ADHD & Reading: 10 Tips for Reading and Studying in University & College

If you're someone who struggles with academic reading (either with staying focused or remembering what you've read) because of ADHD (or anything else!) then hopefully some of the tips in this video will be helpful for you! Reading can be really challenging for people with ADHD--especially when it's for college or university. There are however a number of tricks and strategies we can use to become better readers (and better students), and in this video I get into my top 10 strategies for reading with ADHD.
These strategies are:
1. Eliminate distractions (2:14)
2. Learn your body's rhythms (4:21)
3. Active reading & annotating (5:26)
4. Embodied reading (7:26)
5. Audio elements (8:50)
6. Colour coding (11:19)
7. Digital tricks (12:51)
8. Mindful note taking (14:14)
9. Time-tracking and reward systems (15:29)
10. Prioritization (17:47)
Thanks for watching & happy studying! :)
Follow me on Instagram: / skeptical.witch
#ADHD #studytips #gradstudent

[@assassin7867]

Time stamp Pin 📌 this 1. 2:14 Eliment Distraction 2. 4:23 Learn your Rhythms 3. 5:29 Active Reading 4. 7:26 Embodied Reading 5. 8:54 Audio elements 6. 11:20 Use Colours 7. 12:52 Electronic Tricks 8. 14:16 Mindeful Note Taking 9. 15:34 Time Tracking and Reward 10. 17:50 Prioritisation

[@VinayKeerthiKT]

Add timestamps please, easier for those of us who want the TLDW.

[@kariepw6792]

I know this is an old video but something I found helpful was when I was struggling with a concept. I looked it up on KZbin. It was much easier for me to follow a video than the textbook at times.

[@sarahstudies8149]

Great tips. I find the hardest thing for me is sitting down to get an assignment/essay done. The only thing I've found helpful is to break it down into small sections and do a bit at a time but I am definitely going to get some noise cancelling headphones because noise is my number one distraction. At the moment I have become overwhelmed because I am two weeks behind due to moving house. Doesn't sound a lot but that's a lot of hours of work! I had to get an extension for an assignment and now I am struggling to do it. I am overwhelmed, my house has boxes everywhere and is a mess and I am really trying to find a way to sit down and do it without feeling so stressed about it. Going to try some of these tips.

[@sarahbestPhD]

Oh no that does sound super overwhelming! Hopefully things are going ok with the move-I find moving to be one of the most stressful things ever... and having assignments on top of that definitely doesn’t help. And I agree sitting down to write assignments can be so difficult... it’s the starting that’s the hardest part often. Hope the headphones work though and you’re able to find some more strategies that work for you! :)

[@earlj.d.6285]

As a diagnosed person, thank you for this video along with the others in your account. Few things 1) I don’t mind the long intro because you gave us an option to skip with the time stamps you provided 2) I prefer long videos because it’s a subject that is highly relevant to me, so my mind does not wander far. 3) I get we’re all different so everyone’s opinion is valid but the time stamps really help.

[@sarahbestPhD]

Thanks so much for your feedback!! 😊

[@cathalc08]

I have a ton of reading to do for my Teacher training course and failing miserably so thank you for some of these tips. The Prioritizing section was simple advice but it's reassuring to hear, I think I need more vigilance there. There's a couple of Chrome plugins with the Pomodoro technique that are quite useful too.

[@sarahbestPhD]

I'm glad it was helpful, and best of luck with your Teacher Training course! I hope it's going well and you're finding study methods that work for you :) what plugins do you use for Chrome? Because that sounds really helpful

[@frey8893]

This was one of the best study tips video I have watched in a while. Thanks :D

[@lesliebirch137]

Super helpful tips for grad school--ty!

[@omar53412]

Everything you said was purely education for my adhd mind. Also the black and white setting on your phone is a major help. I’ve never thought of this until you showed me how it looks. Thank you for this.

[@sarahbestPhD]

I'm glad it helped you! Definitely helpful for making our phones less shiny and distracting haha

[@myal7532]

Thank you! This was such a helpful video. The clips of your annotated books and the Notion page of your readings are truly beautiful :D; they make the hyper organized part of me happy 😂

[@pablolucics.5699]

Religious Studies are super interesting! I'm studying psychology (and i suspect to have inattentive adhd) and i like to seek the connection between those giant topics, for example, about the archetypes recognized by Jung and other complex stuff. Sorry for my bad english.

[@yurimessias11]

Great video, very helpful! The timestamps help a lot too :)

[@applepie9937]

Thank you so much !!

