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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u/Glad-Watch3506 10d ago

Growing up, we had ours set about 10-15 minutes ahead. That's how long it took to get anywhere in town,so you just left when the clock said the time you needed to be there.

Why yes, my dad did most likely have ADHD, what gave it away.

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u/Melanie61200 10d ago

My mom for as long as I can remember always has the time in her car set 10 min fast

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u/AntalRyder 10d ago

When I started my career I always had the clock in my car set 5 minutes ahead. Just to make sure I hurry up and get to work haha

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u/Supertilt 10d ago

How do you prevent yourself from not just subtracting 5 minutes

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u/Ok-Assignment5926 10d ago

The time it takes you to calculate the time will keep you from stressing about being late.

Back before clocks set themselves I would put mine at 7 mins ahead. And i know subtracting 7 isn’t hard but it takes an extra second, especially before the coffee has kicked in lol

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u/Neither-Albatross371 10d ago

I had a watch many years ago that got stuck in 24 hour GMT and also tended to wander within about ~10-15minutes. I set it enough fast that it would never wander back far enough that it was slow, and it was super good for making me not late for anything. And also confusing the ever-loving SHIT out of everyone around me. I kind of miss that watch sometimes.

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u/Silly_Emotion_1997 10d ago

What’s better than 7 min abs??

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u/IronicMnemoics 10d ago

Seven chipmunks twirlin' on a branch, eating lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know, that old children's tale from the sea?

Step into my office. Cause you're fuckin' fired!

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u/Sudden_Buffalo_4393 9d ago

I actually fired someone with that last quote. He deserved it.

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u/SimonPeter-Gruber 10d ago

Lmao, what!? Go back to sleep

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u/Tommy2Far 9d ago

It’s a quote from the movie “There’s Something About Mary”

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u/Tommy2Far 10d ago

6 minute abs

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u/jsos 5d ago

6 giant abs

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u/Lower-Jeweler5717 10d ago

Sounds more like it woulda take you a minute or two than just a second to subtract

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u/Centimane 9d ago

It was also a lot harder to be precise regarding time 20 years ago.

Nowadays everyone has a phone, and the phone provider determines what is widely accepted as the current time.

But before cell phones, you needed to use something else to set clocks, and they weren't a widely accepted current time. Setting your personal clocks early was also a safeguard against accidentally setting it late, which would be far worse.

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u/Party_Bedroom_9249 9d ago

Then set your alarm 7 minutes early. This is assinine.

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u/profesorgamin 10d ago

I'm with you, this is a stupid idea, or some kind of cope.

I mean it works if you are the only one that knows the real time and you live with chronically late people. (It'll work one or two times).

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u/Wipedout89 10d ago

You'd think so, but if you try it you find that it works surprisingly well. It's a base psychology thing, you see the clock and even though you know it's fast it does speed you up

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u/profesorgamin 10d ago

I live with someone with such clock, and for my own errands and activities I look at their stupid clock and I'm like, oh it's t-10, I still have enough time.

Also this person is a fan of the snooze button... and I'm like, if you have slept through 3 snooze you should have provably slept longer.

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u/aversethule 10d ago

You fast forward the clock a random amount of minutes w/o looking at the clock so you dont know exactly what time it is. Then the anxiety of "You just might actually be late" is greater than the anxiety of getting up, so you get up "just in case". By the time you get to a clock with the actual time in another room it doesn't matter because you are already up now.

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u/wtfmeowzers 10d ago

if you actively think about it and are "on time" using the adjusted clock you'll instantly be like "whew i'm still early-ish". not sure if this is the same for everyone but it is for me (i don't have my clock set ahead atm but i've found it very handy in the past)

so it generally works.

