ADHD: Barrier or superpower?

This text is a slightly modified answer to a question that was posed over at CareerVillage regarding how to succeed as a student with ADHD:

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I have combined-type ADHD and I have my computer science degree. I've experienced exactly what you have - that feeling of spinning your wheels, getting distracted, getting behind, and the cycle just repeats. The path can be shaky for sure, but I have one piece of advice that has been hard-won over the years:

Know yourself.

Specifically, know how you best learn, know what motivates you.

This process of learning how my ADHD brain works has yielded the following insights over the years:

• I love to read to learn, but it HAS to be paired up with practice & application, both during & after the learning process (even if it is just notes). Try to use a reading or learning method like THIEVES, Feynman or PQ4R (https://www.reddit.com/r/GetStudying/comments/14k1zht/10_study_methods_tips_that_actually_work/).

• It is tempting to hyperfocus and keep beating on a problem until it's solved. Don't. Take breaks between work sessions. Use Pomodoro technique if you have to (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique/). The longer you study, the less you'll retain. And the harder you bang on a problem, the less likely you'll solve it. Take a walk, take a nap, take a break. Disconnect and let your brain reset. You’d be surprised how often a disconnection yields results.

• Exercise, diet & sleep. It'll be that much tougher if you're out of balance in those areas. Too many carbs I find affects my concentration really negatively.

• Don't over-organize. I find the more I prepare, the less I do, and the more dejected I become when I don't have a good day. Find a good organizational app to keep everything straight (I use TickTick on Android).

• Don't mentally try too hard to push your brain forward. Let your understanding guide you to the next paragraph and the next page. Having something in your fingers may help to twirl, click or spin in order to aid your working memory. Also, I’ve found that large headphones with ambient music helps, as they help reduce outside auditory distractions and the ambient music doesn’t have words. Words would make my ADHD brain want to latch on to the them and listen, which is a distraction. And speaking of working memory….

• ….remember that ADHD working memory simply sucks. Writing down ideas or tasks in notepads or apps is great, as it helps to bridge the gap between your short-term and long term memory.

• Remember INCUP - the primary ADHD-brain motivators (interest, novelty, challenge, urgency, passion). Too often I hear people's frustration with having last-minute stuff rule their lives with stress. There's nothing that will kill an ADHDer's task motivation than plenty of time. Still, the alternative is you rush before it has to be done and give yourself a heart attack in the process.

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Well there you have it - about 30 years of learning how my brain works :) And I'm still learning and trying new things to see if they work better. There is no finish line, so find things that work, and don't use things that don't. ADHD can be a superpower - if you know how to use it.