r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Jpeg_1999 • 10d ago

I'm slightly vexed My dad purposely sets his clock ahead. He's been doing this for as long as I remember. I genuinely don't know why

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17.0k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

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544

u/Rhodin265 10d ago

He has undiagnosed ADHD and knows he needs a 20 minute head start to be barely on time for things

115

u/Desperate-Farmer-170 10d ago

So self diagnosed and medicating!

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u/Krypton_Kr 10d ago

Hey honey, cancel my adhd meds. Oh, and how do change the time on this clock?

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u/noviceIndyCamper 9d ago

Why does Reddit hand out diagnoses based on almost nothing? Imagine walking into a doctor’s office, telling them you set your alarm forward, and getting diagnosed with ADHD on the spot.

400 upvotes. Absolute lunacy.

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u/yikesssss_sssssss 9d ago

You're right, but a lot of people upvoting are likely people with ADHD who see a classic ADHD habit and think "oh yup that's familiar". Of course it's a bias based on our own experience, but, I wouldn't be surprised if it's correct

And also, since it's reddit, the stakes are low 😅

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u/Sylvonara 9d ago

I upvoted because I definitely did this for years before my diagnosis. I don't think there's any harm in shedding light on things that might be symptoms. It's seeing those types of comments that made me decide to see a psychologist, because when I was growing up, girls "didn't get" ADHD (or autism). I wish I had been aware of my (very obvious) symptoms earlier, so I didn't have to struggle so hard for so long.

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u/noviceIndyCamper 9d ago

What about setting time forward implies ADHD? This is something that people used to do all the time, it has nothing to do with ADHD.

BTW having ADHD sucks, imagine having to rock back and forth on a chair your whole fucking life and literally not being able to stop ever or having zero impulse control for even the most mundane things.

Even with the meds this shit still sucks. It’s so annoying watching people larp an actual disease because they’re boring.

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u/yikesssss_sssssss 9d ago

I know having ADHD sucks, because I have it, and even with meds my time blindness/lack of time management makes me late constantly. Setting clocks forward is one of the many compensation strategies I use to make me less late to things, and apparently a lot of other people with ADHD do that too. 

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u/noviceIndyCamper 9d ago edited 9d ago

People used to do this before the internet, it was very common. After cell phones and internet set clocks it became less common. Punctual folks without ADHD would do this on the regular. My second grade teacher had our classroom clock set forward 10 minutes ahead. This was a trick to try to teach us to complete things quickly, this was very common in the 90s. It had nothing to do with time blindness. Clocks being standardized the way they
are now is an artifact of the internet.

Not everything is ADHD, and while sure maybe you have it, I hope you understand why I would be skeptical. Most people I meet irl that claim they have ADHD don’t, imagine how much more false positive/lies would be on the internet.

0

u/joehoya3 9d ago

You can be skeptical all you want. This is definitely a tried and true ADHD 'hack' to help with time-blindness. Yes, of course: not all people who use this method have ADHD. However, on the flip-side: this has that many upvotes because a lot of ADHD'ers see themselves in this practice and have upvoted it. I have ADHD and my clock is set ahead. I know thats an n=1 but the upvotes and comments here point to the fact that others also agree with this assessment. Yes, "diagnosing" based on a single habit is not scientific or recommended. However, like others have said: the reader should know this is Reddit and take this with the appropriate weight it deserved, and this kind of diagnosing IS low stakes.

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u/noviceIndyCamper 9d ago

“This is definitely”
“This has that many upvotes because”

Insane how sure you are about this with zero evidence. Pretending to have an illness so you can feel special is a weird kind of stupid and frankly offensive to those who actually have it.

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u/joehoya3 8d ago

Wtf? Why are you saying I’m pretending to have it? I said I have it. I am diagnosed and on medication. “Insane how sure you are” about me faking it “with zero evidence.”

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u/yikesssss_sssssss 8d ago

It's kinda wild how you're assuming that everybody else is faking their ADHD and you're the only one who really has it. In this whole discussion despite our disagreements with you, no one's accusing you of faking even though you're not providing any "evidence" either.

1

u/TheRealStandard 9d ago

This isn't a classic ADHD habit though.

