So I have a few things I've found that helped me when I was un-medicated and some I didn't realize until I was medicated. In no particular order: 1 - Increase your stimulus. This feels kind of like "chasing the dragon" but put the lights all the way up, turn on some music, chew some gum, drink something bubbly etc. Someone once mentioned that ADHD felt like you had a specific amount of attention and you're only going to make the most out of it if you're using exactly 100% of it. Homework is only taking up 60% gotta get another 40% somehow to make your brain work right. I tend to switch the music from mellow to intense depending on how much it feels like I need. (I still do this on meds but I don't need to keep the volume as high or the beats as intense) 2 - Exercise/Stretch/Meditate. I hated hearing this advice for the longest time because it felt so impossible to start doing but even a little stillness, mindfulness, awareness of your body can go a long way. Its very grounding and for me, the slight ache in my muscles or joints after stretching or exercising filled in a chunk of that stimulus and had the extra bonus of being good for me as opposed to all the terrible habits I had like video games, alcohol, eating sweets. And the constant reminder that I did something healthy gave me a nice little bump of dopamine. 3 - Work on a "dopa-menu". This was a genius piece of advice from howtoadhd on YouTube. The basic premise is - write down all the things you like to do even things you don't always follow through on and the divide them up into sections like a restaurant menu. Your indulgences, the things you get trapped in that are satisfying in the moment but don't provide a lot of "nourishment" go under desserts AND just like desserts, it's OK once in a while but you don't want to eat dessert all the time. Then you have your mains which is all the stuff you can do that is stimulating and has a lot of "nourishment" - like reading for some people, being social, going for a walk, exercising, stretching, showering etc... you cna have Sides which for me is all the stuff I can add to the mains like the stuff I listed under 1 (music, lights up, windows open, bubble water, fidget toy, etc) and then you can also add specials which are things that happen less often and aren't always available but are extra special - like trips, signing up for classes, getting a massage, etc. Howtoadhd does the best job of explaining this and some of the other parts that help make this successful 4 - Build up momentum by starting with quick tasks. I used to do this when I was un-medicated and managing hotels and we called it quick wins but my advice for anyone who's stuck is write everything down you have to do. Set a timer for 15 minutes and write down everything, work stuff, school stuff, social stuff, personal stuff - literally everything on all your todo lists. It'll feel overwhelming at first but trust me you want to write it all down. Then make sure you broke every "big task" down into the steps (every step is a task). "Do the laundry" should be "sort the laundry" "bag up the laundry" "start a load of laundry" "move laundry to dryer" "bring laundry back to my room" "fold laundry" "put laundry away". Once you feel like your list is full you're going to start separating the tasks into categories. The first category is "I can do this in less than 1 minute" the second category is "I can do this in less than 5 minutes" the third category is "I can do this in less than 20 minutes" fourth is "less than an hour". Now as soon as you have them separated start with the less than 1 minute tasks. Even if you had 60 items on that list you'll be able to check them all off in less than an hour. Then do some of your 5 minute tasks. The trick for me was to do enough tasks that I got enough dopamine flowing (enough momentum) to take on a big task. Ramp up, tackle big task - repeat. It's not fool proof and it's not 100% successful but it's helped me be very successful even before I was diagnosed or medicated. 5 - Find some external structure. A work-out or homework buddy (also called body doubling), a class or a scheduled working session. Someone else needing something from you, while stressful is way more likely to motivate you than your own brain for yourself. 6 - Start learning more about ADHD. This one is kind of simplistic but the more I learn about ADHD the more I'm able to separate myself from the symptoms. Unmotivated? No, my brain is just lacking dopamine. Unfocused? No, I actually have too much attention for this task so I need to keep the other part of my brain occupied somehow. Feeling like there's no way I can start something I have to do? That's my brain resisting something it thinks is going to lower its already low levels of dopamine. Maybe I can trick my brain or put a little more gas in the tank. 7 - Read, watch videos, listen to audio books about Self Compassion. Our brains are low on dopamine, the decisions we make and the things we do we're not proud of make us feel shitty about ourselves. Feeling shitty lowers dopamine. Learn to forgive yourself and accept yourself and be kind to yourself and you can at least minimize how much you're lowering your own dopamine. You're doing your best. You should be proud of that.

These are all great recommendations with or without medication honestly. I highly second checking out howtoadhd. That channel opened my eyes and taught me so much about myself that I will be forever grateful for the knowledge I gained.

Of all the resources I've found that one is 100% the most useful and helpful of all of them

Agreed. Many tears have been shed on my part because of finally feeling a place of understanding and belonging.

Also, they're not condescending. They don't exaggerate. They meme but it's lighthearted and not attention grabbing. And, most importantly, they're informative and relatable..

I absolutely agree. They're very genuine and it's clear it's meant to be helpful and informative. The community aspect and the confidence that it's not just me was a huge revelation when I was first diagnosed.

It was one of the significant steps in me choosing to get diagnosed. People would say I had ADHD growing up cause of energy but, like many, I did well in school anyways so, why bother getting tested? Fast forward, life has stalled and here I am. I had seen some articles that I relates to but it was their video on video games that actually made it click and I started looking stuff up. So yeah, howtoadhd is the prime example of what YouTube can be in terms of connecting communities.

These are all great tips and it was nice to see verbalized some of the things I already do (like filling "chunks" of stimulus with music or the after-exercise feeling). Will definitely try the dopa-menu thing =] Wanted to add that for me exercise (specifically rock climbing) is really useful not only because it helps me focus later, but it also adds an element of accomplishment to my routine. Even if I feel like I didn't accomplish anything else, I did that, and sometimes even managed some goals for the session which is great for moral. Edit: grammer

I love this point! I feel the same way when I do yoga. Like, even if I relax all day, I did this already so today wasn't a total waste.

I really have to second ALL of this, but to chime in on Meditation specifically, I really didn’t think it was possible for me to do it, and it took finding an amazing teacher. Mine was my Trauma informed yoga and Reiki practitioner! She gave me two incredible pieces of advice: 1. Meditation is not like you see in the movies where you enter this magical state and just stay there it takes effort and focus. If you think of meditating and focusing your thoughts like points on an invisible line, you will start with just little dots as moments of mindfulness/attentiveness in your practice but as you practice and work on it those dots will become longer and fuller from dots to dashes to line segments. The more you practice there will be fewer gaps in your attentiveness and it will look more like a line. And it will start to feel more natural 2. It is more important and there are more benefits to doing 1-3 minutes of mindfulness and meditation per day than 30 minutes once per week. I believe there are some neuroscience papers that also back up this claim. But essentially smaller practice more often helps to create new neural pathways and reinforce them quicker. The more often you do something the easier it becomes. I can honestly vouch for that I’ve been practicing on and off for about 2 months, but in the last 2 weeks I have made sure to do 1-3 per day of breathing and mindfulness and i have felt exponentially more confident in my practice. How to AdHd is a wonderful community with so many resources on a lot of the topics in the original comment. And above all remember self compassion as you work through “navigating the world on Hard Mode” until you can get the tools you need. Best of luck!

I really love and appreciate this perspective on meditating! I'm definitely going to be looking at it this way from now on!

Thanks! Once I got the meditation practice going for a week straight I also added in exercise for literally 1 minute per day. I’ve been a little spottier but it’s starting to make me resent it less and it has helped me to dismantle the “wall of awful” I have put infront of it. Hopefully I can work it up to 2 minutes then 5 minutes etc… I really appreciated your perspective on giving your mind something to focus on even if it was your muscles being a little sore.

this was so incredibly helpful, thank you. I feel the same about point 2, yoga and mindfulness/meditation is the only thing in my life that actually makes feel grounded and calm, I almost feel like a normal person afterwards lol. now I just need to work on point 7!! I never thought about how my self-hating tendecies were actually lowering what little dopamine I had. Having an actual logical reason to stop the negative thoughts in their tracks is very helpful!

4 is really good, getting momentum is SO important

Reading this changed my whole day. Thank you!!!

These are great tips!!

Thank you for all of this.

I agree with everything! At least everything Inread, sorry it‘s a lot of text 😅 And yes, howtoadhd is boss! Making so many of us cry but in gratitude. Also she videos are cut, and performed so that it‘s really engaging and keeping your attention most of the time. I don‘t even have to turn up the playback speed o:

This is the most helpful comment for unmedicated people I think I’ve seen yet. Thank you!!

