Tag Archive for: Strategy Coaching

Neurodiversity and time - A clock with multiple hands in different colours showing different times. Neurodiversity and time

Neurodiversity and time: what HR leaders and managers need to know

Time is one of the few things we all share, yet how we experience it can vary significantly. When it comes to neurodiversity and time, this variation can be even more pronounced, showing up in everything from difficulty sensing the passage of time to having specific windows of intense productivity that do not align with the standard working day.

As organisations work to become more inclusive and unlock the full potential of their teams, understanding how time shows up differently for different people is not a nice-to-have. It is an essential part of good management.

Neurodiversity and time blindness: a hidden challenge

One of the most common time-related challenges for neurodivergent people, particularly those with ADHD or autism, is time blindness. This is a neurological trait that makes it difficult to sense the passage of time or estimate how long tasks will take.

For managers, this can look like:

  • Missed deadlines and consistent difficulty with time estimation
  • Overcommitting or underestimating recovery time between meetings
  • Late arrivals or missed appointments that appear careless but are not
  • Increased anxiety and shame when the behaviour is misread as a lack of effort

Importantly, this is not a question of effort or willpower. Researcher Dr Russell Barkley has described ADHD-related challenges as deficits not in knowledge but in performance, driven by differences in executive functioning. When managers understand this, they respond differently.

Everyone has a rhythm: are you paying attention?

Beyond time blindness, there is another important layer to the neurodiversity and time conversation: natural energy rhythms.

While some people are productive at 8am, others hit their stride mid-afternoon or in quieter, lower-stimulation periods. These patterns are influenced by chronotype, sleep, nutrition, environment, and sensory input  and for neurodivergent individuals, they can be particularly pronounced.

A team member might be sharply focused and idea-rich in the morning, but struggle to process verbal instructions after lunch. Or they may be slower to start but become deeply productive later in the day, particularly when the office has quietened down.

Neither pattern is wrong. Both are real, and both have implications for how work should be designed and scheduled.

Why this matters for HR and leadership

Understanding and working with these personal time rhythms is a leadership responsibility, not just a personal preference.

When organisations design work around peak energy periods, the results are measurable: increased productivity, improved wellbeing and morale, stronger employee retention, and better return on investment from external support such as Access to Work provisions.

But here is the key: these adjustments must be made with people, not to them. Imposing a new schedule without understanding someone’s actual patterns is unlikely to help and may cause harm.

Neurodiversity and time: why partnership is everything

Effective support is not about top-down change. It is about partnership, creating space where employees and managers can explore together what works, what does not, and what could help.

This is where a coaching approach becomes genuinely valuable. Rather than jumping straight to solutions, coaching invites curiosity and collaboration. It makes space for questions like:

  • When do you feel most focused during the day?
  • What tends to drain your energy?
  • How do you know when you are slipping into overwhelm?
  • What adjustments have helped you before, even small ones?
  • What would a good working day look like for you?

This kind of conversation, when handled well, shifts the dynamic from performance management to genuine partnership. It also tends to surface practical, low-cost, high-impact adjustments.

As coach and author Claire Pedrick puts it: “Great coaching is not about fixing people; it is about enabling them to think.” In a workplace context, that might mean co-designing a schedule, experimenting with different meeting times, or negotiating deadlines that better match natural energy peaks, all with shared ownership and respect.

Practical approaches that make a difference

Supporting neurodivergent team members with time-related challenges can involve a range of practical tools and adjustments.

Some approaches that work well include:

  • Visual timers or clocks to reinforce time awareness
  • Time-blocking techniques tailored to energy levels, not arbitrary 9-to-5 slots
  • External reminders and accountability tools, such as apps or shared calendars
  • Regular check-ins to review workload and energy across the week
  • Encouraging the use of Access to Work support for coaching or assistive technology

What matters most is that the process is collaborative. What works for one person will not work for everyone, and building in space to test, adjust, and review is what makes any of these strategies sustainable.

If you are unsure where to start, a Workplace Needs Assessment provides a structured, evidence-based way to identify what adjustments would make the most difference for a specific individual.

Building a culture of time awareness

Supporting neurodivergent employees with time and energy is not just about individual adjustments. It reflects a broader aspect of workplace culture.

