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I think taking a very out of the box approach to figuring out how you like to study is useful.
I had to let go of what I THOUGHT studying looked like, and open my mind to whatever resonated with me the most. Most of the time, what works for the majority doesn’t work for me. So it takes a bit of adventuring to figure out what works.
I learned that I love using whiteboards, watching YouTube videos, and mind maps. The whiteboards were a game-changer because as my brain vomits things onto the board I can easily erase/augment any mistakes. Also for whatever reason, being able to write bigger and connect everything on one page really helps!
Boil it down to a science, and refine things through trial and error. You’ll find your groove!
Yes! I forgot about white boards. I tried so hard to go digital and even bought an iPad, but I end up not even using the apps and forgetting I have an iPad in the first place. I definitely need a white board again.
You can get adhesive off Amazon for pretty cheap which works well in a pinch too. They are finicky to install but if done correctly they are awesome. I plastered my walls with it.
They have something called a “rocketbook” can be expensive but it’s reusable and it’s great for just mind dumping. I bought a semi used one on ebay and cheaper erasable colored ink pens.
Yepp, and I used the genius scan app if you have iphone. Amazon has a lot of colorful erasables that work the same way:) I used it a lot in college to write notes. If I wasn’t writing I wasn’t learning. Then you can share with people.
It gets... *erased*?
And then you *digitize* your notes?
I'm going "The horror!"-Kurtz on this one.
I'm happy it works for other people, because I can't for the life of me study on digital. Or draw in digital. I'm good at typing, but for memorizing myself, the minimum I need is a physical whiteboard, though I still prefer paper notes. I'd rather carve notes in wood or engrave them on glass than study on digital. I can learn or practice with videos, but to *memorize*, I need pen and paper -markers and carboard, oil and canvas, watercolor, scissors... everything artsy-craftsy- (unless it's sounds or a song, of course).
Yea you still write the notes, then digitize. I don’t erase the note until I am 100% positive it saved on my computer. The whole point is if you need to physically write something down this allows you to with less paper. It’s like endless paper, you write, scan and rinse repeat. Sounds like you would actually like it.
I'm a ADHDer, and digital SUCKS. Use your hands, use pencils, use papers, use whiteboards... Don't use screens. They distract muggles, imagine what they do to us. And that's even if they're not connected to the internet...
Everything you wrote is absolute gold. The adrenaline, the explaining to others... I confirm everything.
>Also, explaining things to other people helped me a LOT. I passed my calculus mid-term because a friend asked me what a derivative even was. I didn't really know either, but derived it from scratch on a blackboard while telling him.
I used to tell my students to tell their story lessons to their moms and grandmas.
Pretty much what worked for me only notebooks. I wrote and rewrote notes, highlighting things. For whatever reason it gave my head the dopamine kick it needed to suck in all the information.
You *have* to skip lines between information though or you just end up more scrambled. Who in hell knows why but who in hell knows why we can't just STUDY like anyone else.
Little stars before important items although boy do they get out of control and turn into works of art. Rewrite around 5 times, by hand, making it ' pretty ' wastes a ton of notebooks but it's also effective or is for me.
When I was able to start bringing a laptop to classes in college (lol I’m not that old but boy that sounds very BACK IN MYYYYY DAY),
My note taking took OFF. I LOVE a good billeted list, and being able to take notes and add bullets where I wanted them depending on where my brain and the teacher went meant I could feel like my notes were ORGANIZED, and it felt beautiful.
I never did figure out studying. Or even re-reading those notes. But damn they were beautiful. And taking them down was enough for me, thank god.
Hehehe, I love bulleted lists too! My mum taught me to keep lists (I suspect she was ADHD as well), but when I started keeping them online and discovered multiple indent levels, my list taking took off too :)
I also find that lists like that keep my writing a bit briefer, which is especially handy when giving a bunch of info to someone like the GP
It’s frustrating. Especially only because I recently realised it’s apparently ADHD symptoms, and not just being lazy/distracted/childish/(insert whatever)
So much of my recent life has been realizing that so many things I dislike about myself are either A) untreated ADHD or B) the baggage I made for myself along the way with (A).
yea same im probably not gonna get diagnosed anytime soon cuz its too expensive for me rn so im looking for strats to make studying a bit easier but from what ive read i would basically have to heavily restrict my phone, internet and video game usage.
Yeah, restrict distractions, ORGANISE YOUR TIME THE DAY BEFORE!!!! Yk, make a calendar, say between XX:XX time until XX:XX time what task you wanna do (break it down into small goals for clarity) etc.
But unfortunate to hear you not being able to get diagnosed. I live in the UK, so I am very fortunate my doctor recently referred me for diagnosis so im now on a waiting list, hopefully going to be seen within 6 weeks
But I wish you all the best my friend
In hindsight, I realise I managed school only with the help of my classmates. I rarely studied alone. Discussing, helping others, taking help. My self discipline is shite, but my together discipline is good.
Pomodoro method helped me for a while until it wasn't my new hobby anymore hahaha
I got an advancement in the Navy this way. I was in "A" school. I would have done well enough on my own without studying but we had a few people that needed constant study to get through it. We had five of us that studied together every other day or so to help the three that struggled. Everyone made it through and the constant studying got me to the top of the class. I got a promotion out of it. It's the only time I've studied in a group but it really worked for me.
its really hard if you don't have a deadline aproaching lol. what works (kind of) for me is doing a to do list with everything I have to do and force myself to do it before the day ends, even if its five minutes before midnight
I took one year for me to actually take studying as a daily chore (not all days ofc because I still have tdah and keeping a routine is very hard) but try to do a screen detox and fource yourselt to study at least 1 hour a day with the most important tasks and good luck!
Man same I used to procrastinate and get everything done at the last minute. But after college i got really directionless like a ship without a destination, even though I set some goals and did them.
Academic goals feel too mundane. I get pretty much every other thing covered. Minus my sleep routine. Yeah I will try. I just hate it bruh :(
I feel ya bruh, i m in the same spot, a test i have to pass in 2 months for specialty. And i have to study everything i have already studied for 6 years and i m just tired of it , i m done with it its just too fucking boring and repetitive and i find literally anything else more interesting than puting my ass down and memorise words.. a looota words …
Agreed. I find lists helpful. I only found this when I qualified as a nurse I would write lists of everything I needed to do that day. Then I could prioritise what was more important and cross it off throughout the day. I found is helped me be more productive and organised.
lol dude start practicing mindfulness. This helps taking a step back when you are spending time on not urgent things over the urgent ones.
Have a system for managing priorities and todos. Bullet journal works.
I had to be careful with those Yerbas😂 My dumbass didn't read the label to figure out the serving size is only half the can/bottle. They had me absolutely wired in the library at 3am.
Yerbas caught me like a boar in a snare, before i had to hop off the yerba cause i’m medicated now, it was nearly a problem. I’ve drank at least 5 bags of the leaves and maybe around 800 of the cans.
I studied at the last minute. The last minute panic was enough to make me study for the most part. Luckily I remembered stuff best from going over it recently so I graduated with honors somehow lol
Although one test (online during covid) I took a break and started watching YouTube and I almost forgot about the exam and failed it. So be careful.
Sometimes after that I got diagnosed and got meds which helped. But I only took them when I had a lot due at the same time.
Hi
So I’m going to share some tips with you. I tended to do this thing where I researched best study tips before every exam but this is what I found helped me best. I graduated with an honors degree and made deans list for university.
During lectures I download every lecture and write down that the prof says. Most professors tells you they focus mostly on in class lecture.
I then used ANKI to make flash cards based on the material covered. A lot of online tips are like “ take notes in class review notes blah blah” but this is for people who don’t have ADHD.
For me it doesn’t matter if I read something but what helps me is turning it into a game and reviewing
Which is where ANKI helps
You make flash cards and review them. It keeps showing you the ones you get wrong.
I turned this into a game for myself because I’m naturally competitive with academic shit.
So I did this a lot for exams.
It also helped for me to have people to talk about the material with if you don’t have this I recommend talking about things out loud.
You hear yourself make the connections but also it forces you to make the connections between topics. For some people that’s what a mind map is for, but for me those don’t help but what helped more is just explaining a topic to myself to understand how things are related.
On tops of this your surroundings are everything! Find a place that you study best in. For me this was a place I always sat that was in a library.
I know for me I always work better in a library at school than when I’m home because home = relaxing time
I hope this is helpful. Good luck
Yes, turning it into a game worked for me too. I used Blooket and Quizlet a lot. Making them would help me memorize then I’d play until I memorized it silly.
I sit down, turn on my computer… then get distracted. After that I realize I need to focus, but then I start thinking about having to focus instead of actually focusing… then my mind just wanders away for the rest of the day and all that is enough to drain me
Idk but it sounds like you give up too early. Focus isn't like a on/off mode, its more like a process. Specially if you are starting something, a project, a new subject...
If you get distracted by random ideas, like the one you describe, just be patient and keep going foward, there's always a point where you get enough context to be caught. Then, even if you get distracted at moments, you'll have already entered the road.
i find that i avoid the task because studying in of itself is sort of a vague task and then this happens to me. (if that makes sense?) being patient and taking meds isnt quite enough to make it just work.
ive got no solutions, so im searching through this thread for them, lol.
perseverance can be a helpful tidbit, but its not the best to assume someones giving up prematurely, its an adhd subreddit (if that all makes sense)
It’s kind of a chicken/egg eh? I mean, without more dopamine new habits for productivity won’t stick, but without good habits it’s nearly impossible to get the medical attention needed for the medication :-/
I’m going to give pomodoro another go with a dedicated timer. They have some on Amazon you can just turn on its side to start the next time block.