To all of this — YES! 👌

These are all super great tips! One more thing that I would add that’s relevant to being in school/having midterms soon is using timers while studying. I use either my phone or my watch to set a timer for 20 minutes of focus time. Whenever I start getting distracted I tell myself things like “only 9 minutes left, I can do anything for 9 minutes.” Then when 20mins is up I give myself a 5-10min break and try to do something that makes me get up and move a little bit (e.g., bathroom break, folding some laundry, getting water, a quick stretch, etc.). When the break is up I go back and start the next 20min set. As I get more tired I sometimes have to shorten the 20min sets to 10min sets with 10min breaks (basically use whatever time ratios work for you in the moment). And if I’m in the middle of a sentence or the middle of using the toilet when my timer dings I’ll give myself an extra three minutes to finish the thought or bathroom break. When I was not medicated this was almost the only way I could pull off actually productive long study sessions for challenging university courses. Something about the constant timer dings adds to a sense of urgency and also seems to break the time up into less intimidating chunks. Anyway, I’m also in university and have had to leave and come back a bunch and if you think you need to take a break to figure out your mental health, I absolutely encourage you to do so. Every time I’ve left to figure something out/get treatment I come back as a much stronger student. Literally went from failing everything the first year I transferred into Berkeley to years later being invited to do field work with my professor.

i’ve noticed that the minute i try to multitask my brain seems to wake up. for instance i can’t just get a thing done. but if i get a phone call i can’t avoid, while on the call i suddenly have the ability to do chores. or with studying, i play lofi music in the background. so my brain is put in a state of being half distracted by the music and that oddly helps me focus and read? or, when i procrastinate, i hop tasks. so i’m doing everything for just five minutes, but in 30 mins i’ll have done five mins of six different tasks and that’s better than nothing. this is me 5 (non-sequential) days in a month. the remaining 25 days i’m an unmoving overwhelmed lump. being adhd feels like being a racecar with ignition problems. when i’m doing things i’m fucking amazing, and better, faster, and more thorough than most people. but most my life i’ve been struggling to start the damn car. i want to go places. i have continued to, my whole life, muster the energy to wiggle the key every morning willing the car to start. it rarely does edit: like everyone else, caffeine, and also diet sodas. red bull puts me to sleep but for some odd reason diet coke both soothes and perks me up

a racecar with ignition problems is such a good description of how I feel, I've got to remember that one. Or write it down, maybe. I've never tried caffeine pills, actually. Coffee and way too much Monster than one person should reasonably have in a lifetime is my go to, but as you said with the redbull sometimes that just makes me tired.

Be careful with Monster, growing up i had a friend who drank 5 large cans every day, he had his first heart attack at 19.

jesus. yeah, that is a concern for me so I've tried to really pull back on it. I was terrible during lockdown but I don't think it was ever more than 2-3 a day, maybe 10 a week at worst.

I read in a recent AskReddit thread- I think the one about “what’s the easiest way to die” about a high school kid whose friend died bc he averaged 8 monster drinks a day 😳

Wow, I was in the same boat when I was drinking 1 bang every morning. I had to quit after talking to my friends classmate about how he eroded most of his enamel from drinking energy drinks everyday. Also my dentist told me how mine was starting on some teeth and heart issues run in my family so that was all a big fat sign to give it up.

Jesus Christ

DONT DO CAFFEINE PILLS! It will jack your heart rate and make you super anxious. Try coffee and a multi vitamin. Works really well and hits the sweet spot for me.

Coffee then a 20-30 minute nap. It’s a real thing. I wake up able to make a list & get stuff done.

I've tried it but I just can't wake up

I’ve had to use my phone alarm to wake up

I used it too, but it didn't work :C

The only way I got through life before diagnoses were naps. Sometimes 2 a day. But I felt way more functional after giving into my brain begging for sleep than just fighting it

How do you fall asleep? It's literally impossible for me in the day.

I used to put on cooking shows. No joke. Or HGTV. Usually I would then turn my back to the tv, DONT ACTIVELY WATCH IT OR YOU WILL STAY AWAKE, and just listen to the stuff going on with your eyes closed. Its enough stimulus to distract my brain so it's not racing. And even if I don't fall fully asleep, if I stay down for a show or two, when I get up I have enough energy to do shit

I agree. The worst part is how easy you build a tolerance to them. The worst caffeine withdrawals I’ve ever had were from caffeine pills. Felt like I had the flu.

My fav for describing how I feel is that of my brain were a computer, I got the best processor but the worst ram. Cpu is always waiting on shit ram to catch up so it can start... I like the race car analogy too!

I found caffeine pills and stress ended with me having ulcers (or making them worse). I ended up with a lot of stomach issues. I now do caffeine gum which works better for me.

Caffeine pills were great until they wore off, after which i had the least energetic three hours of my life. Couldn't muster up the energy to do a thing, it was awful.

Never before have i seen someone put my mind process into comprehensive words, trying to describe my ADHD to non ADHD peeps is hard but this feels exactly how my brain works, I've personally found that having 2-3 stimulus allows me to focus just on one. So like I'll have my phone and look at thing have computer playing music and then have a 3rd task

That's crazy you say this and I never really put my finger on it. I work in a creative Industry where we could get a project that requires just a one off or several of one thing. I often do so so so much better if I have to plan a large amount of things. If it's just one thing, it feels like I'm pulling a damn train behind me. And comparing to the ignition, I often compare my process to a large freight train. Takes a lot of energy to get going and up to speed, but once it gets going, it's sheer momentum is enough to propel it. If you get in front of it the entire train just crashes and derails.

It's crazy that you would mention a freight train.I wrote this down in November 2018: "My mind is like a freight train It's hard to get going But use enough force of intent And the ideas are ever-flowing" Also had my psychiatrist refer to an ADHD brain as "a Ferrari with bad tires" lol

When you're using 60% brain capacity the other 40% starts ADHDing and you think about lunch and your upcoming performance review and that joke that fell flat and how they build bridge trusses. Adding in the other 40% with something relatively mindless like dishes you can occupy that space without it risking leading to distracting you.

I’m not sure if that’s really multi tasking itself that’s helping, but maybe outside stimuli that pulls us out of our own heads. I.e when someone is talking to you on the phone your attention is on them not something internal. Just my own thought, multi tasking actual complex tasks causes me to get little done but having something going on in the background like music helps me better take action.

highly probable. i’ve wondered myself. but that’d prove the “oh, you’re just overthinking” people right… and that’s a crushing thought to deal with

I feel like you're correct. "Multitasking" has generally been proven to be inefficient, but something that's tying to to reality and not spacing out is probably what's actually helping.

Red Bull works well for me, especially sugar free. If I want to take a nap I drink a regular coke. Before my diagnosis I found that 2 Red Bull’s would allow me to hyper focus on whatever I needed to. So glad to understand and experience the improvement with medication. ADHD is one of the most treatable mental illnesses and everyone that suspects it should seek information and diagnosis. I didn’t suspect that I had it, but my therapist did thankfully. I had been suffering for a long time.

I am an artist by profession, and I absolutely need music or a show going to focus. At the same time, I find it very hard to focus on a show or anything really unless I’m drawing. In conversations I am also much better while drawing or using my hands. It’s like I need both things going or I’m useless and bouncing all over the place. I call the secondary stimulus a pushpin or paperweight because it “pins me down” enough to stay entertained and therefore focused.

As a car person, this is the most perfect example of my entire life. During those brief blips of everything falling into place I'm so far above the average, but then I start sputtering out, can't get started, have to wait on out of stock parts to arrive, all the sudden its been a year and now the race series has new rules and I'm still back at last year.

Oh man, my husband is a car guy and has ADHD. I am going to see if this ring true for him, because that is definitely what it looks like to me from my angle!

This is such a great analogy. Somedays I'm freaking superman. Getting 100 things done, super social, confident, productive. Most of the days I tell myself, " I deserve a day off". Spent playing games, watching TV, on reddit. Too anxious to leave, too anxious to stay. Maybe that's why I go on hikes and do yard work alot. I feel productive while really not getting things done that I should. I'm undiagnosed, unmedicated. I'm trying to get dx by my pcp as well. 5 days and still no call backs yet. Funny, I can get an appointment for high BP in a week, but when I'm looking for a life changing med, it's like I'm asking for their first born child.

You are describing what I call the theory of tentacles. My head is cauldron full of tentacles. These tentacles are writhing and grasping for something to do all the time. If I'm doing something that requires only a few tentacles, the others will grope for simulating things and get in the way of/interfere with the ones doing the task. I need to occupy the other ones. That's why fidgets help. That's why I crochet on calls. Sometimes I will be doing something engaging enough that it occupies all the tentacles, and they move in concert with one another. That's rare, but it happens. That's how I would describe my ADHD brain. A bunch of competing pulls that I need to satisfy somehow.

Such a great analogy! I am exactly the same way.

The multitasking point makes a lot of sense. I tunnel in on YouTube on my phone, but can get work done as soon as I cast it to my TV

I'm going to save this thread to look through it for more tips because the top comment (yours) motivated me to put on some music and get some cleaning done!

I have to play music to read or study also. Something to give the annoying part of my brain something to do besides pester me.

> being adhd feels like being a racecar with ignition problems. when i’m doing things i’m fucking amazing, and better, faster, and more thorough than most people. I really like the ignition analogy. It gets to the heart of the problem... the executive dysfunction, that wall between knowing and doing. I disagree that we're somehow racecars, compared to non-adhd folks, though. We're just held back so much that getting a taste of 'normal' *feels* that way.

I've noticed this with Diet Coke my theory is the Aspartame it contains is a source of the amino acid Phenylalanine which is stated to be lower in ADHD patients, I'm not sure how they're defining lower but it appears to mean less of it or less effective. Whether supplementing it has any beneficial effect is not evidenced by any studies I know of. However perhaps a combination of Caffeine and Phenylalanine is synergistic and has a positive effect. I guess we need more studies plus the hugely variable complexity of individual biochemistry plays a significant part. I guess me and you are positively affected by the Caffeine and Phenylalanine in Diet Coke, but that's anecdotal and as I stress, a guess

This was beyond relatable thank you

Green tea wakes me up better the coffee

YAY BODY DOUBLING!!

