Too bad! My daughter doesn’t start college until August. But we’ll be interested to hear about the results!

I would love to do this!!  i am currently in grad school for counseling psych and my biggest problem from having lifelong add is handsdown PROCRASTINATION!!!! With disorganization a CLOSE second!!! Also being distracted easily!!!  My email is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)!

I’m a (technically) 3rd year physics student, and will be taking courses the summer as well as again in September.

My biggest challenge is keeping up with everything coming at me from all directions. Assignments popping up unexpectedly, appointments to keep, paperwork to fill out (rather ironic how much paper work dealing with ADHD requires), scheduling study time, and working. Without fail something will fall through the cracks, which will throw off any plans I had constructed.

I use iCal on my laptop as well as my ipod so I can easily sync appointments and such so I can check what I’m supposed to be doing regularly, and can (try to) update it right away before it slips my mind.

I am a first year student at St. Lawrence College. I am in the Social Service Worker program and I love it!

I was diagnosed with ADHD this school year (September 2011). It’s been difficult to accept and manage but I have been doing the best I can with the resources that are available to me.

My biggest challenge is staying on task and time management! I spend way too much time on certain tasks and I don’t end up getting other ones done. I have a difficult time prioritizing and minimizing the amount of work I do. I often feel as though I could work on some stuff for three different classes in one night after classes but often times I only manage to work on homework and projects for one class.

The one thing that I find helps me is working in 15 minute intervals. I set a timer on my phone or computer and I also put my phone on silent. For that entire 15 minutes until my timer goes off I try to focus on the task at hand. When my timer goes off then I allow myself to check Facebook, Twitter, my text messages and what not. I then try to take a mental break by doing some knitting and then I get back to my task at hand.

However, I feel as though I need to start timing my breaks more because sometimes I get too distracted and I don’t get back to the task at hand.

At night I also don’t take my medication later than 4pm and I find it hard to stay focused on some of my work and then I don’t get much done which eventually stresses me out.

I don’t know of anything else that could help but I’d be willing to try just about anything and see how it could possibly benefit me in my studies!

E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

I am a second year (technically - third calendar year part time) college student with ADHD and I am also the mother of a college student with ADHD. As a matter of fact, I went to college when my eldest son, gifted with #ADHD, went to community college while in high school at sixteen years old through a dual credit program in the State of Washington #RunningStart. I had always wanted to go to college, after my children getting the #ADHD diagnosis to help other parents as a mental health counselor. We took his first two classes together. He was mortified. But it did help both of us. 

Quickly, I learned the problems I had in school twenty years ago that prevented my from pursuing higher education, were still with me:

1. Time Management
2. Sense of Time
3. Organization of my Thoughts to write well!!!! UGH!
4. Distractions
5. Stress
6. Lofty Goals
7. Procrastination
8. Anxiety

Thank you for considering me for this project as it would help me, my son, and others with whom I share my experience.

Paulina Oberg
EMAIL: paulinaoberg(at)msn(dot)com

I am a Freshman Mechanical Engineering student, with mostly technical classes. I would say that I am horrific with time management. I don’t do work when I can, so it piles up later and I have a massive amount to do in a short time. Because of this, I feel like I don’t have any free time, any I have I spend on distracting sites. As well, I feel like I take too long to do tasks, (such as physics problems, because I get distracted by near infinite small things, so a problem that takes someone 10 minutes, takes me 30.

To wit, I have found some coping mechanisms. I use the chrome extension StayFocused to limit myself to 30 minutes of distracting sites a day, as well as Astrid tasks, for my Android phone, which is a very good task list. I have put all of the work I have to do for the semester in the task list, so I know when things are coming up. Also, it sends me alerts and notifications, so I do know I have many things to do, I just don’t do them. I also maintain google calendar with my class schedule and other events, and I can refer to it on my phone.

I am a third year Pre-medical student at USM in Maine, majoring in Human Biology. I was diagnosed with ADHD 2 years ago after I failed some of my science courses though I was studying 3x the amount of the average student. My iPad is my best friend while in college and has saved me from my normal “habit” of buying new planners throughout the year each time I make a mess of the pages, or from making a bunch of repetitive “to-do” lists so that I get my important tasks accomplished each day. I am a big fan of using timers for school work to stay on track (Timeli) as well as a daily calendar (google calendar) with reminders and a homework related planner (iHw).

I am interested in using an electronic note taking app as well as beginning to record my lectures. I have tried electronic flash card apps without success since I seem to need to physically hold my notecards as well as write them out, though I am trying to use such apps to save on time!

I have a big road ahead of me with medical school and I am definitely a student who spends a lot of time studying and feel I would be a good fit for a test group since organization and productivity is very important for my success in school as well as happiness.

