#adhd study things

[winryrockbellwannabe]

How to survive your first year in uni

(from a 3rd year student that only learned all this this past semester)

(applicable to other stages of your academic life, ofc, i was needing this advice rn in the end of my bachelor's)

1. Find ways to be interested in all classes.

Being it by watching documentaries/movies, wanting to be the smartass that knows quantum physics in family reunions, or wanting to tutor your crush on maths (not me doing that to learn integrals lol). You have to at least find a short term motivation to study for that class. That's the most important bit to be able to study it. But of course you also have to be interested in your classes, so try to watch tv shows about it to make it look cooler. (me watching big bang theory and realizing I understand some physics equations)

2. Find other people who are also interested in your classes

For example, this year in radiations class, i would have given up on being on track with the classes if my friend wasn't a master in radiations. They always answer my curiosity questions, and give me fun facts, so it helps me be interested in it. Also, other people's enthusiasm about a course is going to make you so much more excited about it.

3. Ask questions to your teachers.

I promise it won't be dumb. And even if it is, i promise it won't be in the top 10 dumbest questions they ever had to answer in their career.

My rad prof said in our first class that a master's degree student had once asked her what is a photon, and she answered bc there is no shame. (he was a comp sci undergrad, so he genuinely didn't know) That helped me feel more at ease asking her questions tbh, bc now i feel like every question is valid.

4. Don't worry if you are unsure about your future.

Everyone is. The only ppl that aren't unsure are the Rory Gilmore's of this world that had the same dream for so long that they don't even know if it's still their dream or not.

You're still changing, literally during my first year i had two different mental breakdowns thinking I chose the wrong degree. Which was just the stress and uncertainty speaking, bc im still very much enjoying my degree lol. (and the funniest bit, one of those mental breakdowns was me thinking i wanted to switch for computer science, but now i think that wouldn't do it for me. I changed my interests so much since then)

5. Make time for friends.

Both your "old" friends and trying to meet new ones. It will help you not to go insane during exams period lol. Also, try to talk to students from the years above you, they'll have so much advice to give you (you just have to say you're a newbie in uni, and they'll literally start rambling about their 1st year mistakes, at least that's what me and my friends do with the new kids lol)

[nihilistem]

adhd study affirmations + tips to stray from discouragement by a stem student with adhd.

you’re not always going to be consistent. you’re not always going to be motivated. you’re not always going to be efficient. and that is okay.

edit : thank you so much to whoever blazed this post. It means the world to me.

and the fact that you even got this far is an accomplishment in and of itself. In this line of work, people aren’t always the kindest to neurodivergent people especially since our symptoms can often hinder our performance academically.

if you’re good to go after reading the above, I’ve also made a post regarding adhd study tips that I haven’t seen anywhere else. (Part 2 is here!) But, if you’re burned out like me, feel free to keep reading.

honestly, these might serve a bit more as reminders because they’re kinda simple but even I needed this, so, here we go.

do not seek advice from anyone neurotypical unless it genuinely helps you. I cannot tell you the amount of time and tears I could have saved if I just considered the fact that just because popular self-improvement tips or study techniques didn’t work for me, it doesn’t mean I’m stupid or useless. It simply means our brains isn’t motivated by the same things neurotypical ones are, and therefore a lot of popular self-improvement videos or study tips aren’t going to work for you because 90% of the time, they’re not designed to work for neurodivergent people. So if you’d like to seek help in this area, look for tips and videos that ARE for neurodivergent people.

you might experience burnout a lot more than others. again, that is fine. if this doesn’t apply to you, great! Feel free to skip to the next tip/affirmation. If this does apply to you, read this carefully; if you’ve had any sort of streak in studying right now, chances are you know at least a portion of your studies were led purely on interest, curiosity or even novelty, as these are what keep us engaged in our studies. Knowing this, it is natural for you to experience burnout more frequently than others due to the possible hyperfixations that have been forming around your work. If you get burned out, please remember to take a break for a day and make sure it is efficient. Like your studies, your breaks are the key to having efficient study sessions in the future. So please treat yourself, especially if you’ve been working extra hard!

do not admire studious fictional characters unless it genuinely helps you or they too are neurodivergent. I know this technically could have been thrown in with tip number 1 but I felt like this tip alone is so important, because nowadays I see a lot of study tips with the title, ‘how to study like (insert studious fictional character here)’ and when I look at the post it kinda repeats the same few study tips I see all the time like ‘stay organized’ or ‘time block your day’ and I feel like admiring fictional characters who do things that don’t work for you can be damaging for your mental health, because we’re already told by neurotypical people all around us that we’re slow or lazy just because we don’t do things the way they do, and I think idolizing neurotypical people that make us feel bad at the end of the day just further promotes that kind of toxic thinking.