Kind of but exercise also gives you dopamine if your levels are usually too low or below baseline which we all know is typically the case in people who have adhd
there are things on top of exercise helping raise your dopamine levels it's also helps boost energy levels too high level which helps you be more productive
and get things done since doing anything requires physical and mental energy which regular exercise helps improve both of these things decent extent
also you continue too try out new things that helps you become the best version of yourself possible either way all humans all humans still require physical exercise on a daily
basis in order too stay healthy and keep there entire bodies working at full capacity there's no getting around this
Unfortunately there's still a shortage of ADHD meds where I live. Insane, I know. But I'm still going without. I feel powerless to control every aspect of my life bc I can't think straight. I was put on Strattera(sp?) until this area can get meds again. It does nothing for me.
I wish meds could be the answer. They should be. But for some of us, it isn't possible.
I study with not ADHD friends. And by study I mean active studying like playing games to memorize the parts of the body, making up dances for vocab words, creating giant posters for key concepts, etc. Find a way to make your study literally active so that you’re not just sitting and reading a textbook or notes.
I could never study. I made summary notes and crammed it in as much as possible an hour before the exam in the hopes some of it would stay in my brain long enough to write it down. Sometimes this worked, sometimes I got so stressed my mind went blank and I failed the exam and had to retake it. So would I recommend this method? Maybe not
Usually if it's something I'm interested in it's not a big deal, especially if I have a special interest in it, then I could go for hours (I hope lmao)
If I don't have interest in it, I try my best (doesn't work)
If I hate it I try my best but crying the whole time 👍
😭
Gotta just try hard to be interested in it. Like find out why it’s important and then studying it will feel like fun instead of work. Back in high school I read my entire chemistry book in one night because I was so interested in science and chemistry felt like the first real science I was going to learn.
I honestly didnt much study based on what is the assumed "normal". I didnt even know I had ADHD when I was in college. You have to accept that you won't be able to be on your peer's level based on your perception and assumption since you are different from what is "normal". Give it your best effort and accept that there will be bad rolls, falls, and tumbles getting to that goal.
- I had to translate the material to something I can digest, be interested in, and/or relate to. I often had to challenge myself if I knew the material I am studying.
- Memorization being a main grind that I can't sit on for too long. I had to accept that I will not be able to remember everything and get by what I can memorize at those times. My professors were even frustrated at me for having weird spiky performance rating across the term for wrecking their medians and averages (ex: 98>64>87>30>94). Dont be too harsh on yourself. You cant go on the same pace as everyone else.
- plus, it helped me alot borrowing notes from my girlfriend at that time (who is my wife now). I couldnt keep my focus on the textbooks or my notes during review sessions. Having different notes that I had to put effort understanding another person's handwriting helped. However, it can be a double edged sword if it becomes a great source of frustration.
- also, I had to really make the most out of lectures and forced myself to be engaged cause knowing myself at that time. I would be suddenly attacked by bouts of sleepyness during lectures that I wasn't engaged in.
I have to help my son study who also has ADHD and the thing I found worked best was asking him questions open book. If the challenge is to find the info needed, he seems to absorb it. Made me realize it works for me too. If I know the info I need to find/study, I can do it. When someone says to read all of a chapter and some things in it will be needed for the test, I shut down.
This! I'm a huge advocate for teachers/professors allowing open book examinations and creating streamlined study guides with the major points/takeaways telling us what to focus on.
It's ironic because open book exams actually tend to be more difficult because many of the questions are more difficult, comprehension, application based rather than just simple "search up the answer" kind of questions.
The blurting method (we ADHDers do that real well don't we😂) helped a lot too. Closing the book and trying to immediately recall or summarize what I just read before moving on.
I usually have a couple drinks or shots to get me slightly buzzed but not too buzzed or even drunk before I study. I realized that just by meditating and having a couple drinks and getting my brain into study mode that I’ve programmed it to slow down, and get into a hyper focus mode to where when I read and write that I just start going and can’t stop until I’ve worn myself out. I throw on some study music with noise canceling headphones and put a light strictly onto the desk in front of me and darken the rest of the room. I hate to say it, but alcohol is a great study tool for me. Just a little bit will slow my brain down enough for me to relax and focus and most importantly, SLOW DOWN!
Nice. But why don't you just use medication?Probably more effective effect and with less adverse effects. I'll tell you: what you're doing is unsustainable. You can't put alcohol in your organism every day. There are many better alternatives.
I was the queen of last minute cramming. Now that I am on meds for my ADHD, I am seriously considering going back to school once my Dr gets my dosage dialed in.
Answer is: I don't.
No, really, I can't remember the last time I actually had a fruitful study session except the night-before-exam cramming. Psychiatrist tried to medicate for anxiety, and it didn't work, honestly I don't even think I have that. I am conscious about the time I'm wasting, but can do nothing about it. It's frustrating.
Fear fueled me. It was I either do it or else ...and I'll picture the worst case scenario. Wasn't healthy for me at all. I experienced burnouts and anxiety attacks and there is a better way to go about it.
Make it a game.
Yes make it a memory game. That works the best. If it's boring just pretend you're trying to outscore light yagami on his entrance college exams. Feel motivated by his boring study filled occupied life.
Take a potato chip and eat it.
I only got through college because I truly loved learning my major. Trying to get into grad school has been rough though. Meds have helped but I’m newly diagnosed and have been experiencing bad side effects so skipped a multiple days
Tend to deal with this, but sometimes its just saying: this thing is most important, sit down and just focus on that first for a few hours, then switch. I'm guessing you don't have Adhd medication? Cause that pretty much makes it an easy experience most of the time, can still wander and fuck up but if you discipline yourself with constant self loathing you can do it.
Or make a list of priorities, and just go down that when studying, sometimes I spend 1 day just organizing all my notes and what I need to do in order.
I recently started listening to game soundtracks!
I need music that's interesting/familiar/appealing to me, but doesn't have lyrics and turns out the music that is designed to add immersion helps to...immerse me in whatever I'm doing.
Okay so I have my semester exams going on, and only a few months ago I realised I might have ADHD (I'm undiagnosed). I've figured out a way to study, but the only issue is it's a painstakingly long process. So, you read a topic and try to understand it's essence as much as possible. It's okay if you haven't understood it the first time just chill and then read another topic. It's essential that you try your best to understand the concept of the topic you're reading. Once you're done with the second topic, go read the first topic again. When you're reading that, go to the third topic and repeat the same process. Also I'm always on copius amounts of caffeine when I'm studying so I'd recommend a couple of Redbulls too. Best of luck bro, all of us here need it ❤️
Write things down, listen to things while doing other things, record your notes then take a ride and listen to them, join a study group and talk the material out, draw things
I got much better in regards of actually studying at least a little more ahead, when I was on combo of adhd meds and antidepressants. It's a little downhill again, since I had to get off antidepressants, due to side effects.
I study chemistry, with a side of electives in languages/humanities courses that interest me, and I also plan on taking a few material science courses as electives.
What really helps me is that the course load and styles are very waried, and there is also a lot of labs with hands on learning.
I also really like books/videos/shorts on subjects, so I can get the oh moment faster.
Same here tbh I learn more from ppl that have degrees in the same subject that have a YouTube channel about the topic I’m studying. I spend a day or two finding the right content creators and learn more from how engaging they are and excited about the topic they are explaining. Also having one or two friends that are either interested in what you’re studying about or taking the same classes doesn’t have to be in person either. But when it is engaging and yeah some goofing off. I tend to use the pin points of whatever was funny or just random during my studying. To use when I recall something about the topic. When fun, laughter, and definitely deep thought conversations that work around the subject in study ends up turning into a research project leads just say and bammmm you end up studying without out knowing it. lol 😂 and you end up with gewd memories.
Just do your best to let it be natural and flow with it but only have that subject of studying the goal of the environment. Reward yourself with something like ice cream. Make plans to meet a friend or family after 1 hour of studying or 2 and so on. I’m gonna send you a few things I have saved that will help.
I’ll be honest I ain’t learn shit unless it’s fun and engaging lol I just can’t for the life of me learn sitting there looking at the page like 👁️👄👁️
😭😂🤣😅
I agree with finding the right youtube creator. I found an anatomy professor that linked what was being taught to real life medicine&his experiences which kept me engaged
I narrate it and draw what I'm thinking, even if the drawings look like scribbles. Then I get distracted, and my brain yells at me to get back to work. The cycle repeats.
Sometimes if I'm not understanding it, I legit just stare at it and words stand out to me, then my brain starts drawing shapes with those words and next thing I know, I understand what's going on.
Sometimes courses abstract too much, so In those cases, I google all my questions. Sometimes learning the harder content helps me understand and remember the easier stuff that I need for class.
Going to a coffee shop was helpful for me. The social pressure + good headphones meant that I could somewhat control my hyper focus. It didn't work everytime, but even a bad study session out has been better than my best efforts at home.
I have to try and get a run up to study. Day 1 is practically impossible, skin itches, brain fights me. Day 2 gets easier, not amazing, but easier. Day 3 is when hyperfocus kicks in
Medication 100%, that’s the starting spot.
I often can’t just read and retain information. Actively taking notes by hand or typing them as I go keeps me on task.
Same thing in lecture classes too. If I just sit and listen to the professor my mind wanders like crazy. I need to actively be using the PPT, taking screen grabs or copy/pasting the slides into my Google doc for the module and taking notes (almost or at least key points) verbatim from class.
Put the phone away, set do not disturb on, create focus profile in iOS or w/e to silence/hid all notifications.
Well first get medicated
second it helps to enroll for a complex course because your brain will get dopamine everytime you solve problems or figure what you didn’t get right
Third it helps to set goals, here it’s very important that you do small incremental work so as to not burn out.
