High school can be a stressful time for students at all grade levels, and coping with ADD can make it especially challenging to keep up with class work and projects. From daily assignments to finals at the end of the semester, the life of a high school student involves a daily commitment to learning.
Students with ADD have difficulty maintaining focus and encounter many challenges in keeping up with assignments each day. Concentration and focus are necessary for comprehension and are both an asset for lifelong learning, but ADD can make it very difficult to stay on track. If you’re a high school student with ADD, or are a parent of a student trying to manage the disorder, here are some study tips to keep up with the demands of rapid learning during the high school years:
1. Write a brief summary of what you learned right after class. This can be a simple journal entry of just 5-10 key points that you learned in class, and should only take a few minutes to put together. A summary will help you retain what you just learned so you can focus on the next topic or subject, and is also helpful to review the next day when you need to continue with the next chapter/subject.
2. Read abstracts and summaries of textbooks first. ADD can make you feel overwhelmed when presented with too much information, so you need to learn how to break things up into ‘chunks.’ Any textbooks and reading materials that contain abstracts and bulleted points are great tools for learning; read these a few times before jumping into the entire piece for better comprehension and a smoother read.
3. Keep your own calendar. A daily calendar is a simple way to stay on top of your assignments, and you can break down larger projects into tasks to plot them out over a course of the week. This takes the stress of trying to remember everything off your shoulders, and breaking down projects in this way also makes them more manageable.
4. Learn to multitask productively. ADD can make you become bored with one task very quickly—much sooner than most—so have a backup plan where you simply switch between projects with ease. This is a productive way to multi-task, and you’ll get a lot more done when you know you can simply switch to something else when boredom hits and your productivity seems to slow down.
5. Learn to work in silence. Distractions at home including the television, music, the telephone, and even checking your e-mail while studying can make it much harder to stay focused. Practice working in silence where you can give the project at hand your full attention and focus.
6. Set up a study routine. Get into a habit of committing time strictly for studying after school so you get into a routine. Routines can help manage the symptoms of ADD where you follow a sequence of tasks for an allotted period of time and actually get things done! Aim for 2-3 hours maximum and ‘shut down’ the rest of your environment so you can focus.
7. Make sure you get enough sleep. Sleep is essential for learning, and will also keep you healthy and performing well in other areas of your life. Make sure you’re getting enough quality sleep so your mind can rest from a busy day. ADD can take its toll on day-to-day life, and you may need extra rest during stressful weeks that involve exams and large projects.
Learning how to cope with ADD can be a big challenge during high school, but there are ways to excel when you can ‘learn how to learn.’ Take the time to set up a routine and keep track of your calendar so you’re always prepared for the week ahead. ADD doesn’t have to be an obstacle to your success when you have a strategy for studying and managing your time in place.
