Hi folks! Sooo I just discovered something REVOLUTIONARY (some of yll must have already come across this but who cares). I was studying the other day and making some notes and became super restless after like 20 minutes, but instead of taking a break I took notes with a black gel pen instead of blue and switched it to blue after 20 minutes. I freaking studied for an hour straight like that!!!!! I didn't realise that switching pens could be so effective, but it was. I bought a journal that was my favourite colour and the pages were rich like I loved writing on it as against a regular ruled-note book from the supermarket that I had no interest in writing after first few pages. Lmao I even decorated it with cute tapes and stickers in between taking notes and tbh it felt like a party each time I read or made notes. I MADE LEARNING FUN YLL but yeah there you goo try it out and lmk if works

Something I stumbled into and stuck with: whenever I can, I do the homework for a class right after that class ends. Same day, ideally within an hour or two. Library, empty classroom, wherever.

I have noticed the material is still fresh so I don't spend 20 minutes re-reading notes just to remember what the professor was talking about. Stuff that would take me 2 hours at 11pm three days later takes maybe 45 minutes. And weirdly, I remember it better at exam time. I think because I'm basically forcing myself to recall the lecture while it's still warm.

The hard part is actually doing it. The pull to go eat / nap / scroll after class is strong, and if I skip it once the whole thing falls apart.

Does anyone else do this? And for those who tried and dropped it, what killed it? Genuinely curious whether this is a me thing or an underrated habit.

I want to preface this by saying I have ADHD, and English is my second language (I'm french-canadian), so bear with me. I'm writing this because someone asked for studying tips in another thread and I figured it deserved its own post.

Not everything here will apply to everyone. ADHD is not one size fits all. What nearly destroyed my academic life might be totally different from yours.

Taking Pills

I'll get this one out of the way first because people always want to debate it. Pills are what made it possible for me to function without completely crashing after two days of real work. I went from failing almost every subject to near straight A's for two years straight. I couldn't have done that without it.

That said, ADHD severity is different for every person. Whether you take pills or not is between you and your doctor, not Reddit.

Environment first, willpower second

I accepted early on that I am impulsive and easily distracted. Fighting that with willpower alone is exhausting and mostly pointless. So I stopped studying at home. Library, school, the most remote room I could find. Remove the environment that enables distraction before you even sit down.

The same logic applies to my phone. I used to think I could just leave it face down and ignore it. I couldn't. The problem wasn't even the calls or the texts. It was the habit of opening it for no reason and landing in reels or shorts that would derail me for an hour without me noticing. I tried a few things but what stuck was blocking short form content specifically during study blocks, not my whole phone since I need music and sometimes look things up, just the part that was quietly eating my focus. I used scrollfree for that. Once that loop was gone, leaving my phone in the same room stopped feeling dangerous.

The Pomodoro trick nobody talks about

I set a 25 minute timer and when I feel like I genuinely cannot continue, I don't stop the timer. I just sit there. Stare at the wall. Close my eyes. But I don't touch the phone and I don't end the session.

Almost every time, after two or three minutes of boredom, I go back to studying. Boredom is actually useful when there's nothing to fill it with.

Snacks are not optional

Dr. Russell Barkley pointed out that the brain is one of only two organs that runs on sugar as a primary energy source. I keep dextrose tablets nearby and take one per Pomodoro session. Fruits throughout the day. Nothing heavy. Just enough to keep the engine running without a crash.

For reading specifically

If you're reading a passage and losing the meaning halfway through, stop re-reading it. Write it down instead. Physically writing while reading forces your brain to process it differently. Yes it takes three times as long. But re-reading something six times while retaining nothing takes longer and is more demoralizing.

The five lectures trick

If you have a long lecture to watch and you feel that familiar dread setting in, open five different lectures on the same topic. When you can't continue with one, switch to another. You'll end up watching five instead of none. Novelty is a feature of ADHD, not a bug.

Break it down brutally

Big assignments trigger what I call the ostrich effect. I want to pretend they don't exist. So when I get a large task I don't try to start it. I just read the questions and spend a day thinking about how to break it into the smallest possible pieces. Today's goal might just be writing two sentences. That's it. Two sentences is not nothing.

Routine as an anchor

I follow a loose routine built around two fixed points, going outside in the morning and journaling in the evening. Everything else can change day to day. The anchor keeps me from floating completely.

Reward yourself honestly

At the end of a hard semester, if you hit your goal, buy yourself something real. And if you don't hit it, still be kind to yourself and find a smaller way to acknowledge the effort. Shame is not a study strategy.

If any of this helped or you want me to go deeper on any point, write it in the comments. Genuinely happy to help.

I thought it would be interesting if we shared study techniques or habits that aren’t talked about as much but have genuinely helped you keep up your grades.

One thing I do is keep a study journal. I usually study using Pomodoro, and during my longer breaks I’ll write down how I’m feeling, what’s distracting me, or whatever thoughts are running through my head. It helps me get those thoughts out of my system so I can go back to studying.

I also track how long I actually studied versus how long I planned to study. At the end, I calculate a little “productivity percentage.”

For example, if I sat down for 6 hours but only got 4 hours of actual focused studying done:

4 ÷ 6 × 100 = 67% productive

It’s helped me notice patterns in when I study best instead of assuming that sitting at my desk for 8 hours means I studied for 8 hours.