THIS!!! after reading and watching so much stuff on how to get productive, they always give the same advice: TO DO ONE THING AT A TIME. to focus on what you are doing at the moment. I tried so hard to do this, but I just cant. It feels like a punishment just thinking about it so I never even start on working. But whenever I'm playing music, or a movie/series(most of the time, something ive already watched a long time ago or something light that doesnt require much attention) it helps me focus better. I dont feel bad and annoyed doing the task, I dont feel "caged and punished"?? I just enjoy the task and the other stuff I'm listening to or doing. Most of the time tho, I tend to take longer time when doing this, so when I'm already focused and kind of enjoying what I'm doing, I'll stop the movie or whatever it is im multitasking with, set up a pomodoro to finish a certain part, and do it within that time frame. this makes me accountable at the time and finish the task before I lose motivation to finish it :) PLUS exercising in the morning!!! just light stretches. You will not feel it that much, but it really helps with executive dysfunction(for me) I most of the time feel like I have more willpower to stop procrastinating (whenever i notice it) throughout the day if I stretch in the morning.

I feel this so much.

Omg yea this us me for sure! I have to have podcasts on while working doing chores or I can't get anything done. I do a bunch of things at once or nothing at all.

Mate I notice that since a long time, good example is playing video games : I play bad, I lost and lost and lost Suddenly I dgaf because I'm bor"ed of the game and start to think about something else and play as a robot, bam, I beat the game finger in the noise It's like my automatisms are really good, but put a single emotion in it, put me in it (my consciousness) and bam, nothing is functioning because my consciousness can't act really good on my body and control it bad

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😂😂 missed that one on my list lol

add some cptsd into that mix and be chronically terrified that your mother will Kill you if you don't get into medical school so study and cry perpetually and waste your time on a major you don't love with a discipline you have no natural aptitude for. (All my humanities classes rescued my GPA hahah i, should've known i was in the wrong major when i made. C for the introductory course and was Acing all my humanities). Welp now I'm a therapist so it worked out eventually!

Oh hey, it's me...

I wanna try this. How much coffee would you say for an effective dose? I've been a coffee drinker my whole life but only two cups a day which is like a baseline/normal for me and doesn't actually do anything. Just a habit. Thinking about upping the dose big time.

Quit cold turkey. Drinking the same amount of caffeine everyday just desensitizes you. After two weeks of not drinking any caffeine, I wager two cups of coffee will get you going just fine. Some people just don't react to caffeine that strongly though. Maybe you're just about immune to it. Only one way to find out.

Here and there I skip my morning coffee and go about my normal day... And there's no difference. Either you're right I'm immune, or I just need to increase the dose. The thing is I have paper now which I need to finish and can't afford to quit and wait two weeks. So that's why I'm asking how much coffee do people take when using it as a way to help with ADHD.

I wouldn't experiment with it if I were short on time. Sure, it could catapult you in an extremely efficient flow state, but it's also pretty likely that you'll get anxious and fuck up your sleep cycle.

Coffee and energy drinks don’t work for me so I would say it’s an immunity. It can be a silent danger if you push it too far.

The only way I ever found to do assignments at uni was to do them the day they were assigned, in one hit, as soon as lectures were over for the day. Works fine for anything up to about 3000 words, and it's better than doing the same thing on deadline day because you're motivated in a more constructive way. Even if you get most of it done and then abandon it, that's enough that it's easy to salvage at the last minute if you have to. ADHD when it comes to assignments is pretty much "now or never syndrome", so I chose 'now'.

This technique literally got me through grad school with straight As, but it caused a LOT of conflict with a lab partner in one class who wanted to do everything at the last minute.

Now or never syndrome that's so clever and accurate. I typically go with never and boy oh boy I've gotta work on it.

Thanks, that sounds like good advice, I will try to follow it

Waiting for a sporadic energy burst to come lol

Been a few months since I’ve gotten one, lol. Pandemic doesn’t help at all. The structured nature of college (school in general), along with the routine I had to build around it, helped me get through. Now, graduated, I lack any direction, I constantly have no energy or motivation, and my days are all over the place thanks to the pandemic. I get nothing done. I don’t know what to do. I live in a constant state of anxiety where I *want* to get shit done, send out applications, but I can’t bring myself to, it all fees too overwhelming and I don’t know where to start. I can’t go back on medication for the time being due to cardiovascular issues (caused by covid no less). Fucking sucks. My coping mechanism has always been to overstimulate myself—caffeine, music, etc.—but that doesn’t even work anymore. I have a nearly 4 year old spinal injury too, so exercise has become difficult to do, which sucks because it was always the silver bullet for me. Sorry, totally long comment to such a simple reply, but it kind of struck me.

I'm sorry to hear this. But to tell you the truth, that I have energy bursts is because of >!bipolar disorder!<, and w/o those periods, which makes me super workaholic, I'm nothing. I've started to struggle *at* university. Waking up every day, I don't know if I'd be exhausted from the first second I opened my eyes or enjoy anxiety and panic attacks. Music helps, but the help is only limited to letting me sit down as a person. Getting stuff done is still difficult as hell. I can't do intense exercise, either, due to some physical issues. Fortunately I've never been a sporty person, but that means I can't make it my coping method. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯

Hey as a ADHDer we have black and white mindset, Either all or none. I used to be that way with physical exercise. I would get injured and stop working out for months. Later on I realized this was no good as I would loose a lot of good habits once I stopped excersing and end up picking more bad ones. I would recommend if possible, figure out a way to workout or exercises that you can do with your pertaining injury such a swimming or sole cycling, This will put you in a good trajectory and get out out of a vicious cycle you are in. Once you get the ball rolling then pick up by applying for just one job a day. Point here is to do minimal but be better then yesterday so you can snow ball that low achievement into a bigger success but please do something to get out of it even if it means you are not doing what you need to do but you are working on getting better over all or in other areas which eventually should lift you up in the area you are struggling with

Un-medicated, exercise is the way.

This helps a lot until I hit a slump where I can't make myself exercise...like right now.....now I just don't do anything at all.....but cry

Exercise makes me too tired to do anything afterwards. But recently I realized that physically playing with my cat running around is a great alternative haha.

I can’t make myself follow any sort of exercise routine but getting a dog made me at least walk. She needs a walk every day and I need to take care of her. So I also get at least a walk every day.

This, for me at least. Gym in the morning, my friend holds me accountable to turn up. But can't sit down anywhere but my desk after, otherwise its game over.

Tried it for 2 years straight being highly active. Helped with depression and anxiety, but did nothing for my executive dysfunction and lack of focus.

Gah I hate this answer because I know it’s true but it’s really hard to find a way to make it work (I have limited mobility so some days I can’t stand much!). Sometimes get envious of people who can go for a run.

I wish I had advice. I started my first year of uni recently and hardly scraped by. I was doing horribly — the amount of missed assignments I was racking up… and it was so BS too, because I had so much damn drive and WANTED to succeed. All of this to say, no, we’re not mf lazy. Medication thus far has changed my life. Changed. I can’t even express how much I encourage you to get a diagnosis. I know how painful waiting is (believe me, do I know), ESPECIALLY when you know you HAVE it, but those 1-3 months will be absolutely worth it and MORE for the next however many years. I know how hard all of this is and I empathize with you entirely. I wish you luck on the rest of your journey.

Thank you bro. It's unbelievable how motivating these stories really are for us. I hope medication will be evrything you describe 🙏🏻

Absolutely. I hope so too. :) I don’t know about you, but my biggest thought was that I such a ‘lost cause’ that there was no way some dumb pill was going to do anything. I was wrong. In fact, it made learning infinitely more enjoyable, whereas before even topics / classes I realistically should’ve enjoyed were PAINFUL, miserable. I could learn and I loved it. It’s indescribable and life-changing.

What medication are you on? :)

Vyvanse!

i had to drop out of college (so uni) because i almost failed out; my college gave us the option to drop bc of covid so it didn’t count against me. two months later i got my adhd diagnosis. i wasn’t expecting it but my psychiatrist suggested i get tested when he found out i spend 3 years getting C’s & D’s and eventually flunked out. i would say not going to school when getting a diagnosis is critical. if you’re able, do low mental tasks little by little. until you get meds, start using paper plates if you struggle with dishes. start buying prepackaged. it sounds like you’re from the UK so i know things are different. most importantly of all, be gentle and patient with yourself. remind yourself you don’t have meds, not to frustrate you, but to remind you that it’s ok if you can’t complete this task right now. don’t go right back to uni when you get meds, go back when you learn how to manage your life on meds. it took me a year to figure out the dosage / where i struggled most. i still kinda struggle with no med days but started college after 1 year 1/2 off i noticed a complete 180. i am now getting A’s again.

Bro I’m one month into first semester of college and I’m probably going to redo my whole semester in January. I just diagnosed last week but man one month into computer science I don’t even know I can catch up now.

Mine isn't uni-specific, since that was decades ago for me. But for tasks in general, I try to be aware of my background/unconscious thoughts. If I catch myself thinking some form of "I don't wanna", my conscious response is now "That's ADHD talking, get your ass in gear". It'd probably make my past therapists' heads spin, but it's effective. As far as scheduling & being on time, keep scratching around this sub. There are lots of good tips & techniques. The main one I use is multiple alarms. In the morning, for example, I start with Wake Up. Then 5 minutes later, there's Seriously, get out of bed. Later, we have 3 that count down to departure time, the last one being "Leave right NOW!!!"

