks time spent in apps/websites and reports on focus vs. distraction.
Gap: Tracks aggregate app usage, not personal per-task baselines or the 're-load context after interruption' cost the thread describes.
Manual/semi-automatic time tracking per task or project.
Gap: Records how long a task took but offers no insight into why it took longer than a personal baseline or how many context-switches occurred.
Free time tracker for tasks and projects, often used by teams.
Gap: Same limitation as Toggl — logs duration, not the self-interruption or re-review patterns the thread identifies as the real cost.
Demand read
The thread shows corroborated, recurring pain (interruption-driven slowness, review cycles, no objective baseline) across multiple commenters, but nobody in the thread states they'd pay for a tool or names a paid solution they use, so willingness to pay is unproven.
Worth digging into before you build
4 to considerNo idea is a sure thing at this stage — these are open questions worth checking yourself, not a verdict against building it.
Weak Demand
No commenter or the OP states they'd pay for a solution or names a paid tool they use; willingness-to-pay signals are absent.
Generic Idea
Time tracking is a saturated category (RescueTime, Toggl, Clockify already dominate); differentiation on 'personal baseline vs interruption cost' is narrow and unproven.
Thin Source
Only 8 comments, most with a score of 1, and one deleted/off-topic exchange; limited material to fully validate demand.
Sensitive Domain
Thread touches on 'time blindness,' a term commonly associated with ADHD; editorial review recommended before framing this as a health-adjacent product.