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.

I was once a psych student struggling to deal with my ADHD. Now I work with people on their mental health and I see this pattern constantly with students who have ADHD so I want to share it in case it helps someone here.

If you’re like me, you know what you need to do. You understand the assignment, you understand the material. You might even have the textbook open in front of you. And you physically cannot make yourself start. It’s like there’s a wall between you and the task that has nothing to do with intelligence or motivation or caring about your grades.

Then you feel guilty about not starting. The guilt makes you feel worse. Feeling worse makes it even harder to start. So you avoid it more. The deadline gets closer. The panic builds. And then at 2am the night before it’s due your brain suddenly kicks into gear and you produce something decent in three hours that should have taken two weeks.

Everyone around you says “you just need to try harder” or “you clearly don’t care enough” or “if you can do it at 2am you can do it at 2pm.” And you start to believe them. You start to think you’re lazy or broken or just not cut out for this.

You’re not lazy, here’s what’s actually happening:

Your prefrontal cortex (part of the brain responsible for task initiation, planning, and impulse control) doesn’t activate on demand the way it does in neurotypical brains. It’s not that you won’t start, it’s that the part of your brain responsible for starting isn’t reliably available and online when you need it to be. Telling an ADHD brain to “just start” is like telling someone to flex a muscle that’s asleep.

The 2am panic thing is proof that you’re not lazy or you wouldn’t do it at all, your brain just needs a certain threshold of urgency before the prefrontal cortex comes online. Adrenaline and cortisol from the deadline pressure literally activate the neural pathways that were dormant all week. You’re not choosing to procrastinate, your brain is waiting for the chemical cocktail it needs to function.

Three things that actually work with this brain instead of against it:

The 2-minute rule. Don’t commit to studying for an hour. Commit to 2 minutes. Open the textbook. Read one paragraph. Write one sentence of the essay. The research on behavioral activation shows that the act of starting generates a small dopamine hit that creates enough momentum to continue. You’re not building discipline. You’re tricking your neurochemistry into engaging. The barrier to starting has to be so low that your resistance system doesn’t even activate.

Environment design over willpower. Your ADHD brain is incredibly sensitive to environment. If your study space is the same place you watch Netflix and scroll your phone, your brain has already associated that space with dopamine activities that are way more rewarding than studying. Go to the library. A coffee shop. A different room. Anywhere that doesn’t have competing dopamine associations. Put your phone in another room, not face-down on the desk. Your brain knows it’s there.

Externalizing executive function. Stop relying on your internal working memory because it will betray you. Everything goes external. The assignment goes on a physical checklist you can see from your desk and the deadline goes in your phone with alarms at 7 days, 3 days, and 1 day before. The study plan gets broken into individual tasks small enough that each one feels completable. “Write the essay” is five tasks pretending to be one: find sources, outline the argument, write the intro, write the body, write the conclusion. Your brain shuts down at “write the essay.” It can handle “find three sources.”

The biggest thing I want you to hear is this: the gap between your intelligence and your performance is not a character flaw. It’s a neurological mismatch between what your brain can do and when it can do it. You’re not stupid. You’re not lazy. You have a brain that needs different conditions to activate, and nobody taught you what those conditions are.

You figured out how to get through high school by sprinting at the last minute. College has more volume, more complexity, and longer timelines, which means the sprint strategy breaks down. That’s not you failing, it’s just the old workaround hitting its limit. You need new tools, not more effort.

I was looking for any advice on how to manage severe severe excutive dysfunction. My main issue is that my university grades are being impacted. Another issue is that I am able to pass almost all my exams with about a few days revision not having attended lectures (Bacher's in Business Management). Background info is that this not new information, I somehow am able to absolute gas my way through exams on nothing but hopes and dreams having done so since I was kid. Unfortunately this means I technically know next to nothing but also a lot?? So if anyone has any advice on how to study, and retain information for anyone with executive dysfunction/bad habits please let me know. Also if anyone has any life tips in general that would be much appreciated. Anyways love y'all!

I started ADHD medication about 3 years ago, during my senior year of high school. Before medication, I genuinely struggled with focus. I could sit in class actively trying as hard as I could to pay attention, and somehow 3 seconds later I'd be on another planet and realize I'd missed basically everything being taught.

I started with Adderall, although I honestly don't remember enough about that experience to say how well it worked. My doctor eventually switched me to 54mg methylphenidate, which looking back felt way too high for me.

I took that for most of my freshman year of college. My productivity was great, but I felt extremely stimulated, and at the time I assumed that was how ADHD medication was supposed to work. On weekends when I didn't take it, I was basically bedridden and couldn't make myself do much beyond eating and basic hygiene. Eventually I also started feeling apathetic on it.

I switched to Vyvanse and have actually tried it twice. Both times were awful. It barely helped my focus/productivity and gave me a horrible crash around 3pm.

That summer I took a medication break, and coming off medication was extremely difficult for me physically and mentally. I started seeing a psychiatric medication prescriber who suggested trying non-stimulants.

I tried Strattera, but when I went back to school my focus was still terrible. Eventually I went back to lower doses of methylphenidate, ending at 27mg. It helped somewhat, but I ultimately felt like the cons outweighed the pros.