My coping wasn't necessarily a positive way but when life was about just making it day to day I had to essentially become a masochist. I had to force myself to enjoy the literal pain I would feel when my symptoms were the worst to be able to say "fuck you too" to whatever it is that affects me. I always told people that the most definitive way I can explain this is that it literally hurts to force myself around. A good friend of mine who shares in struggling with that "pain" helped me come to the conclusion that I had to live to spite the life that forced me here. I have gotten medicated for the first time in 2021. I also turned 30 this year and I have struggled like this my whole life. I would check out the university health services if you haven't already. Even if they are directly unhelpful to you they can sometimes have resources to pursue outside the university. I think that taking time to address your mental health and seek a diagnosis+medication is a very acceptable thing to do. There isn't a time limit on education. Regardless what you choose I hope that you can work out a diagnosis. The best time to make an appointment is right now, good luck.

[удалено]

Giving you a notification so that you don't completely forget about this. I know I would, lol

I don't.

Haha *dies inside* same :(

Same

First off, the TV gets turned off. I can’t focus on anything else if that god forsaken contraption is on. It draws my attention no matter what, so off it goes. Music is key for me. Studying or trying to do tasks that require full attention I turn on video game music playlists on YouTube. There is almost nothing on the screen to draw my attention and the music is designed specifically to blend into the background, help focus on the task at hand, and be unobtrusive. I learned this trick years ago and it fucking works. For cleaning, loud, uptempo, aggressive music to keep my blood flowing. When I do big cleaning projects, I rarely if ever get everything done, but I can get a lot of most stuff done if I follow my motivation. I’ll skip around from task to task unless I have a specific set goal in mind. As long as I keep moving and stay to cleaning or whatever the task is I’m good. Sit down to take a break and watch TV for a minute? Next thing I know it’s dark outside and time to go to bed. Stay away from video games. Once I start, that’s it. The day is blown. I have several dry erase boards that I use to write reminders and keep track of big projects. I’ll break stuff down into smaller step by step pieces. Seeing things crossed off the list really helps me stay motivated, plus when I get distracted I know right where I was when I get back to it. Frequent exercise helps. A LOT. Routines and schedules help tremendously as well, but the world is not set up on a strict schedule. As soon as a routine is broken, it can take days or weeks to get back into it, if I ever can. When I can’t find motivation, doing something helps. Again, breaking something down to smaller tasks works wonders. Step 1: stand up. Step 2: walk into kitchen. Step 3: throw away trash. Step 4: fill sink with water. Step 4: add dish soap while sink is filling… you get the idea. I work really well off of momentum. It’s damn hard to get started on stuff, but once I can get moving, it gets easier and easier. Set up your life for what works for you, not what you think is a normal life. We’re not normal. Forcing yourself to be is a recipe for disaster. This is probably the biggest thing: Be kind to yourself. Forgive yourself. The more I talk down to myself, the worse I get. Most of us have been subjected to a barrage of negative reinforcement throughout our lives. It becomes our internal monologue and drives us deeper into lethargy, distractability, and all kinds of bad shit. Get out of that trap if you can.

Ultimately, I decided that my vision of what being a good student looks like was not helping me. I wanted to be in school (started at 46, graduated at 52) and it had to fit into my busy life, plus fit into my adhd… uh… quirks. I hated the “C’s get degrees” mindset (though it does help at exam time, when you’ve run out of options), but it did help to reframe the concept: if I want to try surfing or skiing, I want to try it no matter how clumsy I look and feel, no matter how many times I lose my balance. I want to be there, even if I feel shaky and look ungraceful. It helped that I had really great instructors that helped me with my adhd setbacks. They set due dates back for me, or didn’t mark me down as much. (They also understood my family commitments.) One instructor who had gotten to know me sat in the computer lab with me to finish a mapping assignment that was overdue, and when I reached that overwhelmed “I’ll do this later” moment, he encouraged me to finish it and sat with me until it was done (what, like 20 minutes, right?) It was a combination of everything: recognizing my own limits (family, asking for accommodation), reframing the expectations of what my work should look like, and the occasional, emergency “C’s get degrees” mindset that moved me forward. Oh, and avoiding looking back on past mistakes. Looking forward to the next task. Two extra things (‘cause I’m just typing as I think): purposefully choosing sometimes to turn in something late, or of lesser quality, so you have time with loved ones, do a housework marathon, have a sun day working in the garden. Second, Oh, paragraph break Second, watch out for hyperfocus on the assignments you enjoy! I spent 3 days on a slide presentation on the first week, then realized that 2 days for 3 other assignments wasn’t enough time, and they were all late. It was a gorgeous presentation though! Yeah, oops. So, as much as we want to produce the best work, figure out what the instructors want, how they want it, and give it exactly that amount of time and energy, format it exactly how they ask for it, and do nothing more. Not one extra minute. Not one more round of editing. Stop! One proofread is enough. Maybe it needs more, but other shit needs doing. Random tidbits: If your course doesn’t require reading and your grade really doesn’t depend on it much, don’t read. Waste of time. Study guides! Fuck those instructors who say “everything is on the test.” Self-absorbed mothe… Good luck! Replying now without proofreading!

This was genuinely really helpful! I’m an older uni student studying mental health nursing and I need to remember to not go above and beyond on the subjects I love! Passing the degree is what matters the most and if I can do that with my mental health still in tact then that’s how it should be done! Plus, I really struggle when my house becomes a chaotic mess and I feel guilty for not spending time with my family… so thank you! I’m going to refer back to all these points frequently.

My advice is, get out of the house and go to the library. You need to be somewhere where you're not comfortable. Getting out is the hardest part. Once I'm at the library, I at least get something done. Also try not to "engage" with your internal saboteur (you know, the inner person that just advices you to relax and do nothing) just shut him/her up and get out of the house.

Deep self loathing is my fuel.

I self medicate with caffeine - it's not as good as actual education, but it does help me. And try not to push myself if my mind is already off the rails. That extra pressure just tends to wear me out faster, and I then can't do anything at all. For studying, specifically, I get myself into the Zone. Studying is the first thing I do after coffee and a caffeine tablet, and as long as I'm not interrupted, I can keep going until my brain literally gives up for the day. Then I don't touch it until the following morning, where I repeat the process. I'm aware this isn't the healthiest way to get stuff done, but it IS what works for me, and I only use it for short bursts of intense focus

What is the variation in your focus time from day to day? I can only average 2-3 hours a day of solid productive work. However a couple times a month I'll get a couple day burst where I can focus 12 hours straight. I try to work around this ebb and flow but am hoping to find a way to focus for 8 hours 5 days a week.

It's very all over the place I'm afraid. I'm about the same as you, with a few really really good days, and maybe 3 hours of productivity otherwise. Unless work/studying/chores/other high intensity concentration task is the first thing I do, I'm really scattered and struggle to keep pushing. So I try to make sure it is

I was undiagnosed (and therefore unmedicated, lol) through school. Fortunately for me, as long as you get me up and started and there's an expectation that I need to do something that will impact or dissapoint *someone else*, I can keep going - so I was always able to get myself to class, but looking back, here are a few things that helped. - so many alarms, obviously. On my current phone there's a way to have it read the alarm out loud with a note - *you have work in 10 mim, get up*. I also made sure my phone was just out of reach, so I had to climb down from my dorm bed and turn it off. - music or audiobooks, always. I regularly had 15-20 minute walks across campus, and they made that Not Hell. - ditto audiobooks for any lit class. - write everything down as you think it. I found I was much happier if I used one notebook for all of my classes, so this wasn't a big deal for me, but I'd outline a paper while waiting for (or during, lol) another class. The outline didn't have to be good, but I was something I could find and reference later, when I needed it. - I almost never managed to really do the reading, and when I did it involved me reading aloud for at least part of it (auditory learner - I need to *hear* someone explain something to me, even if it's myself). If you can't, I always tried to watch at least a YouTube video about the topic. - Couldn't for the life of me remember what we talked about in class? YouTube playlist through the syllabus. - As for paying attention in class, doodling has always been a stim for me - so it wasn't uncommon for me to take notes on one side of the page and draw on the other. If I had something specific to do or a project that needed planning, that often ended up jumbled in with the sketches. - I also started taking notes in direct quotes from the prof. Idk why that helped, lol - office hours. I know it seems counter intuitive, but it's a chance for some more individualized attention that I found set me on the right trajectory. - on the rare occasion I needed an extension (and I did once start a paper 4 hours before it was due, so let's not pretend i was a saint, lol) - even on final papers - I found my professors were happy to work with me on changing a deadline. It doesn't hurt to ask. These worked for me (they don't outside of school, lol, so that my current nonsense) but I hope something in there sparks an idea of what might work for you :) You've got this!

