Megan Griffin & Aaron Smith

That Time of Year Again

It’s that dreaded time of year again for college students, the end of the semester.  This means that finals are coming up, and the anxiety that comes with them is skyrocketing.  Whether your overall grade relies entirely, or only marginally on your exams, finals are always a stressful time for college students.  There are many different ways that people tend to go about their studying.  Whether you cram the day before or try to gradually study throughout the semester, the goal remains the same; to pass and hopefully get a grade that you will be happy with.  There are some aspects of ADHD that can be an impediment to studying effectively. One’s own studying process can exacerbate anxiety and get in the way of attaining the grade that you want.  Some common issues include: being overly optimistic, procrastinating or avoiding your studying all together, trying to study in your room, getting distracted (by other’s talking, roommates, social media, parties, etc.), and having a hard time memorizing or recalling content from lectures.  While common for all college students, those of us with ADHD have an even harder time due to executive functioning related deficits and core ADHD symptoms.  Although this can be difficult and at times disheartening, it is not impossible to achieve your academic goals! Give these 7 Helpful tips for Rocking Your Finals a try, and maybe you will find that this is your best semester of studying for finals yet.

Tip #1: Plan, Plan, Plan

Although it can be hard to take the time, as college is filled with booked schedules, distracting friends, and overwhelming schoolwork, it is key to plan out a study schedule.  If you do not have a reminder to do it, you most likely will not.  And this planning does not need to be excessive.  You do not have to plan every minute on the dot that you will be setting aside time to study.  You just need to give yourself about 1-2 hours a day within your schedule, for about a week leading up to the exam, or however much time you think is realistically necessary to set aside, and make sure that you stick to it.  Being realistic is key.  If you know that every day at around 3:15 pm you need to give yourself a break from classes and watch maybe an episode of your favorite show, just to calm yourself down from a hectic day, give yourself that! Plan these study hours for times that you know are usually a more open time for you or when you are more attentive to your studies (for some that’s earlier in the day, for others it’s at night).  Maybe it is when you usually go to the gym (skipping a day here and there during finals is inevitable), or maybe it is when you usually get dinner with a friend.  Pick any time that you may not want to miss out on, but can live without for a week.  Like I said, setting aside that time to even plan when you are studying can be hard, but knowing that you are getting in that extra time to study, so that you are not overly stressed and cramming before your exam, is very worth it in the long run.

Tip #2: Give Yourself Time!

When setting aside these times to study, it is important to gauge how long you think you will need to set these study hours for.  Will you need 2 weeks, one week, 5 days, 3 days?  What are you even able to handle?  If you plan for 3 days prior to the exam to be setting time out of your day, are you willing to spend more time per day than you would otherwise be if you set aside a week to study? These are things that are important to keep in mind when making that initial study plan.  Regardless of how much time you set aside to study before the exam, it is never a calming feeling to save studying for the day before an exam.  Cramming also leads to lessened sleep the night before an exam, which is never good for one’s performance during a test.  Almost everyone has been there.  You feel that you have too many other things to worry about that week before the test, so days go by and it’s suddenly the day before the test.  You are then stuck feeling overwhelmed and under-prepared.  It’s definitely difficult, but remember those negative feelings that you have when you do cram, and use them to motivate you to get ahead and make those study plans and actually act on them! Also, don’t fool yourself into believing that you know the material so well already that you don’t have to study. Being overly optimistic can backfire big time.  

Tip #3: Skim Your Notes Before Class

Something that has always worked for me, and is proven to be effective for preparation for test taking, is taking the time to make sure that you are understanding what has been covered in a given class thus far, before entering the next class.  I try to start this technique right from the beginning of the semester.  However, no matter when you decide to do this, it is very helpful for your overall preparedness for tests.  I usually try to look over my notes the night before a class, and just make sure that I do not see any content that I do not fully understand.  This does not mean that you are memorizing every piece of information! It just means that you are becoming more and more familiar with the content with every new time that you are reading over your notes.  Even if you do not have time the night before, read them over in those few minutes you have before the professor starts his/her lecture.  This easy little trick has helped me profoundly in my classes.  There is no better feeling than going into preparation for an exam and not feeling like you have countless questions regarding the content of the class, because you already addressed the questions that you had right after you were taught those facts.