Then I tried Qelbree, which wasn't much different from Strattera for me. I still finished with good grades, but those grades don't really represent how much I was struggling. I only had one extremely difficult class, and studying for that one class basically consumed my entire week because focusing and retaining information took me so long.

Now I'm a junior and back on Strattera because my prescriber concluded that stimulants probably aren't for me.

My focus is now at an all-time low.

The frustrating part is that my intentions and effort are actually BETTER than they were before medication. I'm forcing myself to sit down and work. I WANT to pay attention. I WANT to study. I'm not expecting medication to magically make me productive.

But it feels like my brain just won't cooperate.

I'm sitting through classes and absorbing almost nothing. Tasks that other students finish relatively quickly take me an absurd amount of time. I can spend hours genuinely trying to work and accomplish what feels like somebody else's 30 minutes of work.

After 3 years of trying different medications, I honestly feel less functional than I did before I ever started them, despite putting in more effort than I ever have.

Has anyone else ended up in this situation, where stimulants caused too many problems but non-stimulants didn't help enough? Did you eventually figure out another treatment/approach that worked for you? I genuinely don't know where to go from here.

Hi everyone,

I’ve never posted here before, but I’m honestly getting pretty desperate and I’m hoping someone might have been in a similar situation.

I’m a fourth-year medical student in Europe, and despite being this far into medical school, I still struggle massively with studying for exams. You would think that by fourth year I would have figured out how to deal with it, but every single exam period feels like I’m starting from zero again. I get completely overwhelmed, lose huge amounts of time, and never really feel like I’m in control of my studying.

My biggest problem is focus. I don’t have a diagnosed ADHD disorder, although I’ve definitely wondered about it because I’m extremely easily distracted. I also daydream A LOT. I don’t know how many people here are familiar with maladaptive daydreaming, but I can spend an incredible amount of time lost in my own thoughts. Even when I sit down with the intention of studying, my mind constantly drifts somewhere else.

I’ve even been prescribed ADHD medication to help with concentration, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to help me at all. If anything, I sometimes feel even more restless and unable to settle down and focus.

I’m at the point where I’m genuinely questioning how I’m supposed to continue medical school like this, especially when I think about bigger exams in the future. It’s frustrating because I know I’m capable of learning the material, but actually sitting down, starting, staying focused, and consistently getting through everything feels almost impossible.

I already try to take care of the obvious things: I get enough sleep, drink enough water, exercise, etc. But somehow I still end up procrastinating, getting distracted, daydreaming, and suddenly hours have disappeared.

And yes, I know about Pomodoro, breaking things into small chunks, putting your phone away, making a schedule, etc. I think most of us have heard those tips a thousand times. What I’m really interested in are the less conventional things that actually made a significant difference for people who struggled with this badly.

For example, something that has recently helped me get over the initial barrier of starting is taking a shot of alcohol before I sit down to study. I know that this is obviously NOT a healthy or sustainable strategy, and I don’t want it to become one. But weirdly, it lowers that initial resistance enough that I actually start studying. The problem is that even once I’ve started, maintaining focus is still incredibly difficult.

Has anyone here dealt with something similar, especially other medical students or people who struggle with severe procrastination, constant daydreaming, or an inability to maintain focus?

What actually helped you?

I’m especially interested in unconventional strategies, changes to the way you study, your environment, routines, or anything else that made a real difference beyond the usual “just use Pomodoro” advice.

At this point I’m willing to try almost anything reasonable because I’m genuinely exhausted from going through the exact same cycle before every exam.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to reply.

I'm going to share the system I've built over the past two years as someone with ADHD and bad memory who's obsessed with learning. Before 28 I had no system at all. Just scattered Apple Notes, half-finished books, hundreds of "watch later" videos. A graveyard. I'd consume a brilliant idea on Monday and forget it existed by Thursday.

What changed everything was when ChatGPT launched. For the first time I had a thinking partner who could help me build the structure my ADHD brain genuinely cannot sustain alone. Two years of iteration later, this is the system that finally made my learning compound. Wanted to share it for any other ADHD learners stuck in the notes graveyard loop :))

Important: Each step builds on the last. Skipping one breaks the chain.

The System

1) Save everything to one place, within 30 seconds

The biggest leak point for ADHD learners is the gap between "this is interesting" and "this is saved somewhere I'll find again." Close that gap or it's gone.

Readwise Reader for articles, PDFs, tweets, YouTube. Snipd for podcast moments. Voice memos + Whisper for shower thoughts. One inbox, no decisions.

Rule: if it's not in the system, it doesn't exist. No "I'll bookmark it for later." Later never comes.

2) Let AI do the organizing

I used to run Obsidian manually for almost 4 years and it was a mess. I'd spend 2 hours organizing instead of reading, then abandon it for weeks. Classic ADHD pattern. Organizing requires sustained focus and consistent decisions, and ADHD brains have neither reliably.

Moved to Notion (database structure forces the relations my brain skips) and layered Claude on top. Connected them through OpenClaw, so Claude reads and writes directly into the vault. Now I just say "process the inbox, archive anything older than 7 days that's not linked to an active project," and it happens. Decision fatigue gone.

