I'm neuro divergent, I guess, but not ADHD. If anything I'm the opposite. I can focus of things incredibly well. I can prioritise and actuate tasks rather well.
However, you give me a dentist appointment at 2pm and I'm up at 7.30 with my coat on by 8, sat at my kitchen table until mid-day when I walk to the dentists and awkwardly stand outside for nearly an hour because that's what I'm doing.
I mean, the current guess is 10% of the population. Mostly speaking a lot of it is relatable because it is a common experience, they become signs of something more when it impacts your life and wellbeing on a regular basis.
Do you feel like you're often anxious about missing appointments because if you don't stress about it you will absolutely forget?
There are many reasons why people experience this. It's most definitely not only tied to ADHD. I don't have ADHD and I have the issue in the OP as well. It's not because I'll get distracted and miss it, it's because I have anxiety that I will or simply about the thing itself. I can't fully relax until all tasks for the day have been completed even if I am not immediately anxious about it. I think that's a pretty common human experience and it doesn't really make sense to pathologize it.
It may be, but it can also come from having (for me) childhood experiences with parents who would absolutely lose their cool if appointments and other such scheduled activities were missed. I have this feeling and behavior pattern for things like work, hangouts with friends, and even casual events like a festival or faire, all in addition to the typical items like doctor's appointments.
This is why I choose to start early if I can at my job. Last job allowed me to start at 6am and leave at 3pm. It was great. I still had part of the afternoon to do grocery shopping and stuff before everyone was out from their 9-5 jobs. And I always had some sunshine after work during winter months. And the office was quiet. Some of my most productive time was that 80-90m before the next person arrived.
Current job starts at 8am. I’ve got better at enjoying the time before work because I can walk there in 10m. If I had to drive and deal with traffic, I’d be this meme, watching the clock and feeling anxious.
When I try to make a conscious effort to fight it, a few things might happen...
I might miss my thing.
I might be late for my thing.
I actually got my alarm for my thing, but now I have to put down what I was working on and now it's half finished and getting back to it is going to be even harder than starting on it.
I am so stressed and distracted by trying to stay on task for what I work on before my thing and that I can't actually do anything else because the thought of the other possible scenarios happening weighs on my mind.
I’ve gotten better at this! Tracking how long it takes me to go out for basic shopping runs, or to start up an online game for a session, etc. It sucks to surrender an entire day to one planned event with someone.