You’re NOT stupid, you have ADHD | How I Study When I Can’t Focus or Concentrate on ANYTHING
Summary
TLDRThis video script narrates the speaker's journey through medical school with ADHD, highlighting effective study methods that aided their success. Key strategies include the 'squeeze' for maximizing focus, flashcards for active recall, managing impulsivity with short-term rewards, and utilizing white noise to enhance concentration. The speaker emphasizes the importance of these techniques for neurodivergent individuals and shares personal experiences to motivate and educate viewers on achieving academic success despite ADHD.
Takeaways
- 📚 Despite having ADHD, the speaker successfully completed medical school using various study methods.
- 💡 The speaker's channel focuses on sharing knowledge from personal mistakes to help others lead a balanced and successful life.
- 🧠 ADHD is often underdiagnosed and undertreated in the UK, despite increased media coverage and social media awareness.
- 📝 Strategy 1: The 'Squeeze' - Maximizing focus during study sessions by using flashcards instead of traditional note-taking.
- 🔄 Flashcards helped the speaker stay engaged and were more effective than reading textbooks during medical school.
- 🌍 The speaker promotes Sigma OS, a web browser designed to organize tabs into workspaces, enhancing productivity for neurodivergent individuals.
- 🍭 Strategy 2: The 'Gorilla' - Incorporating short-term rewards, like crossing off half-hour segments in a schedule, to maintain focus and motivation.
- 💪 Dopamine plays a crucial role in craving and motivation, making it important to integrate small rewards into study routines.
- 📝 The speaker emphasizes the importance of active recall through flashcards and practice questions to keep the brain engaged.
- 👥 Strategy 3: The 'Enemy' - Using body doubling (studying with others) and white noise to improve focus and productivity despite distractions from friends.
Q & A
What inspired the speaker to create this video?
-The speaker wanted to share the study methods and strategies they used to successfully complete medical school despite having ADHD, in hopes of helping others avoid the same mistakes and lead more balanced, fulfilled lives.
What is the speaker's view on the media's portrayal of ADHD?
-The speaker believes that the media often inaccurately suggests that ADHD rates are increasing due to factors like social media and lockdowns. They argue that ADHD is still underdiagnosed and under-treated, and that increased awareness is due to better accessibility of health information.
What study method did the speaker use during their GCSEs?
-The speaker primarily used flashcards, color-coded by subject, and repeatedly reviewed them to study for their GCSEs.
What mistake did the speaker make when preparing for their A-levels?
-The speaker stopped using flashcards, as advised by their mother, and instead tried to study by reading textbooks, which led to poor performance and disengagement.
How did the speaker adapt their study methods when they started medical school?
-The speaker researched effective study methods and returned to using flashcards, which they found to be the most effective way to study and stay engaged.
What is 'The Squeeze' strategy mentioned by the speaker?
-'The Squeeze' involves maximizing productivity during short periods of focus by engaging in stimulating and rewarding activities, like creating flashcards during lectures.
What role does the speaker believe social media plays in ADHD diagnosis rates?
-The speaker believes social media helps balance health inequalities by providing accessible information, leading more people to seek ADHD assessments, despite long waiting lists and difficulty accessing help.
What is 'The Gorilla' strategy for studying?
-'The Gorilla' strategy involves acknowledging the brain's craving for short-term rewards and incorporating small rewards into studying to maintain focus and motivation.
How does the speaker use 'Body Doubling' to improve productivity?
-The speaker uses 'Body Doubling' by studying alongside friends to stay anchored to tasks. They find that the presence of others provides enough stimulation to maintain focus.
What recent discovery did the speaker make that helped them stay focused?
-The speaker discovered the use of white noise, which helps block out distractions and maintain focus, especially when studying in environments with potential distractions like talking friends.