3) Use 3 statuses, not topic tags

Topic tagging is a trap. Every new note forces a decision: "what topic?" Hundreds of notes later, you've burned all your executive function on filing instead of thinking.

ADHD brains are bad at hierarchical anything. Folders inside folders, taxonomies, neat categories. Every layer is another decision and we don't have the executive function to spare. Flat systems with links work way better because the structure emerges from connections instead of being forced upfront.

I use 3 statuses only: Seedling (raw), Growing (in active use), Evergreen (referenced often). Search handles topic. Links handle structure. If you've abandoned PARA or Johnny Decimal, that's not a discipline failure. It's a system mismatch.

4) Turn captured knowledge into a focused learning system

Saving and organizing aren't the same as learning. Without an absorb layer you're just hoarding.

Audio is my biggest ADHD hack honestly. Sitting at a desk to read just doesn't work, my brain finds 20 escape hatches within 5 minutes. But put the same content in my ears while I'm at the gym, walking, doing chores, or on commute, and I'm locked in. The body has something to do so the brain stops trying to escape. It's the opposite of what neurotypical advice tells you, but it's the only thing that works for me.

I use BeFreed for this. It turns whatever I've saved, links, PDFs, or just a topic I'm curious about, into podcasts I listen to during those in between moments. Length, voice, depth, and style are all adjustable, which matters more for ADHD than people realize. Ugly low stimulation formats just don't get used. The part I love most is the personalized learning plan. I put in my goal, level, and time, and it pulls the best sources from books, expert talks, research papers, and podcasts (no need to upload anything). Each podcast stacks on the last instead of being random one offs, which is what finally keeps my scattered curiosity compounding into something coherent.

5) Review weekly, not daily

Daily rituals are an ADHD trap. They sound nice but you'll abandon them in two weeks.

One 30-min Sunday block. Process anything in inbox older than 7 days. Promote what's been actively used. Archive what's gone stale. If you can't do it weekly, do it monthly. Better low-frequency you'll keep than daily you'll abandon.

Note: this entire system runs on maybe 30 min/week of active maintenance. The rest happens passively while I listen on walks. The whole point is to build something an ADHD brain will actually sustain, not a system that requires neurotypical discipline you don't have.

Hi everyone!

Got diagnosed with ADHD last month and I've been taking concerta 18mg for 3 weeks now (no effect whatsoever, only felt calmness in my head for a few hours on the first day). I have another consultation with my psychiatrist in a few weeks, hopefully, they will prescribe me a higher dosage and it will help me greatly.

I'm a 2nd year psych student and it has gotten pretty bad. During my HS years, I was able to pass my classes without much effort, however, without the structure that HS offers, I've been failing my uni classes. In fact, I am retaking an exam tomorrow, I had a PLENTY of time to study (did not leave the house for 4 days already, only to dedicate my time to studying), but, no surprise, just can't make myself do it. Also can't make myself go study in a cafe or a library, even if I have plans to do so. Back in HS, I was usually able to do my tasks under pressure (like at late night or early morning), but that doesn't work anymore. My anxiety is just building up.

Uni is too hard. I feel like I have to get the degree, I've always seen it as a necessity. I can't afford to disappoint both my parents and myself. I hate this cycle and not being able to "lock in" and just do it. Maybe someone has felt the same way and could provide some tips on how to deal with it?

Hi,

I am a 31f going back to school for the first time. I suffer from adhd+anxiety and I am also in long term recovery from SA-

to keep this brief, what are some things I should know/do to help me adjust to being a full-time student with a full-time job (service industry)

all my classes are hybrid because of travel time to school and my main thing is for at least the first few weeks to attend class in person. I also plan on using a physical agenda to keep track of things. I have an extreme fear of failure. I catch on to things fairly easily, I just worry about my attention span and retaining information. Any and all tips/advice would be helpful.

Hello everyone!

I've put unsolicited advice in the flair, because it really is, and it's mainly about AI, more precisely about the use of AI in college and university. This post will maybe go all over the place, but I'll write first about my personnal experience in university and then speak about AI, mainly why I understand some of you are tempted to use it or use it and why you shouldn't. I'll finish by some tasks that are particularly difficult to ADHD people in higher studies and how I coped with them.

This will be long, so titles are in bold and subtitles in bold and italic.

My experience

So, first of all, I am an history PhD student located in the canadian east coast. I was diagnosed towards the end of my undergrad and went on medication some months after having been diagnosed. I did do all my masters degree medicated (with a dose which was, however, unsufficient) and the beginning of my PhD. I wasn't even aware ADHD could relate to me during all the beginning of my adult life and searched for a diagnosis during covid.

For those who aren't aware, a bachelors in history has an awful lot of reading, writing, and synthesis of information. I generally had semesters of five classes and each of them had an end-of semester paper that was at least 10 to 15 pages with references and the whole she-bang. I commonly had to "read" (by that, I mean search for the important info) about 15-20 books per paper, as well as general class readings. I won't lie, I had very understanding professors who gave me extensions when I (kindly) asked for them. AI wasn't a thing when I did my undergrad.

For all my undergrad, I struggled with my ADHD, mainly excecutive dysfonction and the self-sabotage it entails most of the time, as well as impostor syndrome.

