Picture this: you’re actively working on something that requires a lot of attention (e.g., homework, an assignment at work, an e-mail to a boss who requires communication that is somehow both succinct and robust, etc.). But then, all of a sudden – whoosh – your mind goes blank. No thoughts. Just blank. It would be a real Zen sound of one-hand clapping moment if the timing wasn’t so inconveniant. Because, eventually, you snap back to attention. You shake your head, bewildered by the experience, and upset that you allowed yourself to lose focus again.

But what if it wasn’t entirely up to you whether you lost focus or not? In this week’s episode, Marcus and Esme review two recent studies that suggest: a) those moments where we lose focus, trail off in thought, or just go blank are a product of naturally occurring phenomena in our brains; and b) there are structural differences in our brains that differentiate our experiences from those of neurotypical people. What does it all mean? Well, maybe we can start by being a little kinder to ourselves.

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Sources for this episode include:

• Pinggal, Elaine, et al. “Sleep-like Slow Waves During Wakefulness Mediate Attention and Vigilance Difficulties in Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.” Journal of Neuroscience, 16 Mar. 2026, doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1694-25.2025.
• Currie, Jake. “Adults With ADHD Experience Sleep-Like Brain Waves While Awake.” Nautilus, 18 Mar. 2026, https://nautil.us/adults-with-adhd-experience-sleep-like-brain-waves-while-awake-1279024.
• Pan N, Long Y, Qin K, et al. Mapping ADHD Heterogeneity and Biotypes by Topological Deviations in Morphometric Similarity Networks. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online February 25, 2026. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2026.0001
• Bradshaw, Helen. “There Might Be 3 Different Types of ADHD, New Brain Study Suggests.” National Geographic, 3 Mar. 2026, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/health/article/adhd-brain-study-three-subtypes.

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• Midnight—Declan DP [Audio Library Release] Music provided by Audio Library Plus Watch: • Midnight — Declan DP | Free Backgroun... Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/midnight-declan-dp

Esme reaches an important milestone with a new endeavor and shares a few valuable lessons she learned along the way. Marcus attempts to manpower his way through a landscaping task that is best left to machines; and much like John Henry, the "steel driving man" of legend, he pays a price for it.

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• Midnight—Declan DP [Audio Library Release] Music provided by Audio Library Plus Watch: • Midnight — Declan DP | Free Backgroun... Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/midnight-declan-dp

October 2023: A TikTok creator uploads a video in which she tearfully recounts her experience asking about the possibility of time blindness accommodations during a job interview and the angry rebuke she received from her prospective employer. And people descended on her comments section like a plague of locusts. “Time blindness isn’t real!” some wrote. Another 30 or so commenters wrote some variation of “what if your employer had paycheck blindness - would that be fair?” The neurodivergent came for her as well. “I have ADHD and terrible time blindness and I’ve learned to deal with it. It’s our problem. Not our employers.”

Why are we so quick to jump on someone who asks about reasonable accommodations for a legitimate issue? American workers make accommodations all the time. The only problem is, we make them for our employers. Salaried workers work 50 - 60 hours a week but only get paid for 40. Shift workers are at the mercy of algorithmic scheduling programs that optimize for efficiency and ignore employees’ personal circumstances and needs (e.g., childcare, transportation, etc.).

In this episode, Marcus and Esme discuss time blindness, affirm that it is a very real thing, and make a case for accommodations. They then shift course to try to figure out why we are so willing to do our bosses' work for them and criticize anyone who dares question the status quo.

Visit our website: crazytogetherpod.com

Contact us: https://www.crazytogetherpod.com/contact

Sources for this episode include:

• Ly, Adam. “Time Unbound: Managing Time Blindness at Work.” Attention Magazine, Feb. 2024, CHADD, https://chadd.org/adhd-news/adhd-news-adults/attention-time-unbound-managing-time-blindness-at-work/.
• Kuhn, Peter, and Fernando Lozano. The Expanding Workweek? Understanding Trends in Long Work Hours Among U.S. Men, 1979–2004. NBER Working Paper No. 11895, National Bureau of Economic Research, Dec. 2005, https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w11895/w11895.pdf.
• Mishel, Lawrence. Vast Majority of Wage Earners Are Working Harder, and for Not Much More: Trends in U.S. Work Hours and Wages over 1979–2007. Economic Policy Institute, 30 Jan. 2013, https://www.epi.org/publication/ib348-trends-us-work-hours-wages-1979-2007/.

Our theme music

• Midnight—Declan DP [Audio Library Release] Music provided by Audio Library Plus Watch: • Midnight — Declan DP | Free Backgroun... Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/midnight-declan-dp