disclaimer!!! I’m by no means an expert in mental health or adhd but I do happen to have it. My intention with this post is to help others with adhd get more comfortable with studying so the process will be smoother for them!! At the end of the day, despite having the same disorder our brains will still work differently so do keep in mind that these may or may not help you, but are something you can try out if you’re stuck on not being able to study efficiently.
here’s some adhd study affirmations + tips on straying from discouragement if you’re experiencing burnout.
(And here’s part 2 of adhd study tips.)
I’ll start this off by listing more commonly known study tips that also work well with adhd.
change up your environment every now and then. we seek novelty even more than neurotypical people already do so switching it up will definitely help in our studies, especially if the place is well lit!
try some questions of the topic you’re trying to learn even when you know nothing about it. both neurotypical and neurodivergent brains are hardwired to remember things when we are proven wrong, and this is a great way of utilizing this neurological response!
take walks, exercise or stretch during your breaks. this tip is very effective at satiating our hyperactivity and also keeps us energized throughout our study session.
keep a notebook for your brain dump / ideas. we always either think of really stupid things or the most brilliant ideas in the middle of our study sessions and it almost always leads to distraction, but writing it down somewhere lets your brain know that the idea isn’t going anywhere and you can continue studying.
now, onto the tips that have personally helped with my adhd (and I haven’t seen many others talk about.)
alternate between various study plans, routines, schedules and techniques and always be open to finding more of them. majority of the time people always say ‘have a routine that works for you and stick with it’ but our adhd brains get bored very quickly, especially when it comes to repeated routines and schedules. I personally never stick to the same routine or plan more than three days in a row and sometimes I even make a plan on the spot and I’ve been more productive doing that than when I had only one or two study routines to switch between.
do not time yourself at the very beginning. Instead, focus on something in your studies you’re interested in and start there. what do I mean by this? well, since starting is always the hardest, when we begin our very first pomodoro we might find ourselves spending the first 25 minutes zoning out on a textbook just to get that ‘study time’ in even though you didn’t actually learn or recall anything. So to combat this, begin with something you’re genuinely curious about, or ask a question you can’t help but wonder the answer to. Once you find the answer, you might find you’re more in the zone and can continue from there. If not, take a short break and begin the pomodoros afterwards.
if you’re zoning out while reading up on a topic, try walking around while reading, looking at different sources on it or do some questions on that topic. again, novelty always gets us every time. sometimes the problem may be that the explanation in front of you isn’t making sense in your head and other sources may phrase things in a way that is better for your understanding. perhaps the problem is that you’re staying too still and you need to satisfy the hyperactive part of your adhd. or maybe your brain subconsciously believes that they already know what needs to be known about this topic, and there’s no better way to test that by trying out some questions on it.
switch between lyrical and non-lyrical music playlists, but make sure the lyrical music inspires you to excel. this definitely won’t apply to a lot of people but I found that when I constantly listened to piano, lo-fi or just non-lyrical music while studying in general, it actually promoted my likelihood of zoning out. but recently I found a playlist I deeply resonated with that was related to my studies called, ‘pov : a try-hard mid student who wants to ace everything’ and because I related very deeply with both the title and the lyrics of the songs, I was actively being encouraged to study as I was studying. but I also recognize when I really need to think in certain areas and that’s when I switch back to the non-lyrical music.
this is all I have as of right now but please do lmk if you guys want more of these!! I really wanna help out as much people as possible because my studies suffered greatly due to both my adhd and my late diagnosis of it and I’d love to help out others going through something similar.
btw you will miss this in 5 or 10 years. memory will smooth these circumstances down like a river stone, and you will find yourself longing for a shade of light or a moment of this particular innocence. you don't know about what happens next, and one day that will be the most alluring thing of all. don't leave it all for nostalgia. have a nice night now, whatever night it happens to be.
Realised once again how much of a sucker I am for academic validation, oh well. At least I got positive feedback. Went to my 4h long Cultural Studies seminar, had lunch with some friends, sent a mail to get out of taking yet another library quiz. Still have to finish packing, complete my flashcards, and create some practice question sheets for my exam. Just completed everything I currently can complete for my didactics seminar – been considering dropping the class…
3.9.2026: These past few weeks have just been flying by. It feels like I'm on autopilot or in a trance. I honestly don't know what I do all day because it feels like I just woke up, but it's already evening.
31.03.26. started my day off in a coffee shop & consolidated my thinking from the past couple of weeks by making lots of mind maps! then spent the afternoon catching up on reading. things are slow going…but i am pleased that my theoretical framework is finally developing
Been reading: Childish Literature by Alejandro Zambra, Out of Our Minds by Johannes Fabian, On Earth as it is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia. And revisiting Raag Darbari
10.03.26 — finallyyyy caught up on chemistry today sigh. did around two hours of study on it and then practiced some trigonometry in maths. also i thought my window looked very pretty night so enjoy the random picture :3
cafe study date with my girlfriend!! my presentation is tomorrow and all i have to do is to memorize the text. so i’ll spend the rest of my day catching up on my notes for this class so that i can put all of the notes into quizlet and make a quizz to do when im on the way and such!! i find that that’s an easy way to study when im traveling :3
cafe study date with my girlfriend!! my presentation is tomorrow and all i have to do is to memorize the text. so i’ll spend the rest of my day catching up on my notes for this class so that i can put all of the notes into quizlet and make a quizz to do when im on the way and such!! i find that that’s an easy way to study when im traveling :3
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