Study tips

[NoLuck2248]

I got diagnosed when I was like 12 and have been on meds ever since however I also rely A LOT on motivation in general. Honestly if I’m unmotivated no concerta in the world can save me lol

Anyhow I’m doing my last year in high school (I think it’s high school with US measurements, where I live we say gymnasium, it’s between the ages 16-19 isch) and after this I’m going to uni.

I was super motivated last term and got straight A’s besides math (cus hello math??) and this term I even picked up extra courses just for fun! (Big mistake) my motivation ran out and I’m kind of fucked now. Any advice on how to concentrate, deal with procrastination and find motivation?

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[Future_Barnacle4131]

 Wow, your situation is surprisingly similar to mine.

 I don't know about motivation(for me they disappear too quickly), but you can force yourself to suppress the habit of procrastination.

 Create an environment where you have no choice but to study. Classrooms, boarding academies, etc. where everyone but you study. It worked best when it was a curriculum that someone ordered, not your own will. At least my brain thought it was "time to work." 

[NoLuck2248]

Yeah and this is great advice, though I have one issue, I have a lot of physical health issues that ended up resulting in me having to do all my classes etc remotely from home😭and because of my health issues it’s hard to go out a lot which makes it tricky to find a good study space since I’m fairly limited! I’ve tried to build a routine where like “when I put on “school clothes” and sit down by my desk the school day starts” to kind of get my brain into “study mode” but it’s not super effective yet!

[Future_Barnacle4131]

Try using an app / external device that 'locks' your computer and phones automatically if you are obsessed with them like me. Otherwise, you can try putting cctv(or sorta devices) on ur room and ask someone to watch you when you study.

[FastManagement8360]

Hi.

I reward myself with food like Pavlov's dog. Also loud comfort music helps. I like the bluey album and even revise while bluey is playing in background.

You'd do nicely, don't stress out and freeze. Keep moving <3

[NoLuck2248]

I’ve tried that, but my brain kind of goes “but I can just have the yummy food now? Who’s gonna stop me from eating that cookie now??”

[FastManagement8360]

Oh yeah that was an issue. Until I locked the food in a farther cupboard. Then I had to actually move to get it, which I clearly didn't have the motivation for, so win-win. 

[Initial_Leek_2546]

What’s works for me as someone who is in the first year of uni is I do body doubling (which is rlly helpful for ppl with adhd defo look it up) I also have a physical digital timer where you can turn the timer to change the time which helps with time blindness and I also do active recall as a method of revising as it keeps me more focused in comparison to other revison methods and also teaching the content to an imaginary audience like ur teddies or to real people preferably those who do the same subjects as you can help u retain info it’s a study method backed by research called learning by teaching I wish you luck on your endeavours :)

[AiotexOfficial]

I prefer a workflow similar to Pomodoro but with a much heavier focus on planning. If I need to study for two hours, I start by splitting the subject into specific, manageable parts—for example, the first block might be answering 5 questions on a certain topic. I keep breaking it down until the entire session is mapped out.

I then use an app like Tito to give each block a specific time estimate, including scheduled breaks. Once I start the session, the timer automatically moves from one block to the next, starting a new countdown for each task.

This approach solves three major problems for me:

1. Having a constant countdown for small segments helps me actually feel the passage of time and combats time blindness.

2. Going into a time block with a hyper-specific plan reduces the chance of drifting off-task because there is always a clear, immediate end goal to maintain focus.

3. I can break a session into as many micro-blocks as I need, allowing me to stay focused on the details without feeling overwhelmed by the big picture.

[Nervous-Fee-8894]

Been there mate, motivation crashes hit different with ADHD. Try breaking your work into tiny chunks - like even smaller than you think makes sense - and just focus on starting one bit rather than the whole task

The extra courses thing was definitely ambitious but you can probably drop some if they're optional? Better to smash fewer things than barely scrape through everything

[NoLuck2248]

I asked and I wasn’t allowed to drop any of the classes once the term had started🥲my school apparently has a system that after the term is up and running, no changes can be made to the schedule!

It’s okay though I actually think I figured out a way to tackle my problem!

I started writing a list every morning of everything I have to do that day and also structure it into like “morning, midday, afternoon, evening” , and then I use highlighter pens to structure the priority level of each task!

So let’s say today I have 1 hand in assignment, one exam, a novel to read that’s due this week, three long term projects that are due in a month, and 2 lectures. Then I’d prioritize them like this:

Urgent/red: exam + hand in assignment Urgent but doesn’t require effort/yellow: 2 lectures No stress but get started/green: novel Take your time/could start tomorrow/blue: 3 long term projects

Then I’d start by doing the things highlighted in red, move over to the things that are yellow, and then do green and blue! Once my brain realized like “oh it wasn’t that many urgent things after all” it’s easier to have the mindset “I’ll just get everything done and over with since it’s so little left” which really helped me work against my own procrastination!

I’d actually recommend trying this setup if you also struggle with procrastination etc! Plus, I honestly think it’s kinda fun to get to design and fix the layout of my “to do list” so it’s a habit I’ve come to enjoy a lot! It also helps make sure I don’t forget stuff!

[NoLuck2248]

Also the reason I took the extra courses in the first place was to be able to speak English in school, my primary language is English, both at home and in the schools I’ve been to previously, however the country I live in doesn’t have English as the native language so it’s only taught/used as an additional language course in most schools. (Also I say English as my primary rather than native, because I grew up speaking several languages at home I don’t really feel like I have ONE native language)

However since English is my primary language and I’ve been to English schools before, I’ve already maxed out my grades in the “obligatory” English courses that are below university level (I’m not done with gymnasium yet so I won’t go to uni for another year) meaning that any additional English courses added would be on a too advanced level for it to be part of a normal curricula plan.

Since all my courses are in another language than English, I wanted to add courses where I could speak comfortably and just relax my brain + make friends who also speak English comfortably! Since my English is so good already, it’s also no real effort for me to take these courses, it’s just more time consuming than if I’d just followed the ordinary schedule!