expect that a routine/schedule/technique that has been working for a while now may not continue to work in the future. things will always have to be new for us to be interested or engaged, that being said, if you expect this in the future you won’t be frustrated with yourself because you already had this in mind. It doesn’t mean you’re not smart. It doesn’t mean you’re lazy. It doesn’t mean you’re useless. It just means that you’ve done what you could, and now it’s time to move on to another routine/schedule/technique.

keep doing the things you love alongside work. I find that because our symptoms may cause us to fall behind on our studies, we tend to neglect our other needs as human beings just to make up for the fact that we simply do not learn or pick things up the same way neurotypical people do. Your hobbies and interests need to be part of your day, just as your studies do, even if you may take longer to learn things or remember important concepts in your studies. Neglecting your hobbies or interests can lead to even more frequent burn outs and even a relapse in depression and anxiety, so please take care of yourself and recognize that you need and deserve these things just as much as anyone else.

regularly discover what works for you on your own. here’s the thing; neurodivergent or not, no two brains work the same. Of course it is good to try out advice or tips you find online because they’re backed up by experience, but they’re backed up by that person’s experience with working with their own brain. So naturally, you need to find what works with your brain. Be open to trying everything, even the tips that are discouraged like listening to lyrical music while studying. That was the only way I learnt that this tip actually does help me at times, even when many people have said that it negatively affects your focus.

that’s all I have right now guys, I think I’m experiencing burn out or probably falling back into depression again so more than anything this also served as a reminder for me, but I really hope it also helped you guys nonetheless.

As always, tell me if you guys would like more posts like these and I’ll be happy to make more <33 please take care of yourself guys, and remember that your studies is just one aspect of your life. There are other aspects that need your care and attention too.

[wrecklessbutterfly]

Hi everyone

I just thought I would share this resources because it is mind blowing.

This girl has ADHD and talked about how she has always struggled with time blocking and keeping a calendar. She created a new method that works better for her.

Instead of having different coloured colours calendar for different areas of your life and then struggling to know what to do with events that belong to multiple areas. It works by having different colours for each calendar that helps you prioritise tasks. I myself have a hard time deciding what's important.

I have outlined my modified calendars that make sense for me but check out the video for hers.

Appointments

This calendar is for time sensitive things that have be done and/or would have a negative impact on others if you don't follow through. These can't be moved or would be really difficult to move.

Examples: actual appointments, work shifts, classes, scheduled group rehearsals/trainings, someone's birthday dinner/party

Bottlenecks

This calendar is for things that don't need to be done AT a specific time but do need to be done BY a specific time. This means they can be moved around whenever before the deadline but need to be done before the deadline otherwise they create a bottleneck in your schedule and lead to you getting overwhelmed.

Example: homework, taking the bins out, paying bills, filming youtube videos

Critical (yellow)

This calendar is for things that you deem critical to your goals and growth. These can be moved around if needed but are things you want to try your best to get done each day.

Examples: workouts, reading 10 pages of a book, doing a full skincare routine

Daily Routine

This calendar is for parts of your day that happen regularly. These can be moved around where needed.

Examples: habits, chores, meals, travel time

Extra Fancy

This calendar is for extra fancy stuff that your ideal self would like to get done. These are nice to do or want to do but nothing bad will happen if you don't do them.

Examples: doing a facemask, watching a movie, doing some arts and crafts

Favourable Rememberables

This calendar is for things that you need to remember in the future.

Examples: birthdays, days off, due dates (I recommend creating separate events for submitting assessments or paying the bill and put them as appointments which are your top priority)

I hope this can be useful to someone because I think it will have a big difference for me. 💗

[cwpoetryplease]

Quick little poem that popped in my head whilst showering this morning. We love you poetry!