Tip #4: Block Distractions

One of the worst parts about studying can be your ability to set yourself aside from those everyday distractions that you face.  As much as you can say to yourself that you will not give in to answering that text, checking those likes on that picture that you recently put up, or talking to a friend about every detail of the previous weekend, we’ve all given in one too many times.  So in order to get rid of these distractions, you need to study in a very intentional manner.  Know where you usually get most distracted (ex: your room?), or where those distracting people usually get to you, and choose a new spot to study. Turn your phone on airplane mode or off to completely go off the grid while studying – that text or update can wait an hour or two. Go to a dedicated study area: to the top floor of the library, a random unused classroom, a quiet cafe in town, book a study lounge; anywhere that you know you will not see people that you will be tempted to talk to.  When it comes to social media and the distractions that come along with having a phone and a computer, there are a few resources to turn to that I have found to be very helpful in keeping away from those apps, sites, and texts.  StayFocusd, Freedom and Cold Turkey are very helpful website blockers that can help keep you away from sites for a certain amount of time, at specific times.  Netsanity is a similar concept, however for apps on your phone.  To look for more helpful tips on not giving into the many distractions that come along with studying, look to our blog post, Controlling Your Impulses.

Tip #5: Use Mental Models

Memorization is never easy.  And for almost every exam, memorization will play some sort of role in your studying.  For those with ADHD, this can be even harder than most.  This is due to issues with “working memory.”  Working memory involves holding sets of information within short term memory storage and one’s ability to recall that information after some time has passed.  There has been a great deal of research on what is referred to as “mental models” and their success in helping all with their working memory capacities.  Mental models are essentially a visual representation that is created in order to help you remember large concepts and the subgroups of that topic, and how they each relate to one another.  In order to look further into this helpful study method, look to our previous blog post, Remember Anything- Make a Mental Model.      

Tip #6: Confidence is Key!

As for almost everything in life, having the right mindset when going into not only an exam, but going into the studying for an exam can be essential for your performance.  If you psych yourself out and think that you will be unable to effectively prepare, think that there is too much left to master, think that you will not have enough time to finish, and other negative, unhelpful thoughts, you are not going to be able to perform to the best of your ability.  Test taking is not fun! At least I don’t think so.  So instead of psyching yourself into thinking that you are not going to succeed, do just the opposite!  From the beginning of your studies, remind yourself, “yeah this is going to suck, but it’s going to suck a lot less because I know that I understand the content and I can accurately answer the questions I am going to be asked.” Through the pain we learn. Endure it and proceed anyways.

Tip #7: Use Multiple Methods

Whether you are more of a visual, kinesthetic, or auditory learner, one of the things to do is to try to incorporate different methods into your studying plan. It’s kind of like making a salad more than baking a cake. Studying is not an exact science and there is no specific recipe that you can follow that will produce the desired results for all people, all the time. Instead there are a multitude of specific techniques and strategies to try. While this is not an exhaustive list, some strategies include things like: flashcards/Quizlet, diagrams/outlines/mind maps, creating or filling out a study guide, group studying with classmates, quizzing or teaching the material to others, self-study reading/review (reading the textbook, notes, class slides), doing extra sample problems in the book, taking practice self-tests (usually found in chapter reviews in textbooks), and redoing past homework assignments or tests (especially problems you might have missed). The main thing to try is to vary your approaches. Try to include multiple different methods of studying within your study plan for the same subject. Don’t just stick to one strategy for everything. Mix it up. Try to include a little bit from the auditory category (teach it to a study buddy, quiz yourself out loud, listen to lecture recordings, etc.). Try a little from the visual category (mind maps, diagrams, pictures, YouTube tutorials, Kahn Academy videos, etc.). Try a little from the kinesthetic category (print out the study guide and copy the vocab and definitions, make flash cards, do practice problems, etc.).

I hope that these tips were of help to you, and that you have more confidence that you will effectively study for your exams. Good luck studying!

If you or someone you know needs extra help getting organized, creating a study plan, or learning additional study strategies, then ADHD coaching from Potential Within Reach is here to help. Contact Aaron Smith for a free 30-min. consultation/initial strategy session at www.potentialwithinreach.com.