Author Archives

Laura Rolands, ADHD Coach

Posted on

Effective Study Tips for Students with ADHD

by

Clients and teachers often ask me for effective study tips that will help students with ADHD.  The study tips included here will help students of all ages prepare for quizzes, tests and exams.

Make a Plan

When you have ADHD, making a plan can be the most difficult and important part of studying. Difficult because it may go against your nature of acting in the moment.  Important because it can make your studying less stressful and more effective.  Experiment with this concept.  Next time you have a test, think about how long you should study.  Break your studying into time chunks over several days if possible.  Put the time into your calendar, planner, phone or somewhere else that you will see it.

Implement Your Plan

I can hear your protest now.  “But Laura, I can make a beautiful plan, but I won’t implement it.”  Once you have made your plan, it can feel a little overwhelming to implement it.  Focus on the first time chunk.  What day will you start your studying?  Where will you go to study?  What is your reward when you finish.  Do what it takes to implement your plan, even if it seems like a very small step.  Getting started will help you gain momentum.

Read Your Notes

You are thinking, “of course I’ll read my notes”, but I mean for you to read them aloud.  Especially if you are an auditory learner, this can help you study more effectively than if you try to read your notes silently.  I have one client who has been reading multiplication facts aloud to himself for a couple weeks.  Just one set of facts each evening (3×3, 3×4, 3×5 … 3×11) two times through.  This client reports that this simple act of reading the facts aloud is already helping with his middle-school math class.  Could this strategy help you to study vocabulary?  math?  other subjects?

Take Breaks

Taking breaks can seem to be counter intuitive to my clients.  Many would rather push through all of their work and hope that hyperfocus helps them study.  By taking even a short break, you can give yourself a chance to rejuvenate and recharge to get ready for more studying.  A brisk walk can help even more.

Let me know your thoughts on these effective study tips.  What are your favorite study tips for students with ADHD?  What works for you?  Share here and help others learn from you!

Related Posts:

Posted on

Are you Disorganized or Unorganized?

by

Take small steps for big success

If you are disorganized or unorganized, chances are the idea of getting yourself organized is overwhelming.  Those stacks of papers, books, toys or other stuff can be pretty imposing can’t they?  I encourage you to take some of the pressure off yourself and commit to taking some small steps to get organized.  True, you would rather get it all done today, but you need to determine whether that is realistic.  If it is not realistic or seems too overwhelming, take a short time today to identify small steps that you can take to overcome at least some of your disorganization.

Set Organization Goals

Before you begin, think about what goals you have regarding organization.  What goals do you have?  What can you accomplish once you achieve your goals?  How can you break your goals into smaller goals?  How can you utilize the suggestions below to get started?

Small Steps to Implement

If you are disorganized or unorganized, pick a couple of the steps below to implement and start moving toward organization success.  Add your own suggestions in the comments!

  • With email, color code to prioritize email by the sender.  This way, you can see emails from your priority customers, family members and bosses first.  Taking care of priority emails will help keep your email organized.
  • Use the automation features of your email program to automatically move incoming emails to mailbox folders.  Some of my clients use this feature to move low priority items to a “Read Someday” folder.  Saves a lot of time!
  • Set timers to sound 10 minutes before you need to move to your next assignment.  Use these 10 minutes to clean up your current activity or project so that everything can get put away.
  • Make an appointment with yourself to organize.  Spend 30 minutes or less at first.  Any more time can get overwhelming.  If you have ADHD and can make hyperfocus work to your advantage, you might want to plan ahead and schedule a block of a few hours in one day.  Check in with yourself – how much time works best for you?
  • Systematize:  Set up a simple system for yourself when going through mail whether at home or the office.  Give yourself a few options such as File, Toss, Do and Delegate.  If you have trouble setting up a system for yourself, hire a coach or partner with a friend to figure out a system that works for YOU.
  • Motivate:  Identify a reward for yourself when you accomplish a small goal.  Anything that will keep you going and that is affordable for you is a good idea.
  • Limit distractions when you are getting organized.  For example, turn off your computer and don’t answer the phone.  It will take a significant amount of time to refocus on the organizing which makes the overall process take longer.
  • Set up simple file folders that work for you.  Label them in bright colors and use them!

Share your ideas in the comments.  What else can your fellow readers do to get organized?  Looking forward to your feedback!