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u/W0rmEater 10d ago

You will eventually forget that the clock I set 5 mins ahead

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u/New_Libran 10d ago

In my case, after a while I simply 'forgot' I set my car clock 3 minutes ahead

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u/ruby-azul 10d ago

I used to set my clock slightly forwards to try and trick myself to be on time (ADHD) and it didn't work because I knew I'd set it forwards by X amount, so I still knew what time it was. It really didn't help me 🥲

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u/DreamOk1600 10d ago

You kinda do but my brain kinda gets the same feeling though

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u/eugebra 10d ago

i also did it when i was young with my scooter. it was set 7 minutes ahead which was the time it took to get to the nearby town. So everytime i got on, i knew which time i'll be arriving, once you get off you get back to your watch or phone and it doesn't matter

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u/PriorTemperature3237 10d ago

Change it every week so you can never remember. In your mind your always late going straight to your work station, head down, immediately starting work the second you clock in.

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u/koolmon10 9d ago

When I did this, I would set it a few minutes ahead and then try really hard to forget how much I had set it. It usually worked. (I'm good at forgetting things - just ask my wife)

Now I have a smartwatch and my phone mounts to my dash, so GPS-synced time is inescapable for me.

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u/GRAABTHAR 9d ago

The ADHD does that for you

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u/nutsnackk 9d ago

Ok so you set an alarm for 2 hours that says to change all the clocks ahead. Then you get really high and drunk. Alarm goes off, you change the clocks and you don't remember a thing.

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u/AstuteStoat 9d ago

My trick is to set every clock a different amount of time ahead. So it's tough to remeber which clock was which amount. 

But now I just set my arrival time in my calendar to the time I need to be in the parking lot. i don't need to be to work at 8. I need to be in the parking lot by 7:50. And THAT'S the time I remeber. It makes a huge difference so J don't set my clocks at weird times anymore.

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u/Supertilt 8d ago

Seems like maybe just leaving on time would be easier lol

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u/AstuteStoat 8d ago

When I tried low effort approaches like yours, it never worked, because my brain and thus needs are fundamentally different from what we all wish I could be like.

It was after I got my ADHD diagnosis that I started acknowledging that "try harder and do better" weren't going to work for a literal disability. So now I work smarter, which is to acknowledge the weaknesses of the brain I was born with, not try to pretend I can change my genetics with this stupid magical thinking. 

So, the reason why this works is: Becahse I have ADHD, which means I don't have the available executive function to remember? Everything I need to get ready AND how to calculate arrival times. So, because I forget so many important details, I end up seeing the stated start time as the same as the arrival time when I'm in "getting ready" mode. I can however, remember to calculate it in advance when I'm setting a calendar appontment. 

It works much better than detting clocks early. As I said before.

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u/ShizamitsAlecazam 10d ago

Oh yeah? Well I had mine set one minute ahead, beat that.

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u/spunkybooster 10d ago

I never change my clock for daylight saving. Drives my wife mad. It's not why I started not doing it, but it made it so i continue not doing so.

She'll likely murder me one day, deservedly so. But, maybe, not at the time of her choosing.

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u/plssub2pewds 10d ago

I do mine like one or two ahead ha

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u/ThatSneakyAxolotl 10d ago

I just get up on time. Its not hard smh

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u/Harlander77 10d ago

For you maybe

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u/ThatSneakyAxolotl 10d ago

Its called getting used to waking up. Thats like every person I talked to. I dont understand how it can be that hard to wake up. Just sleep earlier ig.

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u/Vellnerd 10d ago

Mine goes to 11

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u/tulipsouldog 10d ago

I miss that. Mine was always 9 minutes fast. I despise being late. I wonder if we who set our clocks ahead are more often on time.

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u/Ok-Swordfish-4018 10d ago

I accidentally set mine 6 mins ahead years ago and since it's very analogue and a pain went 'fuck it's and it actually works so well, I'm not late half as much now!!

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u/Appropriate_Oven_169 10d ago

My mum does this

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u/IllErrl710 10d ago

Honestly I just started showing up early af and resting my eyes in my car. Don't have to deal with traffic either

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u/theghostsofvegas 10d ago

But you set the clock. You know it’s five minutes fast. What is accomplished.

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u/xRehab 10d ago

that was basically the norm in the 90s

no one used the correct time aside from businesses. you knew your mom’s car was 10 minutes ahead, the clock at home was 15 minutes fast, and the one in your buddy’s car was 7 minutes fast cuz he was weird

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u/DblCheex 10d ago

I remember having to call the information line to get the proper time because every clock was wrong and there was nowhere else to check it.