Moving away from one-size-fits-all assumptions about the ideal working day, and towards asking when people work best and how the organisation can support that, creates a ripple effect. Trust improves. Output improves. People stay longer.

That shift benefits not only neurodivergent employees. It tends to benefit everyone.

Ready to take the next step?

If you would like to build this kind of understanding across your management team, our talks and workshops are designed to give managers the practical knowledge and confidence to have exactly these conversations.

For individual employees who would benefit from one-to-one support with time, energy, and executive function, our coaching offer is a natural next step.

You are also welcome to get in touch to discuss a specific situation or sign up for our newsletter for monthly insights on supporting neurodivergent employees at work.

 

A person sitting at a desk but there is also a big elephant in the room.

Object permanence and neurodiversity

Ever had that sinking feeling when an important event or deadline seems to sneak up on you? Welcome to object permanence and neurodiversity. 

It is pretty common to be caught off-guard in this way, not because you don’t care, but simply because the event wasn’t at the forefront of your mind until it was happening.

Why out of sight can mean out of mind

Understanding object permanence and neurodiversity is not just child’s play.

Object permanence is the ability to understand that something continues to exist even when it’s not visible to us. Basically, if something can’t be seen, touched or actively experienced, it can disappear from our conscious thought, however important it may be. While typically discussed in the context of childhood development, this can have a significant impact on neurodivergent experiences throughout adult life, too.

When object permanence shows up and makes it look like you haven’t

For many neurodivergent individuals, challenges with object permanence can present as:

  • Misplaced or underused tools and equipment – Documents, devices, or tools that aren’t in constant designated visible spots might as well not exist.
  • Task? What task? – Without physical (visible or audible) reminders, critical assignments can slip from our memory causing panic when deadlines suddenly loom.
  • Calendar surprises – Recurring events like quarterly reviews or annual planning can feel unexpected – and unsettling – each time.
  • Mind the relationship gap – Colleagues who are not always physically present may unintentionally fade from our daily thoughts, giving the impression that we place no value on those relationships, even when the opposite is true.

The relationship dynamic: it’s not about not caring

One of the most profound impacts of object permanence affects workplace relationships. Let me share this personal example: my best friend Gavin and I rarely see each other and when we are apart, I seldom think about him. Not because I don’t value our friendship, but because he isn’t in my immediate environment. Yet, when we reconnect, it’s as if no time has passed at all. The bond remains strong — it just doesn’t surface when he’s not physically present.

This creates real challenges in professional settings where constant and consistent engagement is expected and required. Colleagues might assume that if they aren’t regularly contacted, they aren’t valued. Worse, they may label us as “standoffish or distant. In reality, neurodivergent team members often struggle with consistent communication due to the way in which their brains process the concepts of presence and absence.

Creating more effective work environments for object permanence and neurodiversity

For leaders and managers, understanding object permanence challenges can dramatically improve your team dynamics and productivity. You might want to consider implementing one or more of the following:

  • Visual workflow systems – Whiteboards, digital Kanban boards, and colour-coded calendars with notifications are all great for keeping work tangible and present.
  • Dedicated spaces – Encourage organised, visual systems for work materials to reduce the cognitive load that comes from trying to remember multiple locations.
  • Structured check-ins – Regular, scheduled touchpoints help maintain connection and engagement without relying on spontaneous memory.
  • Relationship scaffolding – Building team interactions directly into processes rather than leaving them to chance has been proven to be really effective in many workplaces.

Let’s talk: building better workplaces together

Object permanence challenges don’t mean that neurodivergent team members care less about projects, deadlines, or colleagues; far from it – — they just engage with them differently. By implementing thoughtful accommodations, workplaces become more inclusive, productive and effective for everyone.

What strategies have worked in your organisation? Have you found creative ways to support neurodivergent colleagues? Share your experiences in the comments below.

Taking the next step in understanding neurodiversity

In today’s world, creating a more inclusive environment for neurodivergent team members isn’t just good for them – it’s good for your business too. This topic is at the heart of our workplace coaching and training programs. If you’re ready to take the next crucial step in transforming your workplace, we’d love to chat to see how we can provide tailored strategies to address your specific challenges.

Contact us today to discover how our neurodiversity coaching can help your team grow stronger by harnessing the unique strengths of all employees. By addressing challenges like object permanence in practical and empowering ways, your team will be more connected and more productive.

Please reach out to me here if a chat would be helpful.

