You’re NOT stupid, you have ADHD | How I Study When I Can’t Focus or Concentrate on ANYTHING

Summary

This 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

00:00

🎓 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.

05:01

🗂️ 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.

10:03

🌐 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.

15:03

📅 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.

Keywords

💡Neurodevelopmental disorder

A neurodevelopmental disorder refers to a group of conditions that affect how the brain grows and develops, impacting behavior, learning, and social skills. In the video, the speaker mentions having a neurodevelopmental disorder, which is a personal challenge they've overcome during their education, particularly medical school.

💡ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. The video's theme revolves around the speaker's experiences and strategies for managing ADHD while excelling in medical school, emphasizing the importance of tailored study methods for individuals with ADHD.

💡Study methods

Study methods are techniques or strategies used to learn and retain information effectively. The video discusses various study methods the speaker has used throughout their education, especially those that have been particularly effective for managing ADHD symptoms and succeeding in medical school.

💡Flashcards

Flashcards are a study method that involves creating cards with information on them for memorization and review. The speaker highlights flashcards as a crucial tool for their success in school, as they help maintain focus and facilitate active recall, which is especially beneficial for someone with ADHD.

💡Active recall

Active recall is a learning technique where a person attempts to remember information without immediately looking at the correct answer. The video emphasizes the importance of active recall in the speaker's study process, particularly when using flashcards, as it helps reinforce memory and understanding.

💡Squeeze

The 'Squeeze' is a strategy mentioned in the video where the individual maximizes productivity during the period of focused attention before their brain 'switches off.' The speaker uses this term to describe making the most of their limited attention span by engaging in effective study activities.

💡Sigma OS

Sigma OS, as described in the video, is a web browser designed to organize tabs into workspaces, helping manage and compartmentalize different areas of life or work. The speaker finds it particularly useful for maintaining organization and focus, which is essential for neurodivergent individuals like themselves.

💡Dopamine

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with reward and pleasure. The video discusses the role of dopamine in the brain's reward system, particularly in the context of ADHD, where the speaker uses strategies to 'trick' their brain into focusing on long-term goals by providing short-term dopamine rewards.

💡Half-hour schedule

The speaker mentions a 'half-hour schedule' as a technique to break down their day into manageable segments, providing a sense of accomplishment and dopamine release with each completed segment. This method helps maintain focus and motivation throughout the day.

💡Body doubling

Body doubling is a strategy used by individuals with ADHD to increase focus and productivity by working alongside someone else. The video describes the speaker's experience with body doubling, suggesting it provides a form of social stimulation and accountability that aids concentration.

💡White noise

White noise is a type of noise that is consistent in intensity and frequency, often used to mask other distracting sounds. The speaker discovered that white noise helps them to block out distractions, both from others and their own thoughts, allowing them to focus better, especially when studying with friends.

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