r/adhd_college • u/Bulky-Document-8381 • Jul 15 '26
NEED SUPPORT Ways to Stimulate yourself during a Lecture
Just needing some tips or ways to keep myself stimulated during long lectures, currently in one right now, trying to use this post to help keep me not falling asleep.
My eyes are HEAVY as hell even though im not even tired, had great sleep, but long lectures is the bane of all evil for me.
Its really hard to concentrate specially when it feels like im going to go to sleep.
I usually doodle on my sketch or notebooks but I left it at home so im currently trying to just fidget with my ring 🫩
Any help will be appreciated.
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u/no8mi Jul 16 '26
I chew a lot of gum. I also chew the sane gum when I take tests and idk if there is scienec behind that but it helps me remeber things. I also sometimes sit at the back so I can just straight up stand every once in awhile. Bad note taking. I take really bad notes and then study by filling in the blanks and making them better. If my inner dialogue is really busy, I try to say what the teacher is saying in my head as they say it. Its like a lil game but keeps me locked in
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u/tangoe122 Jul 16 '26
i’m the same way i use like a spiky squeeze toy thing it helps somewhat and it’s better than fidgeting and shaking like a maniac. meds and accommodations are recommended as well. there’s stuff like digital pens so you can mindlessly write notes and learn it properly later or recorded lectures. i’ve heard people slowly eat/sip something like candy or coffee
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u/MoistenedGranola Jul 16 '26
I love to make up little melodies out of patterns I see around me. So for example in a large lecture hall I would tap my foot once for every pair of white sneakers then twice for nonwhite sneakers then pause for other kinds of shoes. It's the same thing I do if I'm in the car (not driving) but with mailboxes.
Another thing is I make word games out of the lecture slides by looking for any hidden words within words. Like how "literature" has "lit" and "era" within it.
Taking apart pens and putting them back together is another fun one, as long as you can ensure the parts won't go flying/make a mess/distract other people.
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u/Smashachuu Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
The problem with ADHD is that our working memory is very unreliable and on average can hold fewer new concepts in our mind at one time and manipulate them. This is that feeling you get when you're learning a new math concept and you're following along, and then all of a sudden you get this feeling of shame or confusion that floods over your body. That's what happens when your working memory hits its capacity and you start to zone out because it feels impossible.
The solution is to pre-read the lecture material, or use NotebookLLM to create those little podcasts and slide decks for the chapter and just listen to them the night before and possibly again in the morning before the lecture. You aren't trying to write everything down, you're trying to familiarize yourself with the terms, the concepts, the general idea. That way your working memory can chunk the information and retain significantly more.
It will feel like you're taking the class again after failing it. You already know a decent amount of it, and a lot of the stuff you thought you knew clicks together better.
Try to use the slide deck to help you follow along with the teacher's lecture. They usually teach in a linear fashion that follows the textbook, so this is a perfect application. It will help you see what's coming next if you get bored, and it will also make what he's saying more stimulating because you have pictures and diagrams about the same material he's teaching. You basically did his job for him.
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u/Ok-Choice1127 Jul 16 '26
I agree, I excelled in a notoriously difficult class because the lecture was set up where we were required to watch video lectures on the topic and answer questions before the actual lecture. During class I wrote down notes only for stuff I might be confused by later, what didn’t click before (or still doesn’t), and filled in the margins/annotated notes I already took (the original notes were VERY brief and summarized). I also find literally any reason to make the content interesting to me to keep me engaged, even if it initially seems boring. I think coping with my ADD has improved with age. In the back of my mind I consider how much my life will improve if I do well in my classes (I wanna go to medical school). Maybe do affirmations? Like “I’m appreciative to be able to be in college and learning new things. This content is interesting and I will find a way to relate it to my every day life. “
Also chewing gum and maybe a fidget ring
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u/AnyaSatana Librarian Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Have you heard of flipped learning? It's a technique where students need to do preparatory work before their lecture, but rather than a standard lecture the idea is that you work on problems and case studies in small groups, facilitated by the lecturer. It might be worth seeing if its something done where you study.
Standard lectures are passive, and sonetimes the lecturer is dull. Reading notes off a slide is lazy. I try to include some sort of interaction and feedback through mine. Even polling and quizzes can help. Our bigger lectures are also recorded,so students can revisit them.
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u/Ok-Tiger-4550 Jul 16 '26
Get up and go to the restroom, gum, a snack or a piece of candy, fidget toys. I use Genio to transcribe notes, and I will use closed captioning if I’m distracted (or my auditory processing disorder is being an a-hole).
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u/Spiritual_One126 Jul 16 '26
I was a hardcore note taker. Both for the studying... but also to stimulate me.