Being Neurodivergent at work

Being neurodivergent at work

Have you ever been faced with a problem that you just can’t solve? You don’t know where to start, and have no idea what to do next? Being neurodivergent at work can feel like this.

I’d like to introduce you to Paul who has been working in advertising for 5 years. He has been struggling with managing his diary and tasks for most of this time with many near misses and close shaves. Paul was diagnosed with dyslexia at school but since starting work hasn’t felt that he needed to talk about it and to be fair has done pretty well for himself in winning key clients, as well as building key relationships that have helped his employer increase their revenue. Unfortunately for Paul, as his responsibilities have grown so have the number of tasks he needs to do, and he can’t hold them all in his head anymore. In addition, because he is now more senior within the organisation and these errors are getting noticed by others, his capability is being brought into question.

This situation came to a head in a recent performance review with Paul’s manager and Paul was alerted to the fact that disciplinary steps may need to be taken if he was unable to sort the situation out. At this point, Paul opened up about his dyslexia and as a result, he was offered a Workplace Needs Assessment. As a recommendation of this assessment, Paul was offered workplace strategy coaching to help him with his task management.

Strategy coaching is a form of coaching that works with individuals on a one-to-one basis to help them solve problems using skills that they have learned before. What is different from traditional coaching is that there is also a mentoring component to help them understand how their condition affects them.

Being neurodivergent at work – understand the condition then build the strategy

The coach worked with Paul to understand how his workplace and job role worked along with the responsibilities and tasks that he was frequently dealing with. Paul was able to talk through the many solutions that he tried over the years, along with some of the frustrations that he had with sticking to a solution consistently. The coach was then able to present a couple of different strategies to Paul and they worked together to work out which one would be most suitable for him. This is where coaching crosses over with mentoring and this is entirely appropriate in this situation.

The goal is to help an individual build strategies that work for them, in addition to giving them the skills to adapt those strategies when situations change. A key part is building a process of learning, playing with and then stress testing strategies while reviewing and reflecting on progress.

Paul ended up selecting To-Do List app that enabled him to focus on his tasks separately from other items like meetings and calendar events. This was important for Paul as he had often struggled to differentiate between items that were time-bound and items that he had scope to do when he was ready. The other key part of using the app was that his To-Do List was available on several different platforms, meaning he could access it when he wanted to. The other big bonus was Paul was able to also manage his social and home life within the same app reducing his stress and arguably saving his relationship, as he had forgotten birthdays, anniversaries and many other key events.

NB: His partner regularly talked about Paul’s memory as a ‘forgettory’.

Part of this coaching also looked at how Paul could adapt what he’d learn in the future as his role developed and things changed because self-sustainability is essential, and it is vital that individuals like Paul are able to know where to get help and how to adapt the help they already have to meet future demands.

Improving mental health and performance

There is a pool of evidence that suggests strategy coaching improves employee mental health along with retention and career progression within a business. Strategy coaching is not a sticking plaster over a problem, it is a toolkit that equips individuals to become the absolute best they can within the workplace. Clients like Paul who have undergone strategy coaching report a positive impact on their confidence at work along with an up-lift in their perceived personal effectiveness. This positive feedback is also supported by their immediate line managers as they reflect on the impact of strategy coaching on their team members. You will be pleased to know this was also the case for Paul’s line manager.

“The coaching I received around task management has helped me keep my job and improved work to the point where I was able to go for promotion to the next level. This has been a complete lifesaver for me, it’s helped me to do the thing I love without fear of making mistakes.”

Paul – Key Account Manager – Advertising Agency

The story doesn’t end here, Paul is likely to need additional support and help at different times throughout his career. This is why The Neurodivergent Coach clients can get in contact at any time to follow up after the coaching sessions have finished. This is really important as it gives an independent sounding board for advice and support as you progress on through your career and a place to talk through your successes and any potential help you might need in the future.

Ten years on

I experienced strategy coaching first-hand over 10 years ago and although the sessions were quite different to what we deliver now, the impact they have had on my career and personal development are incredible. They have enabled me to do things that I found exceedingly difficult, to the point that I would avoid them. In fact, without strategy coaching, I certainly would not be running my business today and I certainly would not be able to write this blog post.

If you would like to know more about how strategy coaching could support you or someone within your organisation please get in touch.