Related Posts:

Posted on

College Students with ADHD Benefit From Coaching

by

During the past year-and-a-half, I have had the opportunity to serve as a Research Assistant at Wayne State University.  The research team studied the effects of coaching for college students with ADHD.  The study was funded by the Edge Foundation and the research team included Dr. Sharon Field Hoffman, Dr. David Parker and Dr. Shlomo Sawilowsky.  I am grateful to have learned so much from this esteemed group of researchers.  The study is the first large-scale, national study to look at the benefits of ADHD Coaching.  It was conducted with 127 participants who were randomly assigned to receive coaching or to be part of a comparison group.

Our research results were announced at the CHADD (Children and Adults with ADHD) conference in Atlanta, Georgia on November 12, 2010.  I encourage you to read the Executive Summary and final report on the Edge Foundation’s website.

A few highlights of the study include:

  • ADHD coaching according to the Edge Foundation model is effective in assisting students to improve their self-regulation, study skills and will.
  • Students who participated in the study built confidence, improved time management and organization skills, and improved their approach to learning.
  • Qualitative interviews showed that coaching helped students to set more effective goals and to reach them in more efficient and through less stressful means.

While I was not personally a coach during this study, I have been trained in the same model used at the Edge Foundation by Jodi Sleeper-Triplett of JST Coaching, LLC and am so pleased to see positive results from this highly rigorous study.  I encourage you to read more about the results of the study and let me know your comments and questions.

Related Posts:

Posted on

Improve Time Management and Organization Skills: Categorize

by

If you have challenges with your time management and organization skills, categorizing will help to ensure you spend time in high priority areas.

Main Categories

Identify the main categories of work and family priorities in your life.  These categories will depend on the nature of your work and family responsibilities as well as the amount of time under your own control.

Time Required

Decide how much time you need to spend in each of the categories.  Consider standing meetings, appointments already scheduled and the amount of time available.  When I recently went through this exercise, I was careful to add in all of my children’s activities and school schedules.  This helps to avoid surprises and missing important events.  Also, remember, just because there are 24 hours in each day does not mean you can schedule work activities in all them!

Enter all of your standing meetings into your calendar.  When you are getting started, I recommend using my Weekly Planning Snapshot to help you track your time.

Where do you need to focus?

Look at the remaining time you have available and identify how many hours you can spend on each of your remaining categories.  Note this at the bottom of the Weekly Planning Snapshot.

Schedule Your Time

Make appointments with yourself to spend time on your areas of focus.  Check the amount of time to make sure you are focusing on your priorities and requirements.

Review and Do It Again

In order to improve your time management and organization skills, you need to review your progress at the end of the week and start the process for next week.

If you have any questions or any feedback, please let us know here.  We will answer your questions and provide additional information in the future.

Related Posts:

  • No Related Posts
Posted on

Overcome your Disorganized Desk

by

If you have ADHD, chances are that you have a disorganized desk.  The reasons behind this are plentiful.  Impulsivity and hyperactivity can cause you to impulsively jump from task to task.  Distractability may cause you to forget to finish an assignment.  You might simply not notice paperwork piling up only to get overwhelmed by it when you realize you need to get it under control.

For simple ways to organize your disorganized desk under control, follow these tips:

computer desk

Paperwork System

  • Develop a system for any paperwork you touch.
  • I like using the categories of File, Trash, Do and Delegate.  If you act on each of these categories as soon as you handle a paper, less of the paperwork will pile up in the future.
  • Keep a stack of file folders and a pen available so you can easily file papers.
  • Figure out how much time you really need to spend on your “Do” category.  Are there low priority items that can actually move to the trash?
  • Remember, delegating does not mean that you need to manage people.  Delegating work to the right person saves everyone time in the long run.  Delegate at home too – even with young kids.

Just 10 Minutes

  • Do anything for just 10 minutes.  Set a timer and STOP organizing when the timer buzzes.  This can help control the overwhelm.  Keep this up for 6 days in a row and you will have an hour of progress!
  • Do the hardest thing first.  Remember, you will only be doing it for 10 minutes!

Start Small

  • Pick one small step to take this week.  Taking regular small steps will help you make continuous progress.  Do not expect perfection on day or week one!

Share your ideas with us here – what are you going to do this week to get your disorganized desk under control?

Related Posts:

  • No Related Posts