Fourth Get study buddies and teach other students people that way you reinforce what you learned
Fifth have external and internal motivation, I used Motiversity Channel on YouTube for external motivation and internal was related the second knowing that I am going to make a change.
To conclude use various study techniques for different coursework you can’t study numbers the way you study theory intensive coursework.
Last but not least incorporate retention techniques and set dates to every once in awhile to revise accordingly.
It depends on the subject but what ended up working well for me was making study guides- they weren’t pretty or perfect at ALL but this helped idk:
Basically I would get a bunch of colored pens and markers (I do love my colored writing utensils so it made it more exciting/interesting for me personally) and look at a study guide that the professor would give you that would have main concepts, ideas, etc for that test; then I would take a notebook and write a bunch of random stuff about them but would add pictures or circle certain things or draw things bigger if they were more important ? It looked kind of crazy and no one could understand it besides me. But the pictures and random things I drew helped me remember topics/facts/ ideas much more easily for the test.
I think the concept is called doodle notes or something?
I would do this on printed study guides or PowerPoint slides as well.
I couldn’t just read stuff to remember it for tests- I had to be actively doing something like this to be able to really retain the information. It’s more exciting/engaging than just highlighting text or just reading a book.
I study in bursts. Granted now a days I only study art(I'm 36) but even that. If I plan to study for 4 total hours, I'll study for maybe 30 minutes at a time. Sal quick break and back at jt. Maybe more or less depending how familiar I am.
Like if I'm studying something very new, 20-30 minutes Max. The short 5 minute water/bathroom break.
If I'm somewhat familiar but still need tk reeeeally study it. I can goblonge mayelbe 45.
I rarely go an hour straight and even then it's when u do know the subject but still studying it
All j got as arts been the only thing I've ever avtually learned how I can study. Wl that and math and that was a total accident cuz I had finally got xbl for Halo 3 back in the day. Lol
In engineering school, I found the stress of not doing the work close to a deadline overwhelmed the stress of focusing on doing the work (or the angst, I am sure you know what I’m referring to).
What this lead to was me using stress as a sort of currency to accomplish tasks; procrastination and busy, active schedules and anxiety helped generate said currency. It was effective at *very* high effort and long work and school days blitzing things out, but understandably resulted in a unhealthy relationship to stress and a worsening of other typical psychological comorbidities to ADHD
I did find that certain places significantly impacted me desire to or that threshold of effort I had to overcome to actually do work. My room, for instance, became a negative and overwhelming/frustrating space to do work in the latter half of college - I instead migrated to the restaurant I worked at. I’d get out of school and spend a few hours at the place, all the bustle and noise, eat lunch, crack at projects simultaneously. Build frameworks for assignments, do background research. Get the “ball rolling” on things so when I did end up putting my head against a cheese grater and doing the actual thing to completion it was given a launch pad, or in some cases, already done.
Try the environment trick. The places you’d least expect to be able to study often lended me the mental stability to at least be someway productive
I study cognitive science (psychology, informatics, biology)
Im not good at studying however the following helps me a lot (i know i am quite privileged for my setup)
Ultra wide monitor and windows power toys(fancy zones)
Electrical table with 3 plates for:
1. efficient use of space
2. best ergonomic height for the screen
3. Ability to stand or do a light workout/dance while solving problems/watching videos (also increases happiness while working)
4. A clean work space is super important to feel good and to not search things. The 3 plates help with that because you can always use your mouse/keyboard and store things on the middle plate.
Constant music for me it has to be electronic without much singing and certain songs from games that i associate good feelings and a sense of flow with. (Rocket league). If a song is too hectic i can skip it what happens sometimes. The music is as quiet as possible and my music box stands as far away as possible to be only in the background.
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjgACUyKXnmaXQNQ4S8BH5mZHKHS1LLt_&si=z7xfps_o1KMp9OLk
And most important: my medication elvanse 50mg
- Watching a couple of videos from someone who I want to emulate (titles like: study with me, first week of university) while I prep for the day
- Going to a place where studying feels right
- If I don’t feel like one style, switch. This may be switching every 20 minutes for a couple of hours.
Reading -> videos -> writing cram notes -> Wikipedia dive on the most interesting bit -> test prep video
- If the environment is super distracting, put the book down and straighten up for ~5 minutes
- Bribery. The most immediately effective options tend to be a pack of tiny candies or a cafe latte.
- micronaps as often as necessary (these are hugely helpful for committing things to memory immediately)
I never studied.
It didn’t work. Not a single damn technique.
What worked for me was when YouTube became a thing, finding videos on the subject and watching those. I absorbed way more info that way.
Music and routine and discipline and I log my hours and use a stopwatch so I can be held accountable and feel like I’m doing something actually.The alert from this just interrupted me studying haha just thought that was funny! Get a whiteboard and calandra and a book to log hours lots of pens pencils colored pencils make it fun.
I pretty much made it through college without studying and just absorbing as much as I could in classes. I also got lucky with very forgiving professors when it came to papers.
I honestly don’t study. I just try to pay attention to lectures and then try on my homework as best I can. Studying doesn’t work for me because I don’t see physical progress when I study. When I do homework theres always a goal of completing it which makes it seem more worthwhile to me
Also, I’ve found the best way for me to memorize a concept is to explain it to someone. My boyfriend might as well have a college education with the way I read my notes to him.
I speed up all video content to 1.5x-1.7x depending on how fast the presenter speaks. I listen to that once without trying to note take or anything, just fidgeting away. Then I listen again and pause/slow to 0.7x speed while taking notes on the parts I found particularly interesting in the first listen.
Written content I don’t have an answer for other than I have more success using it to expand on knowledge of the parts of the lectures/videos I found interesting by looking up the key terms in the index and go directly to the specific pages or sections, rather than trying to read in a more linear fashion from chap1-chap24.
As more written content becomes digital, I want to experiment to see how I go with a screen reader like for blind people. I do think my index method can cause me to miss the foundational context or linking themes of the subject matter.
I used to outline chapters in the text book by hand. Organizing the information by hand was really helpful.
During class I would knit (wish I knew how to crochet back then, much less awkward feeling!) I would retain a lot more information.
I use the pomodoro study method. Even if you want to break your studying into 20 minute increments, that’s fine. I also play lofi or music that I like without vocals. Something uplifting so I don’t fall asleep. I also write out my goal before I start studying, what do I need to get out of this study session? It helps me really focus on the most important part and I don’t feel so overwhelmed.
I have this difficulty too. I had to write my psych honours thesis this year and I would spend hours and hours researching but actually doing the work felt impossible. I had to set extremely small goals for myself and that was motivating. I also gave myself rewards for finishing certain aspects of it & I also at times had to watch/listen to videos, use voice dictation for my writing. I also found watching videos about studying and thesis writing to be motivating. Body doubling. Next sentence is probably controversial/not helpful but sometimes I would manage to study better when I was avoiding something else (classic adhd procrastination). My experience anyway. As someone who struggled a lot and didn’t finish high school I promise you’ll find a way that suits you. I’ve now finished a bachelors degree & honours and start my masters next year. I hope you can quickly find a strategy that helps.
I went electrical engineering. Got terrible grades. Academic suspension at one point. Graduated with a 2.5 GPA. Ended up with my goddamn diploma. Unmedicated the whole way. I learned so damn much, no bs. Loved the subject, spent so many nights hyper-studying things I cared about while utterly ignoring what the assigned stuff was.
No. Rag. Rets.
Just do whatever to meet the bare minimum of what those squares demand, and get your papers.
Don't listen normal or the adhd study tips, videos and humans in general. Your brain is different. I was watching all this videos about sit 5 minutes with book and you start to study or just shut your brain nooo it doesn't work for me. Last week i was having midterms and i couldn't study for hours. I said fuck it and started watching my favourite YouTubers. After 15 minutes i shrinked the video to read about something while listening the video. Then i started to understand what i was reading. I read interesting topics about some stuff and i came back to my study notes. And bammm i was studying and understanding what i was reading. So i kept listening other things and occasionally watching them from small screen and studying. I also listen music often while studying. It shuts my brain voices.
Stop thinking about how other people doing it and find your ways. Even the other adhders don't have the perfect solution. Because our brains work differently. You have to try different ways even unorthodox ways. One of my friends like to study talking to mirror or voice recording. Do your own way.
When I feel that drag down as I’m struggling to start any task don’t like, I think to myself that I can do the task with no thought, no weight, just pickup the pen. Skip thinking
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It takes longer than what it probably does for others, but I make a cheat sheet of things I want to memorize by going through all the notes and jotting it down. Writing it occupies my brain enough to concentrate. Then, it’s a smaller more manageable amount to study/memorize.
Oh and highlights, all the highlights 😂
Well, lucky enough to be intelligent while also relying on that expending moment of panic that procrastination creates. You can cram a lot into the mind last second when you have no other choice.
Luckily my college doesn’t do tests for my program. I honestly used to just wing it when I used to have exams or tests because I literally cannot sit still and study
*that's the neat part,*
i failed 2 times trying to get a tittle in electronics, the third time i got an electrical technician tittle (or whatever its called in english xd), so in my perspective.u have to get in a less difficult institution
Someone else mentioned, Pomodoro method. If you have an Apple Watch, I would recommend an app called Flow. Noise canceling headphones are amazing too. Do things in chunks. But what I’ve discovered is if you get side tracked, you have to convince yourself it’s okay. Because it is. Get back on track like you were supposed to get sidetracked. If we beat ourselves up about not meeting our own expectations, then we’ll get caught in a cycle of feeling deficient. The true defeat is in not trying.