[@isaacbeckley7273]

Late but there is now text-to-speech software like Speechify which is very handy!

[@catrinabennett7165]

Difficulty paying attention to this video long intro

[@sarahbestPhD]

Thanks for the advice! I'll aim to make my intros shorter for these kinds of videos!

[@GoodBernal]

Use the playback speed. That helped me to watch this video. Great video 😊

[@nykka3]

Increase playback speed to 1.5x

[@mb172]

IMO just delete the first 2 mins 15 seconds and reupload. The title says all that needed to be said. Video then starts right on the point

[@arm7595]

You have Super Saiyan 3 Adhd

[@gracetanner4132]

I just started university this year and was struggling these tips are very helpful thank you

[@sarahbestPhD]

Glad it was helpful for you! 😊

[@lina5699]

Thank you. I just started uni and I'm so overwhelmed

[@sarahbestPhD]

It’s definitely overwhelming for a lot of first year students... it’s a really different environment, and may take some getting used to. But it’ll get easier soon as you adjust :) if you haven’t already, I’d recommend checking out any supports your university offers, like the accessibility centre. Also making a study group with some friends can be really helpful! Good luck & I hope your first semester goes well!

[@Subo23]

Great tips! I think many public libraries also offer audiobooks nowadays as well.

[@sarahbestPhD]

Yes they do! Great tip, thanks! :)

[@matthewnelson9809]

working on it

[@bluebird6883]

Aaaah I didn't know you could grayscale your iphone. Awesome tip hahah implemented it right away and it's been helpful. Thank you!

[@sarahbestPhD]

Glad it’s helped! It does make it so much less enticing haha

[@CaseyBerard]

I second this! Not only for ADHD but migraines. Double help for me-thanks.

[@belleomalley1022]

Hi Sarah! Thank you so much for these videos. I’ve only recently been diagnosed and this is so helpful! Would you be willing to do a video breaking down how you use notion for your degree? I’m trying it but find it so overwhelming. Thank you!

[@sarahbestPhD]

I’m really glad it’s helpful for you! And sure, I can definitely do a video on how I use Notion... though the templates I use are a lot simpler than a lot of them out there. If you’re interested in a simple/functional kind of template for uni/grad school, I’d recommend checking out Holly Jane’s KZbin videos on notion too!

[@belleomalley1022]

@@sarahbestPhD awesome! The more resources the better! Thanks so much!

[@amaranth6174]

I never understood why but I am one of those people that concentrate better with a little background noise

[@owami4802]

It’s brings up the baseline level of stimuli which can be useful because too little stimulation can lead your brain to get distracted while searching for more dopamine

[@ardalanaskarian2875]

As a person with ADD it is truly annoying to focus on my courses during the university. Even now that the term started is hard, and to be honest some of your ideas in the videos are amazing, simply great, but I tried them because everyone told me a long time ago and it really was not helpful, but I saw many people were able to use these methods and get everything to work, so for anyone who is reading my comment please listen to her because most people did it and they improved 10 times. Unfortunately these methods were not that usable on me, but thanks again Sarah for your great video. I really enjoyed it. I wish there was a way that I could improve my situation.

[@sarahbestPhD]

I know it's tough, and these methods definitely aren't going to work for everyone! I truly hope you do find some study tips that help for you though. Best of luck with your degree!

[@daisyliang7807]

Great video! I really like the part on the colour coding since I really struggle with organising readings into one single folder. I wonder for the coding and labelling system, which platform/software do you use? many thanks!

[@sarahbestPhD]

I use Notion for organizing all of my notes, as it allows for the colour coding and easily making connections between readings. And it’s free for students which is great. Hope that helps!

[@matthewnelson9809]

got it

[@jadeltrickery]

it would help if i had timestamps cuz i just can’t go through with this video

[@Monocromal]

thanks for the video! I am studying for my master's and I've been thinking that reading all the material would be much easier if I could just listen to the papers like audiobooks while I do something else with my hands, like crochet. I've been using the iOS screen reader but maybe there's something better! Do you have any recommendations?

[@sarahbestPhD]

I’ve tried speechify, which is good but expensive. NaturalReader is also a option you might want to try! Good luck with your masters studies!

[@user-fb1ys2lj9c]

Can you share topics with people disagnoise with adhd and auditory processing disorder and in college, university. If they graduated, I'd like to hear about it.

[@sarahbestPhD]

Sorry I’m not completely sure what you mean by this!

