Mindful Monday: The Hidden Role of Time in Planning
We’ve talked about planning as a critical executive functioning skill—forecasting what needs to happen, breaking it down, and moving forward step by step.
But here’s the thing: none of that works without one critical ingredient.
Time.
Every plan we make—big or small—lives inside the confines of time.
And yet, time awareness is one often overlooked pieces of executive functioning.
What Is Time Awareness, Really?
Good time awareness isn’t just about glancing at the clock. It’s layered:
Internal sense of time passing: That feeling you get when you’ve been so absorbed in a task that suddenly you “jolt” and realize hours have gone by and you’ve lost all sense of time.
Estimating task duration: Being able to guess how long something will take within a reasonable window.
Using time to plan: Knowing how long it takes to shower, eat breakfast, and get to school on time—and adjusting your morning routine accordingly.
Strong planning can’t exist without these skills.
After all, every plan unfolds in time.
When Time Awareness Breaks Down
Kids (and adults!) who struggle with executive functioning often land in one of two camps: time blindness or time optimism.
Time Blindness
Time blindness makes it nearly impossible to track or manage time. Kids with time blindness may:
Lose themselves in an activity and have no idea how long it’s been.
Underestimate or overestimate how long tasks take.
Struggle to organize tasks in sequence.
Show up late, even when they meant to be on time.
In kids and teens: This can look like a child who starts building with Legos before school and insists “it’s only been five minutes” (when it’s actually been 25). Or a teen who sits down “just to check one thing” on their phone and suddenly misses an entire hour of homework time.
Time Optimism
Time optimism, sometimes called the planning fallacy, is when kids (or adults) underestimate how long things take and overestimate how much time they have. Kids with time optimism often:
Assume they can “do it all” in less time than reality allows.
Plan based on best-case scenarios.
Say, “Don’t worry, I’ll be quick!”… only to run late.
Procrastinate, then scramble in a last-minute rush.
In kids and teens: This can look like a child who insists they can shower, eat, and pack their bag in ten minutes before school—or a teen who swears they can finish a huge essay the night before it’s due.
Spoiler: both usually end in tears or frustration.
Why This Matters More Now Than Ever
Here’s something fascinating:
Time awareness used to develop more naturally in kids’ daily lives.
Commercial breaks gave built-in time markers.
Analog clocks provided constant visual feedback.
Waiting without distraction (no phones in our pockets) gave kids a chance to feel time pass.
Today? Kids have fewer natural time cues. Tasks blur together. Bored waiting rarely happens. And everything digital moves at lightning speed with immediate gratification.
This means we have to be intentional about building time awareness.
The good news? It can be taught.
Building Hope
If your child struggles with time blindness or time optimism, it doesn’t mean they’re careless or incapable. It means their brain is still learning.
With support, modeling, and practice, kids can grow stronger time awareness.
And that skill unlocks everything else in planning—because when time comes into focus, plans start making a whole lot more sense.
Tomorrow, paid subscribers will begin exploring strategies for strengthening this skill.
Next week I’ll share research about planning, breaking it down into key takeaways to help you understand your child’s brain better.
For now, notice the moments when time slips away for your child—or when they optimistically say “I’ll be quick!”—and remember: those moments are opportunities. Not failures.
Be patient.
Be curious.
And trust that with practice, time can shift from being the enemy… to being a tool they can use.
Warmly,
Tara Roehl, MS, CCC-SLP 💛
✨ P.S. Paid subscribers—you’ll want to stick around this week! Tomorrow we’ll dive into practical, kid-friendly strategies to help time awareness come alive in daily routines. And Friday? Let’s just say a very secret experiment is waiting for you. Don’t miss it. ⏳👀
Just a quick plug - being a paid subscriber is so worth it! The extra posts/boot camp/etc. has been so beneficial!