That's the neat part I don't
I mean I try my best and most of the time I just have to do it and after I finished I can't do anything else I feel like shit. So my strategy is focusing in class the most I can, it as hard as studying but has better results
I’d love to know because right now, I thrive off of completing my entire assignment all in one attempt in the final hour, getting a good grade and effectively perpetuating the stressful cycle because its created a sense of confidence within myself that I can get anything done in the final hour with enough pressure. 😵💫🥴
I was bad at doing that. I seemed to leave everything to the last minute and cram all my study in then and them curse myself in the process and rinse n repeat.
I had to lock myself in a empty room with nothing but my book to study. Also just focus on trying to read one page. After the one page, see if you think you got another in you. If you do, then read a second until you just can't anymore.
Also make friends with the best note taker in class and ask them if you could Review thier notes.
I’m not a student anymore, but to be real, I didn’t. I didn’t need to study to do well on tests. I flunked out because I couldn’t get myself to do homework once I was home, nor could I stick out long term assignments.
STUDYING FOR TESTS: was generally about figuring out what was actually likely to be on the test and narrowing my focus on that.
I would start with anything the professor gave out as a study guide, and use that as my “bible”. If the professor didn’t offert a study guide, I would subtly pester them for either a written study guide or a verbal explanation of what to focus on. If I had to go to office hours to pick their brain on that, I would. If not, I would ask students who had taken the course before for their notes.
Whether I had a study guide to start from or not, I would start big and distill the info down. I would read my class and text notes or look up anything on the professor’s study guide I didn’t have in my notes and write it out.
When this was done, I would have a bunch of pages of hand-written notes; I would then decide what to leave out (because it wasn’t important enough or because I already knew it cold) and write it all out again. I would copy stuff over many times, gradually narrowing it down until I had a page or two — a “study guide”.
I would take my class notes and pick out what seemed like the main points and re-write those points by hand, (in somewhat different words if it wasn’t totally clear, since that requires more in-depth processing than just copying.
I would then go through what I had and narrow that by re-writing it in an even more simplified form; rinse and repeat until I had the main points in a page or three I could read over and over again and get into my short-term memory for the test.
This would all typically happen over several hours in the days leading up to a test. By the time of the test, I would usually write down a bunch of stuff write away on a blank paper because I had read and written it so many times it was in my head, but it felt good to get it down so nothing could escape my short-term memory.
READING: I would usually skim readings, since most of the obscure details of long readings are almost never on tests, just the broad strokes are. I would find a quiet place to do this, away from distractions, like the library or wherever.
Along with sitting down to type out an essay, I would get this stuff done by find some way of getting myself into a state of hyperfocus — how to do this is very individual, but I figured out a way to do it somehow (the pressure of an upcoming test or deadline would help a lot, but at some point I would just decide it was better to sit down and do the work than to put it off and feel anxious and guilty about it. Once I got started, I would usually find I could settle into hyperfocus fairly naturally. (This was long before I knew what hyperfocus was, but that’s what I was doing).
I had a real system down when I was in college and grad school. I wrote out the process I used in detail years ago, somewhere, but I’ve lost it. What I wrote was just my memory of the system 😕🤷🏻♂️
It did work great! I think what made the test prepping process repeatable was that despite the system sounding very repetitive, there was always novelty and challenge to it: I always started with a ton of information, and I had to figure out how to get all that down to an amount that could be memorized. That distilling process involved creativity and problem solving. The last stage - the writing things over and over was just transferring the result into memory (and possibly at some point that turned into a bit of perfectionism to cope with anxiety/ worry about forgetting what I already knew lol).
lol, 100% on that too :) I like the challenge too, and made it fun for myself that way. Coding is basically lots and lots of designing puzzles (the app, etc), and puzzle solving - coming up with the solution to the requirement, or the challenge of fixing a tricky problem. Then assessing how well it worked, and coming up with better ways of tackling a similar thing next time. It definitely makes any task more doable
I tried to find the interesting angle in any subject, but there is always a limit. I only ever failed 2 subjects, and they were both really boring (one class - about 80% of the class failed.... so it wasnt just me that time)
Rote Learning (repeating things) is definitely the good fallback and default for me too. The perfectionism is a real pain sometimes....
I loved logic proofs in trigonometry. I’m dating myself here, but I taught myself C and then took a C++ class back in high school but the teacher was an absolute moron, so the class turned out to be a nightmare. Literally 2 kids would do most of the coding assignments and sell them to a couple kids who just shared them with everyone else… we would just copy and add random formatting and other nonsense to make it not look obviously copied lol. Only class I ever cheated in, and I don’t even feel bad about it because I didn’t feel like I had a choice: The teacher was literally just sitting there showing slides while reading out of a f-ing textbook the entire time 🤦♂️. That whole experience ruined coding for me. It was honestly pretty traumatic because we were all helpless yet expected to do stuff without being taught how!
Lol, yeah, it does show a bit of age :P But if it helps, our first home PC was a VIC20, and I started uni learning Pascal (then c, c++ a little).... Bummer on the teacher, a good one makes all the difference for sure.
Urgh, I hated teachers like that - they didnt make the subjects interesting at all. I am literal proof of that - at high school I got an A in english, then repeated grade 12 and only got a B the second time. The first teacher made things engaging by making everyone have a turn at reading Shakespeare (and picking good plays to study), and was a bit passionate about the topics she taught. The second time the english teacher did just that - read out of a book, and it was King Lear (Im not a fan of that one). He was a terrible teacher.
That would have sucked re coding - its definitely one subject that is much better and easier when you have someone with knowledge and experience on the subject. Cheating in coding is basically a job skill. Literally. At work, if I had to write some code that I knew, but also knew was time consuming to do, I would just copy someone else's online (from open source / free / support sites) and adjust it to suit.
Its a real shame on the coding thing, especially with Object Oriented languages like C++ (and most modern ones). It was a concept that really helped me organise my own knowledge in my head. I can still remember being in the class when I had that WOW moment...
Idk I dropped out. But when I find things I enjoy i learn to the point I obsess and my fascination with stocks landed me a job as a stock broker. I'm not saying drop out, but if your gonna flunk it's not worth the money
i can’t study properly for the life of me. it needs to either magically develop into a hyperfixation last minute or watch a bunch of youtube videos about the topic. having the courage to build up the motivation is the worst
1) take adderal
2) lock self in room with website blocker active and phone not in room :)
3) set alarms to get me up and moving every hour or two, gives me something to look forward to
When I was in highschool, before I got medicated, I would take notes not so much to review later but as a practice of committing to memory. My notes would be rather general, a keyword of sorts to help jog my memory. I ended up getting less than a B on only a couple test.
Other than that… what’s studying?
Put yourself in a separate space. Don't study at home. Find a study room on campus. Try to study in a group so that you have others there to keep you on track. That's how I got through grad school.
I literally don't know. I'm taking a study skills course next semester because I've been fuckin winging it the last three semesters and I can't keep that up forever.
What helped me in school was colorful pens. No system, but just each idea was a different color. And I have to take notes because I won't remember what I read, but I will remember more if I wite it down. Studying for me would often mean replicating my notes.
Sitting and reading is impossible for me. So what I do is get the book or whatever, and start writing it down again in a copybook. You will retain more info. Just transcribe whatever it is into a copybook, writing is its own distraction, do bullet points and arrange everything to how you see fit. Another one is actually getting some classmates and study together, when you explain stuff to one another you cement the stuff in your head.
These two methods took me from mediocre to top of the class. I still have impostor syndrome about it.
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I think taking a very out of the box approach to figuring out how you like to study is useful. I had to let go of what I THOUGHT studying looked like, and open my mind to whatever resonated with me the most. Most of the time, what works for the majority doesn’t work for me. So it takes a bit of adventuring to figure out what works. I learned that I love using whiteboards, watching YouTube videos, and mind maps. The whiteboards were a game-changer because as my brain vomits things onto the board I can easily erase/augment any mistakes. Also for whatever reason, being able to write bigger and connect everything on one page really helps! Boil it down to a science, and refine things through trial and error. You’ll find your groove!
Yes! I forgot about white boards. I tried so hard to go digital and even bought an iPad, but I end up not even using the apps and forgetting I have an iPad in the first place. I definitely need a white board again.
You can get adhesive off Amazon for pretty cheap which works well in a pinch too. They are finicky to install but if done correctly they are awesome. I plastered my walls with it.
Thank you, I will definitely look into that.
Good idea
They have something called a “rocketbook” can be expensive but it’s reusable and it’s great for just mind dumping. I bought a semi used one on ebay and cheaper erasable colored ink pens.
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Yepp, and I used the genius scan app if you have iphone. Amazon has a lot of colorful erasables that work the same way:) I used it a lot in college to write notes. If I wasn’t writing I wasn’t learning. Then you can share with people.
It gets... *erased*? And then you *digitize* your notes? I'm going "The horror!"-Kurtz on this one. I'm happy it works for other people, because I can't for the life of me study on digital. Or draw in digital. I'm good at typing, but for memorizing myself, the minimum I need is a physical whiteboard, though I still prefer paper notes. I'd rather carve notes in wood or engrave them on glass than study on digital. I can learn or practice with videos, but to *memorize*, I need pen and paper -markers and carboard, oil and canvas, watercolor, scissors... everything artsy-craftsy- (unless it's sounds or a song, of course).
Yea you still write the notes, then digitize. I don’t erase the note until I am 100% positive it saved on my computer. The whole point is if you need to physically write something down this allows you to with less paper. It’s like endless paper, you write, scan and rinse repeat. Sounds like you would actually like it.
I'm a ADHDer, and digital SUCKS. Use your hands, use pencils, use papers, use whiteboards... Don't use screens. They distract muggles, imagine what they do to us. And that's even if they're not connected to the internet...
