The Video Edit Booth - Time and Focus
(Non-verbal working memory and time awareness)
Where time speeds up, slows down, or disappears altogether.
The Metaphor
How this space feels in the ADHD mind.
Imagine your mind as a video-editing suite.
This room represents the experience of trying to hold the whole scene in mind while working on the details. For many people with ADHD, the mental frame keeps zooming in and out: one minute you’re locked on a close-up, the next you’ve lost sight of the wider story. It’s hard to remember where this shot fits in the movie — or, on a micro-scale, what you came for when you entered the room.
The Experience
What it looks like in everyday life.
The Zoom Control / Monitor Window – The video editor keeps switching between wide shot and extreme close-up. When the zoom holds steady, you can see how every cut fits the story. When it slips, you either drown in pixels or miss the plot entirely. Sometimes the monitor blanks for a second, and by the time it refocuses, you’ve forgotten what you were adjusting.
When your zoom keeps slipping between close-up and wide shot.
Traits found in the Video Edit Booth
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When your internal editor cuts between scenes without telling you.
Time Blindness / ‘Now-or-Not-Now’ Thinking
Metaphor
The Video Editor – constantly chopping and rearranging scenes without showing you the cuts.
Essence
Time feels like a series of invisible edits. What’s on the screen is 'now'; what’s passed fades; what’s future doesn’t yet exist. The mind lives only in the current scene.
Strengths
• Deep creative immersion in the present moment.
• Ability to pivot instantly and live in the now.
Difficulties
• Loses awareness of elapsed time.
• ‘Later’ tasks never feel real.
• Deadlines and transitions often missed.
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When one channel in your mix drowns out the rest.
Attention Tuning
Metaphor
The Multitrack Mixer – syncing multiple tracks (vocals, drums, bass) while editing video.
Essence
Difficulty balancing attention between multiple channels; one track dominates or everything clashes.
Strengths
• Hyperfocus when the mix locks in.
• Acute perception of detail.
• Creative improvisation under pressure.
Difficulties
• Over-focus on one channel.
• Distracted by background cues.
• Fatigue from constant re-balancing.
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When the preview monitor stays dark until the next scene crashes into view.
Future Seeing
Metaphor
The Preview Monitor – the next scene stays dark until it suddenly crashes into view.
Essence
Trouble seeing or feeling the future; tomorrow doesn’t feel real until it arrives.
Strengths
• Powerful spontaneity in the present.
• Creative improvisation when the future becomes now.
Difficulties
• Future tasks feel abstract.
• Hard to prepare without emotional connection.
• Last-minute panic when the future arrives.
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When your timeline keeps jumping out of sequence.
Task Sequencing
Metaphor
The Timeline Track – clips scattered out of sequence; transitions missing or misaligned.
Essence
Difficulty keeping steps in the right order; jumps ahead, skips transitions, or loses the thread.
Strengths
• Quick improvisation when plans change.
• Creative non-linear thinking.
Difficulties
• Steps out of order.
• Forgets mid-task what’s been done.
• Skips transitions.
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When your zoom keeps slipping between close-up and wide shot.
Context Holding
Metaphor
The Zoom Control / Monitor Window – constantly switching between wide shot and close-up.
Essence
Holding the whole scene in mind while managing details; zoom shifts between micro and macro.
Strengths
• Extraordinary attention to fine detail.
• Creative reframing between micro and macro.
Difficulties
• Loses big picture.
• Forgets purpose mid-task.
• Hyperfocus then blanks out.