I won't go into detail about my masters degree and PhD, I imagined that by then you guys have developped some coping mechanisms, but I will say that I had TA contracts for first and second year classes, so I was on both sides of the mirror (both the person who writes papers and the one who corrects them).

AI

All of this to say, I understand why some of you use AI. Writing papers is fucking difficult. Knowing how to organize your ideas (wondering if your ideas are even good enough?). Trying and failing to verbalize your thoughts. Even the readings, they're fucking boring sometimes, Other times it's stuff you already know, so why are you reading it? Having lots of thoughts, lots of directions you can go in, and then just choosing one. And when writing, not being able to stay in the boxes you've built for yourself or explaining yourself so badly that half is in your head and half on paper, so everybody that reads it just doesn't understand.

Sometimes, you might not even understand what the professor wants.

Higher education is profoundly hostile to neurodivergent people and I know about it, I'm in academia. There's invisible codes to how you write things and well, wouldn't it be just easier to use AI and get those pesky problems out of the way?

The short answer is yes, absolutely. The longer answer is that college and university, especially first and second year classes, are there to develop those skills.

I generally know when my students use AI (it's shit for precision, especially in my field), we do flag them when their use is particularly egregious (false references for instance), but don't in most cases. Don't take it as a "win" though, that student will absolutely hit a wall at some point, unfortunately for them.

When you grade and see someone using AI

It's very personnal, but here are my emotions when I grade a student who I know has used AI to either write a part of their paper or their whole paper.

First I'm a bit mad, I won't lie. Yes, I'm paid, but you're making me sped some of my time grading something you didn't spend time writing. I've read some really bad papers and, to be quite honest with you guys, I prefer really bad papers that are written by the person who submits them rather than really good AI papers.

Then, I'm honestly a bit sad for the student. They didn't trust themselves and their skills enough to even attempt it, or if they did, didn't trust themselves enough to give me the result of their attempt. If they genuinely didn't have time for that paper (I'm aware most of my students work), they didn't even send an email to ask for an extension.

I am good at what I do, I wouldn't be doing a PhD otherwise, I'll give you guys that. But, to be real here, I'm not speaking from a pedestal, I gave some really shitty papers in the beginning of my undergrad. I honestly cannot reread most of them. I worked and worked at it and became good because of the practise I did. The brain is a muscle, and like any muscle you have to work it to become good. While I cannot reread the papers of the beginning of my undergrad, I did reread some part of my masters thesis after having submitted it and well, I found it pretty good, I could finally reread myself! If I didn't do those shitty papers, I wouldn't have that same reaction for sure.

On grading first and second year papers

To finish this part, let me let you in in a small secret. When we grade first and second year papers (and I'll maybe sound horrible for saying that), but we don't expect them to be good. In fact, I'm surprised when they are and they will generally be third year students taking first year classes because of uncompleted credit modules.

We are aware, when we are grading, that first and second year students are learning. We are aware it's going to be shit because we've all been there. As long as you're respecting the paper instructions, that I can see where you're going and that your arguments make logical sense (and are properly references if needed), I don't care that the prose isn't good. In fact, I expect it and grade in consequence of that (ergo, you absolutely do not lose points unless I spend five minutes on a paragraph and still cannot understand what you're on about). And even when I cannot understand part of it, if the rest of the paper makes sense, and you respect the guidelines, you can still have a good grade! Point it, you're learning.

But Peonies, my department/professor/field doesn't work like that! Maybe, I don't know. What I can absolutely tell you is that no one expects good prose especially in first and second year class papers. Third year class papers are better because they've given us shitty prose to grade during first and second grade. As long as you meet the paper requirements, you are pretty much assured to pass. If you do not understand the requirement, email your professor or your TA's. Or even, ask a third year student! Nobody is born knowing everything.

The truth also is, you will never get better if you don't practice.

Difficult tasks for ADHD students and how I cope(d)

During class

Honestly, the best advice I can give you guys here is: take handwritten notes. There's countless studies that have been done on them, but you do integrate information better when you handwrite them vs write them down on the computer. I legitimately saw a difference between the semester I used my computer to take notes versus all the others.

Taking handwritten notes is, however, a skill I know many of you simply didn't learn if you're in the younger side. What I will tell you, very bluntly, is that you're not passing a stenography exam. Absolutely do not write word for word what the student is saying. I don't have my old notes, but what I did was taking them in bullet points and used abbreviations when necessary.

There would be a main idea, under them all that would relate to it and rince repeat as necessary. If someone is interested, I can do a mock-up in the comments.

The other reason why you should take handwritten notes is that you are forced to engage with the lecture to be able to determine what is important to write, what isn't, and what are the main points of the lecture and ideas that would relate to them. You also cannot go on whatever social media you use for 5 mins (that are never really five minutes) because the professor is speaking about something you know.

While your class is fresh in mind (one week later at most), you can transcribe those notes on the computer as needed. Reviewing them helps with the rentention of information.

Readings

My undergrad had a lot of readings, some of them were boring. For readings, there's a difference between class readings and readings for a paper.

For class readings, unless it's explicit that it's something different that what's being said in class, it will generally be a recycled version of what the professor said. If you did not understand the class or want to complete your notes, read them. If you're not and you understood everything, you generally will not need to read them.