[ineedfairypee]

Have you tried using a planner??? 🙃

[rogue-academic]

just wanna share a youtube chanel I found with amazing adhd-friendly study tips - Elizabeth Filips. I don't think I've ever heard her mentioning adhd in a title or a video, so I thought someone searching for adhd study tips might not find her which would be a tragedy because I got almost all of the best study tips that I use from her. hope this helps someone, go check her out

[min-play]

i can’t keep doing this

[undiscovered-horizon]

because of medication shortage, today is my first day off slow-release ADHD medication and it made me realize a thing or two:

You mean to tell me I've been feeling like this my whole life and only two years ago I realized that this state is less than ideal??? I'm honor citizen of delulu island bc what is this

(thankfully I do have regular/instant-release medication, so I can effectively study for finals)

[titan-god-helios]

being undiagnosed audhd and in school is so. fucking. draining. i obviously have no accommodations, i can’t just take a moment to myself without coming up with an excuse, i can’t just remove myself from a stressful situation, i have to mask all the time and all that stuff. but i think the worst part in terms of actual school is the homework and assignments.

because of my audhd i not only just take longer to get things done even if my full attention is on it, and if you pair that with the inattentive type adhd, well. that’s one hell of a problem. so i can never get an assignment that should take ten minutes done on time and it instead takes half an hour. an hour even. it’s sickening and exhausting and it makes me feel so damn incompetent because i’m always behind i’m always studying because it takes me so long and because studying takes so long for me even if i’m trying my best i either have to cut corners or stay up longer and sacrifice sleep, in turn reducing my energy to deal with sensory stimuli and conversation and focus on classwork in school the next day, meaning there’s more to catch up on and the cycle continues. why can’t i just do things as quickly as everyone else. why does my brain need so long to process and focus and produce an output. i hate it i hate it so much i hate it i hate it i hate it

[autisticacademics]

Now I introduce you to... Frenzied Academia.

pulling all-nighters to get school work done, but only a couple hours are actually spent on it

doing school work in pajamas

outfits hastily thrown together

sitting in random positions on the floor, couch, or bed instead of a desk

obsessive interests

giving up on school and then spending weeks going above and beyond to make up for it

planning to study more and take better notes, only to do it for a couple of weeks before quitting

messy notes taken on the computer

periods of not reading intertwined with finishing a book in a day

wanting to go to prestigious colleges, yet constantly doubting yourself

huge ego, only to crumble and beat yourself up, before having a huge ego again

aspiring to be dark/light academia but don't have the mental energy to actually dress or appear that way

fascination with classics, poetry, or literature in general

forgets to drink water but constantly is drinking something (especially energy drinks)

Basically, it's the little sibling of the academias who is autistic and has ADHD.

[pollenallergie]

“do the hardest task first”

no. just… no.

hot take: this doesn’t work for people with adhd (in my experience/from what i’ve heard from other people with adhd in my life). i recommend doing the easy/moderately difficult stuff first, that way you can convince yourself that it’s all going to be this easy and undemanding. then hyper-focus will kick in because your brain is like, “yeah, we can do this, we’ve got this.” then, before you know it, you’ve completed both the easy tasks and the hard tasks while hyperfocusing.

like, on a serious note, it’s always been easier for me to convince myself to get the most difficult tasks done when i’m already working/in the working frame of mind, not when i’m laying in bed or sitting on the couch, mindlessly scrolling through stuff on my phone, and struggling to start at all.

if the choice comes down to you not starting at all or starting with the easiest task first (which, for me, it often does), always, always pick starting with the easiest task first. sometimes you need a small victory, a little bit of an accomplishment, to give you the courage to take on bigger challenges.

[winryrockbellwannabe]

✨Coming out of a burnout✨

well, my dearests, things have been rough

i really think i was going through burnout this last couple of months. I was so, but so tired. I couldn't be motivated at all to classes, i had no joy thinking about my courses, my degree etc. I couldn't even enjoy reading, bc i was so tired, or watching shows except for gilmore girls, bc i didn't want to waste a good show in a time i wouldn't enjoy it as much as i could.

And, the worst part, i didn't enjoy cooking anymore.

I don't think we realize it (at least I didn't), but cooking is such a big part of our days! Food sets the mood, if gives you energy, and cooking is such a nice moment to chill, not think of anything, and maybe watch a youtube video. And it's us taking care of ourselves and allowing us to have nice things.

So, the moment I realized I was finally feeling better was today (i mean, i already feeling better it, but not this intensely), when i had only 1 hour to make lunch, eat it and leave the house again. And it should have been so stressful, but i was having such a nice time cooking. I was just making soup, but it's my favorite, and I have been too lazy to make it in the last months, so I missed it.💜

And now I notice it.

🌻 My sister says I'm sounding more motivated about uni.

🌻 My friends congratulate me for being more present in class, and how nice is that the meds are working.

🌻 I'm more attentive to my long distance friendships (that i didn't even realize i was neglecting.)