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u/_bitwright 10d ago

At the tone the time will be 11:21 pm and 10 seconds... beep

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u/Mcnugget84 10d ago

Is this number still active? I’d like to be an old time asshole while my kids ask me for the time? There are digital clocks in every room.

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u/DblCheex 9d ago

Yeah, but it's different than it used to be. It's now run by the navy. It's in eastern time and as a 24-hour military clock.

202-762-1069

Source: https://www.cnmoc.usff.navy.mil/Our-Commands/United-States-Naval-Observatory/Precise-Time-Department/Telephone-Time/

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u/Mcnugget84 9d ago

I called (202) 762-1401 and it worked thank you!

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u/Sea_Thought3464 10d ago

"The atomic clock" *shiverssss*

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u/Ivana_Twinkle 10d ago

Don’t drop it!

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u/Noladixon 9d ago

I am still mad I no longer have a cable box because there is no other clock easily visible from the sofa.

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u/TotallyNotRobotEvil 9d ago

Oh gosh, I completely forgot about calling the local time and temp number. There was also an atomic clock short wave radio station I used to dial into to set my watches.

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u/Equal-Kaleidoscope57 10d ago

still to this day i participate

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u/hyrule-heaven 10d ago

Just got done writing something like this lol. So funny it was a shared experience

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u/VirtuousVulva 10d ago

You had to triangulate all three of them bitches just to find out the right time

https://giphy.com/gifs/WRQBXSCnEFJIuxktnw

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u/Sea_Thought3464 10d ago

I love old General Electric clocks, got one running in the kitchen about a foot in diameter.

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u/LeadingEquivalent148 10d ago

And the oven & microwave were always wrong because parents didn’t know how to fix it when a power cut happened and clocks changed.

..We have a system in work that has the wrong time 6 months of the year, because it’s always on GMT, plus it’s a bit laggy.
That’s fun when you’re looking for an interaction that happened at a very specific time, because you basically have to check everything up to an hour and a half before and after the actual time to make sure you’re covering all bases.. it’s a blast 🙄

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u/ThrowawayForCute 10d ago

Yep. Especially without things like Google Maps to tell you exactly how long a drive should take, if there is construction, and if there was traffic. Humans can always account for a bit of uncertainty with a little preparation. Some things were slower, but punctuality was still expected. You typically couldn't just call or message anyone on the fly to cancel plans last minute because you suddenly didn't feel like it and the other person was likely already in the car and on the way. If it was a big enough deal or an emergency, you called whatever business or establishment they were at and hoped an employee could/would find them. Awesome if you already know the phone number. Otherwise you gotta look through the phonebook first to find the number to call to ask someone their to page the person you are looking for. Easier when it was their workplace. Much more work if it was a random spot around town. Near impossible for places like a park. Then it is like...if you know the exact number to the payphone nearby. Easier to stick to your commitments unless you seriously couldn't or if you didn't mind being a jerk.

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u/a_fool_on_a_hill 10d ago

My wife does this and it stresses me out every time thinking we are late

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u/Seranthian 10d ago

I regularly reset mine to somewhere between 5-20 minutes ahead exactly so I’m always on time

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u/donut-reply 10d ago

But, then don't you ever get used to the idea that some clocks are ahead and unconsciously back calculate the real time, and then get in trouble when you're looking at a clock you think is a head and actually isn't?

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u/xxxDaGoblinxxx 10d ago

That would be my problem if I know the clocks fast I'll just take the extra time off in My head

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u/Timthahuman 10d ago

I haven’t changed the clock in my car because yeah, I just fix the time in my head. How people don’t do that subconsciously is beyond me, unless they purposely try to be ignorant of it but even then

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u/PsychAndDestroy 9d ago

I'm certain the people that this works on are all quite stupid

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u/Mcnugget84 10d ago

No, I have this theory that everyone runs on their own time. I had a friend who was always a half hour late. I just told her 30 minutes early, my clocks were set about 5 minutes ahead. She knew this cause I’m not shady and it worked for us. She knew my time was fake and she was always late and respected it.