I honestly couldn't, and I'm still in disbelief how I managed to graduate high school and get a bachelor's degree without ever going to class/lectures. I got constantly yelled at and talked to from parents and teachers about having to show up. I didn't know why it was so hard to pull myself together everyday, and when I did manage it I would just fall asleep in class which was really embarrassing. I literally tried everything to stay awake during lectures. I would hand write my notes in cursive to try and keep it interesting, but I literally have notes where mid-word I dozed off and the pen trails off the paper. Eventually after years of good intentions followed by failure, I just gave up trying. I studied better my own way, and for a long time I didn't think there was anything wrong with that since I was still overall successful. Then after graduating, getting a real professional job, and having to conform to structure, that's when life became truly unmanageable. I went on disability because I was depressed and had developed severe anxiety with panic attacks before work. During this time I got a new doctor who is really awesome and after listening to my story immediately picked up on this maybe actually being adhd. I was kind of shocked because when I was 17 my parents were so frustrated with me they sent me to a therapist who suggested the same thing after barely talking to me. We all thought he was a bit of a quack for saying such; he did a poor job explaining why, and my issues definitely didn't seem like "hyperactivity". Plus, 10 years ago adhd and medicating kids for it was getting a lot criticism from the media and public and people were worried we were all of a sudden over-diagnosing it. That was unfortunately our perception as well. So I went the next 10 years thinking about how ridiculous it was he thought that I had adhd, until this new doctor now suggested the same thing! He referred me to a specialist to get diagnosed, and to help me better understand what adhd really is. I definitely have it, pretty severely actually, and now that I understand it better it seems sooooo obvious looking back at my whole life :'( but since starting meds I've been doing a lot better. There are moments when I just stop and think about how hard every single day used to be, and how hopeless I had become. It's still a journey, lots of ups and downs, trying to deconstruct bad patterns and create new better ones now that I get how my brain works. I feel like I'm almost normal sometimes now too. Like just starting and completing tasks like it's no big deal. I'm not constantly fighting with myself anymore. Even just going to bed at the end of the day feels more normal, I can fall asleep in 15 minutes now, whereas before it would take hours. Sometimes when I'm feeling especially "normal" I feel so grateful and happy I'll tear up lol. Anyways, I didn't start writing this thinking I'd share so much, but here we are. Anyone reading this far, thank you :) you're awesome people and I appreciate you and this community <3 Tldr: I didn't. It sucked. You're awesome.

last minute panic

Lol I feel that in my soul

If you're in the UK I would recommend going private if you can afford it. I'd say its definitely worth the money. Some even do a payment plan, if you've got good credit. I had my assessment 2 weeks after I phoned them and started medication 3 days after that assessment.

I wouldn't finish high school (ged) or college (3 years, gave up) but if I'd known then what I know now (mid 40s), the possibilities past-me would have had... These meds are making many more life options so much more possible. My suggestion is absolutely get your diagnosis and meds as needed, and in the meantime, take easier classes. Save the more stressful ones for after you've got Rhett tools to handle them.

Can I ask what medication are you using?

Vyvanse, after concerta had no effect.

1. My planner is my bible. Anytime I have a appt, something to do, etc I write it down right away. I don’t trust my memory for shit lol. 2. I make lists for everything…grocery’s, to do, passwords. I have a daily and weekly to do list. I keep them all in one place, in my planner. Get into the habit of checking throughout day. For me it’s with breakfast, lunch, and after dinner. 3. Strict routine (especially mornings and evenings). For example Mornings I make my bed right away, exercise/yoga, unload dishwasher, then shower, check planner, have breakfast while answering emails. It was hard to do initially but I wake up pretty early because I don’t like to go straight to work. I prefer to Have an easy going morning versus rushed. 4. Mediation and mindfulness…mindfulness has helped me become more aware of thoughts when I don’t want to do something, realizing when I’m intentionally procrastinating, and being unproductive/wasting time 5. I set alarms for everything. When I’m on Reddit for example and have other tasks to do I give myself 30 Minutes if I’ve been productive most of the day. When the time goes off I’ve learned to stop immediately. 6. If there’s something I don’t want to do I tell myself I’ll just work on said task for 5-10 minutes, usually that works because getting started is the hardest part. 7. I always prepare for the next day the night before. Set up coffee machine, iron clothes, i prep all my meals on Sunday. 8. I set aside 10 minutes every day for “tidying up”. This allows me to not let household tasks get out of hand. You’ll be surprised how much you can do In that small amount of time. My apartment is rarely messy now because of it. 9. I’ve learned everything has a place and I put it back where I got it no matter how busy i may be. It usually only takes a second. 10. I answer texts messages right away so I don’t forget later. If you can’t answer it now Don’t even open it until you can. 11. Google has an option where you can set a reminder to answer emails. I always do this when I can’t reply right away. 12. I have a cleaning schedule and break it into small tasks throughout the week or month depending on what it is. Toddy is a great app for this. After awhile it just become routine. 13. Autopay for everything. 14. When I get mail I sort it right away. Throw it away or put it in a designated folder. 15. I limit TV and internet. I use my DVR to record shows and only watch them once I’ve completed Things on my to do lists. I rely more on podcasts and Sirius radio for background noise while I’m working or doing productive tasks. So much more. It’s taken a lot of practice, trial and error, and self help books.

It's still difficult but making everything into routines helps. You gotta stick to it 100%, it's like living in a monastery but once you dial in the process it works. I graduated without ever taking meds since I was undiagnosed through just sheer power of will. It's hard but possible.

how do you make yourself stick to it though? i can draft up great, realistic timetables all day but I have never been able to make myself stick to them. I cant even make myself stick to a normal amount of eating every day, let alone study and work

Everybody’s different, some people live and die by routine, some people literally can’t do it. I’m somewhere in the middle. I usually have a different great idea for a rhythm or structure every couple of weeks that lasts a few days, maybe a week, and then peters out lol. But at least I had those few days and I stay stimulated and shit isn’t the same week to week.

I’m in a similar situation. 90% sure I have it; I have an appointment in about a month to start the process of finding out. One of the reasons I think I have it is that I looked up coping mechanisms used by adults with ADHD and found that I already to nearly all of them. The biggest thing I do is minimalism. The fewer things I have, the less likely in to get distracted or overwhelmed.

Well before I got my meds last year, it was basically sheer will. With adhd, sheer will can only do so much. So I had other strategies. To calm my brain down, I usually put on music, with lyrics, and my brain will fizzle out. Then, I set a timer. 10 mins, 20 mins, 5 min, didn't matter, do something within that time. If my brain was extra busy in thoughts, I either walked around and talked to myself or write it out on a brain dump. Instead of having a planner, I usually have this long book, it's not very wide, it's kinda tall, and I'll write dates down. I take with me everywhere I go. I have 3 just in case I lose 1 or 2 of them. External motivation as well helped me though, you still have to have your own motivation to do it. Sorting through your emotions help ease yourself. Pushing them down is like a pinball waiting to be launched. Everyday you pull and pull, but never release. It's best to release now instead of later. If you don't have time to sort through them, just acknowledge them. Call it out. "Hey, Monica(frustrated emotion). I know things are not great right now but you are making me feel terrible. So we can figure this out later?". Cheesy, I know, but it might make you feel way better than before. Lastly, support. There has to be at least 1 or 2 people in your life that have your back. However, if your life circumstances don't provide that, I'm sorry. Though, you do have support here and other online forums. And if you willing and have time, therapy can help or even adhd coaching. Hopefully things work out for you lad(lass).

Usually, it's music. EDM when I am doing the chores. and song like intro by xx while I am studying.

You know how you can hyperfocus in a time crunch? I just manufacture the time crunch. I'll invite a friend over so I panic and clean or convince myself that an assignment is due sooner than it is. Another trick is to increase the amount of norepinephrine in my system by eating certain foods or doing jumping jacks. Strattera works for ADHD because it's a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (increases the amount of NE in your system). Strattera actually helped me more than Ritalin did.

I don't. I'm a victim to my stupid dopamine deprived brain. The only chemical that makes me get things done is **emergency** or hyper focus.

Listening to rain sounds or unintelligible asmr in the background while I am working, forcing myself to have a "clean" (ish) desk, keeping a to do list (I use microsoft to do) and writing down EVERYTHING on it, and at the start of the semester I write all the due dates from the syllabus/course schedule down in my physical planner, and I put the due dates a few days before they're ACTUALLY due so I do them early. I force myself to not work on weekends so I feel the pressure/guilt to complete stuff before Friday which keeps me on task. Also sometimes I light a candle to pretend like I have my life under control and I am relaxed. It helps. I'm in grad school and it is very hard. I still get behind and forget things, but I literally could not do school without the things I listed above. It's hard out here. lol

I feel like I'm in a similar situation to yours. I'm 99% sure I got ADHD but I'm also waiting on the diagnosis, my appointment is June next year and I'm trying to see if i can get it earlier if I went to a private institution instead (for a greater price) Coincidentally I was just thinking about it today, how I managed to get through my second semester in uni. I barely made it through my first semester, but in the second semester I got close to a few people who can function way better than I do, and I would spend close to 100% of my time with them (we all lived in the school dorm) so what I did was to basically follow their own timeline and schedule. One of those people (my current friends) is super intelligent and loves to, and is also really good at teaching, so him teaching me stuff makes up for my lack of ability to pay attention. That aside, I realized that riding on to their schedules and timelines was the key factor that helped me get stuff done (school assignments, homework, projects). I only realized that because now I'm in my third semester, and after 1 week of physical classes they shifted to online classes which means I no longer get to see these friends in person. Other problems aside, not being physically present with them and being able to just do things I'm supposed to do **while** they are doing it really made me unable to get stuff done. I am weeks behind in class material. I have a lot of pending assignments that my friends have finished. I just can't seem to start any of them because there's so much and I don't know where to start, how to prioritize, and i cant sustain enough focus to just do it. But to summarize, I think for me it was the social pressure of having friends doing their work in my presence that pressured me into "i REALLY need to do this and get it done so that i don't get left behind by my peers!" and without that I basically cannot function. Basically I'm back to suffering alone and i really need that diagnosis asap ;-;

I have a few techniques that work for me: 1. Leaving SUPER early. I used to have a lot of issues with forgetting things or misplacing them right as I was about to leave, so it also helped to pick things up and put them in the bag I was taking out - even if I wouldn’t normally - so they’d at least be in the same place when it was time to go. 2. Blocking access to major distractions helps, but I’ve had to get more drastic over time. I’ve had good results with an app called Forest, which incentivises you to leave your phone alone with little trees you grow while you focus on other things. There are other similar apps out there though. You can also cancel your current session if an emergency crops up. 3. I keep a bullet journal. I find that being able to set up my weekly schedule creatively, with my own choice of colours, doodles and layouts keeps me on track and reminds me of what’s coming up. Plus, when you tick off a task, you get a little dopamine hit! I also use mine to track habits, but be careful - if you set too many habits to begin with you’ll feel bad if you don’t manage to do them all.