Outlines
🎓 Overcoming ADHD in Medical School
The speaker shares their journey of making it through five years of medical school despite having ADHD. They discuss various study methods developed over their 22 years of education, many of which were created before their ADHD diagnosis. The speaker emphasizes the importance of sharing knowledge to help others avoid similar mistakes, and they challenge the notion that the rise in ADHD diagnoses is due to social media and lockdowns. Instead, they argue that increased awareness and accessible health information have led more people to seek assessments. Despite long waiting lists for ADHD assessments, the speaker encourages those with symptoms to find value in their strategies.
🗂️ The Power of Flashcards
The speaker introduces 'The Squeeze' strategy, emphasizing the importance of maximizing productivity within limited focus periods. They recount their experience with GCSE and A-level exams, highlighting the effectiveness of flashcards for revision. Initially abandoning flashcards for A-levels led to poor results, but returning to this method in medical school proved successful. The speaker argues that reading textbooks is inefficient for studying, advocating instead for active recall through flashcards, which kept them engaged and helped them excel in medical school.
🌐 Sigma OS: A Game Changer for Organization
The speaker discusses the benefits of using Sigma OS, a web browser that helps organize tabs into workspaces, making it easier to manage different areas of life. They explain how this tool is particularly useful for neurodivergent individuals, including those with ADHD, by helping them keep their tasks and responsibilities organized. The speaker provides an overview of their personal setup within Sigma OS and encourages viewers to try it out, highlighting its free availability and the potential for upgrading to a pro version.
📅 Managing Impulsivity with Scheduling
The speaker introduces 'The Gorilla' strategy, which involves breaking tasks into half-hour increments to satisfy the brain's need for short-term rewards. This approach helps maintain focus and productivity, especially for individuals with ADHD who may struggle with impulsivity and a dopamine-driven need for immediate gratification. The speaker explains how this method has helped them succeed in medical school and suggests using tools like flashcards and practice questions to provide quick dopamine hits, thereby keeping the brain engaged and motivated.
👥 The Power of Body Doubling
The speaker introduces 'The Enemy' strategy, which leverages the concept of body doubling to improve focus and productivity. They explain that studying with friends, even chatty ones, can provide the necessary stimulation to stay on task. To mitigate distractions, the speaker discovered the use of white noise, which significantly enhanced their ability to concentrate while still enjoying the benefits of social study sessions. They highlight the importance of adapting study environments to balance focus and social interaction, sharing personal experiences of using these techniques to succeed in medical school.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Neurodevelopmental disorder
💡ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
💡Study methods
💡Flashcards
💡Active recall
💡Squeeze
💡Sigma OS
💡Dopamine
💡Half-hour schedule
💡Body doubling
💡White noise
Highlights
Despite having ADHD, the speaker managed to excel in medical school.
The speaker has developed many study methods over 22 years in education.
Flashcards were a key study method that helped the speaker stay focused.
The speaker avoided using textbooks throughout medical school.
Reading is considered an ineffective and inefficient study method by the speaker.
Creating flashcards during lectures kept the speaker engaged and focused.
The speaker recommends Sigma OS, a web browser that organizes tabs into workspaces.
Our brains crave dopamine, which drives short-term reward-seeking behavior.
The speaker uses a half-hour schedule to introduce frequent dopamine rewards.
Crossing off tasks on a half-hour schedule provides small dopamine fixes.
Flashcards provide quick information and frequent dopamine kicks.
Body doubling, or working alongside someone else, helps the speaker stay anchored to tasks.
The speaker uses white noise to block distractions and enhance focus.
Combining body doubling with white noise maximizes focus and productivity.
The speaker encourages viewers to share their own study tips in the comments.