My greatest related challenges in college are staying on track and prioritizing my tasks. These challenges relate to note taking, studying, and to daily things I need to accomplish in my everyday life during school and aside from my studies. I also struggle with switching gears, especially with stopping one class and beginning my studies in another.

Any new gadgets and apps would be helpful to try out, even if I am not part of the test group. I look forward to seeing what’s new!

Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

First year student at the number 3 Law School in the UK; it’s a very difficult course with world renowned teaching staff, so the lectures are very very intense. Even students without AD/HD say it’s impossible to understand the concepts and, simultaneously, take notes at the necessary level of detail!

I struggle to pay attention in a large lecture hall: hundreds of keyboards clacking furiously, a monotone professor who thinks “PowerPoint” must be newfangled comic book slang, the discomfort of sitting still for hours on end, the stagnant air, the dim lights, and 300 FASCINATING backs-of-heads to look at.
And then I embark on a predictable cycle of
-realizing I’m distracted,
-trying to remember what I should be writing, and therefore,
-missing the next thing I should be making notes on, and then
-being distracted by thinking about how much I hate having gaps in my notes from being distracted!

So I’m not finding the lectures as helpful as they should be, despite being an auditory learner all through school when the teaching was more dynamic; what I’ve taken to doing is writing my own notes and then recording them, just with my laptop’s microphone and a nifty Microsoft programme called OneNote, for later listening pleasure… But it takes forever to write and record and is not as visual as I would like. I need more pzazz!

So if you’re looking for someone who could do with help with note-taking/short attention span/poor working memory, I’m your…Ummmmm… Oh hang on, what was…... Yeah.

Thing that keep me happy and sane are: chewing loads of gum so as not to fidget, redbull and bright lights to wake up for evening study sessions, and getting distracting ideas out of my head by keeping two very long lists - one of things that make me happy, and another of things I’d like to do. I keep these on my computer desktop and dump distractions into them; and I only keep the positive ones, to look at when I’m demotivated.
The negative thoughts get written on paper, balled up and chucked in the recycling bin.
... Or, at least, that general direction!

Live Long and Prosper,

Cordee

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/cordelia-lumley/35/a32/a93

First year student at the number 3 Law School in the UK; it’s a very difficult course with world renowned teaching staff, so the lectures are very very intense. Even students without AD/HD say it’s impossible to understand the concepts and, simultaneously, take notes at the necessary level of detail!

I struggle to pay attention in a large lecture hall: hundreds of keyboards clacking furiously, a monotone professor who thinks “PowerPoint” must be newfangled comic book slang, the discomfort of sitting still for hours on end, the stagnant air, the dim lights, and 300 FASCINATING backs-of-heads to look at.
And then I embark on a predictable cycle of
-realizing I’m distracted,
-trying to remember what I should be writing, and therefore,
-missing the next thing I should be making notes on, and then
-being distracted by thinking about how much I hate having gaps in my notes from being distracted!

So I’m not finding the lectures as helpful as they should be, despite being an auditory learner all through school when the teaching was more dynamic; what I’ve taken to doing is writing my own notes and then recording them, just with my laptop’s microphone and a nifty Microsoft programme called OneNote, for later listening pleasure… But it takes forever to write and record and is not as visual as I would like. I need more pzazz!

So if you’re looking for someone who could do with help with note-taking/short attention span/poor working memory, I’m your…Ummmmm… Oh hang on, what was…... Yeah.

Thing that keep me happy and sane are: chewing loads of gum so as not to fidget, redbull and bright lights to wake up for evening study sessions, and getting distracting ideas out of my head by keeping two very long lists - one of things that make me happy, and another of things I’d like to do. I keep these on my computer desktop and dump distractions into them; and I only keep the positive ones, to look at when I’m demotivated.
The negative thoughts get written on paper, balled up and chucked in the recycling bin.
... Or, at least, that general direction!

Live Long and Prosper,

Cordee

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/cordelia-lumley/35/a32/a93

My greatest ADHD challenge with College in honesty is going to be to finish it. Which means staying on task completing assignments on-time finding my organized note taking designed for easy review nightly/weekly /monthly recall. Realistic time management remembering that I have to leave time for SELF CARE AND ME or I will become unmanagible.
I havent been in school for over 20 plus years when I was it wasnt a good experience. Times have changed and so have I. So at 47 I am returning at a mature student.

I’m a second term 1st year student at Carleton College, and it’s ironic that I chose a school that reputedly gives the most work in the nation (along with Chicago, Reed, etc.)

What is your greatest ADHD-related challenge in college?

My greatest ADHD challenge in college, perhaps unsurprisingly, is to stay on task and get things done. Often, I find that after physical exercise, it would take me longer than usual to buckle down and start work. My karate class runs from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. While this is not to say ADHD students shouldn’t exercise- they should, it’s very good for them, it does mean that a better strategy is called for. After all, a wise man once told me: If you do the same thing and get the same results, perhaps it’s time to stop doing it.