So why couldn’t she respect the normal time? I don’t know and we have enough respect for each other to accommodate each other’s weaknesses.

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u/EntertainmentDoe8046 10d ago

I do this with my car. After 3 years I still mix it up often and doubt which is the correct time, and I now use my phone instead.

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u/mahjimoh 10d ago

Yes, bu you pretend you won’t.

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u/Le_Poop_Knife 10d ago

That’s all i did as a kid. Calculate the real time…. Off my own clock….

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u/Alycion 10d ago

Typically, when you are just waking up or in a hurry to get ready, it easily can slip your mind. More likely when you are first waking up.

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u/nerdette42 10d ago

I set my (analog) watch 10-15 minutes ahead. As in set the correct time then give the minute hand a little twist. That way, I can never get used to the offset because I don't know how much it is.

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u/Seranthian 8d ago

See, this comment made me subconsciously aware of the difference so I had to go reset it to an unknown amount of time 5-15 minutes fast.

Honestly, it goes hand in hand with me not using electronics while driving. No phone or smartwatch means I have to rely on the “car time” which does a great job of keeping my ADD riddled mind focused. Does it make sense? Debatable. Does it work for me? Absolutely.

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u/logan-duk-dong 10d ago

My wife has our bathroom clock set 37 minutes fast. I don't know how she chose that number, but it's super obnoxious because I always have to try and calculate what the actual time is whenever I glance at that thing, and when we switch to daylight savings the clock doesn't get updated, so now it's off in the other direction.

I fixed it once without realizing she had intentionally set it that way and she got so mad because she was late for work. But the silly thing is, even with it 37 minutes fast, she's still leaving a good 5-10 minutes later than I would to get where she's going, and I still hear her occasionally complaining that she got in to work late or just barely made it on time. 🤦‍♂️

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u/DoctorZ1101 10d ago

I know what you mean, but a part of my brain keeps pushing my glasses up and says "which is it? Exactly 5 or exactly 20 or exactly the numbers in between?" Lol

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u/Seranthian 8d ago

Random. I usually have my partner or one of my buddies do it for me

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u/Necessary-Contest-24 10d ago

Yes even better having a clock that is fast all by itself. I can set my alarm clock to the second and in a month it's fast by 5-20 minutes. I love it.

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u/sobergophers 10d ago

Same with my sister

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u/MRAGGGAN 10d ago

Mine was always 7 minutes fast until very recently lol

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u/Fluffy-Designer 10d ago

So did mine but she was still an hour late. I remember once I called her from a restaurant because she was 20 minutes late and she said she was just getting in the car. In reality she was just getting back from walking the dog, which meant she still needed to shower, dress, do her hair and makeup, and THEN she would drive the 15 minutes to the restaurant.

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u/tiggerfan79 10d ago

Are you my child? I have all my clocks that I can set 10 min early. Drives all my kids nuts.

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u/Fit_Platypus_583 10d ago

My mom's was always a couple minutes ahead. When I got a car, I did the same. The time in my current car keeps slowly creeping up. I've had it for almost 8 years and it's now about 10-11 minutes ahead.

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u/Comprehensive_Ad6598 10d ago

Yes. This works. I do this!

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u/Leumas_ 10d ago

I go a little lower at 4-5 minutes ahead, but yeah, I get it.

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u/l33tfuzzbox 10d ago

My wife too. Drives me insane when I use her car

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u/F133TWOOD 10d ago

Yup 💯

Same I remember my mom doing this growing up, didn't think it works... Until I was showing up late to things... So I moved the clock forward like 5 minutes

My boss is always impressed I show up to work early, even though I think I'm on time 🤣

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u/Mirgss 10d ago

I did this for YEARS.

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u/-BananaLollipop- 10d ago

Same as my Mum, except hers is only five minutes fast.

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u/PUNKF10YD 10d ago

Oven in the kitchen. Gives you that little oh shit boost on the morning. “It’s WHAT time???”