🌻 I've found some coping mechanisms that I think are helping me a bit

I won't go as far as to say that Im the happiest to be having classes rn, and that I wouldn't change it for anything. (a couple weeks off would sound amazing rn)

But I'm feeling way more hopeful than before. And way better. So I think it's a win

So, this was all just to say, things will be better. Just give it a little time, don't be afraid to take it easy, and to ask for help. 🦋

[nihilistem]

adhd study tips.

by a stem student with adhd.

disclaimer!!! I’m by no means an expert in mental health or adhd but I do happen to have it. My intention with this post is to help others with adhd get more comfortable with studying so the process will be smoother for them!! At the end of the day, despite having the same disorder our brains will still work differently so do keep in mind that these may or may not help you, but are something you can try out if you’re stuck on not being able to study efficiently.

here’s some adhd study affirmations + tips on straying from discouragement if you’re experiencing burnout.

(And here’s part 2 of adhd study tips.)

I’ll start this off by listing more commonly known study tips that also work well with adhd.

change up your environment every now and then. we seek novelty even more than neurotypical people already do so switching it up will definitely help in our studies, especially if the place is well lit!

try some questions of the topic you’re trying to learn even when you know nothing about it. both neurotypical and neurodivergent brains are hardwired to remember things when we are proven wrong, and this is a great way of utilizing this neurological response!

take walks, exercise or stretch during your breaks. this tip is very effective at satiating our hyperactivity and also keeps us energized throughout our study session.

keep a notebook for your brain dump / ideas. we always either think of really stupid things or the most brilliant ideas in the middle of our study sessions and it almost always leads to distraction, but writing it down somewhere lets your brain know that the idea isn’t going anywhere and you can continue studying.

now, onto the tips that have personally helped with my adhd (and I haven’t seen many others talk about.)

alternate between various study plans, routines, schedules and techniques and always be open to finding more of them. majority of the time people always say ‘have a routine that works for you and stick with it’ but our adhd brains get bored very quickly, especially when it comes to repeated routines and schedules. I personally never stick to the same routine or plan more than three days in a row and sometimes I even make a plan on the spot and I’ve been more productive doing that than when I had only one or two study routines to switch between.

do not time yourself at the very beginning. Instead, focus on something in your studies you’re interested in and start there. what do I mean by this? well, since starting is always the hardest, when we begin our very first pomodoro we might find ourselves spending the first 25 minutes zoning out on a textbook just to get that ‘study time’ in even though you didn’t actually learn or recall anything. So to combat this, begin with something you’re genuinely curious about, or ask a question you can’t help but wonder the answer to. Once you find the answer, you might find you’re more in the zone and can continue from there. If not, take a short break and begin the pomodoros afterwards.

if you’re zoning out while reading up on a topic, try walking around while reading, looking at different sources on it or do some questions on that topic. again, novelty always gets us every time. sometimes the problem may be that the explanation in front of you isn’t making sense in your head and other sources may phrase things in a way that is better for your understanding. perhaps the problem is that you’re staying too still and you need to satisfy the hyperactive part of your adhd. or maybe your brain subconsciously believes that they already know what needs to be known about this topic, and there’s no better way to test that by trying out some questions on it.

switch between lyrical and non-lyrical music playlists, but make sure the lyrical music inspires you to excel. this definitely won’t apply to a lot of people but I found that when I constantly listened to piano, lo-fi or just non-lyrical music while studying in general, it actually promoted my likelihood of zoning out. but recently I found a playlist I deeply resonated with that was related to my studies called, ‘pov : a try-hard mid student who wants to ace everything’ and because I related very deeply with both the title and the lyrics of the songs, I was actively being encouraged to study as I was studying. but I also recognize when I really need to think in certain areas and that’s when I switch back to the non-lyrical music.

this is all I have as of right now but please do lmk if you guys want more of these!! I really wanna help out as much people as possible because my studies suffered greatly due to both my adhd and my late diagnosis of it and I’d love to help out others going through something similar.

[mintcakeart]

new classic art eddie munson WIP just dropped

reference and colour inspo under the cut

i am such a sucker for other artists showing their moodboards and first passes so here u go

[incorrect-pipravi]

Me, because I decided to prioritize my health (both mental and physical) for a few days and now I’ve fallen behind with 10+ lectures to catch up to:

Also me, trying to motivate myself:

[thebirdandhersong]

Do you guys have any tips or resources for students with ADHD? There's a girl in my dorm who is dear to me and who's seriously struggling in her studies and really needs to pass this semester. It's taken a bit of a toll on her heart and her mind, not being able to focus and finish tasks and do well in her studies, so if you guys know of anything that's been particularly helpful, I would appreciate it so, so much.