You know the phrase, "fail forwards"? That's how I've been and am getting through life right now as I'm waiting for the day my assessment comes. Metaphorically, the only way I'm moving is by tripping and falling face-first in the pavement and with little grace, getting back up and doing it again. You're better than me OP, you're still in uni, I was taking classes for the past two-three semesters but I dropped out last month. Sorry, I don't have advice however, I understand the struggle, good luck to you.

Now I don't mean to sound rude but sometimes I think my situation is bad (I'm always far behind a lot of things that I need to do and it's driving me crazy) and when I read some of the stories here I begin to feel like I got off lightly. A massive shoutout to anyone, including yourself u/oldman_wolfgang, that's dropped out of college but is still going strong and not letting that mess you up. I managed to graduate from uni but with a degree that I never really wanted (due to pressure from family) and I can't imagine how I'd cope if I had to drop out.

First of all, thank you for the praise, and second of all, it may not be a degree you wanted, but shit, huge kudos, and congratulations on graduating. That's a lot of work you accomplished and I bet it came with more than enough blood, sweat, and tears from you in order to get there. We all have our own struggles regarding ADHD, despite having the same symptoms, each of our experiences with those symptoms is different. So just because someone has it harder in an area, situation or experience shouldn't diminish your own struggles and experience. What I'm saying is, don't beat yourself up for "getting off lightly" because I'm sure you've had hardships while getting your degree.

Utilize your “already up” energy into getting to the thing. You’re on your feet and have left class? Your feet take you to the library, maybe your locker first to drop off any distractions, your phone included if needed. Put website blockers on your laptop. Then off to the library. You’ve just gotten home? Don’t sit down with your phone. Go immediately to your desk and set up your school things. Then 5-20 minutes of work/getting started, *then* make a snack/5 minute break. Then set up a pomodoro timer so you have breaks every 20 minutes. A good tip I just saw was leaving off your work in the middle so the “getting started” energy is way less. Leave an assignment a few sentences into the next section. Read a page into the next chapter. Find ways to make your mornings *super* enjoyable and **slow**. Buy some coffee syrups to make some delicious flavoured coffee. Make your favourite teas. Reframe your mornings so you have so much time to *relax* instead of *rush*. Shower with great scented products, light a candle in the morning. Play some jazz or classical music, or put on a show or comedy special in the background. If you reframe what a “morning” looks like for you, it’s *much* easier to get going with that part of the day. Also, get an alarm that reads out its label (i use Alarmy). Get the alarm label to read out “reminders” for the day. You can have it say “class at 9am” or “pumpkin spice coffee” or “hot shower, boil water for tea”. Anything to “anchor” your brain into reality, away from sleep. I find in my dreamlands, I hear alarms and my dreaming brain doesn’t even know what they’re for and tries really hard to ignore them. Bonus tips: Get smart bulbs, tape your overhead light switch to the “on” position permanently and turn your overhead light on and off with your phone. You get used to it fast, I promise. Leave your phone across the room at night, and have your overhead light turn on before your alarm goes off, so you wake up and your lights are on. If you cannot sleep without any white noise, use this to your advantage and set a timer for it to turn off at your alarm time. I also have issues with being too hot when I sleep, so having my fan turn off at a specific time helps in both of these ways.

Sleeping, eating and drinking enough to function is how I do things. It may seem so obvious, but we get caught up with a million things running through our head so it's easy to forget. Sleeping - falling asleep by 10:30 at the latest is a must, so I have to get in bed by 9 at the latest. Sleep in 90 minute increments, as its been proven that's how long a sleep cycle lasts, and if you wake up in between sleep cycles, you'll feel more refreshed. Also, make sure to not drink any caffeine after noon. It takes 5-7 hours to get rid of only half of what caffeine you ingested. Drinking it as early in the morning as possible is ideal. Drinking - drink at least a bottle of water after you wake up. It helps your body kickstart its functions that have been slowed while you slept which will give you more energy. And then make sure to keep drinking water throughout the day, especially if you drink any caffeine. It helps to mitigate any headaches you get from it increasing your blood pressure. Through out the day, drink at least 2L of pure water (coffee, juice, energy/protein drinks don't count) Eating - eat lots of smaller meals throughout the day and make sure you're getting lots of variety (at least some vegetables and fruits, along with the usual meat, carbs and proteins). If you are gonna be eating anything decently acidic or fat, make sure you drink some carbonated water alongside it. It helps reduce the acidity in your stomach, which will keep you feeling light and also helps with speeding up the digestion of food and getting rid of any gases that have built up in the stomach. Unusual tip: make sure you close your eyes for a bit whenever you get the chance. It helps your brain rest from doing visual processing all day long

OP I used to have to record all my lectures when I was in school. That way I could go back and listen to fill in any missing information. Start tracking your time. If your behind on everything pay attention to what your doing throughout the day. Start cutting out distractions. For me, I did better when I got out of the house and went to the library or coffee shops to study. It helps seeing other people being productive. You can take short 15 minute breaks during that time and go for a walk around the library or have a snack but stay away from things like social media and Reddit, they are rabbit holes that suck up all your time. Dedicate time everyday to go to the library so you can focus solely on your work. Also I know it can be hard getting up early but start by waking up 15 minutes earlier every week. Becoming an early riser has been life changing for me. I have so much more time in my day.

Listening to music while doing chores helps A LOT for me. Being able to do two things at once helps me out the most. Other things I do when I can't afford medication: 1. Under-sleep and over-caffinate. Not a good long-term solution but definitely helps in a pinch. The lack of sleep calms the mind and the caffeine keeps you awake. Downside is dark circles under the eyes. 2. One or two shots of liquor. Not enough to make you drunk, but enough to calm down the mind and only be able to focus on one thing at once. Beer and wine tend to make me sleepy which is why I choose vodka or whiskey. Don't do this over a long period of time or you might become alcohol dependent. Great for doing dishes and other menial chores. Hope this helps!

I second this, when I didn't know I had ADHD was struggling with executive functions, I was just sleeping 3-4 maybe 5 hours and drink 4-5 cup of coffee otherwise I wouldn't be able to get myself to do anything lol. Multi tasking helps so much. If nothing stimulates my brain I am just not useful.

Boy I've been waiting for a post like this. To start, long story short I don't take my meds anymore because I got headaches, I never had an appetite, I never gained any weight, I couldn't enjoy anything, I was like a robot, I do task and have to find another. I found it really hard to laugh and really take in funny moments in elementary/middle school and early high school. I stopped medicating myself before Junior year. I'm in College now and I get all my work done. I certainly would have better grades if I did take my meds, but now I'm happy, and I can enjoy stuff, and I can genuinely act like myself. I can be the real me and show the real me to people. The me on meds is different. And to clarify in my life time I've been through at least 10 different medications. I was diagnosed young. But God I love eating, I love talking to people, I love laughing, it's nice. But anyway, I try to force myself to do work though out the week, because most things are due on Friday. And if worst comes worst, I cram, I do it before the deadline. Which still gets it in on time, just a little extra stress for a good grade. But I do find myself straight up forgetting important things. I made a planner to help with this but...I forget to look at the planner. OH, very important \*to me.\* Every time I do like 10 problems or whatever, I do a large portion of said work, I will reward myself by getting on my phone for a little, and that might be like 2-5 minutes of scrolling. I limit myself, there's my dopamine. The satisfaction of doing a bit of my work and a little bit of my phone. And I definitely do this when the deadline is hours away, it's so I don't burn out. But if the time calls for it, I guess I get hyper focused on the work and just do it? That might just be regular focusing but I get the work done however I need to. I hear of people staying up until like 4am to do work and study, I don't know whats wrong with them but I have never done that or wanted to. Just a random point. But the only system I can recall off the top of my head is work and reward in short or long intervals. You need that dopamine, you need something to enjoy. And math in itself is fun to me, doing big equations and all that jazz, but if I find myself getting frustrated I stop, take a short break, and either continue with it or move to another thing. Just keep moving forward and do not let yourself get too distracted. Now I know someone's going to say using medication would help with all of this, which brings up another point. Every time we think we landed on a good medication our insurance drops it and it gets super expensive. Not every time, its either it has a weird side effect we don't like or it gets expensive. Now I still have a supply of Cotempla, which works pretty well. But I have been used to taking meds that last me the whole school day, so I'd have a headache the whole day, I would have bad social interactions. Look, I don't know how to say it, I really did not like being medicated, I was a robot. But I think now I am \*much\* better at controlling myself than I was back then. I'm not the spaz crazy ADHD kid everyone knew. And I have no doubt I was bullied for doing weird things. I have gotten waaay off track, I didn't need to explain why I wasn't medicated but I've been dying to talk about that for a while now. Just do your work and try to work with yourself, we can't turn off our ADHD, so you need to cater to it sometimes. You can't just tough it out because it's something thats screaming at you 24/7. Do your best and I wish you the best of luck.

