alejandrosdesk - Tumblr blog

alejandrosdesk · 7 months

Text

executive dysfunction studying tips (for when you're running on fumes)

I wrote a semi-popular post some time ago compiling studying tips for those with executive dysfunction – but as someone who also suffers from intermittent fatigue, I figured it might be more or just as helpful to compile some strategies that work for us even when we're insanely low energy and want nothing more than to just climb back into bed and go to sleep.

Get out of your bedroom (or whatever room you sleep in). This is often the hardest part... but in your bedroom, your bed is Right There. The temptation can become too great. Personally, I can't get anything done in my room – I just end up watching YouTube. I'll drag myself out to the library or a coffee shop, but even if this just means moving yourself to the living room or dining room instead, it helps.

If you're in an environment with other people, every time someone walks behind you and has a chance of seeing your screen, it'll remind you to stay focused or get back on track if you were distracted.

Set a timer on your phone for how long you'll work for. It gives you something to look forward to, even if you get in a groove and keep working after that. It doesn't have to be long – just 15 minutes is still better than none, and it jump-starts the mindset of being in "work mode" without you having to expend a lot of energy to get there. I usually go for 1-1.5 hour timer. >> use whatever time you've got. don't feel beholden to 1-hour intervals.

A beverage or a snack really does help. I'm partial to oolong tea with milk and honey, myself.

"body doubling" is the practice of doing work silently with other people doing work, where seeing them be productive boosts your own productivity. We're super asocial and don't utilize this one often, but we know it's really helpful for many people. Sitting on discord VC with someone also counts, btw!

Make a list of things you need to get done if you can. You can do this 30 minutes in, cus honestly its sometimes harder to do this step than it is to just start working. it's just to make sure you don't forget anything.

Remember that anything is better than nothing

sometimes its easier to email a teacher or professor for an extension than it is to do the work. they're usually understanding, and it's good to understand your own limits.

and i reiterate: don't sacrifice sleep or meal-time. if you're already tired, it'll seriously only make you feel worse.

124 notes · View notes

alejandrosdesk · 7 months

Text

adhd study affirmations + tips to stray from discouragement by a stem student with adhd.

you’re not always going to be consistent. you’re not always going to be motivated. you’re not always going to be efficient. and that is okay.

edit : thank you so much to whoever blazed this post. It means the world to me.

and the fact that you even got this far is an accomplishment in and of itself. In this line of work, people aren’t always the kindest to neurodivergent people especially since our symptoms can often hinder our performance academically.

if you’re good to go after reading the above, I’ve also made a post regarding adhd study tips that I haven’t seen anywhere else. But, if you’re burned out like me, feel free to keep reading.

honestly, these might serve a bit more as reminders because they’re kinda simple but even I needed this, so, here we go.

do not seek advice from anyone neurotypical unless it genuinely helps you. I cannot tell you the amount of time and tears I could have saved if I just considered the fact that just because popular self-improvement tips or study techniques didn’t work for me, it doesn’t mean I’m stupid or useless. It simply means our brains isn’t motivated by the same things neurotypical ones are, and therefore a lot of popular self-improvement videos or study tips aren’t going to work for you because 90% of the time, they’re not designed to work for neurodivergent people. So if you’d like to seek help in this area, look for tips and videos that ARE for neurodivergent people.

you might experience burnout a lot more than others. again, that is fine. if this doesn’t apply to you, great! Feel free to skip to the next tip/affirmation. If this does apply to you, read this carefully; if you’ve had any sort of streak in studying right now, chances are you know at least a portion of your studies were led purely on interest, curiosity or even novelty, as these are what keep us engaged in our studies. Knowing this, it is natural for you to experience burnout more frequently than others due to the possible hyperfixations that have been forming around your work. If you get burned out, please remember to take a break for a day and make sure it is efficient. Like your studies, your breaks are the key to having efficient study sessions in the future. So please treat yourself, especially if you’ve been working extra hard!

do not admire studious fictional characters unless it genuinely helps you or they too are neurodivergent. I know this technically could have been thrown in with tip number 1 but I felt like this tip alone is so important, because nowadays I see a lot of study tips with the title, ‘how to study like (insert studious fictional character here)’ and when I look at the post it kinda repeats the same few study tips I see all the time like ‘stay organized’ or ‘time block your day’ and I feel like admiring fictional characters who do things that don’t work for you can be damaging for your mental health, because we’re already told by neurotypical people all around us that we’re slow or lazy just because we don’t do things the way they do, and I think idolizing neurotypical people that make us feel bad at the end of the day just further promotes that kind of toxic thinking.

