Always studying with your full concentration is hard. Studying with ADHD is a real challenge. You are possessing an enormous power to create something nobody else is able to create. You have a unique personality that shall be shown to the world and enrich it. The main obstacle is, in fact, everything. Everything that wants your attention, scares you, or makes you admire, is actually adding to your personality.
I am studying for a Bachelor degree, did my self-education as a journalist, and have held down several jobs, all while having ADHD. So I want to show you some life hacks I personally use. Because it would be a pity if your largest projects will remain a fantasy.
I put it first as I’m convinced you read tons of self-help hacks from lifestyle bloggers on Youtube. I had a real addiction to those things and spent my whole previous summer watching New Age spirituality videos and doing nothing. They give tons of similar tips on everything which, if you try it, have little effect and make you watch more and develop more habits. As a result, your daily routine consists of unknown exercises which hardly seem to work anyhow. They give you the impression they work.
Finally, you watch those idealised girls and think you soon will be one of them. That’s what those self-help gurus want. They want you to watch them and want to be similar. But they won’t give you any efficient information, I promise. They only make you spend your time, burn out, and feel insecure. Don’t chase any personality and don’t listen to anyone in that field if they aren’t professional psychologists.
Yes, I think it’s the most important thing in this blog about studying with ADHD. No matter where you are and how strong you believe you deserve a weekend. Always have a day off when you do nothing: no self-development, no working, no religious stuff. I am a journalist and I don’t even read the news at the weekend.
The point is to have a remedy against burnout. It’s always more effective to have 6 efficient days of studying and working and one day when you relax, entertain and remind yourself why, in fact, you are studying. If you don’t have rest days when you can enjoy the results of hard work, what is the point of studying?
You may say you don’t need a huge amount of breaks as you have so much to do. Let’s make an experiment for one day. Notice how much you manage to finish without breaks. And let the next day have breaks after each task. In fact, you should have a break even if you didn’t finish the task. The point is to plan every single hour in a day.
It may sound overwhelming. Planning each hour of a day seems intimidating. Yet, if you have a 9 to 5 shift, your day is also planned. There is nothing bad in planning a weekday. Those days are created to work. Your task is to plan them to be more effective. I personally have a half-hour break after 1-2 hours of working and studying.
Everything grabs your attention. Yet, you can use everything to make your work unique. Tell the class about your interests. Find interesting facts no one has thought about. People with ADHD are incredibly interesting. And as a journalist, I can tell you that everything can be combined.
There are skills that are efficient for everyone. Media literacy, first aid help, juridical literacy, common education, oratory, and Photoshop can be helpful in a lot of fields. Think about 5 additional things you can learn which will help you to achieve your dreams. You don’t have to learn all of them at once, obviously. But you can start with one. If you have a lot of unfinished projects, this will help you to decide what to focus on.
These five things are what I believe are sure to help you if you are someone studying why ADHD.
