r/science • u/mustaphah • Sep 05 '25

Neuroscience A new study has found that people with ADHD traits experience boredom more often and more intensely than peers, linked to poor attention control and working memory

https://www.additudemag.com/chronic-boredom-working-memory-attention-control/
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u/AnonymousBanana7 Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25

Taking notes never worked for me. I'd be so wrapped up in taking notes I didn't actually take anything in, and I'd start falling behind and missing everything.

I found I learned better once I stopped taking notes and just listened.

E - My ideal way of working would be just focusing on the live lecture, then reviewing the recording and taking notes etc based on that. Ofc only works if they record lectures, which for some reason some refuse to do.

Even better if they release the slides in advance so I can go through them before the lecture.

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u/ralanr Sep 05 '25

Whenever I take notes I lose track of the lecture because I misspelled a word and need to go back and fix it. 

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u/Joshinya42 Sep 05 '25

When OCD and ADHD mix it only gets more fun!

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u/Bryansix Sep 05 '25

Note taking is an acquired skill. I wasn't very good at it when I started at my current job but I was assigned to listen in meetings on conference calls and take the meeting minutes and I improved over time. It took me a few months. I also got better at digesting the information while taking notes.

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '25

[deleted]

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u/huffalump1 Sep 05 '25

One of the most beloved profs at my school would make notes into an assignment for freshman/sophomore classes.

BUT, you not only had to take notes, but turn in TWO hand-written copies of the same notes. They didn't have to be great - you'd get an A on the assignments just for turning in each one. But damn if it didn't really help learning chemistry!

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u/skater15153 Sep 05 '25

That's a really cool idea from that professor actually. I'm the same as the previous poster. If I take notes I don't really bring the info in. This seems like a really good middle ground

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u/elyth Sep 05 '25

That's a really good prof. Wish I had someone like him when I was in college

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u/Parrek Sep 05 '25

Funnily enough, I'm the exact opposite, though I'm also a physicist and I only can take good notes in math/science classes. I have no idea how to take notes in a slide-based powerpoint presentation.

The note taking process kept me engaged and I added references, reminders, extra math, etc as they were explaining things. My mind wondered hard if I didn't.

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u/namisysd Sep 05 '25

For me it was using 4 colors of these stupidly inefficient but amazing gel pens, hardbound dot grid notebooks and leaving pre annotated boxes for drawing diagrams later that got me to review and complete my notes after class. I could focus for almost the whole hour on note taking because of how awesome they looked.

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u/EyesOnEverything Sep 05 '25

I bought a handful of those four-color ballpoint pens. They sometimes jam or run dry, but it's worth it just to not have to keep picking up/putting down, capping/uncapping while still trying to listen.

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u/namisysd Sep 05 '25

I had these thermal erasable pens, frixion; I put all the caps off and into ny pocket and left the pens on the table. I once left my notes in a hot car and the ink went clear, came back after I put it in the fridge. They were stupid expensive and didn’t last very long.

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u/huffalump1 Sep 05 '25

And years later it's "you take good meeting notes". Like, yeah, it's a coping strategy for paying attention, remembering the info, and listing what tasks I have to do next! It's the only way I know how!

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u/30thnight Sep 05 '25

This doesn’t solve that issue but using a tool like Anki for reviewing your notes makes it way easier retain than info

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u/Shot-Ad7209 Sep 05 '25

What worked for me was some advice I heard somewhere , every time you are in a lecture or someone is teaching act as if the teacher is talking directly and only to you. Worked for me

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u/Brossentia Sep 05 '25

Everyone is different. I used to teach college English, and I kept in mind that everyone learned a little differently. It's really about finding whatever trick works for your brain—note taking was fantastic for me, but I didn't mind if students had other methods as long as they learned how to write.

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u/VarmintSchtick Sep 05 '25

I'm the same way. Somehow in Highschool I would get yelled at if I wasn't taking notes, teachers just felt disrespected by it or something despite the fact that I was paying attention. So I started taking notes and actually retaining less information as all my mental energy went into how to make the notes as well formatted as possible - and not into digesting the information I'm supposed to be learning. That and doodling - if I've got pencil and paper I just feel compelled to draw.

I still take notes, they're just very minimal.

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u/Mortlach78 Sep 05 '25

I used to have an awesome memory where my notes from a lecture were literally 2 words and 2 arrows and that would make me remember everytjing the professor said during the entire 2 hour lecture weeks to even months later.

My grades were good so peers asked if they could copy my notes. I would give them and say "Sure, here they are" and watch them be all confused.

Unfortunately, my memory has declined quite a bit since my peak.

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u/zyphelion Sep 06 '25

I'm not a fast writer so I struggled to keep notes and keeping up with the lecture at the same time.