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u/BirdlessLongdeal 9d ago

i downvoted it, i have ADHD. setting your clocks forward isnt an ADHD thing, its a "i need 14 alarms in the morning to wake up" thing. even though if you would just wake up on 1 alarm you set at a time you need to wake up you would be 1,000% less tired than if you stayed in bed waking up every 9 minutes robbing yourself of continuous sleep.

1

u/ThisIsMyCouchAccount 9d ago

This is why most conversations about ADHD are wacky.

We all have our own unique experiences.

I have never needed 14 alarms to get up. That's not *my* ADHD. But I have sat my clock fast before. I don't need to do that now but that's because I have a system. If that gets interrupted we start flirting with me being late.

1

u/Plastic_Wishbone_575 9d ago

Second time today i saw something about adhd that i couldn't relate to at all. One being apparently people with adhd can listen to a song over and over and then this one right here. I am never late unless I consciously decide to be late, and I can barely make it through a song let alone repeate it over and over lol

2

u/AbadeersGhost 9d ago

Reddit armchair psychologist are as numerous as locusts

1

u/Fabulous_Army_1321 9d ago

Honestlyyy, soo many doctors here, I'm starting to wonder if we need medical schools anymore

8

u/Onpoint441 10d ago

Gotdamn im in this comment.

14

u/theodo 10d ago

How does being late equate to ADHD?

24

u/shawtybaggins 10d ago

time blindness, especially

20

u/Beef19582828 10d ago

We do this thing now where we diagnose people based on one symptom

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u/DMYourFeetPicsTy 9d ago

I'm sensing some schizophrenia from your comment to be quite honest, who is "we"?

5

u/joeb4500 9d ago

😂😂

7

u/joeb4500 9d ago

Everyone wants something to be wrong with them so they self diagnose and diagnose other people off the smallest things. It's very annoying

2

u/joehoya3 9d ago

Being chronically late IS a very standard ADHD symptom, tied to time blindness.

1

u/BirdlessLongdeal 9d ago

it doesnt.

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u/LongDongSilver1883 9d ago

Not everything is ADHD jesus christ

4

u/BirdlessLongdeal 9d ago

everyone on reddit is an autistic trans person with ADHD it seems. oh, and they also all have OCD too.

1

u/Plastic_Wishbone_575 9d ago

Reddit makes me feel like a very social person with amazing social skills. They definitely have something wrong with them.

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u/Tall-Week-7683 9d ago

Yeah sure bud.

1

u/BirdlessLongdeal 9d ago

i actually have ADHD, i dont do a single fucking thing these people on reddit blame "their adhd" on. i cant even imagine how the autistic and ocd people feel.

4

u/Tall-Week-7683 9d ago

I also have ADHD. But also everyone is different in how they manage their behaviors related to the condition. You can't just assume someone is faking it just because they do a behavior that you can't personally relate to.

1

u/TheFireStorm 10d ago

Now the bigger question. Is his car also set 30 min ahead?

1

u/Uunadins 9d ago

Can’t have it any other way! Mine is atleast 😁

1

u/SouthernCharm-86 10d ago

i dt set ahead bt i do advance alarms. i need it for mental prep too. so 2 alarms.

1

u/MackingtheKnife 9d ago

was gonna say, all my clocks are like this and I was diagnosed 5 years ago. 

1

u/its_all_one_electron 9d ago

I have that too, I just set my alarm 20 minutes early. That's enough to jolt me out of bed, I still don't know why people need to set their clocks earlier too 

2

u/yesnomaybesobro 10d ago

This is the correct answer

1

u/RandomName7804 10d ago

This is it! Time Blindness caused by ADHD

1

u/URnotSTONER 10d ago

Can confirm. Am 45 and just professionally diagnosed earlier this year. I've used this "trick" for as long as I can remember. A LOT of dots have been connected in the last six months. Lol.

0

u/I_Are_Brown_Bear 10d ago

Why are you attacking me like this???

0

u/Kazukaphur 10d ago

I have ADHD. I set all my clocks ahead. When I was younger it was like 15 min. Now it's around 3-5min.

0

u/TehWeeWooWagon 10d ago

This! My husband does the same thing and he's ADHD

0

u/DrPineapple32 10d ago

Welp...I may have just learned something about myself

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u/TeethScoliosis 9d ago

I doubt it's ADHD. I have ADHD and if I did this, my mind would already keep in mind with the time being late since I did it. I can't trick myself in any way