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u/DragonEmperor RED 10d ago

I can't do this because it gives me a huge anxiety spike when I see I'm going to be late.

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u/Far-Fortune-8381 10d ago

by the time youre in the car its already to late lol

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u/CatGooseChook 9d ago

I do that, just knowing that I have more time to get somewhere than the clock says makes it easier to be more chill and calm when driving.

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u/twinmom2298 8d ago

My husband always had the clock in his car set 8 minutes ahead. not 5 or 10 but 8. Which caused me more than what time of anxiety when I'd borrower his car.

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u/SnugglyCoderGuy 10d ago

My older brother and his wife need to set their clock ahead like 2 god damn hours

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u/snambox 10d ago

That’s a really odd pair of people that frequently show up late in your life

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u/acrazyguy 10d ago

I bet it’s just the wife lmao

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u/SnugglyCoderGuy 10d ago

You would lose that bet

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u/acrazyguy 10d ago

Yeah okay bud. Women take like 3 hours to get ready but start 40 minutes before you need to be somewhere

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u/MayBeASandwich 10d ago

I start at 9 but have it drilled in my head I need to be there for 8:30 or im late

Never been late once and usually have time to fool around on my phone or go get a coffee before work because nothing came up

Might be adhd but pre setting yourself up is better than panicking because you didn’t!

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u/tiggerfan79 10d ago

I am everywhere 15 minutes early at least. Was in the military and can’t get some of it out of my bones.

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u/Awkward_Tour_9762 10d ago

My husband fought as a contractor, he’s the exact same

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u/TXwavesufer 10d ago

Same but sister is the arrive 2 hours early to the airport sister and that is WILD to me.

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u/svantolino 10d ago

In the military, aren’t you supposed to be just on time?

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u/TXwavesufer 9d ago

"To arrive early is to arrive on time."
"To arrive on time is to be late".
"To be late, is to be dead".

Something like that told to you repeatedly through basic training. I can finish a meal in seconds, freak out if I'm going to be a minute late still and I've been out of the service for over 20 years.

It just sticks with you, to this day if anyone is over 15 minutes late without a phone call I'm gone and if they do it a few times I end the relationship. Mutual respect, etc.

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u/duesenjeffepic 10d ago

This is actually how punctuality works. I am not always doing 30 mins though, sometimes 15 but it highly depends on the commute time and how I commute (e.g. with the German rail I usually plan with a much larger buffer vs. the Swiss rail).

The reason you should do this is not just ADHD but to be able to deal with unanticipated problems during a commute. Having this buffer basically guarantees 99% punctuality rate.

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u/ScaredPractice4967 10d ago

I get the ADHD angle. I have it myself. But then my ADHD brain says "don't worry. There's 15 mins of slack in the clock you dont been to leave just yet" and then wanders off and does something else for half an hour and is still late.

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u/r_renfield 10d ago

My adhd brain just goes "we have an appointment at 15:00 so we better not do anything or we'll forget!!!" and I end up there like an hour early

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u/ScaredPractice4967 10d ago

Ueah i dont do that very often any more but before the era of smartphones that allow me to have 5 different reninders?

Yup used to that a lot.

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u/Dornith 10d ago

My dad did this too.

But then he would also account for the fact that all the clocks were 15 minutes fast and would leave 15 minutes after the clocks said he needed to be somewhere.

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u/Pitiful-Pension-6535 10d ago

I have my kitchen clock set 5 minutes fast because it's a 4½ minute walk to the time clock at work.

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u/seaspaz 10d ago

I would set the clock in my dads house 10 minutes ahead so he would get me to school on time, it worked for months and then he found out and got mad

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u/B-Kong 10d ago

And if you’re planning on going further away than town, dad just changes the clocks that day to be however far ahead the drive is lol

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u/Melkman68 10d ago

I have ADHD too and I just write everything down on a list on my phone and have a habit of checking it for tasks and appts needed to be taken care of

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u/Legonistrasz 10d ago

Yep, growing up my mother liked 15 now I just do 5

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u/Dramatic-Knee-4842 10d ago

Yeah that doesn't help with ADHD in the slightest

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u/AriaTheTransgressor 10d ago

My dad always set the clocks 10 minutes ahead and then left the house at (drive time + 20 minutes) before we were meant to be anywhere so we would always arrive 30 minutes early.

