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Time

A visible timer for time blindness

A lot of people with ADHD describe time as "now" and "not now." A clock that says 4:40 does not always feel like "leave in ten minutes." That is a description people use. It is not a score, and Inchly does not test it or diagnose it.

Change the cue, not your character

Use a timer you can see changing, not only a number in the corner of a screen you have already ignored. A ring that shrinks is one version. Keep the session short enough that "now" can cover it. Five minutes is easier to feel than an open-ended hour. Add another block only at a checkpoint.

Let the alarm mean "you may stop," not "you failed." If the sound is a punishment, you will avoid setting it. For a real deadline, start the first motion now and set the timer. Do not wait until the deadline feels close. For many people it starts to feel close only once it is already late.

Put a cue in the room when a timer is not enough

A bag at the door beats a hope that you will feel the hour. "Leaving in ten minutes" is a clearer sentence than a time you cannot feel. The timer handles the start. The object in the room handles the transition.

If you ignore every timer, it may be in the wrong place or mean the wrong thing. Put it face up where the work is. Once, stand next to it until it rings, with permission to stop when it does, so the sound is tied to an ending you chose.

What this does not do

A visible timer will not install a clinical sense of time. It gives a start a shape you can see. If lateness is hurting work, school, or safety, a qualified professional is the person to talk with. This page is not that conversation.

Studying with a timer you can see is covered on the homework page. The contract that makes the alarm a permission, not a threat, is the 5-minute rule.

Do it in this order

  1. Use a timer you can see

    A changing shape is easier to notice than a clock number you have learned to ignore.

  2. Keep the first block short

    Five minutes can feel like "now." An undefined hour often cannot.

  3. Make the alarm mean you may stop

    You can continue on purpose. The sound is not a verdict.

  4. Add a physical cue for transitions

    A bag by the door, or a written "leave in ten minutes," when feeling the hour does not work.

  5. Start before the deadline feels close

    Begin the first motion now. Do not wait for urgency to arrive on its own.

Where Inchly fits

Inchly's focus timer is a ring, with Pip beside it, for five minutes or a length you set. It keeps time from timestamps if you leave the app. You can pause, and you can stop. Just 5 minutes starts that timer without a breakdown. None of this measures or treats time blindness. It is a clock you can see.

Questions

Is time blindness a diagnosis Inchly is using?

No. It is plain language for an experience people describe. This page is not a definition from a diagnostic manual, and the app does not measure it.

What if I ignore every timer?

Move the timer to the place where the work happens, face up, and make the end a permission to stop. If you dismiss alarms by habit, do one session where you stand with it until it rings.

Can I use a timer without planning the task?

Yes. Name the thing you are touching, start five minutes, and stop when you want after that. A plan is optional.

Keep going

Try a 5-minute start

Open Inchly in the browser, or get the Android app. No account and no ads. Capture, on-device steps, and the five-minute timer are free to start.

Try the web app Get it on Google Play

Android package com.montgomeryappworks.inchly.