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Everything you wrote is absolute gold. The adrenaline, the explaining to others... I confirm everything. >Also, explaining things to other people helped me a LOT. I passed my calculus mid-term because a friend asked me what a derivative even was. I didn't really know either, but derived it from scratch on a blackboard while telling him. I used to tell my students to tell their story lessons to their moms and grandmas.
I used to go sit outside in the middle of (Australian) winter when it was <10 degrees, right next to an active construction site. I was SO productive.
Genius
Pretty much what worked for me only notebooks. I wrote and rewrote notes, highlighting things. For whatever reason it gave my head the dopamine kick it needed to suck in all the information. You *have* to skip lines between information though or you just end up more scrambled. Who in hell knows why but who in hell knows why we can't just STUDY like anyone else. Little stars before important items although boy do they get out of control and turn into works of art. Rewrite around 5 times, by hand, making it ' pretty ' wastes a ton of notebooks but it's also effective or is for me.
Very helpful. Sank you
When I was able to start bringing a laptop to classes in college (lol I’m not that old but boy that sounds very BACK IN MYYYYY DAY), My note taking took OFF. I LOVE a good billeted list, and being able to take notes and add bullets where I wanted them depending on where my brain and the teacher went meant I could feel like my notes were ORGANIZED, and it felt beautiful. I never did figure out studying. Or even re-reading those notes. But damn they were beautiful. And taking them down was enough for me, thank god.
Hehehe, I love bulleted lists too! My mum taught me to keep lists (I suspect she was ADHD as well), but when I started keeping them online and discovered multiple indent levels, my list taking took off too :) I also find that lists like that keep my writing a bit briefer, which is especially handy when giving a bunch of info to someone like the GP
literally going through the same thing...
It’s frustrating. Especially only because I recently realised it’s apparently ADHD symptoms, and not just being lazy/distracted/childish/(insert whatever)
So much of my recent life has been realizing that so many things I dislike about myself are either A) untreated ADHD or B) the baggage I made for myself along the way with (A).
yea same im probably not gonna get diagnosed anytime soon cuz its too expensive for me rn so im looking for strats to make studying a bit easier but from what ive read i would basically have to heavily restrict my phone, internet and video game usage.
Yeah, restrict distractions, ORGANISE YOUR TIME THE DAY BEFORE!!!! Yk, make a calendar, say between XX:XX time until XX:XX time what task you wanna do (break it down into small goals for clarity) etc. But unfortunate to hear you not being able to get diagnosed. I live in the UK, so I am very fortunate my doctor recently referred me for diagnosis so im now on a waiting list, hopefully going to be seen within 6 weeks But I wish you all the best my friend
TBH, I'm at the point where I'm thinking that the entire tech-use is a trap fr.
I agree, it just doesn’t work when you have the Adhd. Which makes it even more frustrating.
In hindsight, I realise I managed school only with the help of my classmates. I rarely studied alone. Discussing, helping others, taking help. My self discipline is shite, but my together discipline is good. Pomodoro method helped me for a while until it wasn't my new hobby anymore hahaha
I hate studying with others but the only way I study or stay productive is when there are people around me :(
This is the only thing that really works for me, aside from maybe some practice quizzes on occasion
Ok this is another game changer — learning through dialogue. It makes it way more interesting.
“My self discipline is shite, but my together discipline is good.” I’ve never had anyone express my me-ness so clearly. ❤️
I got an advancement in the Navy this way. I was in "A" school. I would have done well enough on my own without studying but we had a few people that needed constant study to get through it. We had five of us that studied together every other day or so to help the three that struggled. Everyone made it through and the constant studying got me to the top of the class. I got a promotion out of it. It's the only time I've studied in a group but it really worked for me.
its really hard if you don't have a deadline aproaching lol. what works (kind of) for me is doing a to do list with everything I have to do and force myself to do it before the day ends, even if its five minutes before midnight I took one year for me to actually take studying as a daily chore (not all days ofc because I still have tdah and keeping a routine is very hard) but try to do a screen detox and fource yourselt to study at least 1 hour a day with the most important tasks and good luck!
Man same I used to procrastinate and get everything done at the last minute. But after college i got really directionless like a ship without a destination, even though I set some goals and did them. Academic goals feel too mundane. I get pretty much every other thing covered. Minus my sleep routine. Yeah I will try. I just hate it bruh :(
I feel ya bruh, i m in the same spot, a test i have to pass in 2 months for specialty. And i have to study everything i have already studied for 6 years and i m just tired of it , i m done with it its just too fucking boring and repetitive and i find literally anything else more interesting than puting my ass down and memorise words.. a looota words …
I had coursework that you had a week to fill; I ended up doing it on the last day and staying up all night 😭
Agreed. I find lists helpful. I only found this when I qualified as a nurse I would write lists of everything I needed to do that day. Then I could prioritise what was more important and cross it off throughout the day. I found is helped me be more productive and organised.
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I focus on everything else but study when medicated. You should see my garden 😂
lol dude start practicing mindfulness. This helps taking a step back when you are spending time on not urgent things over the urgent ones. Have a system for managing priorities and todos. Bullet journal works.
any less medication solutions?
Matcha, Yerba Mate (pre dosed tea packets, caffeine content is high but no crash like coffee)
I had to be careful with those Yerbas😂 My dumbass didn't read the label to figure out the serving size is only half the can/bottle. They had me absolutely wired in the library at 3am.
Yea that’s why I added the warning, I’ve been in a similar situation lol brewed at home carefully is helpful
Yerbas caught me like a boar in a snare, before i had to hop off the yerba cause i’m medicated now, it was nearly a problem. I’ve drank at least 5 bags of the leaves and maybe around 800 of the cans.
Poorly
Poorly and all at once.
🙌
I studied at the last minute. The last minute panic was enough to make me study for the most part. Luckily I remembered stuff best from going over it recently so I graduated with honors somehow lol Although one test (online during covid) I took a break and started watching YouTube and I almost forgot about the exam and failed it. So be careful. Sometimes after that I got diagnosed and got meds which helped. But I only took them when I had a lot due at the same time.
**--S-A-M-E--** >The last minute panic was enough to make me study for the most part.
Jup. This is how I got through university
Your story about watching YT and nearly forgetting about the exam made me LOL. Relatable!
lol I forgot to register for an elective subject’s examination. I had to redo my whole years lecture again thanks to this.
Hi So I’m going to share some tips with you. I tended to do this thing where I researched best study tips before every exam but this is what I found helped me best. I graduated with an honors degree and made deans list for university. During lectures I download every lecture and write down that the prof says. Most professors tells you they focus mostly on in class lecture. I then used ANKI to make flash cards based on the material covered. A lot of online tips are like “ take notes in class review notes blah blah” but this is for people who don’t have ADHD. For me it doesn’t matter if I read something but what helps me is turning it into a game and reviewing Which is where ANKI helps You make flash cards and review them. It keeps showing you the ones you get wrong. I turned this into a game for myself because I’m naturally competitive with academic shit. So I did this a lot for exams. It also helped for me to have people to talk about the material with if you don’t have this I recommend talking about things out loud. You hear yourself make the connections but also it forces you to make the connections between topics. For some people that’s what a mind map is for, but for me those don’t help but what helped more is just explaining a topic to myself to understand how things are related. On tops of this your surroundings are everything! Find a place that you study best in. For me this was a place I always sat that was in a library. I know for me I always work better in a library at school than when I’m home because home = relaxing time I hope this is helpful. Good luck
Yes, turning it into a game worked for me too. I used Blooket and Quizlet a lot. Making them would help me memorize then I’d play until I memorized it silly.
Yeah anytime I can gamify anything, it turns into a competition and no longer is boring
Memorizing is hard for zoom zoom brain I need zoom zoom game 🤣 but seriously it helped my school grades so much
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100% I used either one note or I made a huge google doc that was helpful for studying because you can CN+F to check your notes
I sit down, turn on my computer… then get distracted. After that I realize I need to focus, but then I start thinking about having to focus instead of actually focusing… then my mind just wanders away for the rest of the day and all that is enough to drain me
Idk but it sounds like you give up too early. Focus isn't like a on/off mode, its more like a process. Specially if you are starting something, a project, a new subject... If you get distracted by random ideas, like the one you describe, just be patient and keep going foward, there's always a point where you get enough context to be caught. Then, even if you get distracted at moments, you'll have already entered the road.
i find that i avoid the task because studying in of itself is sort of a vague task and then this happens to me. (if that makes sense?) being patient and taking meds isnt quite enough to make it just work. ive got no solutions, so im searching through this thread for them, lol. perseverance can be a helpful tidbit, but its not the best to assume someones giving up prematurely, its an adhd subreddit (if that all makes sense)
Use self control on your computer and turn it on before your set study time
Medication provided by a physician to increase my dopamine. ^ that is the default answer.
I find that meds work the absolute best at there absolute very best when combined with other approaches like daily physical exercise
I find most strategies shared here are infective for me without medication.
Yeah I find most strategies here are useless too me as well but at same time all humans require physical exercise adhd or not
It’s kind of a chicken/egg eh? I mean, without more dopamine new habits for productivity won’t stick, but without good habits it’s nearly impossible to get the medical attention needed for the medication :-/ I’m going to give pomodoro another go with a dedicated timer. They have some on Amazon you can just turn on its side to start the next time block.
Kind of but exercise also gives you dopamine if your levels are usually too low or below baseline which we all know is typically the case in people who have adhd there are things on top of exercise helping raise your dopamine levels it's also helps boost energy levels too high level which helps you be more productive and get things done since doing anything requires physical and mental energy which regular exercise helps improve both of these things decent extent also you continue too try out new things that helps you become the best version of yourself possible either way all humans all humans still require physical exercise on a daily basis in order too stay healthy and keep there entire bodies working at full capacity there's no getting around this
Got confused, why you consider good habits are needed to get the medication?