expect that a routine/schedule/technique that has been working for a while now may not continue to work in the future. things will always have to be new for us to be interested or engaged, that being said, if you expect this in the future you won’t be frustrated with yourself because you already had this in mind. It doesn’t mean you’re not smart. It doesn’t mean you’re lazy. It doesn’t mean you’re useless. It just means that you’ve done what you could, and now it’s time to move on to another routine/schedule/technique.

keep doing the things you love alongside work. I find that because our symptoms may cause us to fall behind on our studies, we tend to neglect our other needs as human beings just to make up for the fact that we simply do not learn or pick things up the same way neurotypical people do. Your hobbies and interests need to be part of your day, just as your studies do, even if you may take longer to learn things or remember important concepts in your studies. Neglecting your hobbies or interests can lead to even more frequent burn outs and even a relapse in depression and anxiety, so please take care of yourself and recognize that you need and deserve these things just as much as anyone else.

regularly discover what works for you on your own. here’s the thing; neurodivergent or not, no two brains work the same. Of course it is good to try out advice or tips you find online because they’re backed up by experience, but they’re backed up by that person’s experience with working with their own brain. So naturally, you need to find what works with your brain. Be open to trying everything, even the tips that are discouraged like listening to lyrical music while studying. That was the only way I learnt that this tip actually does help me at times, even when many people have said that it negatively affects your focus.

that’s all I have right now guys, I think I’m experiencing burn out or probably falling back into depression again so more than anything this also served as a reminder for me, but I really hope it also helped you guys nonetheless.

As always, tell me if you guys would like more posts like these and I’ll be happy to make more <33 please take care of yourself guys, and remember that your studies is just one aspect of your life. There are other aspects that need your care and attention too.

1K notes · View notes

alejandrosdesk · 9 months

Text

physics is so cool because after such a long time the little kid in you finally gets the answers to their questions and nothing makes me happier than that

1K notes · View notes

alejandrosdesk · 9 months

Text

i’m such a whore for everlasting eternal love that transcends all realities through space and time

#all i want

28K notes · View notes

alejandrosdesk · 2 years

Text

I love an unreliable narrator like yes girl feed me that misinformation

5K notes · View notes

alejandrosdesk · 2 years

Note

🎶✨when u get this, list 5 songs u like to listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (positivity is cool)🎶✨

THIS IS SO WHOLESOME I LOVE THIS

🎶 my heart belongs to these five songs

1. Bata Dahan-dahan - IV of Spades

2. Last Summer Whisper - Anri

3. Tasogare - Mai Yamane

4. Bang Bang - K'naan

5. Every Summertime - NIKI

#alejandrospeaks #💌 for alejandro

1 note · View note

alejandrosdesk · 2 years

Note

hi pi 😋😋😋

IVE BEEN SO INACTIVE OMG HI BB 😭

#alejandrospeaks #💌 for alejandro

0 notes

alejandrosdesk · 2 years

Text

When you feel like giving up...

The last time I was really active on here was 2 years ago - I didn't realise it had been that long, time sure does fly. 2 years ago I was struggling with my mental health, crying because I didn't know how I was going to pass my second year macro class, with no plans for the future. But I kept going, I worked and I studied and I asked for help, and I made it past those moments that felt impossible.

Last year, I graduated with first class honours. Today, I'm working at a grad job in a place I always thought was unattainable, I moved across the country, and I get to work on issues I really care about. Things aren't perfect - I still struggle with my mental health, imposter syndrome, and feeling like I don't belong. But I'm so glad I kept going back then.

So if you're thinking of giving up, this is your sign to give yourself a break, re-evaluate, and think towards the future. It's okay to ask for help when you need it. It's okay to feel overwhelmed. But you have it in you, and if you really want to do something, I promise you the struggles along the way aren't as hopeless as they seem. You can do it.

#you can do it!!

567 notes · View notes

alejandrosdesk · 2 years

Text

i've been gone for a while

#alejandrospeaks

0 notes

alejandrosdesk · 2 years

Text

I’m going to scream. Pushback on the narrative that climate breakdown can be averted by individual decisions centres around the fact that NORMAL PEOPLE do not contribute to a significant amount of carbon emissions cos the average NORMAL PERSON emits 7 tons of CO2 a year. Not Taylor fucking Swift who has emitted over 8000 tons of emissions this year SO FAR. Her CO2 emissions from private jet use alone are equivalent to that of TWO THOUSAND normal people. We absolutely should be blaming individuals if those particular individuals are emitting two thousand people’s worth of emissions.

112K notes · View notes

alejandrosdesk · 2 years

Text

Henry (Dreamy and Hot) Winter

7 notes · View notes

alejandrosdesk · 2 years

Text

Quick ADHD and study tips:

- Do the minimum. Don't do any more than the school expects you to do. Don't overwork yourself trying to become an expert on every topic ever, making every project a perfect masterpiece.