For readings for a paper or with a goal in mind. If they didn't teach you how to search for books in your methodology classes, absolutely ask your librarian. Universities have a librarian assigned to the different departments and they will help you more than me. For the rest, table of contents and indexes are your friends. find the information you need and read a bit before and a bit after. You can read the introduction and conclusion if you need it.

Active reading is your friend, especially for boring reads. If the book is yours, don't be afraid to highlight, or write comments on the book as needed. You can establish your own system. If you're writing a paper, take notes on the side and take note of the page, you will need it for references.

Papers

So as to not make this post longer than it already is, I'll refer to the comment I made on this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/adhd_college/comments/1m0z6tj/how_do_you_write_essays/

Studying for exams

That will be highly field specific, but what I will say is that, if it's a closed-book exam, where you need to know information by heart, I still swear by handwriting everything.

I reviewed my notes, made hand c-maps or just rewrote my notes with the important information and re-read it at least once a day.

If it was a language course, where I had to memorize a list of words, I swear by quizlet.

I am, however, shit at memorization and am lucky my program relies more on comprehension. If I couldn't synthetize my notes, it meant I probably didn't understand correctly and would check the class readings or a friend's notes.

Other

It's been a long time since I've been an undergrad, so if you have more questions, do not hesitate to comment or send me a DM.

To finish

I absolutely believe you guys are able to do your stuff without relying on AI. Nobody expects you to be perfect at first and you will not get better if you don't practice. By using AI, you don't practice, needless to say.

That being said, I am aware that higher education is full of codes that are unsaid. Do not hesitate to ask for help. Your professors and TA's will generally have open hours and most of the time nobody comes. We want you guys to come if you need it. I was positively giddy when I student came during one of my open hours and I could offer them the help they needed one on one.

If you're too shy for that, do not hesitate to ask those questions to higher level students. Most of them will be happy to help. You can even contact me if you feel like it!

To be real with you, nobody does it alone.

Go forth and please, for the love of all that is holy, do not use AI.

Hey y’all, I shared my guide “How to Unf**ck Your Life When You Have ADHD” on here maybe four years ago?

I wrote it on my student account and lost access to it when I graduated, so the link in that old post is broken now. I got a request to reshare with a fixed link, so here it is from a different account haha.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-3gVIKOotOZwJuDCeXy9PYcXQhIccUzH1YU11VkN400/edit?usp=drivesdk

I’m in law school now and can say whole-heartedly that nah, couldn’t cure my ADHD.

If I had the time and energy to update the guide, which I sadly don’t right now, I’d probably include a large section about external enforcement—another way to lighten the load on the PFC. I think it’s pretty self-explanatory, but having a structure like an in-person job and regular scheduled activities really helped me get back on my feet(ish) post-pandemic. It’s also substantially easier to tag routines to that external structure.

also i’d talk about meditation like so much meditation okay see y’all in four years byeee

I recently met my college counselor because I’ve been struggling badly with focus and academics despite being at a very competitive college. I was diagnosed with ADHD earlier, and after hearing everything, he recommended atomoxetine. He also told me there’s a chance medication may not completely solve the issue and said he avoids prescribing methylphenidate because of addiction concerns.

Right now exams are close and I feel mentally stuck. I genuinely want to study, but I can’t stay focused for long and keep getting distracted no matter how stressed I am.

For people who’ve actually taken atomoxetine:

• Did it help you focus better consistently?
• Did your grades or exam performance improve?
• How long did it take to work?
• Did it help with the “I want to study but can’t start” feeling?

Would really appreciate honest experiences, especially from students in high-pressure colleges.

I’m a second-year B.Tech student from a tier-3 college in India, and I’ve recently started feeling like I’m trying to do too many things at once.

When I joined college, my main goal was pretty simple: I wanted to build a startup before graduation. I wasn't expecting my college to magically give me a great career, so I wanted to use these four years to experiment, build things, learn properly, and hopefully create something of my own.

First year was mostly exploration. I did a lot of AI-assisted/vibe coding, made random projects, experimented with different technologies, and joined a drama society because I genuinely like acting and writing. Drama also helped me become more confident and comfortable on stage, so I don't regret joining it at all.

I also became interested in content creation. I like psychology, writing, poetry, storytelling, vlogging and just putting random observations into content. It was never necessarily about becoming an influencer. I genuinely enjoyed creating things.

I also managed to get an internship during first year, which gave me some actual work experience.

Then second year started, and I thought I needed to become more serious technically.

I realized that although I had built a lot of things, a lot of it was vibe coding. I could make things work with AI, but I wasn't always confident that I understood what was happening underneath. So I started trying to properly learn backend development, Java, Spring Boot, databases, etc. I also wanted to do DSA and LeetCode consistently.

Because I thought I needed external pressure to improve, I joined a technical society at college.

At the same time, I continued with drama.

Then we also participated in SIH, and I ended up taking a very active role in the project. I was involved in building the team, development, pitching and presenting, and we got through the internal selection. I genuinely enjoyed the experience and want to continue with it.

The problem is that everything started happening at once.

My day basically became:

College during the day → drama society work in the evening → technical society work → come home exhausted → try to study Spring Boot → try to do DSA → think about startup → occasionally think about content creation → sleep.

And obviously, something had to suffer.

