ADHD hacks that i discovered that work better than any advice any professional will ever give you (none of that make schedules and set alarms nonsense that never helped anybody) :
1. If you have a task that takes very little time but you just can't get yourself to do it or you know it will take you way longer than it should, make a cup of coffee or tea (or any hot drink you like, that you don't like once it cools down) and forbid yourself from drinking it until you finish the task so now you have to hurry up so the drink doesn't cool down. Now you are in a rush and you have the motivation to get this done as soon as possible (it could be cleaning up your room, taking a shower, making an appointment, sending an email or literally anything else that takes less than 10 minutes)
If you have more chores that take longer, run the washing machine first so you finish everything in time to empty it (and make it a challenge, can i clean the entire house before the machine stops? Absolutely.)
2. Routines are like streaks. You miss one day, you are back at zero and you'll probably never do it again. If you want to build a routine you can't skip a single day because if you do your brain will realize that the possibility of skipping again is possible and it will want to skip another. So if you want to start a hobby (exercising, writing, drawing etc) make sure you do it every day at least a little, even if you are busy, take at least 20 minutes because the moment you skip a day it's over, you probably won't do it tomorrow either. Of course if it's something you do just for fun you shouldn't force yourself to do it but if it's for health reasons or you really want a routine in general this is the only way to keep motivated. This applies to college lessons. DO NOT EVER SKIP ONE FOR NO REASON. Once you skip one lesson, every lesson becomes skippable.
3. Study in public (libraries, coffee shops etc) it will prevent you from unnecessarily getting up and pacing around the room or talking to yourself because people are watching (this is from personal experience, i know there are people that get even more distracted when there is a lot of noise around so this might not be for everyone but knowing that i'm being perceived prevents me from looking up from the book ykwim)
4. If starting tasks gives you anxiety the only way to truly lock in is when the thought of failing the task becomes more terrifying than the thought of doing it. In other words you work better under pressure. I've never done this but a funny idea that occurred to me is give your friend parental lock access to your phone and tell them to lock your most used apps for a week if you fail the next exam. Now with the knowledge that you wont get to watch tiktok or read fanfiction for a week if you don't lock in you are a lot more motivated because you CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN. (Make sure to pick a friend that won't give in even if you beg them)
That's just one example of a repercussion you can give yourself in case you fail, anything else that makes you afraid of not completing the task works just as well.
5. Make promises to people. Tell everyone that you will 100% get it done even if you're not sure if you are even capable yet because now you HAVE TO figure it out otherwise you will embarrass yourself and people won't trust you anymore (as previously stated, working under pressure)
6. When making appointments, schedule them early in the morning so then you have the rest of the day off, if you schedule something late in the day you'll be thinking about it the entire day and you won't do anything else because you "don't have enough time to finish it anyway" and you'll probably doomscroll for 6 hours until you have to leave.
7. Don't put to much effort into making a schedule. You will hyperfixate on it and you will spend more time making that schedule than actually following it. In fact just get someone else to make it for you, that way it will feel more obligatory.
Anyway this is just my experience, it probably won't work for everyone but no harm in trying. Good luck to everyone :)
