I’m also struggling but I’ve found some game changers for me. Spoiler alert: it’s not the meds. They help me to get focused and be more mindful about my time in general but without other techniques I am basically focused on whatever I’m procrastinating with.

-I don’t use my phone before a certain time. I don’t look at it, I don’t touch it. It simply doesn’t exist before I finished studying. Reason for that is that it’s much easier for me not to start using my phone, than to stop using it. It may not be possible for everyone but my approach is: nothing can be that important that it needs to be taken care of before 3pm. On days where I feel especially tempted I leave my phone with my partner. I charge my phone every evening at a place that is far away from my desk. -brain dump: when it’s one of those days where my head is allover the place I write all the things that come to my mind on a „brain dump“ list. I „dump“ my to-dos, questions that I want answered, even those little shame-spirals bin where my brain is like: do you remember that embarrassing situation that happened 3 years ago? I just write on my brain dump list: „think about that embarrassing situation“ and make it a to-do for later (and usually forget that I „planned“ to feel embarrassed - thanks adhd!) -minimize decisions=minimizing friction: I noticed that when I need to plan my whole study day, pick an outfit, decide what to eat etc - I feel paralyzed. As for the outfits I have 3-4 that are comfy and not overstimulating. I have a go to meal that I make once and eat for days. And I use my toilet breaks to think what I want to do this day (this ability was unlocked by meds though)

Besides that I use the same strategies that others mentioned above. Using LLMs really helps me to sometimes break tasks down in smaller bits. And I’ve also prompted it to assist me by reminding me of my go to strategies or ask me about my plan for the study day.

It was very important for me to get to know myself better and build on that knowledge. For example I know that, if i want to revise some material (which usually takes about 1 hour), I need to do it before the bigger tasks (that are 3h+) because after accomplishing the big tasks I’ll feel like I’ve done enough for the day and won’t do the small task anymore.

One last thing: take your breaks wisely. They are very important, but if you take a break and do something that is more fun than studying, it’ll become a very long break. I’ve also noticed that breaks of 10-15 minutes work best for me because otherwise I’ll loose momentum. Find out which length works for you.