Feeling Time Scarcity? Why It's Not About Time Management

Last week I met with my mindset coach about something I call time scarcity. It's the thought “I have too much to do and not enough time to do it in.” I've battled this thought most of my adult life, and I'd bet you have too.

Here's the problem. When I think that thought, I run around, rushing to get things done, because there's now a fear that there's real danger in not finishing on time. That stress leaves me dysregulated, and I start thinking that if I were just better at this, I wouldn't keep running out of time. So now I’m shaming myself and try to fix it with hustle and force.

Does this sound familiar? For a lot of us with ADHD, being in this state of fight or flight can feel so normal we don't even realize we're in it. We're so used to rushing away from the thing we think is causing the stress, that we don't realize it's our thought patterns and nervous system that are the real culprit.

The Formula I Actually Wanted

When I brought this to my coach, what I really wanted was for her to hand me the magic formula — some way to get more done in the same 24 hours. Instead, she talked about patience. Not what I wanted to hear, and hardly an option when you're caught up in dysregulation. But it was what I actually needed.

Who hasn't felt some version of this? Half our favorite movies run on time travel — mine's the time-turner Hermione used in Harry Potter. But time-turning isn't real, and different versions of that same magical thinking are exactly what get us into trouble with time management.

When Magical Thinking Takes the Wheel

A coach trainer once introduced me to the term “magical thinking,” and it's stuck with me since. It's expecting something that just can't be real — like leaving for an appointment only a few minutes before you need to be there, with no room left for traffic, a full parking lot, or a long walk in. Sound oddly specific? Yes, that's happened to me.

That's magical thinking — assuming it'll all work out, without leaving room for the obstacles that come up more than we'd like. We rush through a few more things before we leave, convinced we'll somehow get more done or arrive faster than traffic allows. Sometimes it works, which is exactly why we keep doing it. But rushing, gambling that you can beat the clock, adds to the adrenaline that pushes you deeper into dysregulation.

Busy Isn't a Personality Trait

Sometimes we wear busy like a label. And why not? We work hard, building something big and meaningful. I heard an entrepreneur on the edge of burnout say, “Give 150% up front and you can give 100% later.” That thinking pushed him straight into fight or flight, damaged his relationships, and hurt his ability to think strategically — because fight or flight turns off the reasoning we need to build steady progress toward our goals.

I think this is what my coach meant when she said I needed to embrace patience as a business strategy. That doesn't mean I stop working or trying — it means recognizing my own limitations and working within them.

Poor time management for people with ADHD doesn't happen because we can't do the math. It's not a lack of intelligence or strategic thinking. Most of the time, it's dysregulation — hustling to outrun the feeling that you're not enough, racing to beat an imaginary window of opportunity before it closes forever. But that window is an illusion. Any window you actually miss is just one you weren't supposed to go through. Rushing only leads to burnout, and burnout is far more likely to derail your goals than missing an opportunity ever would be.

What If There's a Perfect Time for Everything?

What if you looked at your life as though there's a perfect time for everything that needs to happen — it just probably doesn't look like what you think it should? What if you don't have to MAKE time for all the things; you just discover when the right time is for each part?

What if a successful day isn't ten or twenty things checked off, but one step that moves you closer to your goal? Getting just a little bit closer every day will, surprisingly, move you toward your goal faster than all that rushing around ever did.

Catching Yourself in the Moment

Getting into a regulated state can take time, especially if you've spent most of your life in ADHD dysregulation without realizing it. But it's possible, and the first step is recognizing it — watch for rushing, worry about not getting things done, agitation with people around you, or all-or-nothing thinking, like believing you either finish a project today or don’t even bother to start on it.

When you notice it, stop for a minute and check in with your body — racing heart, shoulders up around your ears, tightness in your chest. Name it: “I might be in fight or flight.” Then, without judging yourself, take a deep breath. This is common for ADHDers, and it doesn't mean anything is wrong with you. Accepting this is the first step to getting out of it.

From there, choose one simple thing you want to do right now — not what you have to do, but what feels best for you and your business. Take that one step and trust yourself to know the next one when you get there.

You Don't Have to Own Time Scarcity

Time management is a struggle for a lot of us, but it doesn't have to mean something about who you are. You don't have to own “time scarcity” the way I once thought I did.

We all get the same 24 hours in a day, and we all get to choose how we use them. Getting out of fight or flight puts you in a better position to be strategic with your time, and confident in how you use it.

You can do this. Take a big breath, get out there, and do what you need to — one step at a time — trusting that time will get back on your side, as long as you keep awareness as part of the equation.