ADHD Help

[Sholos]

To any fellow forumers with ADHD or other people with informed advise:

What are your strategies for getting/staying focused on work? I've been having a lot of trouble recently starting my school work, and I was just wondering if anyone had some good advice. Please don't mention medicine; I've had bad reactions to the two I've tried, and I'm not in the mood to try any others. Anything else is pretty fair game.

Thanks in advance.

[Syka]

I will usually work for a set period of time (say, half an hour) and then take a break for a short period of time (say 10-15 minutes) or give myself a reward (like some M&M's) for reaching a goal (outlining a chapter or two).

Knowing I have something to work towards help me study.

I have undiagnosed ADHD-Inattentive Type, for reference. I've had several mental health professionals who have came to the same conclusion totally separately, I've just never needed to get it officialized.

[RandomNPC]

Bear down and do it, failing that hey look a squirrel!

I know when you get bored you get easily distracted. At that point there's nothing anyone can say, you need to decide to do it on your own. I want to do my chores, but FFXIII is currently on my self, see what I mean?

Maybe try meditation beforehand, or give yourself a reward before hand, and tell yourself you need to finish your work, because you've already got a reward, and it'd be unfair to not work for it?

[Zain]

I start doing something else in my head, like singing, thinking out my blog post etc. Also, getting up, then walking around for, 5-10 minutes helps as well.

[THAC0]

Set a timer for your reward-breaks.

[Gadora]

In all honesty, I find caffeine sometimes helps me focus.

Edit: When I asked my doctor about ways to deal with ADHD without medication, he pointed me to this website (http://www.chadd.org/). Mind you, I can't vouch for the site, as I've been a little too distracted to take a look at it...:smallannoyed:

[thubby]

standard issue study tips seem like they would help.

i can't relate to adhd, but as far as stuff that messes with me. get the stupid stuff that would get you up and away from your work out of the way. have a snack and something to drink in arm's reach.

[Scoot]

In all honesty, I find caffeine sometimes helps me focus.

I have a friend with ADHD that says the exact same thing. He says it has something to do with chemicals in the brain, but I've never looked into it. :smallconfused:

Couldn't hurt to give it a trial run though.

[Haruki-kun]

Diagnosed ADHD since Childhood here. Back then it was still called ADD.

Most of us are by nature impulsive and procrastinators. We usually do not, however, let the deadline go by. Some of us work best under pressure, and that's not the best, but it's not particularly bad. an author I read described it as simply being different in a world that's predominantly non-ADHD.


standard issue study tips seem like they would help.

Unfortunately, no. Standard issue study tips are precisely what wouldn't work, and we have problems because teachers and our fellow students always assume they will, and if the won't, they should. What you really need to do is find out what works best for you.

For me, paying attention in class is... next top impossible. I catch a few things here and there, but usually can't. Instead, what I do is read the powerpoint presentations that the teacher uploads to the course site and study off them. They contain much of the same information, and when in doubt I ask a classmate or the theacher herself.


I have a friend with ADHD that says the exact same thing. He says it has something to do with chemicals in the brain, but I've never looked into it. :smallconfused:

Couldn't hurt to give it a trial run though.

I'm not the doctor. But I find this to be true, and some of the literature confirms it.

Quick and rough explanation is that Caffeine is a Stimulant, just like regular ADHD medication. For peopel with ADHD, it helps us focus.

Unfortunately, this has downsides. There's many cases of people with ADHD that resort to illegal drugs (stimulants as well) to self-medicate. It helps them focus, but it has all the downsides that come with the use of illegal drugs.

Alcohol also can become a problem. My dad told me a few days ago that the psychiatrist who diagnosed me warned him about that... when I was 7. We tend to resort to alcohol as a way to fix problems and in the end are in danger of becoming hooked.

Caffeine, of course, can't compare to Alcohol or Illegal Drugs in level of danger, so it's a safe course, but it might be best not to abuse it, either. There is such a thing as a caffeine addiction.

Now, in direct response to the question:

Getting started is horribly hard for us. In fact, it's one of the primary symptoms. Usually, however, what I do is to get myself distracted on purpose. I'm working on a Word document, and I have GITP open on the side or I'm reading the latest xkcd. Strange as it may sound, this works for me. Maybe I work slower than most people, but I work anyway. And I always get the work done in the end.

Another thing to consider there is an ability ADHD patients have. Just like we have trouble focusing, we have the ability to Hyperfocus. When a huge paper is due tomorrow, I'm hyperfocused. I'm typing away and don't even pay attention to the GITP Tabs or MSN windows that keep popping up like crazy. I take a break every now and then to reply to MSN windows and post in GITP, but I'm still focused there.

To sum it up: Basically, if you have ADHD, you need to find out what works best for you, but more importantly, do not assume that what works for everyone else will for you too. More often than not, it won't.

EDIT: And if you have any questions I'm gonna be following this thread or PM me. I'm more than happy to help people who have this condition as well.

[Dr.Epic]

Make a solid schedule and stick to it no matter what. Have rewards for if you stay on schedule.

[Danne]

Everyone's been giving good advice. :smallsmile: Try a bunch of different things to see what works for you.

Personally, I find copious amount of caffeine combined with a To Do List usually helps me get stuff done. The latter is especially helpful, because it gets al my thoughts laid out in one place. Plus, it's so satisfying to cross things off when they're done! :smallbiggrin:

Good luck!

[averagejoe]

The Mod They Call Me: Thread necromancy.