Transcripts
so I have no idea how but somehow
despite having a neurodevelopmental
disorder not only did I make it through
five years of medical school but I also
managed to do pretty well and there are
so many study methods that I've used
over the course of my 22 years in
education a lot of them that I developed
way before I was diagnosed with ADHD but
they have ultimately been the backbone
of what has enabled me to get through
medical school with ADHD if you're new
here this channel is all about trying to
empower you guys with the knowledge that
I have learned from making my own
mistakes in the hope that you guys don't
also make the same mistakes so if living
a more balanced fulfilled and successful
life based off my failures is something
that you would be interested in then
click the Subscribe button down below to
join the community ADHD has seen a lot
of media coverage over the past few
years and a lot of this coverage seems
to imply that rates of ADHD are
increased increasing because of too much
Tick Tock and the lockdown frying our
brains personally that is not the view
that I hold and not the view that is
backed up by statistics ADHD is still an
under diagnosed and under-treated
condition in the UK and yes I do think
that social media has played a role in
the increase in the number of people
going to their GP concerned about ADHD
symptoms but I think that this has come
from social media balancing out Health
inequalities and providing more
accessible health information to a far
wider audience however due to their
rapid increase in the number of people
seeking ADHD assessments a lot of the
time waiting lists are long and
accessing appropriate help can be very
difficult if you're concerned about any
ADHD symptoms you're very welcome here
because regardless of whether you do
have ADHD or not I'm sure that there'll
be something useful for you to take away
from this video I'm going to go through
the three strategies that have helped me
get the best grades possible given my
condition and make sure you stick around
for the last one because it is the one I
discovered most recently and potentially
my favorite strategy number one is the
squeeze now when you have a clinical
attention deficit by definition you need
to get the most out of your time before
your brain eventually switches off and
you lose interest I want to tell you a
little bit of a story about how I
studied for my gcses and actually how I
ended up studying for my a levels if
you're not from the UK gcses are exams
that you set around the age of 15 and
16. they are a lot simpler they don't
require as much revision and I
definitely didn't study all that hard
for them but the revision method that I
used when I was 15 and 16 was flashcards
I used to have these huge Stacks
honestly about this big for each subject
all color-coded blue for chemistry green
for biology red for Spanish yellow for
Welsh the list goes on and that was the
only way that I revised I didn't even do
past papers for my gcses really I just
did my flashcards again and again and
again and again that's it so when I
started my a levels my mum said to me
Faye your a levels are hard you can't
just use flashcards to study So I
listened to my mom I gave up on the
flashcards I thought right time to get
serious it's time to start reading some
books if you've been a viewer of the
channel for a while you may know the
punchline to this story I did abysmally
in my a levels I flopped them I
completely disengaged with my studies I
thought that I'd used up all my
intelligence and that I was gonna go
nowhere in life to be honest with you
but I took a step back I persevered I
reset my a levels and I eventually got
my place at medical school and when I
arrived at Medical School I decided I
needed to learn a little bit about
effective study methods and funnily
enough when I was learning about
effective study methods the number one
study method that came up was flash
cards I I was kicking myself because I
used to love my flashcards it was the
only way I could study it was the only
way that I could stay focused you put a
book in front of me and honestly I will
zone out in the first two sentences
throughout the entirety of medical
school I have not used this textbook for
revision let me just repeat that in five
years I have never used a textbook to
study for medical school reading is also
an incredibly ineffective and
inefficient way of studying and this is
not just my personal opinion this is
evidence-based and it applies to anyone
regardless of whether you're a
neurotypical or neurodivergent for me
though Not only was it not effective and
it wasn't efficient but I hated it I
absolutely hated it and I find it
hilarious Looking Back Now and thinking
about how my mum thought that that was
the serious way to study that was the
proper way for me to study and how I'd
been doing it before was not correct
when in actual fact flashcards is what
I've used to become a doctor coming back
to this strategy The Squeeze is all
about making sure that you are getting
the most bang for your buck if you know