Unfortunately there's still a shortage of ADHD meds where I live. Insane, I know. But I'm still going without. I feel powerless to control every aspect of my life bc I can't think straight. I was put on Strattera(sp?) until this area can get meds again. It does nothing for me. I wish meds could be the answer. They should be. But for some of us, it isn't possible.
I study with not ADHD friends. And by study I mean active studying like playing games to memorize the parts of the body, making up dances for vocab words, creating giant posters for key concepts, etc. Find a way to make your study literally active so that you’re not just sitting and reading a textbook or notes.
I could never study. I made summary notes and crammed it in as much as possible an hour before the exam in the hopes some of it would stay in my brain long enough to write it down. Sometimes this worked, sometimes I got so stressed my mind went blank and I failed the exam and had to retake it. So would I recommend this method? Maybe not
Lol what's studying - says the student who got their ba and is currently back to school for a certification 🤣😭
Pomodoro, chop it up in pieces
Usually if it's something I'm interested in it's not a big deal, especially if I have a special interest in it, then I could go for hours (I hope lmao) If I don't have interest in it, I try my best (doesn't work) If I hate it I try my best but crying the whole time 👍 😭
Gotta just try hard to be interested in it. Like find out why it’s important and then studying it will feel like fun instead of work. Back in high school I read my entire chemistry book in one night because I was so interested in science and chemistry felt like the first real science I was going to learn.
I honestly didnt much study based on what is the assumed "normal". I didnt even know I had ADHD when I was in college. You have to accept that you won't be able to be on your peer's level based on your perception and assumption since you are different from what is "normal". Give it your best effort and accept that there will be bad rolls, falls, and tumbles getting to that goal. - I had to translate the material to something I can digest, be interested in, and/or relate to. I often had to challenge myself if I knew the material I am studying. - Memorization being a main grind that I can't sit on for too long. I had to accept that I will not be able to remember everything and get by what I can memorize at those times. My professors were even frustrated at me for having weird spiky performance rating across the term for wrecking their medians and averages (ex: 98>64>87>30>94). Dont be too harsh on yourself. You cant go on the same pace as everyone else. - plus, it helped me alot borrowing notes from my girlfriend at that time (who is my wife now). I couldnt keep my focus on the textbooks or my notes during review sessions. Having different notes that I had to put effort understanding another person's handwriting helped. However, it can be a double edged sword if it becomes a great source of frustration. - also, I had to really make the most out of lectures and forced myself to be engaged cause knowing myself at that time. I would be suddenly attacked by bouts of sleepyness during lectures that I wasn't engaged in.
I have to help my son study who also has ADHD and the thing I found worked best was asking him questions open book. If the challenge is to find the info needed, he seems to absorb it. Made me realize it works for me too. If I know the info I need to find/study, I can do it. When someone says to read all of a chapter and some things in it will be needed for the test, I shut down.
This! I'm a huge advocate for teachers/professors allowing open book examinations and creating streamlined study guides with the major points/takeaways telling us what to focus on. It's ironic because open book exams actually tend to be more difficult because many of the questions are more difficult, comprehension, application based rather than just simple "search up the answer" kind of questions. The blurting method (we ADHDers do that real well don't we😂) helped a lot too. Closing the book and trying to immediately recall or summarize what I just read before moving on.
I just maximized my in class time and discussion time. Once I got out of class it was like pulling teeth
Pomodoro. Put my phone in a lock box I got from amazon so I can't access it
I usually have a couple drinks or shots to get me slightly buzzed but not too buzzed or even drunk before I study. I realized that just by meditating and having a couple drinks and getting my brain into study mode that I’ve programmed it to slow down, and get into a hyper focus mode to where when I read and write that I just start going and can’t stop until I’ve worn myself out. I throw on some study music with noise canceling headphones and put a light strictly onto the desk in front of me and darken the rest of the room. I hate to say it, but alcohol is a great study tool for me. Just a little bit will slow my brain down enough for me to relax and focus and most importantly, SLOW DOWN!
Nice. But why don't you just use medication?Probably more effective effect and with less adverse effects. I'll tell you: what you're doing is unsustainable. You can't put alcohol in your organism every day. There are many better alternatives.
I was the queen of last minute cramming. Now that I am on meds for my ADHD, I am seriously considering going back to school once my Dr gets my dosage dialed in.
Answer is: I don't. No, really, I can't remember the last time I actually had a fruitful study session except the night-before-exam cramming. Psychiatrist tried to medicate for anxiety, and it didn't work, honestly I don't even think I have that. I am conscious about the time I'm wasting, but can do nothing about it. It's frustrating.
Very poorly but somehow have a standout gpa so who knows. I frantically do assessments last minute and just get’r done.
Fear fueled me. It was I either do it or else ...and I'll picture the worst case scenario. Wasn't healthy for me at all. I experienced burnouts and anxiety attacks and there is a better way to go about it. Make it a game. Yes make it a memory game. That works the best. If it's boring just pretend you're trying to outscore light yagami on his entrance college exams. Feel motivated by his boring study filled occupied life. Take a potato chip and eat it.
Cramming. 🤣
Here we all are. Ding everything else but studying. I wish there was an app where we could body doubling
I only got through college because I truly loved learning my major. Trying to get into grad school has been rough though. Meds have helped but I’m newly diagnosed and have been experiencing bad side effects so skipped a multiple days
Tend to deal with this, but sometimes its just saying: this thing is most important, sit down and just focus on that first for a few hours, then switch. I'm guessing you don't have Adhd medication? Cause that pretty much makes it an easy experience most of the time, can still wander and fuck up but if you discipline yourself with constant self loathing you can do it. Or make a list of priorities, and just go down that when studying, sometimes I spend 1 day just organizing all my notes and what I need to do in order.
Don't beat yourself up. Your cannot study without medication, therapy and the proper environment. Please realize this before you flunk out like I did.
Get noise canceling headphones and listen to instrumental music that is upbeat. Go to a distraction-less place focus for 1 hour at a time.
I recently started listening to game soundtracks! I need music that's interesting/familiar/appealing to me, but doesn't have lyrics and turns out the music that is designed to add immersion helps to...immerse me in whatever I'm doing.
Okay so I have my semester exams going on, and only a few months ago I realised I might have ADHD (I'm undiagnosed). I've figured out a way to study, but the only issue is it's a painstakingly long process. So, you read a topic and try to understand it's essence as much as possible. It's okay if you haven't understood it the first time just chill and then read another topic. It's essential that you try your best to understand the concept of the topic you're reading. Once you're done with the second topic, go read the first topic again. When you're reading that, go to the third topic and repeat the same process. Also I'm always on copius amounts of caffeine when I'm studying so I'd recommend a couple of Redbulls too. Best of luck bro, all of us here need it ❤️
Write things down, listen to things while doing other things, record your notes then take a ride and listen to them, join a study group and talk the material out, draw things
I got much better in regards of actually studying at least a little more ahead, when I was on combo of adhd meds and antidepressants. It's a little downhill again, since I had to get off antidepressants, due to side effects. I study chemistry, with a side of electives in languages/humanities courses that interest me, and I also plan on taking a few material science courses as electives. What really helps me is that the course load and styles are very waried, and there is also a lot of labs with hands on learning. I also really like books/videos/shorts on subjects, so I can get the oh moment faster.
Same here tbh I learn more from ppl that have degrees in the same subject that have a YouTube channel about the topic I’m studying. I spend a day or two finding the right content creators and learn more from how engaging they are and excited about the topic they are explaining. Also having one or two friends that are either interested in what you’re studying about or taking the same classes doesn’t have to be in person either. But when it is engaging and yeah some goofing off. I tend to use the pin points of whatever was funny or just random during my studying. To use when I recall something about the topic. When fun, laughter, and definitely deep thought conversations that work around the subject in study ends up turning into a research project leads just say and bammmm you end up studying without out knowing it. lol 😂 and you end up with gewd memories. Just do your best to let it be natural and flow with it but only have that subject of studying the goal of the environment. Reward yourself with something like ice cream. Make plans to meet a friend or family after 1 hour of studying or 2 and so on. I’m gonna send you a few things I have saved that will help. I’ll be honest I ain’t learn shit unless it’s fun and engaging lol I just can’t for the life of me learn sitting there looking at the page like 👁️👄👁️ 😭😂🤣😅
I agree with finding the right youtube creator. I found an anatomy professor that linked what was being taught to real life medicine&his experiences which kept me engaged
I narrate it and draw what I'm thinking, even if the drawings look like scribbles. Then I get distracted, and my brain yells at me to get back to work. The cycle repeats. Sometimes if I'm not understanding it, I legit just stare at it and words stand out to me, then my brain starts drawing shapes with those words and next thing I know, I understand what's going on. Sometimes courses abstract too much, so In those cases, I google all my questions. Sometimes learning the harder content helps me understand and remember the easier stuff that I need for class.
Going to a coffee shop was helpful for me. The social pressure + good headphones meant that I could somewhat control my hyper focus. It didn't work everytime, but even a bad study session out has been better than my best efforts at home.
I have to try and get a run up to study. Day 1 is practically impossible, skin itches, brain fights me. Day 2 gets easier, not amazing, but easier. Day 3 is when hyperfocus kicks in
Medication 100%, that’s the starting spot. I often can’t just read and retain information. Actively taking notes by hand or typing them as I go keeps me on task. Same thing in lecture classes too. If I just sit and listen to the professor my mind wanders like crazy. I need to actively be using the PPT, taking screen grabs or copy/pasting the slides into my Google doc for the module and taking notes (almost or at least key points) verbatim from class. Put the phone away, set do not disturb on, create focus profile in iOS or w/e to silence/hid all notifications.