[@KeremPARLAKGUMUS-uc4xb]

I am stuck, I have diagnosed with Adult Adhd when I was 21 years old. Now, I am 36 years old. Unfortunately, with the guidance of my family, I unfortunately went to school of "software engineering" and I just hate it since I can not do it because of lots of distractions (inner distractions and outer distratsion) Moreover, I want to read reading books,but I can not. it is just pain. If there is any other tactics you know: such as reading loud. or when you are doing some specific work in front of laptop, by having a conversation with yourself on your own so that you do not move away what exactly you are doing (I always find my self doing something else because of a distraction). I am in misarebla situation and I need help. I can not earn money as well. As a 36 years old person, I depend on my father and mother which pisses me of. just Please help. thank you.

[@sarahbestPhD]

Hi! That’s a tough situation and I’m sorry you’re struggling so much. Have you tried medication for your ADHD? That can definitely help with concentration. Also, virtual coworking is something you might want to look into-there are online groups you can join where the goal is to get work done, with others helping keep you accountable (this is also known as “body doubling”). I’d recommend looking that up, and seeing if it might help! Also if you’re going to school for something you really hate, maybe it would be worthwhile to think about changing fields/career paths? It’s a lot easier for me to focus on studying and getting work done when it’s something I enjoy and am passionate about!

[@nykka3]

Can you provide details on what the color coding (marker and sticky notes) you used means?

[@sarahbestPhD]

I use different colours for different themes usually. So for example, green for anything important related to environmentalism, yellow for anything important related to colonialism/imperialism, pink for materialism and embodiment, etc. I use them to indicate the various different themes that are relevant to my research. I find this is helpful for grouping together different points being made in the text in a way that makes writing papers easier. Alternatively, sometimes I use different colours to indicate different key parts of the text-so one colour for the main arguments, another colour for methodology, another colour for important examples, and a different colour for something I want to research further elsewhere.

[@nykka3]

@@sarahbestPhD thx

[@elenagoose]

Can you share what your symbols/annotating system is ?

[@sarahbestPhD]

Sure I can do that, I can include it in a video soon :) although I do think it might be most effective to come up with your own symbol system... that way you can tailor it to your reading style/what you want to get out of it 😊

[@Joker15234]

Any advice on a system or program on how to learn without medication?

[@sarahbestPhD]

Hopefully some of the tips I gave here will work for people not on medication too... I was unmedicated throughout my undergrad and a couple years of grad school as well. It certainly makes focusing much more difficult, but I think using the Pomodoro method for reading was one of the most helpful approaches for me before I got diagnosed/medicated.

[@dapperninji646]

Please tell what apps you use for your notes and books at 5:52.

[@sarahbestPhD]

GoodNotes! It's free too :)

[@Av-vj3hs]

Hi! I already try to do the active reading thing, highlighting +note-taking, but I’ve found that it just takes SO long. I have no idea how to make this any faster, the time it takes tends to put me off too. Any advice?

[@sarahbestPhD]

It definitely is a time consuming method, which is why I’d recommend only doing it for readings you know will be important. If you’re planning to use a reading for an assignment, or you know it’ll be on a test/exam, then using this method can be really helpful. If your just doing weekly readings for a class, it may not be necessary to do the whole active reading thing... you might just want to skim it instead. One of the most helpful things for me was learning to be strategic about which readings I really focus on and which ones I can skip over a bit... definitely lessens the workload!

[@Av-vj3hs]

@@sarahbestPhD Thank you so much 😁

[@matthewnelson9809]

hi

[@gracetanner4132]

Could you please do tips about essays

[@sarahbestPhD]

Yes for sure!

[@matthewnelson9809]

apply for studen help with the libary utah downtoen iam adult need some work can do ok threw penn foster

[@alpacab.i7542]

Lol my adhd is so bad, i put this video on 1.5 speed

[@matthewnelson9809]

well my gma from albany and my gpa from south queen that why uiam from utah like my mom

[@Idk20061]

I came here for advise and ended up reminding myself of a bad memory related to colors just a me thing , not related to the video...

[@temmie-confused]

bad memory related to colors?

[@Idk20061]

@@temmie-confused more specifically my colored crayons that I've been collecting since little

[@saramarie3392]

Hi.

[@saramarie3392]

🤗💜

[@titanking5956]

Helo

[@temmie-confused]

how tf should a person with adhd watch a 22 min video without getting distracted

[@sarahbestPhD]

Very fair point haha. That’s a problem with ADHD though, the habit of rambling on forever yet also not being able to pay attention to long videos etc. I’ll try to keep future videos shorter!

[@Trollsagan69420]

These infernal phones short circuit your brain. The impulsive side of me has wanted to put a knife through my phone for years.