that you can only focus for about an
hour then you need to be doing something
that is going to keep you engaged and
you are going to reap the most rewards
from another way that I like to
implement the squeeze to make sure that
I'm getting the most out of my time and
keeping engaged is when I had lectures
in medical school it would take about
five ten minutes I would have completely
zoned out even if I had tried my best to
stay focused stay concentrated and make
notes if you find that you're just
making notes and you're copying out word
for word what that person is saying
minimal activity is happening in your
brain to process that information and
ultimately it is so much easier to lose
concentration and lose focus so fairly
early on in my first year of medical
school when I've done my research into
effective study methods I decided that
making notes was not beneficial I came
to the conclusion I was going to come
back to my first love flashcards and I
decided that instead of making notes
like I everyone else in my lecture
theater I was going to create flashcards
based on what the lecturer was saying
whilst the lecture was going on this is
the method that I used to study in
medical school and I'll link my ebook
explaining that in a little bit more
detail in the description box below but
if you have ever tried to do this in a
lecture you will know that it's actually
very very very difficult to keep up and
there's a lot of times where the
lecturer would go ahead and I'd have to
mark the slide with a star to catch up
to the lecturer and then come back to
that in my own time it was very rare
that I would actually get all my
flashcards done within that lecture the
constant stimulation was just what my
ADHD brain needed to stay focused but
more than that I was having to process
what the lecturer was saying twist it
into a question and then type it up onto
the flash card so I had an active recall
resource the flash cards that I created
in those lectures in my first year my
second year and my third year became my
go-to resource for years and years and
years to come after that so very sorry
guys there is also another study tip
that I did really want to include
especially since finding out that this
thing that I do every single day was
created by someone who has ADHD and
actually when I found that out
everything seemed to make so much sense
because I actually don't know how I
managed life without it now guys if
you're still using a traditional web
browser
get with it Sigma OS is going to
completely revolutionize your life as it
has revolutionized mine especially if
you are a neurodivergent king or queen
who really really struggles to keep the
different areas of their life organized
so what is Sigma OS Sigma OS is a web
browser that essentially allows you to
organize your tabs into workspaces so I
have a medicine workspace for my career
I have a social media workspace for all
my YouTube stuff I have a live admin
workspace for all the boring boring
boring stuff and then within those
workspaces you have pages so these are
the tabs that you have open and you can
even rename those tabs to keep them even
more organized I'm not going to take up
too much of this video talking you
through how I personally use Sigma OS
every single day but lucky for you if
you do download Sigma OS I have a full
complete video talking you through my
entire Sigma OS setup and of course I
would highly highly highly recommend
that you try Sigma OS out for yourself
it is completely free to download it is
so so so easy and seamless to transfer
over to Sigma OS and bring all your
passwords and data with you personally
it's a little bit of a no-brainer you
probably use the internet every single
day and sigma OS is free and just better
they also have Pro options available if
you did enjoy your experience with Sigma
so much that you wanted to upgrade to a
paid version and I will pop the prices
for that just here but if you did just
want to start off with the free version
then I will link the download down below
along with my video on how I use Sigma
personally sorry for interrupting back
to all my other ADHD study tips strategy
number two is the gorilla as a human
being regardless whether you have ADHD
or not our brains are dopamine craving
machines we won the biggest reward at
the quickest convenience and a lot of
the time that this animalistic part of
our brain gets in the way of us seeing
the big picture and focusing on our
long-term goals over our short-term
gains it's why when we drive past a
McDonald's we can't help but go through
the drive through even though we said
we'd eat healthier or why we spend hours
in bed on Tick Tock even though we said
we wanted to go to bed earlier it's the
same reason that when we go to the
library we may be quickly sucked in to
talking to our friends scrolling on
social media or any form of
procrastination whatsoever I really hate
the narrative that this is an issue with
willpower and discipline because in my
opinion willpower in discipline require
a lot of energy and honestly I would
