Is the homework study time sluggish? Run through this checklist and see if there may be anything you could do to make improvements. You might try experimenting a bit with some of these various modes of study. By the way, as is true for most academic strategies, these things apply to working adults as much as they do students with school work.
1) environmental distractions:
Sound distractions: Sometimes people are highly distracted by noise….or even too much silence. Are you bothered by people talking around you when you need to concentrate? Do you like having white noise in the background, or maybe music? Or do you prefer your study area to be like a tomb?
Visual distractions: People can also be highly distracted by other moving people, or pets, while trying to study. It could be a child who can’t help but bounce around the room, or a cat who loves to be exactly in your line of focus. Others are able to block it out, or even find it comfortable. Is your environment clean and tidy enough, or does a mess lead to an inability to concentrate?
2) lighting:
This can be huge for a light-sensitive person, and yet not always considered. Different indoor lighting fixtures give off many different hues: blueish, yellowish, or more white. Do you like bright or dimmer? Where is lighting near you positioned?….above, behind, or in front of you? Would a changed-up position make a difference for you? What about any needed lighting adjustments on a computer screen? Do certain types of lighting lend to more headaches, or make you feel restless?
3) food:
Are snacks nearby comforting or a distraction? Are you the casual, glance at the peanut dish-pop a few in your mouth-and keep on going, kind of person? Or do you tend to turn completely away from your work, face full upon the snack, unable to rest until it is all gone? Do you work better after eating a meal, maybe a light one or a heavy one? Is it helpful to have water or some other refreshing drink at hand? While we’re on the subject of food, what kind do you fuel your system with? Is it working well?
4) time of day:
I think we all have our own certain times of day when we are able to do our best work, ….and times of day when our tendency is to do our most sloppy work. This could be related to the food thing, the lighting thing, or the sleep thing. Some folks feel like they are up and about their best business when the sun is too. Are you a “morning person” or a “night owl”? Some people are neither; are you at your best in the afternoon, far after you have woken up and far before you will head off to bed for the night? I have observed people completely change up their sleep schedule to accommodate for a more productive life style.
5) comfort level of positioning, location, and movement:
Do you love working in a big open space, or a little hole-in-the-wall kind of area? Do you like to sit at a desk, or lounge on a couch while studying? Some people do their best work while standing, and others need to sit still. There are also others who need to move around a lot while focusing….these people are actually not necessarily “ADHD” but could just be kinesthetic learners.
6) length of time to task/breaks needed:
Speaking of an “ADHD” label, a person might not have that label and still just need lots of breaks. It could have to do more with the type of task needing attention. If the task is easy and/or fun for you, most likely you can stay on task longer, but when your body or brain…or both…attempt something quite taxing, more breaks are a welcome relief. None of us are good at everything, and all of us need to rise to the challenge of hard things. Let’s just all try to tackle them in smart ways!