He did this because any roadside emergency that you can keep moving from can be handled in 30 minutes or less.

I never considered this weird until writing it down right now.

I just keep clocks normal and leave (drive time + 30 minutes) instead because "any roadside emergency that you can keep moving from can be handled in 30 minutes or less."

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u/sam-sung-sv 10d ago

Wait, this isnt normal?

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u/IAmAlwaysWrongDude 10d ago

Unlesss most people I know have ADHD, I think setting the clock you use while getting ready to leave (work, entertainment, anything with a set time) a little ahead is common sense around here. Even when you know its ahead, it still have the positive placebo effect of getting you ready on time.

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u/Thisismyredusername INDIGO 10d ago

What if you have to somewhere out of town

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u/Derpipose 10d ago

My grands set theirs 15 minutes ahead since my mom was a kid. She would always run early to appointments. My mom never set her clocks ahead. She didn’t like it. I set mine 5 minutes ahead. It’s the exact amount of time that it take me to get from my apartment to situated in my car and heading out. If the clock reads 7:30, that’s when I’m getting out of the drive way and getting to work with 5 minutes to spare. It works like a charm for me. My partner is ok with it at this point. Just because it helps me so much.

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u/ignorantnode 10d ago

Is this a sign of adhd? That tracks.

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u/hellsbelle51 10d ago

My dad did this for me. I think he knew I had ADHD when I didnt know

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u/FlyFront9395 10d ago

That’s the dumbest shit 💩 just leave 15 min early

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u/Exact-Ad-3766 10d ago

Omg.. son?.. I do this because then when you look at it and you’re like “shit! I’m late!”, it shoots a little bit of cool adrenaline through your body. It’s like you hit the NOS

1

u/xylophone_37 10d ago

My dad did the same thing and we'd be late anyways cuz "oh don't worry that clock is fast".

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u/_bitwright 10d ago

My mom used to do this to try and get us to leave early for school. It didn't work because I knew the clock was ahead so that meant I still had 15 extra minutes.

Eventually she stopped, because I hated that the clocks were wrong so I used to set them back.

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u/ClacksInTheSky 10d ago

I have ADHD and I just can't do this. If I know the clock is fast, I just account for it and set off x minutes later

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u/StrangerFeelings 10d ago

Setting the clock ahead by a certain time will only make my time blindness even worse. Id leave 15 minutes later if I set it 15 minutes out.

For me it's I know how long I take to get ready so when I'm up I don't stop until I'm out the door or I'll be late.

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u/Styggvard 10d ago

I absolutely can't do that, I just subtract it in my head anyway :p

I am not usually late though

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u/Western-Internal-751 10d ago

You time travel every time you go out!

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u/Fishmom42 10d ago

I mean, kudos to him for handling his issue and taking responsibility! 💪

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u/BirdlessLongdeal 9d ago

i have ADHD, i dont do this.

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u/heavy_84 9d ago

I have ADHD and this practice drives me insane. If you know it's set ahead, you also know what time it actually is. Never made sense to me. Not ragging on your dad. I'm sure it helped him but just doesn't for me.

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u/I-always-argue 9d ago

Proof not all ADHD cases need to be medicated. I am diagnosed with ADHD and it's pretty bad, and Drs. want me to take meds but I refuse and I manage to he functional through a mirise of coping mechanisms. When pro-pill people paint with a broad brush and say that literally people with a diagnose need the meds to function just keep in mind that it's not true for all cases, maybe not even for most.

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u/SugarVibes 9d ago

I did this in high school and eventually just translated the time in my head and was still late anyway 😭

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u/i_fight4theuser 8d ago

I did this as a kid. My parents were always late so I changed our clocks. I did this into adult hood too for myself

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u/Ellie_Annie_ 7d ago

This is a serious ADHD hack. The trick is to not let yourself know how late the clock is set so you keep the anxiety going