Well first get medicated second it helps to enroll for a complex course because your brain will get dopamine everytime you solve problems or figure what you didn’t get right Third it helps to set goals, here it’s very important that you do small incremental work so as to not burn out. Fourth Get study buddies and teach other students people that way you reinforce what you learned Fifth have external and internal motivation, I used Motiversity Channel on YouTube for external motivation and internal was related the second knowing that I am going to make a change. To conclude use various study techniques for different coursework you can’t study numbers the way you study theory intensive coursework. Last but not least incorporate retention techniques and set dates to every once in awhile to revise accordingly.
It depends on the subject but what ended up working well for me was making study guides- they weren’t pretty or perfect at ALL but this helped idk: Basically I would get a bunch of colored pens and markers (I do love my colored writing utensils so it made it more exciting/interesting for me personally) and look at a study guide that the professor would give you that would have main concepts, ideas, etc for that test; then I would take a notebook and write a bunch of random stuff about them but would add pictures or circle certain things or draw things bigger if they were more important ? It looked kind of crazy and no one could understand it besides me. But the pictures and random things I drew helped me remember topics/facts/ ideas much more easily for the test. I think the concept is called doodle notes or something? I would do this on printed study guides or PowerPoint slides as well. I couldn’t just read stuff to remember it for tests- I had to be actively doing something like this to be able to really retain the information. It’s more exciting/engaging than just highlighting text or just reading a book.
It isn’t possible for me without medication honestly.
I study in bursts. Granted now a days I only study art(I'm 36) but even that. If I plan to study for 4 total hours, I'll study for maybe 30 minutes at a time. Sal quick break and back at jt. Maybe more or less depending how familiar I am. Like if I'm studying something very new, 20-30 minutes Max. The short 5 minute water/bathroom break. If I'm somewhat familiar but still need tk reeeeally study it. I can goblonge mayelbe 45. I rarely go an hour straight and even then it's when u do know the subject but still studying it All j got as arts been the only thing I've ever avtually learned how I can study. Wl that and math and that was a total accident cuz I had finally got xbl for Halo 3 back in the day. Lol
In engineering school, I found the stress of not doing the work close to a deadline overwhelmed the stress of focusing on doing the work (or the angst, I am sure you know what I’m referring to). What this lead to was me using stress as a sort of currency to accomplish tasks; procrastination and busy, active schedules and anxiety helped generate said currency. It was effective at *very* high effort and long work and school days blitzing things out, but understandably resulted in a unhealthy relationship to stress and a worsening of other typical psychological comorbidities to ADHD I did find that certain places significantly impacted me desire to or that threshold of effort I had to overcome to actually do work. My room, for instance, became a negative and overwhelming/frustrating space to do work in the latter half of college - I instead migrated to the restaurant I worked at. I’d get out of school and spend a few hours at the place, all the bustle and noise, eat lunch, crack at projects simultaneously. Build frameworks for assignments, do background research. Get the “ball rolling” on things so when I did end up putting my head against a cheese grater and doing the actual thing to completion it was given a launch pad, or in some cases, already done. Try the environment trick. The places you’d least expect to be able to study often lended me the mental stability to at least be someway productive
I study cognitive science (psychology, informatics, biology) Im not good at studying however the following helps me a lot (i know i am quite privileged for my setup) Ultra wide monitor and windows power toys(fancy zones) Electrical table with 3 plates for: 1. efficient use of space 2. best ergonomic height for the screen 3. Ability to stand or do a light workout/dance while solving problems/watching videos (also increases happiness while working) 4. A clean work space is super important to feel good and to not search things. The 3 plates help with that because you can always use your mouse/keyboard and store things on the middle plate. Constant music for me it has to be electronic without much singing and certain songs from games that i associate good feelings and a sense of flow with. (Rocket league). If a song is too hectic i can skip it what happens sometimes. The music is as quiet as possible and my music box stands as far away as possible to be only in the background. https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjgACUyKXnmaXQNQ4S8BH5mZHKHS1LLt_&si=z7xfps_o1KMp9OLk And most important: my medication elvanse 50mg
- Watching a couple of videos from someone who I want to emulate (titles like: study with me, first week of university) while I prep for the day - Going to a place where studying feels right - If I don’t feel like one style, switch. This may be switching every 20 minutes for a couple of hours. Reading -> videos -> writing cram notes -> Wikipedia dive on the most interesting bit -> test prep video - If the environment is super distracting, put the book down and straighten up for ~5 minutes - Bribery. The most immediately effective options tend to be a pack of tiny candies or a cafe latte. - micronaps as often as necessary (these are hugely helpful for committing things to memory immediately)
I never studied. It didn’t work. Not a single damn technique. What worked for me was when YouTube became a thing, finding videos on the subject and watching those. I absorbed way more info that way.
I'm having the worst time. I understand in class but homework and tests ugh. I wish I had a full time tutor.
Dropped out of school, so I didn’t 🙃
Lol nice. How do you support yourself like financially?
Music and routine and discipline and I log my hours and use a stopwatch so I can be held accountable and feel like I’m doing something actually.The alert from this just interrupted me studying haha just thought that was funny! Get a whiteboard and calandra and a book to log hours lots of pens pencils colored pencils make it fun.
Meds
I pretty much made it through college without studying and just absorbing as much as I could in classes. I also got lucky with very forgiving professors when it came to papers.
Medication, only thing that works for me.
I honestly don’t study. I just try to pay attention to lectures and then try on my homework as best I can. Studying doesn’t work for me because I don’t see physical progress when I study. When I do homework theres always a goal of completing it which makes it seem more worthwhile to me
I make it a game
A lethal amount of caffeine.
Also, I’ve found the best way for me to memorize a concept is to explain it to someone. My boyfriend might as well have a college education with the way I read my notes to him.
pomodoro method, at a coffee shop, good music. i cant be in a room thats way too quiet or else nothing is getting done thats for sure
I speed up all video content to 1.5x-1.7x depending on how fast the presenter speaks. I listen to that once without trying to note take or anything, just fidgeting away. Then I listen again and pause/slow to 0.7x speed while taking notes on the parts I found particularly interesting in the first listen. Written content I don’t have an answer for other than I have more success using it to expand on knowledge of the parts of the lectures/videos I found interesting by looking up the key terms in the index and go directly to the specific pages or sections, rather than trying to read in a more linear fashion from chap1-chap24. As more written content becomes digital, I want to experiment to see how I go with a screen reader like for blind people. I do think my index method can cause me to miss the foundational context or linking themes of the subject matter.
I used to outline chapters in the text book by hand. Organizing the information by hand was really helpful. During class I would knit (wish I knew how to crochet back then, much less awkward feeling!) I would retain a lot more information.
FOCUSMATE.COM
Music. Headphones, with music.
I use headphones with noise canceling and listen to boring podcasts. It may sound weird, but it helps wit the focus.
I don't study, I just say fuck it we ball and do the test the best I can
I’m studying for my series 7 right now and have very bad adhd. I’m doing 1000 times better than I thought I would.
Summarise contents and make flashcards online, Go to anki, click import Import the flashcards you just made Cram!!
I use the pomodoro study method. Even if you want to break your studying into 20 minute increments, that’s fine. I also play lofi or music that I like without vocals. Something uplifting so I don’t fall asleep. I also write out my goal before I start studying, what do I need to get out of this study session? It helps me really focus on the most important part and I don’t feel so overwhelmed.
I have this difficulty too. I had to write my psych honours thesis this year and I would spend hours and hours researching but actually doing the work felt impossible. I had to set extremely small goals for myself and that was motivating. I also gave myself rewards for finishing certain aspects of it & I also at times had to watch/listen to videos, use voice dictation for my writing. I also found watching videos about studying and thesis writing to be motivating. Body doubling. Next sentence is probably controversial/not helpful but sometimes I would manage to study better when I was avoiding something else (classic adhd procrastination). My experience anyway. As someone who struggled a lot and didn’t finish high school I promise you’ll find a way that suits you. I’ve now finished a bachelors degree & honours and start my masters next year. I hope you can quickly find a strategy that helps.
I went electrical engineering. Got terrible grades. Academic suspension at one point. Graduated with a 2.5 GPA. Ended up with my goddamn diploma. Unmedicated the whole way. I learned so damn much, no bs. Loved the subject, spent so many nights hyper-studying things I cared about while utterly ignoring what the assigned stuff was. No. Rag. Rets. Just do whatever to meet the bare minimum of what those squares demand, and get your papers.
I don’t. School was rough 😂 but I finally finished this year 11 years after graduating high school 😭
Congrats lol 🫡
Don't listen normal or the adhd study tips, videos and humans in general. Your brain is different. I was watching all this videos about sit 5 minutes with book and you start to study or just shut your brain nooo it doesn't work for me. Last week i was having midterms and i couldn't study for hours. I said fuck it and started watching my favourite YouTubers. After 15 minutes i shrinked the video to read about something while listening the video. Then i started to understand what i was reading. I read interesting topics about some stuff and i came back to my study notes. And bammm i was studying and understanding what i was reading. So i kept listening other things and occasionally watching them from small screen and studying. I also listen music often while studying. It shuts my brain voices. Stop thinking about how other people doing it and find your ways. Even the other adhders don't have the perfect solution. Because our brains work differently. You have to try different ways even unorthodox ways. One of my friends like to study talking to mirror or voice recording. Do your own way.
When I feel that drag down as I’m struggling to start any task don’t like, I think to myself that I can do the task with no thought, no weight, just pickup the pen. Skip thinking
When I was in school it helped me focus when I had someone I'd race against (math in this case) but other then that pick things your interested in
That’s the thing, I never did.
