Which activities make you lose track of time?
It should not be a surprise to anyone who’s followed me for longer than an hour, but I have ADHD. It did not show itself in any significant way until perimenopause started, but that’s a whole different story. The point of this post is that I am very likely to lose track of time with many different activities nowadays. These three are the worst culprits:
- Reading:
I have always been a reader. I was that kid who could have a book in my hand in a loud cafeteria and let it all just fall away within the pages. It’s gotten harder to ignore the noise distractions lately because I feel like I hear everything, but I will still lose all track of time in a good story, whether it’s one of my own or someone else’s. It doesn’t even matter the medium, though I rarely read physical books anymore. I much prefer ebook (specifically on my Kindle) or audiobooks. Audiobooks are what help me with long drives, such as when I’m traveling to different author events. The time passes so much more quickly when I’m lost in a good book. - Writing:
Unless I’m struggling to get words out onto the page, I will lose track of time writing my stories. One of the things I love most about having two pen names is that I can write what I want whenever my brain wants. I’m not locked into one story or even one genre. If my fantasy story is not flowing, I can switch it up to contemporary romance. If prose isn’t working for me because my emotions are too high, I can write poetry. Usually, the switching of genres is enough to get the words flowing again and the time passing by. It’s unusual for me to just stare at the screen without any words appearing on the page, thankfully. - Games:
I know that videogames are a controversial topic amongst adultier adults, almost as much as social media, but I’ve found them relaxing. At least, certain ones help me relax, and thus I can spend hours playing without realizing the time has passed. When I was working to finish my undergrad, my game of choice was Pop-It, which was nothing more than the popping of balloons to release prizes. It was mind-numbing, and I loved it. Now, my game of choice is Royal Match. Sometimes, I have to make sure I don’t reap some of the rewards because they’re time based, and I know I’ll be stuck playing for an hour at a time when I have other things to do…like sleep. - Honorable Mention, Doom Scrolling:
Okay, maybe I don’t actually doom scroll. In fact, since the anxiety of Covid relaxed some, I’ve tried to limit my fixation on the terrible stuff happening in the world. I don’t ever want to be oblivious, but I do want to remain functional. So, my doom scrolling is more like mindlessly thumbing down all of my social media feeds under my various names and getting lost in cat videos or makeup transitions. I even love the wedding and prom-dress transitions. Sometimes, I’ll stay on the outside of my audiobook narrator friends’ lives and listen to them recording forthcoming audiobooks. I call it window shopping. Do not ask me how many nights I stayed up way too late because I got lost down a random rabbit hole while trying to relax enough to sleep.