School Survival Tips

Unlocking ADHD writer Indhu Jayabaskaran explores tips for ADHDers in school.

As an ADHDer, keeping up with deadlines, remembering information and planning ahead could be more of a struggle compared to other students. Here are some tips to help you in school.

Taking Notes

Note taking helps students concentrate during lessons, understand and remember the concepts being taught, and is useful when revising for tests. Here are some skills to help you become a better note taker:

1. Find your method

Practice note taking or look through different types of note taking online.

• Some students would prefer mind-maps
• Others prefer using standard bullet points to write down important information

Figuring out your preferred method will make it easier to understand when reviewing your notes and revising before tests.

2. Using abbreviations

Abbreviating commonly used words will make note taking a faster process, especially during live lessons. Some examples of abbreviations are:

• with → w/
• the → ē
• for example → e.g.
• for instance → i.e.

You can also come up with your own abbreviations related to specific topics you are studying.

3. Revising beforehand 

If you already have a schedule for the subjects you will be covering:

• Look through the headings or the topics being taught beforehand – It will help you keep up during lessons as you will already have an idea of what to take note of and which parts are important. 
• Write down any headings, questions or cues for the topic being covered before each lesson. This will help you be more engaged and understand what is being taught.

Scheduling

One of the biggest struggles ADHDers face is with time and task management. Staying consistent in school is a challenge and it is easy to fall behind. One way to work around this is scheduling. Writing down your tasks and planning when to complete them would make prioritising and keeping up with work easier.

1. Regular planners

You can find several different types of planners in local stationery shops or online. These planners have pages with calendars and are separated into weeking or monthly spreads. They are not time consuming as the layout is already planned for you and are easy to follow.

2. Bullet journals

Bullet journals are dotted notebooks that are entirely customised by you. These types of planners are preferred by ADHDers as they are more flexible and you can decide what to do with the space. You can decide which layouts you prefer and even include other sections such as habit trackers and an idea page. There are several online tutorials on how to create bullet journals. 

3. Phone apps

There are several planner apps that help with scheduling. These would be easy to keep up with as they are more accessible and can be used without the hassle of carrying around notebooks and stationery. Additionally, you can use phone calendars or online calendars such as google calendar to remember important events and set reminders. However, if you are more prone to distractions when using your phone, this type of scheduling might not be the most advisable. Instead, you can use this to complement a notebook planner by using it to set reminders and to write down tasks temporarily. 

When planning out your day, writing down all the tasks you have to do for the entire day is not the most effective.

• Split the tasks up in terms of priority. 
• List the top 5 tasks that must be completed immediately first and separate this section from any other tasks you have to do. 
• You can also separate long term tasks that are less urgent and have a later deadline, from short term tasks that have a shorter deadline, such as homework. This will help you to organize and use your time more effectively. 

Practice Makes Perfect

When starting out, you can practice a few of these tips first, such as writing down your top 5 tasks of the day, and add on more once you get the hang of it. Do not be discouraged if you are unable to follow everything you planned to do. Instead, find out how much you are able to handle, and work on slowly increasing your workload. 

Getting into these habits may not be easy and will take some time to get used to. However, it is important to keep trying.