-> "I'll just do this quickly" method - Do the minimum. What's the least you can do for this topic, the easiest, most minimalist, "laziest" solution possible? Do it. It helps to get started. (exactly what I did here)

- Adjust your routine to a radio's broadcasting schedule (it's background music and "company", aka. chatter in the background)

- Pomodoro timers are too hard to reach from YouTube, here, an extension. (It plays white noise, and makes me miss the sound of rain in the breaks XD)

- Switch from Word to a notepad, a colored paper, google translator, a tumblr draft, etc., write your essay there.

- Water reminder.

- Too tired to design a PPT: SlidesGo Templates

- Too tired for grammar: Grammarly (or ProWritingAid)

- Too tired for words: Wordtune and Wordtune Read

- This grades essays, this estimates reading time

- This for grammar check, this is for synonyms, acronyms, and everything, this for idioms.

- Set BeLineReader to something colorful (space colors ✨)

- Write it in memes (see the first part of this post), use emojis, make memes, use meme language, edit it like a tumblr post with highlights, side notes, pictures, colors, etc.

- Tell it to someone. There was a history topic I very much disliked until I started to read it, and man, it was hilarious. The warlords made the worst decisions possible! Of course, I told my brother about it.

Look at it as a masterpiece or look at it as a ridiculously bad movie, it will get better. (This goes for literature, history, etc. - why not "make it" into a soap opera? XD)

- Do it while you wait for something. The water to boil, the baguettes to bake, someone to answer your message. And in the meantime, do something.

- For revisions: Loop a song. One topic-one song. Then you switch the song, next topic. It's even better if the songs are from completely different genres.

- Have a list of stuff you have to do. An optional list. If you can tick off one, you're good. Leave your accomplishments.

[Stuff like, 'write a poem', 'make cocoa', 'sing,' but also, 'eat breakfast normally' and 'write that English essay'.]

(-> Computer "gadgets" (idk what are they called in English) -> set tiny slideshows, and bamm, little reminders that are always visible! I made the text in Ipiccy, the to-do list in paint)

[ID: A partial screenshot of my tumblr, with the two gadgets on it, displaying two small pictures, one is a color gradient text on a black background that reads "keep on going", the other is a bit messy to-do list with check squares and simple text on a white background / end of ID]

How to remember anything?/learn stuff

Create (write a poem, make memes, try reading it out loud, but singing, act it out XD - the possibilities are endless!)

Bee dance ("write down" the letters of the word or numbers of the date walking around)

Make it touchable (form the numbers/letters from plasticine, sticks, gravel, ketchup, candy, shoes, or anything, really) -> Morse / ASL (knock, clap, or sign the numbers/letters)

Tell it in different styles, on different levels (to a kid, to your dog, to your plant. "Emotionally" as if you were telling some outrageous news, or as if it was the greatest thing in the world! It's ridiculous, it's nonsense! It's so stupid, it's brilliant! It's tragic, actually. Tell it professionally, as if you knew what you're talking about, like some sassy professor. Tell it as if it happened next door, as if you were some old folk telling it to the children (the good ol' times!), tell it like a bored weather forecaster, present it like in some tv ad!)

Learn it at places (literally, bring your book/little paper to a corner of the house, or out to the park. It's a bit like the mind palace method, "hmm, yes, 1945, the blue shower gel bottle, "amygdala" is in the fridge, and Thales' Theorem is right under the bed.")

The mind palace method, but place the data on a picture (take a picture, a stock photo, anything, and write dates/words at different places)

Speed run (set a timer, it can be Pomodoro, and do what you have to do on max speed. Yes, you got x minutes to sit at this one spot in the bathroom and memorize these words, drink tea, and take out the trash! The clock is ticking! It's adrenalin rush!)

Tie it up with the senses (pick a color/palette, a taste, a smell, a feel, a texture, a style, etc. for each topic you can recall later. Chew a specific tasted gum while studying, chew the same taste while writing the test. Spray a perfume, set your desktop/phone background to a picture that fits the mood, set the lights, surround yourself with a specific texture, create a mood.)

Make a cheat sheet (write it in a "compressed format," so only you can understand it, and it takes up the least place possible. Tiny drawings, reminders. The point is not to have the information but to have a safe reminder in your pocket, you can reach out to. You may not even need to use it.)

Have water and sleep (yup, a dehydrated brain can't think, and our brains process information while in REM sleep - a sleep cycle calculator)

Play card games, Activity (do you know the board game "Activity?" Or twenty questions? There are also a bunch of card games [mainly played with French cards] where you have to yell words and smash cards and each other's hands. Well, why not rewrite the game with the words/dates/phrases you need to memorize? Even better if you play it with people who study the same thing as you.)

So, that's it for now. I hope I helped some! :D

#resource

3K notes · View notes