Feature Request: Buffer Time & Buffer Reminders

As someone with ADHD and time blindness, issues:

1. Remembering that thing is TODAY.

2. Leaving on time.

3. Permitting enough buffer time to get there.

The way I handle these issues:

1. Set multiple reminders.
   Increasing in frequency up to the event. More important events have initial reminders as far as 6 weeks out, with weekly reminders until 3 days up until the event where reminders become daily.

2. Scheduling event to wind down time.
   10-60 minutes before departing.

3. Scheduling event to leave and transit.

   Spans the time from leaving to event start.

Workaround #1 is a series of Buffer Reminders.

Workarounds #2 and #3 are scheduling for two kinds of Buffer Time: Wind-Down Time and Transit Time.

So, for example, Let’s say

• I have an event at 6p.m.-9.p.m.

• It takes 50 minutes to get there.

• It takes me 30 minutes to close down my work day.

Ideally:

• The event has an attached Wind Down Time from 4:30-5:00.

  • Optionally, set a reminder frequency during this period. E.G. at start, 20 minutes, 10 minutes, and 5 minutes.

• The event has an attached Transit Time from 5-6.

• The event remains scheduled for only 6-9.

The resulting user experience:

2 weeks before “The Event”, I get a reminder notification that it’s coming up. Now I check to see if there’s any preparations I need to plan now.

1 week before “The Event”, I get a reminder notification that it’s coming up. I check that I didn’t accidentally overlap my calendar with it.

3 days before “The Event”, I get a reminder notification that it’s coming up. Good thing too, because a friend invited me to something that same evening. Since I remembered, I declined.

1 evening before “The Event”, I get a reminder notification that it’s coming up. I remember to set out my clothes and supplies on top of my shoes so I won’t forget to take them in the morning.

I get a notification at 4:30 that I need to wind down to leave for “The Event”. I dismiss it because I’m focused on something else. I get pinged again 4:40 that I really need to start winding down. Ok. So I start shelving work, writing my notes for the day, updating my tasks and todos. I get pinged at 4:50. I really start cutting down to just the stuff I need and skipping nice to haves. Pinged at 4:55. I need to start shutting down my computer, packing up, and I’m just barely out the door when I’m pinged that my transit time has started and I need to leave. It’s 50 minutes to get there, and I gave myself 60. I needed that extra 10 because the transition from the 255 bus just barely missed the 545 pulling away, and I need to wait 8 minutes for the next one. No biggie. I arrive to “The Event” at 6:00p.m. with time to spare.

The user experience without these features.

a. I get pinged at 5:45 that “The Event” starts at 6:00. I’m already 45 minutes late, and I haven’t even closed down my work yet.

b. I do nothing at all for the entire afternoon, waiting for 5:00p.m. to arrive so I can leave. (See “ADHD Waiting Mode” coping mechanism) Because, if I start anything, I’ll end up in experience “a”.

This type of function is part of externalizing executive function. I have time blindness, so I have very little idea how much time is passing at any particular moment. That means that the next event on my calendar tends to sneak up on me, since 4 hours from now and 15 minutes from now feel more or less the same. I also have ADHD hyperfocus. If I get a single notification while my mind is busy, I will ignore it. It needs to be a little more persistent, and each notification is pinging my attention back to the wall-clock time and away from my dysfunctional internal sense of time. I need about 10 minutes to finish my thoughts, another 10 to wrap up checking my work for anything urgent, and another 10 to pack up. Finally, the transit time needs to be scheduled, because I will otherwise forget that I need to space an hour between one event to the next to get somewhere. Asking “how long should the transit time be” also nudges me to actually check how far away something will be when planning, instead of guessing and finding out I’m wrong the moment I get out the door and check the navigation app.

This idea of buffer time and buffer reminders can be worked around by using multiple events. However, when events are tasks, that requires 3 tasks for 1 event. More if I the application doesn’t allow scheduling multiple reminders in the preceding weeks.

This is just how I’ve solved the problem with the tools I’ve had at hand. The above problem and ideal experience description is meant to hopefully provide enough context of the problem to inspire creative solutions. I.E. even though I say I want the event to schedule attached buffer time, that’s just solving the problem of making sure I’m notified when I need to start winding down and leave on time. I’m sure there’s many ways that problem might be solved. The important caveat is that I cannot rely on my sense of time or my attention, so I need to externalize them.