Struggling with Being Late

I like to set alarms for different parts of my routine. So like, I have to be on my way at 10am, it takes 5 min to take the dog out before leaving so I set an alarm for 9:55. It takes about 10min to get ready after my shower, so I set an alarm at 9:45. It takes about 10min to shower, so I set an alarm at 9:35. And because it takes me about 5 min to get out of bed, I set my 2nd wake up alarm at 9:30, and I set my first one at 9:15 so I get the satisfaction of snoozing my alarm every day. It helps me keep track of where I am in my process and continue moving

I write down the wrong time to trick myself. I put a half hour early haha. Works every time because ill forget i did that anyways. I also try hard to think of the benefits of getting there early and consequence of getting there latr

i always try to mentally plan to be there at least 20 minutes early! (like give myself an earlier starting time!)

I overestimate the travel time. I am using my anxiety for my advantage and adding those "what if something happens on the road" minutes. If it is a 15 min walk, I would think it as a 30 min walk because I might see someone, there might be a traffic accident etc. I know it is not the ideal way but I think it is better than "set up an alarm". You have adhd, you know about the alarms but you are probably asking because they are not the solution. Another thing I do is defining necessary and optional things when I am getting ready. Changing outfit is a must, make up isn't. I am skipping the optional parts of my getting ready ritual when I know I need to leave the house soon. I also try to overestimate the time I spent when I am putting my shoes on because that is the stage I remember the things I forgot. In the past my biggest mistake was thinking putting coat & shoes on do not take time but they are taking time. focus on your getting ready steps, experiment by skipping things and see how comfortable you are when you skip thoose. you can decide if something is necessary or optional this way.

My mom sets her clock to 20 minutes early

i'll wake up four hours early and still be late to my 10am it's awful

My mom who also has ADHD was watching a Master Class by Ru Paul and for some of us, subconsciously we let ourselves run late for everything for the adrenaline! Like, we subconsciously do that for that "payout" and we can remind ourselves that it's not worth it. Learning that helped my mom (she's not late for things anymore) and it helped me too, I leave at a more reasonable time usually.

I honestly have gotten in the habit of being extremely early for everything and I can't do anything by minutes, if I have to be to work at 9 around the corner from work I literally leave my house at 8:30 I always am usually half an hour early to everything

I’ve ended up having to calculate how long it’ll take me to get ready and get to class and set a ton of alarms so I know when I have to leave at the absolute latest to make it on time