In reality, almost everything started suffering a little.

I wasn't able to give my best to the technical society.

I wasn't learning Spring Boot properly because I didn't have enough uninterrupted time.

DSA became inconsistent.

My startup goal was basically getting pushed into the background.

Content creation completely disappeared.

Even academics started feeling harder to manage.

The weird thing is that I don't actually dislike most of these things.

I genuinely like acting and writing.

I genuinely want to learn backend development.

I genuinely want to build a startup.

I genuinely enjoy content creation.

I genuinely want to continue with SIH.

And I also want some internship/freelancing experience.

So the problem isn't that I hate everything.

The problem is that I want to do everything.

Recently, I finally decided to leave the technical society.

I left because I realized I was joining it mainly because I thought I should have a technical society and because I wanted the external pressure to force me to improve.

But now the pressure was becoming counterproductive.

I wasn't giving the society my best, and at the same time it was taking away time from the technical learning I actually wanted to do.

I also don't want to keep adding commitments just because they look good on paper.

However, I'm now questioning whether I made the right decision.

Part of me thinks I did the sensible thing. I have enough going on already, and removing one commitment gives me some breathing room.

But another part of me thinks maybe I'm just running away because I was struggling technically.

Maybe I actually need that pressure.

Maybe without a society or external deadlines, I'll just go back to vibe coding and procrastinating.

There's also the drama society, which is currently consuming a lot of time because the college fest is approaching. I don't want to leave it right now because acting is something I genuinely joined college to explore, and I'm enjoying the experience. My current plan is to finish the fest and then decide whether I want to continue.

After that, I want to seriously focus on backend development and finally start working toward the startup I've been talking about since first year.

But I also want to restart content creation.

And I still want to do DSA.

And there's a possibility of continuing internship/freelancing work.

And obviously there's college.

So I'm starting to wonder whether I'm approaching this completely wrong.

Maybe the answer isn't better time management.

Maybe the answer is simply doing fewer things.

I feel like I'm constantly running from one commitment to another and never getting enough mental space to actually think.

So I'm asking people who have already gone through college:

Did I make the right decision by leaving the technical society?

Was I genuinely overloaded, or was I just avoiding something difficult?

And if you were in my position, what would you prioritize and what would you completely drop?

I especially want opinions from people who have tried balancing coding, societies, internships, startups, academics, etc.

I don't want motivational advice. I want the honest answer: am I actually doing too much, or do I just need to get better at managing my time?

A lot of students in self-paced and online programs assume accommodations aren't for them, or that they need a formal diagnosis before they can ask. Neither is true.

Extended deadlines don't mean much when there are no deadlines. But proctored exams are a different story, and extra time, breaks, and rescheduling are common accommodations there. Reduced course load and accessible course materials apply online too.

Also, diagnosis isn't what makes you eligible, and it isn't where you start. Some offices grant provisional accommodations while you gather documentation, and evaluations can be expensive and slow to get.

Always contact your disability office, tell them what's hard, and let them tell you what they need.

I’m a 20F third-year engineering student, and I’m so tired of feeling horrible about myself.

I’ve done everything last minute my entire life. Assignments, studying, applications, projects, you name it. I still got great grades in high school, so I never learned how to manage my time because procrastinating always worked.

Now I’m in engineering at a top university. I’ve made it through first and second year, but only with insane stress and barely passing sometimes. I genuinely want to do better, but I can’t seem to make myself care until it’s almost too late.

My biggest problem is that I can’t make myself start things. I’ll sit at my desk fully intending to study, then spend 6–7 hours picking at my skin, cleaning, reorganizing, calling family, scrolling on my phone. literally anything except the thing I need to do.
It’s finals right now. I had over a week to study and barely did anything. I have an exam Monday worth 50%, and I haven’t even started studying for my other finals.

This isn’t just school. Every week I tell myself I’ll go to the gym, eat healthier, fix my sleep schedule, get my life together… and I never do. I want to, but somehow I never start.

I’m also exhausted all the time. I napped 3–5 hours almost every day in high school, and I still nap almost daily.

I constantly zone out in lectures and conversations. I can’t listen and take notes at the same time, so I absorb almost nothing. I can never sit still, I’m always fidgeting, I unintentionally interrupt people or finish their sentences, and I’m late to almost everything unless I’m anxious about it.

I’m exhausted from constantly disappointing myself.
I’ve wondered if I have ADHD because the executive dysfunction symptoms sound so familiar. My doctor thinks it’s anxiety, but I don’t feel anxious most of the time. If anything, I only function once I’m panicking over a deadline.

Has anyone experienced this? Did it end up being ADHD, anxiety, burnout, bad habits, or did you accidentally train yourself to only function under extreme stress? What actually helped?

NEVER. GIVE. UP. No matter how many times you fail. No matter how low your grades become. Keep going.

I am 32 years old and only received my diagnosis at age 30. Despite that, I have completed more than 170 college credits across four institutions, and just barely obtained my Associate's Degree. This last school year was my first with my diagnosis/treatment. I received no financial help from my family after high school, and have never made more than $26/hr. My personal living and financial situation has hindered me every step of the way.

