day three of the january challenge by @delstudiess is study tips!
firstly, figure out accomodations. this semester, i ended up finally getting my therapist to write a letter to my profs explaining what i had going on and i was able to talk to the profs about what i needed. i didn’t go through the center for disability resources because of anxiety but i hope to next year and it you’re able to, do it, because there’s really no harm in doing so. the most important part is to make sure that your professors are in the loop. if you need help or you’re having trouble with anything, talk to them and work with them. Good professors do want to help you and see you succeed, and don’t let the shitty profs get you down.
starting is hard! i know you probably here it all the time but if you get the ball rolling as early in the semester as possible, then you will have wiggle room for when the executive dysfunction is killing you
to hack executive dysfunction, when you do a task, write down how long it takes. i put stuff off or have a hard time starting it because i dont know how long it’ll take and i get stressed but if you write down how long a task will take you and keep it somewhere easy to access, the next time you need to do it you can refer to that and work around the executive dysfunction
once you get started, go with it! this goes both ways in that if you’re hyperfocused, use that to your advantage and just keep working on that thing until it’s done or you lost steam, but don’t forget that you do live in an organic body, so set some alarms to remind you to drink some liquids and eat some food, as well as go to the bathroom, stretch, etc. The other way this goes is don’t try to force yourself into focus. once your focus starts waning, switch to another task. i try to have a list of things to work on and rotate through two or three of them. also, if you are distracted by a thought or an urge or anything like that, don’t try to fight it. if you have a nagging though, write it down! if you have the urge to check your email or social media or whatever, set an alarm for like five minutes max, and act on it but go back to work after!
let first drafts be first drafts! when im writing an essay, i have open the outline from the prof, i copy and paste it and go bit by bit, just putting relevant thoughts onto the paper. then I go through, colour code stuff based on what it goes with, delete the outline from my doc, and that’s my first draft and all I have to do it write an essay and conclusion, make real sentences, and edit! This may not work for everyone but the important part is not trying to get out a final draft on your first try when the important part is just getting your thoughts together. also, while the introduction should be a summary of the essay, unless the prof says otherwise, the conclusion should not. the conclusion should be essentially telling your audience why what you talked about is important as well as what they should do with this information, which is something i didn’t learn in high school when i was given a formula with which to write essays
with bullet journalling and any other forms of planning and organising, make it work for you. things dont need to be pretty, they dont need to be elaborate, they need to be functional. my bullet journal spreads are usually very plain with just a colour or two for accents but the important part is they work for me and keep me on track.
overall, the most important part is to make sure that you are working with your adhd instead of against it. learn how your brain works and the things that work for you and use them. don’t try to force yourself to work like someone without adhd because all thatll do will make life harder for you
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