[FoxNews] Chronic lateness can be frustrating for those left waiting, and is often attributed to laziness and carelessness.
But experts say a health issue called time blindness could be to blame for perpetual tardiness.
Often misunderstood as an inability to perceive time, the condition disrupts a person’s ability to estimate how long it will take to complete tasks, affecting everything from daily routines to long-term productivity.
"The cardinal feature of time blindness is an inability to estimate a time interval," Dr. Mauran Sivananthan, a psychiatrist with Henry Ford Health in Detroit, Michigan, told Fox News Digital.
This can negatively affect a person's ability to use time as a guide to plan the day.
Laurie Singer, a board-certified behavior analyst at Laurie Singer Behavioral Services in California, reiterated that those with time agnosia — another name for the condition — are unable to properly process the passing of time.
For instance, someone may miscalculate how long it takes to get ready in the morning, rushing out the door and arriving late.
Others may get absorbed in an activity (a symptom known as hyperfocus), losing track of time completely, the expert noted.
CAUSES OF TIME BLINDNESS
Time blindness is considered an "executive function issue," Sivananthan said.
Executive function refers to skills like working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibition control.
These skills are essential for everyday tasks like making plans, solving problems and adapting to new situations, according to Cleveland Clinic.
"Various parts of the brain are affected by ADHD, including the prefrontal cortex and cerebellum," Sivananthan said. "There have been many studies looking at the role of the cerebellum in time processing."
The condition can also appear in individuals with autism, OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), traumatic brain injuries, depression, anxiety, and even conditions like Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, experts say.
And some of us were just born that way. 
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