Studying with ADHD can feel impossible at times. However, these several things have made my process far more manageable.
The first, and most important, factor is your environment. If you have ADHD, the desk in your bedroom is likely a big no. For me, studying at home blurred the line between rest and work. As I went through university, I realised the best way to get work done was to get as far away from home as possible. That led me to the university library.
ADHD can make you feel lazy or restraint to effort, even when you care about what you are doing. Strangely, taking the bus all the way to the library helped. Once I made that effort, it actually felt like more work to leave than stay. So I stayed, and I worked.
Another technique I use is something called the ‘breadcrumb method.’ I set constant alarms for an hour on my phone. Each time one goes off, I am reminded that I have completed another hour. It gives me a small burst of dopamine, a sense of progression to keep going. ADHD brains respond well to immediate rewards, and this creates one.
Many people use fidget toys. I don’t. But something that has genuinely revolutionised my studying recently has been ‘bricking’ my phone. I used a physical device which I tap at home that locks me out of selected apps until I tap my phone against it again. It’s changed everything.
Before, when I felt burnt out from studying, I would scroll. Now, I read instead. Removing the option to mindlessly distract myself has changed how I use my breaks.
These are simply strategies that work for me. Like most things with ADHD, it is trial and error. What matters is experimenting until you find a system that makes it easier.
Not perfect, just easier.