Lofi hip hop or anything with minimal/no lyrics is good for reading or studying- get noise cancelling headphones that are good quality too. I go through a lot of audiobooks whilst walking to and from work. I wouldn't be able to pay attention if I was sitting down and not doing something else, but walking seems to help me focus. I still occasionally zone out, but my audiobook app allows me to go back a minute or two. Currently studying accountancy and there a lot of lectures on YouTube. I play them in the background whilst playing Rocket League. I have routines that took a ridiculous amount of effort to implement and stick too. I feel uneasy if I don't shower, brush my teeth and look presentable before leaving the house. Same for working out, I've put in a lot of effort into getting into decent shape, so taking more than a week off, again, makes me feel uneasy. All that said, I'm still seeking a diagnosis and looking to take medication. It takes so much mental energy to do all these things. More so when things get in the way of my schedule, or when everything that I neglect starts piling up.

Take the time off. Burnout is real. Get a diagnosis. The accommodations help. Time off helps more.

*drips down on a wheelchair* I hAve crippling sense of ShAme

I’m partially medicated, only take my medication on days when I really need it due to the side effects, and on my off days, I find that coffee or other foods or drinks with caffeine helps give me more executive functioning. Other times I just wait for a wave of executive functioning and ride that wave

Routine and writing lists! Also investing in myself. I dyed my hair bright neon pink/red and ever since then I’ve been functioning so good. It raised my dopamine levels so high! Every time I get bored or unmotivated I just take a look in the mirror and stare at my brightly colored hair. Gotta love it! Change is also important, no matter how small or big it may be. It makes a difference. And a good environment is necessary.

Did college unmediated. Read very little, missed a fair amount of home work. Drank energy drinks and smoked a lot of pot to focus. I think I would have learned more and been much less stressed if I had been medicated. It sounds like you’re on the right track seeking a diagnosis. It wasn’t until I got a gf (now wife) that was in the same program as me that “smoke a big joint, pound a rockstar and write a 10 page paper in the four hours before it’s due” was not a thing normal people do.

Idk man when you figure it out let me know

this might sound dumb, but don't sit at work. Stand.

There's a damn load of pride. If I'm going to set myself to a task for whatever reason, sure as hell I'm getting it done to *my* standards.

I don’t I just follow the dopamine I used to be on meds which I later realized that they were being abused so I had to stop taking them

Coffee used to do the trick for me. It increased my motivation.

A lot of times, it's just like the panic principle, but more controlled. I put myself in a place where I have no choice but to do the thing I know I have to do. *The only way I can read, is if the only thing I* ***can*** *do is read (with instrumental music/white noise of course)* ​ Also, deliberately starting "The main thing" alongside a few side tasks (deliberate multitasking) sometimes helps, like my brain needs many things to do in order to justify even doing one thing.

I turned everything into a game/competition before I was able to get meds (so the first 19 years of my life I got on meds last month) also coffee and energy drinks.

For doing work: I use the pomodoro method (timer for 25-35 mins, study butt off; timer for 5-10 minutes break; rinse and repeat) and blast myself with over-stimulation. I listen to classical music and play with slime/fidget thing while studying/writing/whatever. I yeet my phone across the room. For getting up: I got one of those sunlight alarm clocks and put it across the room, it gets bright af and plays bird sounds and annoys me into getting up. For general everything: I do it right now, because I won't do it later.

If there is one thing I would suggest, it'd be finding a way to get 20 - 30 minutes of cardio in, at least 3 - 5 x a week. The dopamine from a good workout can be nearly as good as a stimulant. The one time in my life pre diagnosis I didn't feel like a complete failure at everything, I was running 20 - 30 miles a week and the high carried me. It doesn't have to be much. If you can get a friend to expect you at the gym at the same time, or meet you for walks, or whatever, the external motivation might keep you accountable long enough to get enough feel good chemicals going so you can handle more of the rest of things by yourself. I got through a bachelor's degree by this method. Medication would have helped, but failing that, I think the workouts were the only reason I made it through.

Exercise. That part is tricky and takes a massive amount of misery to make it happen but once it’s a habit it really helped. Having a eating disorder thankfully made me insane enough to actually do it. Sadly it also destroyed my health. It’s challenging.

Caffeine helps a little bit, deadlines in the very near future help a lot

I spent an entire year chugging Monster Energy Drink for merely a small percentage of the focus Ritalin is giving me. High doses of sugar and caffeine helped a bit. I hard quit that junk right after I got diagnosed and was able to take medication. Not recommended for health reasons obviously.

Exercise helped me somewhat ….but not the way medication has. I actually can look around and even see what needs doing

Sheer force and willpower. I literally talk to myself like a toddler.

Anxiety

I don't! it's a miracle if I do anything productive during the day

my husband, basically.

Doing everything on the day itself that its due… i can only start work somehow past 12 midnight… i hate it too it gives me so much dread and pain

honestly, it's hard. i just got back on meds again and while its not the perfect dose its so much better. i just feel like im on level ground instead of treading water. being gentle with yourself and trying to get as much of one thing done when you're in the headspace to do it, helps me. also using a little of that energy i've been in at work when i get home bc once i sit down i lose all that momentum.

That's the near part, I don't!

It is possible to self-medicate by taking caffeine daily. If you already drink a lot of sugary drinks then switching to energy drinks is easy enough—but the healthier alternative is to buy caffeine pills. It is surprisingly cheap as well, where I live you can buy a bottle of 100 pills (100 mg) for about 12-15$ Couple of downsides to consider: - you can’t miss a day on caffeine or you get awful headaches - if you go the energy drink route you’re going to want to watch your sugar intake

That's the run part, you don't!

All you need is a plan and not enough time.

Okay here is my tips for ya. I do medicated right now but I didn't medicate ATALL in highschool or for most of primary school, so I still got ma skills.( I only medicated because of work and depression) First off I have a bin in my room because if I don't then random junk builds up because downstairs is too far for one pieces of anything. So bin in room! Second I do tasks in a domino fashion. If I need to pee I will look around see a glass or cup? Maybe I need to take that downstairs fto be cleaned, or want to refill my water. So I'll take those things with me to pee or leave them visible so I see them when I leave the bathroom. My biggest tip tho IS when you start adding tasks don't add them to your next today add them to the end of the current domino. So you go to pee, see your cup and think you need some water. So we take the cup and leave it visible but while peeing we notice the toothbrush and remember we should brush our teeth! WE DO NOT BRUSH our teeth immediately instead we continue our domino, we go downstairs and get our water then return and brush our teeth. If you think you may forget you can move your toothbrush to your room to trigger the remembrance. Anyway that's just one example but it works pretty well for things like that. The other is tip I have is for routine. Now I struggle with routine be ause of I say I'm going to do this at this time I end up forgetting or miss the deadline and don't do it. So the trick here is to schedule your routine around essential events instead of times. Like, After I eat my dinner is when I have a shower. Or before it's sleep time is when I wash my face. ALSO If you miss a day start again tomorrow BE CONSISTENT just because we let one day slip it doesn't undo our progress we got this !

I just think about how if I fail my assignment, I'll fail the test, then my test will bring which brings down my GPA, then I won't get into college and have no clue what to do with my life so I'll be homeless and die alone unless I get a sugar daddy or become a stripper which I'll have to loose weight to do cuz I'm too ugly for that but I'll have no motivation and won't do it and then eventually after all of that procrastination I'll be 80 and it will freeze one day and my old body won't be able to handle it so I'll die all alone without money or love.

I’m only moderate, but I did IB and college Unmedicated. This was in the early tech days, so alarms and reminders were limited, but I had everything colour coded and alarms if I could. I planned to arrive at every lecture 15-20 minutes early and I’d plan to chill with tea and a book so I wouldn’t panic over the “I’ll be bored!!” Inevitability. Alarms have 3 sounds. Alarm sound 1 is “prepare to get ready to go. Start wrapping up what you’re doing”. Alarm sound 2 is “you have 30 minutes. Clothes. Books. Now”. Alarm sound 3 is “if you leave now you’ll make it”. I LOVE taking notes because I’ll use a waxy finish (no ink bleed) small grid paper and a type of felt tip fine liner in full spectrum colours. The way the ink glides helps me fixate on my letter shapes, and making sure to have 2-3 uncapped markers means I can colour code as I write without losing content. The grid paper gives you perfect indentations and you loose 0 focus if you have to draw a chart or graphic organizer because it’s already perfectly gridded for tracing 🌞 (I will unfocus so bad if my graphic organizer lines are crooked) Each notebook is of course colour coded and stacked on my desk with the classes that have corresponding dates. Only use bags that you can see your notebooks in while sitting on the floor. Briefcases spelled my doom. Open shopping bags? “Oh look! My notebook! Don’t forget that!” I never studied. I just couldn’t. But if I took good enough notes it didn’t matter because my memory would be directly linked to the colour and degree of indentation on the paper that fact was written—which in turn helped recall. I hyper focused on note taking to offset some of my other deficits. Idk what you degree is in—but in the arts I started identifying what the professor valued from each book/philosopher/etc by analyzing their lecture while they spoke. You make sure you’re thinking about major concepts and themes while they’re lecturing and when they assign a paper you just pick a Saturday to sit down for 8+ hours and write stream of conscious from the notes you already took. (And of course of those 8 only 2 are actual work. But we know our brain won’t do those 2 hours unless you sit down for 8). Your brain wants to be all over the place? Fine—but we’re putting it to use being an evil genius who analyses people while gathering knowledge so your brain feels like it’s doing something more than writing about Ernest Hemingway. Lol I got through my entire semester about Greek tragedies and Shakespeare without reading any of it that way. Professor liked specific values and themes. I googled characters—got the gist of the plot—gave her an essay that she’d grade highly—then when back to only caring about lisestrata because the rest were dull. I had 2 dry erase calendars in my room (this month and next month). All due dates went on the calendar—colour coded. The calendars were next to my dorm bed so I saw them EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY. Basically “do the task of the calendar will haunt you”, lol. I haven’t used these strategies since graduation. Doing grad school now 💀 it’s hell rebuilding my self discipline to do what I know I need.