much rather be putting that energy
towards things that actually contributes
towards my goals but in order to trick
my brain into getting off my phone or
stopping talking to my friends and
actually getting started on work it's
important to dangle a little carrot in
front of it and tease it away with the
opportunity for another form of
short-term gratification station this is
relevant whether you have ADHD or not
but particularly if you have ADHD
because ADHD tends to be associated with
increased levels of impulsivity a lot of
people don't know that actually people
with ADHD have different shaped brains
to people who don't there are changes in
various areas of the brain that seem to
correlate with the areas of deficit that
people with ADHD face so for example
people with ADHD may have changes to
their frontal cortex and the frontal
cortex is an important part in our brain
when it comes to regulating impulsivity
and decision making where there may be
that deficit this means that sometimes
people with ADHD may experience more of
this dopamine craving short-term reward
mentality than neurotypical individuals
we need to acknowledge the gorilla
address it and realize that it's not
going anywhere anytime soon and do
something to keep the gorilla happy
studying is all about the long-term
gains but as we know especially if you
have ADHD the short-term gain and the
little cheeky dopamine kit is far more
attractive to your brain so the solution
you need to make sure that you're
introducing other short-term rewards
into your studying to keep the little
gorilla in your brain satisfied so that
you can keep going and remain focused
and concentrated my favorite way to
appease the little gorilla is by doing
my daily half an hour schedule and
Crossing off each half an hour as I go
now this seems very simple but our
brains are also very simple things and
the pleasure I get from using my red pen
and Crossing through that time somehow
has managed to get me through five years
of medical school and there's a reason I
deliberately split my day up into half
an hour sections now sometimes I'll do
the same activity for an hour two hours
half an hour but I always still split my
day up into half an hour sections this
means that every single half an hour as
long as I'm sticking to my plan I am
going to be giving myself cheeky little
dopamine fix I've implemented this
strategy for the past five years of
medical school but what's really
interesting is I just finished reading
Atomic Habits by James Clear he
completely reiterates everything I'm
saying when he tells a story about a
Wall Street stock broker who earned
millions of billions and millions of
pounds I'm not sure exactly how much but
I love my exaggeration by every time he
made a phone call he would move one pin
from one sting to the other thing just
because he made a phone call how on
Earth is that enough to motivate him to
get more work done moving one pin from
one pot to the next but somehow it works
but trust me please please please try
out my little half an hour schedule and
see how you feel every time you get out
your red pen and I'm not talking about a
to-do list if you do a to-do list that
is dependent on you completing the task
some tasks may take two hours three
hours some tasks may take five minutes
but the issue is after two hours my
attention is gone I am at the shop on my
phone with no remote intent to continue
studying that's just my personal way of
introducing a little bit of dopamine
into you my study day but I do also like
to reward myself with walking to the
shop to get my favorite set that is also
a nice little break as long as it
doesn't become a form of procrastination
another really great way of introducing
a little bit of dopamine into your day
personally I think it's flashcards
because and I know I go on about
flashcards but guys really if you have
ADHD and you don't use flashcards what
the hell are you doing with your life
because the thing about flashcards is
it's such quick information the aim at
least when I'm trying to make flash
cards is I keep the information on them
as simple as possible to really test my
active recall for individual facts in
comparison to when I'm doing practice
questions where I want to test my
application of these facts through
active recall but anyway so I keep them
quick if I get one wrong I just move on
and go on to the next one and then every
time I get one right you guessed it I
get a little bit of dopamine cake that
Spurs me on to the next one again
practice questions in a similar way when
you get a question right gives you a
little bit of a dopamine kick and Spurs
you on to keep going now I know if
you're getting a lot of them wrong it
may not be quite as satisfying however
there's something about dopamine I don't
think is that widely known we see
dopamine as the hormone that is released
when we get that quick fix of something
good and rewarding a huge role that
dopamine has is also the role of craving
and so when we get our dopamine kick
from something good we immediately are
craving wanting it again so even though
