If you’re reading this article, I’m willing to bet that you either have an Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis or exhibit some of its hallmark traits. Either way, this is a safe space. After all, procrastination and ADHD aren’t mutually exclusive.
I grew up thinking that ADHD was something that only outwardly disruptive children could have; the fact that my childhood bedroom perpetually resembled the aftermath of an EF2 tornado was a personality quirk, nothing more. You could imagine my surprise when, during my sophomore year of college, I was diagnosed with Inattentive ADHD. The interaction with my therapist went something like this:
Me: [insert current hyperfixation-induced rambling here]
Therapist: And what do you think that has to do with your ADHD?
Me: … My what?
Therapist: Oh, it’s not in your chart yet? Let me just add that real quickly.
Me:
After that hilarious “this you?” moment, I was then put into contact with a psychiatrist who was quick to make my therapist’s observations an official diagnosis. As it turns out, my constantly bitten-down cuticles can be symptoms of ADHD.
Learning to Study
Like many products of the public school “gifted program” system, I never really understood what studying entailed. My memory and level of pattern recognition let me skate by with an almost perfect GPA. When you have a skill set by which many topics can be satisfactorily learned with little to no effort involved, why would you waste time revising for an exam for which you are already prepared?
This approach really came back to haunt me. By the time I started to study for the LSAT, I had no idea how to study. Was I supposed to stare at my practice questions and hope I understood how to identify principal reasoning through osmosis? Divine intervention?
How was my easily distractible brain going to focus long enough to fully understand the intricacies of each potential answer choice before placing my bets? Whoever came up with the phrase “slow is smooth and smooth is fast” has clearly never met anyone with ADHD.
30-Minute Bursts
Over the years, I’ve learned that studying in short bursts is much more efficient for me than trying to cram an entire unit’s worth of material into a couple of hours of studying. When a task can be divided into chunks, it makes the burden seem much more manageable.
I set a timer for roughly 30 minutes, play some ADHD study music, and work until my phone begins to chime. I then let myself read a chapter of a book I enjoy as a kind of brain break. Rinse and repeat!
Random Number Generator
This may be a bit of an unhinged piece of advice, but I absolutely love using a random number generator as a homework or study aid. Working on one subject or aspect of an assignment for an extended period of time can easily lend itself to the feeling of hitting a proverbial wall.
By all means, if you feel that you’ve gained a good sense of momentum when studying, keep at it. However, don’t force yourself to keep working at something when your brain is actively turning to mush. In times like this, I use a random number generator to determine my next move.
I make a to-do list and will add up all my tasks. Say there are 10, for example. Once I’ve finished a burst, I’ll use the number generator to randomly determine which subject I work on next. Sometimes, eliminating the possibility of decision fatigue is all I need to take me over the edge of productivity.
Listen to Yourself
Now, this may seem like such a no-brainer, but my fellow ADHD baddies know that listening to oneself is a means of survival. When I feel myself getting frustrated while studying for a particular exam or subject, I have to step out of the situation, whether it’s by taking a walk, eating a snack, or watching an episode of TV; you name it.
Frustration lends itself to frustration. What I mean by this is that the more one spirals about not understanding something, the more that spiraling will take up the processing power needed by your brain to resolve the issue. When you calm down and start to see the forest for the trees, everything becomes that much more manageable.
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