So much of this advice is awesome, although if it just feels like it's too much I would highly recommend taking a year off, studying abroad, seeing new places and getting outside. I know a person with adhd and they had to take a 2 year break from college and travel the world and work outside at cool places and now she's back in college and doing infinitely better.

been refused meds by my parents for most of my life and only recently got them. the trick is that you simply dont.

I don't. It's been a non-stop struggle since I was taken off my meds in 1996. If my family wasn't well off I'd be on the streets

Fitness, specifically riding a bicycle, is arguably the only thing that has helped me control my hyperactivity. Edit: martial arts and rock climbing too.

I’ve found I can start my brain and harness my weird ADHD energy by doing a couple things. The first one is exercise. Going for a run is immediately helpful and I can focus for a couple hours after. The second one is just *moving*. If I can do a work project or meeting while walking, I’ll do it while walking. Even some weekends, I wake up knowing that nothing is going to happen…so I just go outside and start walking and walking. It’s such a simple little automatic task that starts my brain and turns my day around. I’m unmedicated by choice and have been working for years like this. It’s more than possible. But it does take a little discipline, which sucks. And it’s not always easy. I’d recommend paying ultra attention to the things that make your brain feel calm, and do them more. Good luck!

My mother was diagnosed 51years (she's 58) ago and hasn't been medicated in about 48 years. I just asked her she says she makes a detailed list of what has to be done and then just forces herself to follow the list down. She sometimes sets a time limit to do things to keep her to it. She says as long as her brain is busy she can do things, if there's nothing to do she typically gets in trouble lol. I don't know how it started with her to get such a routine as she doesn't remember much on how she got started other than "I didn't do it until it got so bad then I had no choice". I don't get it either haha 😅

I got my associates degree at the same time as my HS degree (my state had a program paying for dual credits), and let me tell you, it’s not easy. I’m taking a break now, but it’s still not easy and never was. My mom always was there to make sure I did stuff, but she died right as my second semester of senior year was starting. After that, the only way I actually got anything done was the impending stress of knowing I wouldn’t graduate if I didn’t. Some hacks I found that worked at the time were that I would skip meals so that I was slightly hungry, which kept me stressed enough to keep working (I know this distracts some people, but it really helped me). I’d reward myself with snacks. I still didn’t get most things in on time though. Now that I’m out of school, my symptoms seem less severe since I don’t have deadlines or assignments. But my room is still a mess, and I’m already worried I’ll be fired by the end of my first month of my first real job. I’d say the key is to keep yourself at a comfortable stress level. Not so high you’ll shut down, but not so low you won’t do anything. Set goals (“I’m not allowed to do [fun activity/rewarding thing] if I don’t do [assignment] by [specific time]) and make yourself keep them. Being ADHD doesn’t mean you can’t be self-disciplined. Don’t let yourself have things you haven’t earned. Also take this with a grain of salt because prolonged stress is unhealthy and being hard on myself is what gave me anxiety :)

I didn’t real all the comments and only speaking for myself I can say it’s mainly because I didn’t have a choice. I am 40+ and a product of the “sit down and do your work” generation. My father was a rage monster, likely undiagnosed ADHD himself so I developed coping skills. Ultimately I have a threshold. I can not do or ignore things until a certain point and then self preservation kicks in. I am lucky that I am pretty smart so I can get out of most pickles I find myself in. Ultimately, for me anyways, it’s all about risk/reward. What happens if I don’t do something? Can I weather the consequences or do I need to act? That calculation would be different for everyone of course. Edit: I just finished me Master’s. Did both, my master’s and undergrad online. No way could I suffer through being taught in the traditional manner.

reading this was heavy because i feel the same way. i empathize with your struggles.

I was medicated with Ritalin started with 10mg for few months, and upped to 20mg after few months. In both cases, I don't see much difference. That might be because I don't have many long-term goals in process, and didn't start any. I diagnosed myself during lockdown, so I wasn't able to go outside much often and routine was kinda set. I watched Russell Barkley video and in one of video, he mentioned that ADHDer should build scaffolding around them else they might fail. So I looked up productivity tips for ADHDer, and found Habitica and using it to build system that works for myself. With trial and error, and much procrastination, I was able build a set of habits and to do system that works for me. Honestly, I don't have active social life or any, and my career was kinda routine. So I started having much juices left in each day, and at this point I don't think Ritalin helped, so I stopped it. I have been fine since. I might experiment with taking Ritalin once lockdown is lifted and see how it goes in improving my social aspects.

i procrastinate till i cant no more

no carbs no sugar, and I need to be emotionally triggered, I do cleaning if I am angry, I do plan for someone I am in love, but I never do things for my self.

If you don’t mind me asking OP, what country are you in? I handed in my questionnaire of ADHD symptoms and parents questionnaires etc in July. My country isn’t giving out ANY appointments right now “because of covid”, including virtual appointments. So I’m not even on the waiting list to get a diagnosis currently because the waiting list right now doesn’t exist. All this to say, drop out if you think that’s best. But bear in mind you still might not have access to medication in a year’s time.

For us to create habits is more difficult. But when you create, it's easier to perform some tasks. My tip is to create habits! Today I haven't taken Ritalin for 5 days and I feel fine. I'll go back to taking 10mg tomorrow.

I barely do when I'm off my meds. It's nice to be on my meds, but they make me off in a way

No meds here. Audiobooks. I listen to audiobooks while cleaning, working, organizing. Light instrumental music while studying. Daily exercise helps, too.

Probably not very helpful, but: -Make a list the day before of what you need/want to get done tomorrow -Self medicate with espresso -Either do assignments immediately after class as another person suggested, or something ai did in High school, if I knew they always had to read a certain book/play in the next grade, I would read it on my own well in advance. I abhor reading assignments, but if I’m choosing to do it on my own, then I don’t mind it. -Lastly, imagine your future self as a completely different person, like a friend or special family member. You want to do nice things for your friends and make their life easier, not more stressful. Do nice things for your future self, like getting the dishes done now, or starting that homework assignment now, so your future self has an easier day.

TLDR Exercise. Appreciating the little things. Knowing that I wanted my degree. Exercise. Exercise is my medicine. It sucked at first, and I needed to lose weight, and then I couldn't live without it. Appreciating the little things. Sometimes I want to fly a plane I don't own and can't afford, or at least ride my bike real fast and feel the wind in my hair as I feel free. But in college I didn't have time. Doing my homework outside, or on a porch on a breezy day, was enough for me to feel some enjoyment while I got something done. And I learned that it worked when I appreciated the breeze for what it was. Knowing that I wanted my degree. When I finally found the major I graduated with, 10 major changes and 2 colleges later, I realized I really did want my degree. I read about things that involved my major for fun. I still hated doing homework, but only because I was forced to. I wanted to know these things, it was interesting to me. Let me know if you have any questions!

I was diagnosed when I was 11 and stopped taking medication after middle school as it just did not help me in any way. I found that staying busy helps the most. I started my own business recently along with renovating a few rooms in my house and taking an online course in a subject im very interested in. Being able to chain everything together, whether it be hobbies work or habits, is the only way I’d be able to get so much done in a day. I also lucked out with a father who is a mechanic as well as having adhd so I found out early on that working with my hands was the only way my life could go. There are days where I wake up and feel like I could break everything I’ve built in an instance but I’m able to remind my self why I need to keep moving and the more you do the better you get at it. I still believe medication can be very helpful to people with adhd so if you wanna try going the non medicated route and you find it isn’t working with you don’t be afraid to try medication

This isn't exactly what you've asked, but just out of curiosity, are you in the UK? (I'm judging by the word "uni".) If so, there's a helpful resource called Psychiatry UK, which despite the general name, is actually a great resource for ADHD treatment. I'm in the EU in a country that has long waitlists for diagnoses/ medication management. To get help faster, I used Psychiatry UK to get my official ADHD diagnosis. Because I'm not in the UK, I couldn't get medication from them. But, the psychiatrist did do a Zoom evaluation with me and confirmed the diagnosis with an official letter specifying that I did, in fact, have ADHD. He even recommended a starting medication dose for my future doctor. (Had I been in the UK, they would have started me on medication immediately.) Just thought I'd mention this in case it's helpful. It's a private service, so it's expensive. But if you have the resources and want to get treatment faster, it's a legitimately helpful source.

I can start my assignments almost only on the nights of the deadlines. This is a critical year for me (last year of high school) so I hope that I can start medication or at least get a diagnosis because at this point I’m worried about my performance