you may be getting some questions wrong
as long as you've experienced the sweet
sweet sweet
satisfaction of a green tea then science
says that you will probably be craving
the next one I don't recommend this all
the time another way that you could get
a quick little cheeky dopamine fix is by
setting your questions to easy now
please don't make a habit of this
because the problem is if you set your
questions to easy just to give yourself
a little bit of a dopamine kick then you
will walk into your exam and you won't
know anything however if you are
struggling to get started and you just
need that quick short-term reward so
sweet in the deal with the gorilla to
get you to sit down in Flow State and
actually start working heed my warning
you are not gonna learn anything by just
doing questions that you already know
and you're already going to get right my
third and final favorite newly
discovered strategy is the enemy so on a
lot of my videos I've spoken about the
concept of body doubling Body Dublin is
a lifesaver for me the only time I ever
get any errandy work done is when I do
it with my best friend Sophie also has
ADHD body doubling is a strategy
implemented by people with ADHD to
Anchor them to a task where they
complete the task alongside someone else
I'm not sure if the science is
completely understood but my personal
hypothesis is that I get a certain
element of stimulation from just being
in the presence of someone else I feel
like that stimulation satisfies me
enough that I can focus in on tasks that
I actually want to be doing another
hypothesis I have is that as human
beings again as I said we're very
simple-minded I think maybe Body Dublin
is pandering to our need to feel like we
look good in front of other people so
for example if I'm with someone else
else and I've said I'm going to do
something I'm far more likely to
complete the task and maybe that is
because I'm a little bit concerned that
if they looked over and saw me on my
phone then they would think that I was
lazy so anyway body Devlin is just an
absolute God's tier strategy that I've
had in my ADHD toolkit for the past few
years this last year in my medical
school exams I came across a little bit
of an issue and that issue goes by the
name of Sophia and Rafi now Sophia and
Rafi are my two best friends at Medical
School I'd love them dearly with all my
heart and they have been great great
body doubles for the past few years at
Medical School along with great friends
however Sophia and Rafi do not shut up
so severe muffin chatty chatty chatty
chatty chatty all day every day
personally I cannot think when other
people are talking around me like I get
distracted so easily I really struggle
so last year I actually made the mildly
painful decision to go and sit and study
by myself away from my friends and let
me tell you it was Soul destroying I
went and I sat in one of these little
pods in the library and it was
horrendous although I could hear myself
speak and I could focus I definitely
missed the benefits of a body double in
terms of my productivity and I noticed a
steep decline in the amount of time that
I was able to focus for this year once
again we started studying and Sophia and
Rafi started talking however I still had
the Dilemma of wanting to sit with my
friends and have body doubles but my
friends seemingly not having an exam
they had to study for enter white noise
now I cannot believe it has taken me
this long to discover White Noise oh my
Lord if you have not heard of white
noise before basically it's the most
irritating sound you could possibly
imagine in your life but for some reason
level of focus it gives me is
unparalleled I think potentially where
it's so irritating and grating it sends
me into a little bit of a frenzy that I
just want to get as much done as
possible but it's unbelievable so I was
able to sit with my friends enjoy a
cheeky body double or two along with the
company to boost my exam season morale
but I was also able to concentrate and
not only did I find that white noise
helped me block out the distractions
from other people but it actually helped
me block out the distractions from
myself even when no one else around me
was speaking I still found myself
putting on the white noise to send
myself into a focused Zone this strategy
is all about drawing from the strengths
of body doubling whilst also
acknowledging the weaknesses that come
with having ADHD that include being
easily distracted and the best
distractions are our friends if you made
it end of this video thank you so so
much for watching and I really
appreciate it if you yourself shared
some study tips that you found useful
whether you have ADHD or not in the
comments section below or if you can't
be bothered to do that fair enough maybe
just leave a little brain Emoji please
in the comment section if you did enjoy
the video then please don't forget to
like comment subscribe to join the
community I hope you have a wonderful
wonderful wonderful week and I will see
you in the next video
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