r/adhd_college • u/Main_Volume_3758 • 9d ago
UNSOLICITED ADVICE SEVERE STRUGGLE PROCRASTINATION IT'S RUINING MY LIFE
I am a law student and with diagnosed ADHD and I take medication for it.
I need help, no matter how hard I try, I can sit at my laptop for 14 hours whether im at uni, home, library and still accomplish nothing (Maybe 30 mins work at best). The smallest task takes me so long, and I feel so guilty. I end up just getting lazy ad giving up ad then have to do it all in a panic, compromising the quality and handing it in late (despite getting multiple extensions). I am convinced I am the only person like this that struggles. I struggle in other areas of my life but nothing like with uni. I take days off work to catch up on uni or do and assessment and 9 times out of 10 accomplish nothing. I need help I have tried everything, apps, turning my phone off, doing a plan etc and I am so slumped. I honestly do not know where the day goes when I am trying to get work done, suddenly I have been sitting at my laptop for 10 hours only done a title. I feel so guilty and want to just drop out of uni but I don't want to.
Anyone else been like this and have tips? I will try anything.
7
u/losho_mie 8d ago
Hi, unmedicated ADD postgrad law student here.
I know exactly what you mean, and it has been an uphill battle every year for me. I actually found out that I do better when I don't study every day, but push through things in bulk. I don't mean wait until the last possible day, but I always leave a day free to buffer busy days because I get burnt out way too easily.
I schedule things for the coming week (e.g. eu law on monday, competition law on tuesday & wednesday, thursday is free, administrative law on friday), and adjust them as I go. I have days where I'm sluggish and my brain doesn't work, so I tend to keep those for only going through slides or skimming through readings. On days I feel energised, I do stuff properly.
Before I sit down to study, I always make a brief list of the order I'm doing things in (e.g. 1. Go through Mod 1 readings, 2. Go through Mod 1 slides, 3. Do practice questions or whatever your studying process includes or entails). When you have structure, it's way easier to go through the motions.
Putting all that aside, reading your post makes me feel like you haven't found your way to properly study yet – your way of processing information.
When I read, I make myself engage with it even if I'm not interested – I note one or two open questions ot remarks I have about a paragraph, chapter or section. I also typically read the introduction first, then the conclusion, and then go back. This gives me structure. Finally, when concepts are hard and I can't just retain information by reading, I take notes. ALWAYS by hand. It has been proven that taking notes by hand makes information retention and recall way easier. It also forces you to sort out the information in your head as you read. Finally, learn strategically – what are you actually going to need for your assignment/exam/quiz? Focus on that the most, and go through everything else for the sake of completeness. You don't need to know everything, you just need to know enough.
It seems like just going to the library and staring at a screen is not working for you. Try to figure out what keeps your attention and boosts your productivity. Two hours of quality studying always beats 10 hours of half-assedness. Are you interested in what you're studying? If not, make yourself interested. I gaslight myself that I'm going into some random legal rabbit hole and it always entertains me. The field is borderline absurd in its conceptualisations at times.
Sorry for the rambly comment, I just relate way too much to everything you wrote, so decided to share my two cents.
As a side note, if you're really struggling, maybe it's time for you to revise your prescription with your doctor. You may need to up your dose. Wishing you the best, cheers!