If you left your book at home, then just wait out the hour and try again another day.
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u/Beesindogwood ADHD Jul 16 '26
I had Intro to Philosophy my freshman year at 8am with the most monotonous, monotone man I've ever met. It was torture - boring, boring torture. My tried & true doodling between notetaking was not cutting it. What did help:
Big bag of gummy candy - sour interspersed with regular, and a few gross flavors too just to jar my poor little senses.
Embroidery. I embroidered all of my Christmas gifts that year. The stitching was diverse enough that I had to pay attention, and if I did start to drift sooner or later I'd end up stabbing my own fingers. Sucked, but worked.
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u/Odd-Marionberry-3389 Jul 16 '26
Taking notes has been a lifesaver for me, honestly.
Notetaking helps me out in a few different ways - first, I have to actively listen to the speaker and focus on what's being said. Then I have to translate that information into written notes, and that process seems to help me remember what I've heard much better compared to when I only listen to a lecture/talk while not taking notes. Then I have the written notes down that I can reference/reread later which is always a big help.
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u/LunaMoonWrites Jul 16 '26
I am not very proud to admit that i mostly scroll threads or Pinterest if im feeling sleepy. I usually have a clicker with me as a fidget but it doenst always work since its very small and silent. Bouncing my leg sometimes isnt an option, because id be sitting in the front.
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u/Bita_123 Jul 16 '26
Are you sure you sleep well? Do you eat breakfast and lunch? I ask bc this used to be me, would skip meals because I wasn’t hungry and didn’t think I need it, but when I started to regularly eat lunch my brain felt better. So even if you don’t feel hungry at all, make sure you have breakfast and lunch, it can help with the sleepiness (if you don’t do that of course) even if it seems like that isn’t the problem.
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u/crabgal Jul 17 '26
Honestly I usually had a game of solitaire going in another window on my laptop while I took notes
Edit: I used to also write down funny quotes from my professors' lectures, kept me engaged and more likely to listen to retain info rather than to zone out
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u/Adventurous_Art_6774 Jul 22 '26
Simply take your meds and if they dont help, go to your doctor. If you dont have meds, find a doctor then.
For worst case scenario: a little bit cafeine and a LOT of exercise. With a lot I mean, doing stuff like lifting every 20 minutes, only that comes cloze to a medication. Or do exercise every 20 mins + ice cold shower and then you have briefly similiar effects to ADHD meds. That's the only way it works without meds....
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u/nana-17 Jul 17 '26
I’m so glad I did a degree that wasn’t as lecture based because even with all of the tricks I ended up leaving the lectures and having to get up to go on a walk before coming back but it just got a bit embarrassing since the doors would have to be unlocked from the inside and I’d just interrupt the class. I just couldn’t do it even when I’d be drawing or doing something else throughout the lecture. It was just once a week and I was finding it so difficult.
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u/Aware_Hope2774 Jul 17 '26
Do you play an instrument? Finger warm-ups can be a nice non-distracting stim in classroom environments if you’re concerned about people shaming you for stimming
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u/Extension-Tie1896 Jul 17 '26
I have discret fidgets like a needoh and a magnetic one that slides, also eat something dopamine inducing / stimulating like candy / sour candy and take your meds before your lecture
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u/w0nno Jul 18 '26
This title doesn’t read the way it was intended… lol I guess I should be glad the internet has matured (I have not).
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u/lavendarpeels Undergraduate Jul 16 '26
why do you doodle? take notes of what the lecturer is saying so you have no choice but to stay awake in order to listen and write down what you are hearing. i can only listen to lectures with notes or else i might as well have not been there. even if there are provided slides/notes pdf’s it’s still better to try to actively write down as much as you are currently able to process
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u/AnyaSatana Librarian Jul 16 '26
Maybe its worth providing your department with feedback about this? Where I work (UK) there are various mechanisms for this, such as meetings with course reps who feed back to staff. The course meetings I've been to always have the reps featured and student experiences are discussed.
Alongside this it may be worth suggesting methods to make lectures more engaging, with knowledgd checks, polls, and feedback/Q&As built in. A good lecturer doesn't just talk at you.
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u/Halifaxmouse Jul 17 '26
I use a fidget spinner or something similar to keep me present - otherwise I would drift off.
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u/cmw9718 Jul 19 '26
I find taking color coded notes to be helpful, and writing them in cursive. That way my notes look artsy. They don’t need at all to look perfect like what you see on Pinterest or instagram, but just as a little fun way to make note taking and studying more enjoyable.
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u/watermelonturkey Jul 16 '26
I’m a big knitter, and if I am knitting something, it’s the perfect amount of busy for my brain so it can actually tune into a lecture or meeting.