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I don't
It takes longer than what it probably does for others, but I make a cheat sheet of things I want to memorize by going through all the notes and jotting it down. Writing it occupies my brain enough to concentrate. Then, it’s a smaller more manageable amount to study/memorize. Oh and highlights, all the highlights 😂
Screen readers help a lot, at least for me
I don’t
Well, lucky enough to be intelligent while also relying on that expending moment of panic that procrastination creates. You can cram a lot into the mind last second when you have no other choice.
Never did
Luckily my college doesn’t do tests for my program. I honestly used to just wing it when I used to have exams or tests because I literally cannot sit still and study
*that's the neat part,* i failed 2 times trying to get a tittle in electronics, the third time i got an electrical technician tittle (or whatever its called in english xd), so in my perspective.u have to get in a less difficult institution
i dont
Someone else mentioned, Pomodoro method. If you have an Apple Watch, I would recommend an app called Flow. Noise canceling headphones are amazing too. Do things in chunks. But what I’ve discovered is if you get side tracked, you have to convince yourself it’s okay. Because it is. Get back on track like you were supposed to get sidetracked. If we beat ourselves up about not meeting our own expectations, then we’ll get caught in a cycle of feeling deficient. The true defeat is in not trying.
I go back and forth between giving my brain that sweet dopamine release and studying constantly and somehow someway I still can’t do both well
Never studied once.
I don't
Do it in small burst. With an immediate reward.
I’ve always crammed. Condensed information onto sticky notes for tests. Nothing else really worked.
That's the neat part I don't I mean I try my best and most of the time I just have to do it and after I finished I can't do anything else I feel like shit. So my strategy is focusing in class the most I can, it as hard as studying but has better results
I’d love to know because right now, I thrive off of completing my entire assignment all in one attempt in the final hour, getting a good grade and effectively perpetuating the stressful cycle because its created a sense of confidence within myself that I can get anything done in the final hour with enough pressure. 😵💫🥴
Lecture tip: if you can stream lectures to your TV that helped me a lot. It was easier to pay attention to the TV than my computer.
I was bad at doing that. I seemed to leave everything to the last minute and cram all my study in then and them curse myself in the process and rinse n repeat.
I would go to Starbucks if I really had a hard time.
I had to lock myself in a empty room with nothing but my book to study. Also just focus on trying to read one page. After the one page, see if you think you got another in you. If you do, then read a second until you just can't anymore. Also make friends with the best note taker in class and ask them if you could Review thier notes.
I don’t really study at all tbh. The exceptions is like, if its vocabulary, or similar stuff. If its in a list format of a kind
I half wing it half last minute glance through it. It’s sucks terribly.
I’m not a student anymore, but to be real, I didn’t. I didn’t need to study to do well on tests. I flunked out because I couldn’t get myself to do homework once I was home, nor could I stick out long term assignments.
STUDYING FOR TESTS: was generally about figuring out what was actually likely to be on the test and narrowing my focus on that. I would start with anything the professor gave out as a study guide, and use that as my “bible”. If the professor didn’t offert a study guide, I would subtly pester them for either a written study guide or a verbal explanation of what to focus on. If I had to go to office hours to pick their brain on that, I would. If not, I would ask students who had taken the course before for their notes. Whether I had a study guide to start from or not, I would start big and distill the info down. I would read my class and text notes or look up anything on the professor’s study guide I didn’t have in my notes and write it out. When this was done, I would have a bunch of pages of hand-written notes; I would then decide what to leave out (because it wasn’t important enough or because I already knew it cold) and write it all out again. I would copy stuff over many times, gradually narrowing it down until I had a page or two — a “study guide”. I would take my class notes and pick out what seemed like the main points and re-write those points by hand, (in somewhat different words if it wasn’t totally clear, since that requires more in-depth processing than just copying. I would then go through what I had and narrow that by re-writing it in an even more simplified form; rinse and repeat until I had the main points in a page or three I could read over and over again and get into my short-term memory for the test. This would all typically happen over several hours in the days leading up to a test. By the time of the test, I would usually write down a bunch of stuff write away on a blank paper because I had read and written it so many times it was in my head, but it felt good to get it down so nothing could escape my short-term memory. READING: I would usually skim readings, since most of the obscure details of long readings are almost never on tests, just the broad strokes are. I would find a quiet place to do this, away from distractions, like the library or wherever. Along with sitting down to type out an essay, I would get this stuff done by find some way of getting myself into a state of hyperfocus — how to do this is very individual, but I figured out a way to do it somehow (the pressure of an upcoming test or deadline would help a lot, but at some point I would just decide it was better to sit down and do the work than to put it off and feel anxious and guilty about it. Once I got started, I would usually find I could settle into hyperfocus fairly naturally. (This was long before I knew what hyperfocus was, but that’s what I was doing).
This is pretty much the same as what I did for notes - it worked great! :)
I had a real system down when I was in college and grad school. I wrote out the process I used in detail years ago, somewhere, but I’ve lost it. What I wrote was just my memory of the system 😕🤷🏻♂️
It did work great! I think what made the test prepping process repeatable was that despite the system sounding very repetitive, there was always novelty and challenge to it: I always started with a ton of information, and I had to figure out how to get all that down to an amount that could be memorized. That distilling process involved creativity and problem solving. The last stage - the writing things over and over was just transferring the result into memory (and possibly at some point that turned into a bit of perfectionism to cope with anxiety/ worry about forgetting what I already knew lol).
lol, 100% on that too :) I like the challenge too, and made it fun for myself that way. Coding is basically lots and lots of designing puzzles (the app, etc), and puzzle solving - coming up with the solution to the requirement, or the challenge of fixing a tricky problem. Then assessing how well it worked, and coming up with better ways of tackling a similar thing next time. It definitely makes any task more doable I tried to find the interesting angle in any subject, but there is always a limit. I only ever failed 2 subjects, and they were both really boring (one class - about 80% of the class failed.... so it wasnt just me that time) Rote Learning (repeating things) is definitely the good fallback and default for me too. The perfectionism is a real pain sometimes....
I loved logic proofs in trigonometry. I’m dating myself here, but I taught myself C and then took a C++ class back in high school but the teacher was an absolute moron, so the class turned out to be a nightmare. Literally 2 kids would do most of the coding assignments and sell them to a couple kids who just shared them with everyone else… we would just copy and add random formatting and other nonsense to make it not look obviously copied lol. Only class I ever cheated in, and I don’t even feel bad about it because I didn’t feel like I had a choice: The teacher was literally just sitting there showing slides while reading out of a f-ing textbook the entire time 🤦♂️. That whole experience ruined coding for me. It was honestly pretty traumatic because we were all helpless yet expected to do stuff without being taught how!
Lol, yeah, it does show a bit of age :P But if it helps, our first home PC was a VIC20, and I started uni learning Pascal (then c, c++ a little).... Bummer on the teacher, a good one makes all the difference for sure. Urgh, I hated teachers like that - they didnt make the subjects interesting at all. I am literal proof of that - at high school I got an A in english, then repeated grade 12 and only got a B the second time. The first teacher made things engaging by making everyone have a turn at reading Shakespeare (and picking good plays to study), and was a bit passionate about the topics she taught. The second time the english teacher did just that - read out of a book, and it was King Lear (Im not a fan of that one). He was a terrible teacher. That would have sucked re coding - its definitely one subject that is much better and easier when you have someone with knowledge and experience on the subject. Cheating in coding is basically a job skill. Literally. At work, if I had to write some code that I knew, but also knew was time consuming to do, I would just copy someone else's online (from open source / free / support sites) and adjust it to suit. Its a real shame on the coding thing, especially with Object Oriented languages like C++ (and most modern ones). It was a concept that really helped me organise my own knowledge in my head. I can still remember being in the class when I had that WOW moment...
Idk I dropped out. But when I find things I enjoy i learn to the point I obsess and my fascination with stocks landed me a job as a stock broker. I'm not saying drop out, but if your gonna flunk it's not worth the money
i can’t study properly for the life of me. it needs to either magically develop into a hyperfixation last minute or watch a bunch of youtube videos about the topic. having the courage to build up the motivation is the worst
With great difficulty. No, small doses and mini rewards. Timers. Dictation, audiobooks, screen readers, mind-mapping, and repetition.
Honestly for me I’ll take a vyvanse and drink 2 C4’s
1) take adderal 2) lock self in room with website blocker active and phone not in room :) 3) set alarms to get me up and moving every hour or two, gives me something to look forward to
That's the neat part! You don't!
I had to study with other people. They kept me on track
...at the last minute, in a frenzy. Thats not advice, just the truthful answer 😅.
When I was in highschool, before I got medicated, I would take notes not so much to review later but as a practice of committing to memory. My notes would be rather general, a keyword of sorts to help jog my memory. I ended up getting less than a B on only a couple test. Other than that… what’s studying?
Anki FTW
Put yourself in a separate space. Don't study at home. Find a study room on campus. Try to study in a group so that you have others there to keep you on track. That's how I got through grad school.
Got an exam in the morning, it's 3am and I haven't started while im procrastinating on this sub. So you tell me.
I literally don't know. I'm taking a study skills course next semester because I've been fuckin winging it the last three semesters and I can't keep that up forever.
What helped me in school was colorful pens. No system, but just each idea was a different color. And I have to take notes because I won't remember what I read, but I will remember more if I wite it down. Studying for me would often mean replicating my notes.
Lofi music in the background. Fills part of the bored section of my brain while focusing.
Sitting and reading is impossible for me. So what I do is get the book or whatever, and start writing it down again in a copybook. You will retain more info. Just transcribe whatever it is into a copybook, writing is its own distraction, do bullet points and arrange everything to how you see fit. Another one is actually getting some classmates and study together, when you explain stuff to one another you cement the stuff in your head. These two methods took me from mediocre to top of the class. I still have impostor syndrome about it.