‘Am I just an asshole?’ Time blindness can explain chronic lateness - some of the time

The phrase, which refers to difficulty in sensing the passage of time, is now taking over TikTok. But can it always be a get-out-jail-free card?

Dr Melissa Shepard has a problem with managing her time. She had always been a high achiever, making it through medical school to become a psychiatrist and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. But no matter how hard she worked, she struggled with one of life’s simplest expectations: being on time.

“I really felt like I could just not crack the code,” Shepard said. “I worried: am I just an asshole? Is that why I’m always late? No matter how hard I wanted to be on time, it was a struggle.”