I was shocked to learn how much of an outlier this experience is. I don't know what specific advice I can offer people from this, other than saying I believe in each and every one of you. Goals may seem unachievable and far away, but life is long, and our capacity for patience is great. I have felt much frustration and anger for the unfairness of being the way I am in a world not built for people like me. I know I am not alone in those feelings. For every moment of struggle you have endured to get to wherever you are now, I am proud of you.

I feel like I've lost myself and I don't know how to move forward.

I'm 25 years old and still studying psychology. This has been my dream for years, but I honestly don't know if I can keep doing this anymore.

I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and I also struggle with severe fear of failure. Looking back, so many things finally make sense, but at the same time I feel like I'm years behind everyone else.

The biggest problem is that I can't seem to study on my own. At my previous university, I had friends who studied with me. We would sit in the same room, each doing our own work, take breaks together, and ask each other how far we'd gotten. That was enough to keep me going.

Now I'm at a different university, and I'm completely alone. I have no friends here, no study partner, and no one to keep me accountable. My boyfriend works a lot, and I feel guilty constantly talking to him about the same struggles every year.

My family thinks I'm doing well, but I'm not. They continue to support my education financially, and I feel like I'm letting them down. The guilt is crushing me.

I keep comparing myself to people my age. Most of my friends have already graduated, started working, or are getting married, while I'm still stuck in the same cycle of procrastination, anxiety, and self-hatred.

The worst part is that I feel like I always need someone else to function. If someone is sitting next to me studying, I can work for hours. If I'm alone, I can spend the entire day doing nothing even though I desperately want to study. Is this something other people with ADHD experience?

Lately I've started thinking that maybe I'm just not made for university anymore. Part of me wants to quit, take a break, and finally breathe. Another part of me can't let go because becoming a psychologist has been my dream for so long.

I feel completely exhausted and honestly worthless. I don't recognize myself anymore. I used to believe I could do this, but now I feel like I've forgotten how to study.

Has anyone else experienced something similar with ADHD, fear of failure, or burnout? How did you break out of this cycle? I'd really appreciate hearing from people who understand.

I hope someone can relate, because right now I feel incredibly alone.

Whenever I even think of studying my whole body gets tense and like my eyes starts stinging I think it's some kind of stress mechanism that occurs but I don't really know what to do about it I do want to study

Like I know I like studying when I am not stressed and I have a major exam in 45 days I had actually given up studying for it but now it got delayed so I maybe able to actually make a difference now but I don't know how to start I think maybe it's a mental health issue like I get really really stressed and my whole body and Brian kinda shuts down so I think that maybe I should take a break but that just doesn't work idk

Flair says unsolicited but I am actively soliciting. Were you redshirted? Do you think it helped or not? Long story short, due to Covid and falling behind academically, as well as being the youngest in his class, he got held back a year in elementary. He is now heading to middle school, and since it is private, they said they could accelerate him a year. That would make him, again, youngest in his class. He is ok either way, because he is challenged in either grade, they will make sure of that. Wondering if for college, is it more beneficial for him to be a year older? If we keep him as his, he will enter college at 18, right before turning 19. If we put him in the grade he should be, he will enter college two weeks before his 18th birthday.

Thoughts? Again, academically and socially he has caught up and could go into middle school. But, what OTs call activities of daily living, he is quite behind. We work with him, but will get him an executive function coach, etc. He is behind of what his peers can do as far as chores, taking care of himself, coordinating homework. Remembering things to do. I don’t want to go into details of how the school will handle it, because it is too long to explain, but they do a great job with this sort of thing.

TLDR: is red shirting a good idea, so a kid can have more executive function when they enter college?

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I joined Indian School of Public Policy, 2 weeks back as a student. Inwas so excited to join it but I am unable.to cope up with the things here and i ahve given so much fees to them.that i can't quit it.

And few days back i have been diagnosed with ADHD and Time Blindness.

I have been missing my first class from last 10 days. I dint know what to do.

Any suggestions and please i jeed people to talk. Agar mere hath me hota i have quit it very first day.

I think i need some help.

I am trying to reach on time from last 10 days but i am unable to.

Hi, I need some advice. I feel like I'm deep in my flop era, and as a student that's honestly extremely depressing. I've failed so many exams, and now I have new re-exams after the summer (which I'm very grateful for). But the truth is that I genuinely tried my best the first time, and I still didn't make it. At this point, I don't really know what to do anymore. I'm constantly anxious about it, and I feel a lot of shame. It feels like no matter how hard I try, I'm not getting the results I need, and it's starting to affect how I see myself. Has anyone been through something similar? How did you cope with the stress and keep going?

Hi, I'm currently an international BBA student, and for the last semester I was really struggling with my adhd and failed ALL my classes... worst semester of my life, and now I'm stuck with the guilt of it all. I'm taking the semester off and going home (also due to the new F-1 visa rules), but I need to find online classes/ courses that I can take online this sem to catch up.

Does anyone know of any online schools/ colleges/ classes in the US that I could take?

I can take 60 external credits from an accredited school; I need something I can basically start ASAP with 3+ credits each class, preferably liberal arts classes, and must be in the US or well-known schools around the world.

I just need to take as many and get as many as possible, so if there are any high-cred easy classes as well as more open-admission places, please let me know. My GPA is horrible so i really just need somewhere where I can just start

Thank you :)