During tasks, my attention would often wander to a variety of things: my music, all of the books on my shelf (despite my ADHD, I’m in love with books), my messy room, and all the little subtle distractions I can’t even name. What often happens is, for instance, I change into my bathrobe to shower. It occurred to me there was an e-mail I’d been impatiently anticipating, so I would check my e-mail. One thing leads to another, and half an hour later I’d still be in my bathrobe surfing the internet. It dawned upon me that I cannot work effectively in my room, so now I took refuge in numerous coffee shops and hideouts in town, bringing only my work, leaving electronic devices at home if possible. I find that the background chatter really helps me focus as long as I can’t make out anything meaningful from the noise. Then I would put on music in my earphones and hyperfocus for a good two hours or more. It’s not uncommon for me to spend an entire afternoon in a coffee shop. It does get a little expensive but to be honest, 3 dollars for a cup of coffee is worth all of the productivity.

One of my close friends who has hyperactive ADHD said: “I only meant to build my deck for Magic for an hour, but the deck was so good I had to play with it. The tournaments were hour-long so I figured I could go back to my work. Turns out, I couldn’t.” I found it hilarious. I said: You never, EVER start something like that when you have work. You think you can’t stop, but you can’t!

Another challenge for me is to actually follow the lecture. My working memory is usually terrible. The math professor goes from A to B to C to D, but I would listen to all of them, and forget A and B, thus C and D would make no sense. I also have a tendency to tune out in class, which is why I always sit myself in the front, which has a number of benefits. 1. You’re much closer to the lecturer 2. Even if you want to fall asleep, you would do so right under his nose, and that would be extremely awkward and rude, so you try to stay awake. I would really benefit from a note-taker, but my school doesn’t have that service and in any case I don’t want to pay someone to do it for me.

The greatest challenge, however, is psychological. Along with ADHD, I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. My personality, according to a number of psychometric tests, tends towards conscientious, or in MBTI terms, a strong judger, and my ADHD pulls me in the other direction, which results in significant inner tension. I’m an achiever, and in my mind, have always been despite what my grades are. I made a 3.57 in high school, but I thought I deserved much more on account of my high effort level and superlative intelligence.

In college, I swore to get the 4.0 I always deserved, and wound up with a 3.9. When I got a quiz with a 7.5/10 back, I fell into a panic (even though we have a quiz nearly everyday, and I always get 9.5 or full marks on them) and ran home crying. My peers and family find my obsession with achievement excessive, even my traditional “Asian” mother. In grade school, she was the one constantly putting pressure on me to achieve: “your goal for middle school is to get on honor roll. In high school, high honor roll”, but even she backed off as she realized what this zeal for high GPA is doing to both my physical and emotional health. She now says to me: “look, if you get a 3.3, then so be it. I care that you get adequate sleep, not a 4.0”. I think my attitude is now a little better, but it still haunts me sometimes.

What tool(s) help you best stay organized, productive, and happy in college?

My iPhone, but I suspect that will be the typical response. Not my iPhone specifically, but the apps I put on there.

iStudiez Pro is particularly helpful and is designed with the college student in mind. You can record assignments, track grades, break projects into smaller chunks, save your instructors’s and teammates’s contact information for quick access, use the block style calendar to visualize your day (you can add non-academic events), etc. I mainly use it as an academic calendar. For general GTD, I use OmniFocus.

OmniFocus is extremely expensive and there are a lot of good alternatives out there. For instance, if recording assignments is what you’re into, then iStudiez Pro is more than enough. Personally I use OmniFocus for iPhone and iPad because, well, it’s fun. I sound like a rich kid with no life, but to be honest, it’s very important to me that the tools I use are fun, and OmniFocus is so cleanly and beautifully designed in a way that no other app is. iStudiez Pro is beautiful, but I need reminders for my daily menial tasks too.

PE Class: In my case, karate. It helps you stay sane. Seriously.

Post-Its: I honestly find technology overhyped most of the time. A small sticky, strategically placed, works wonders. They can function as reminders (my transfer application checklist is still in my line of sight now), checklists, etc.

Index Cards: Not just a memorization aid, but a highly underrated way to take notes and organize information into manageable chunks. As an ADHD’er, I’m frequently overwhelmed by too much unorganized information. Ever find your notebooks long, linear and boring, with no meaningful separation of different concepts? Put them on an index card. For instance, I have an index card, in Calc 2, for everything I needed to study on the exam: one for Sequences, one for Series, one for Positive Series Tests, one for Ratio and Root Tests, and one for Alternating Series. For Latin, I have one for Infinitive Uses, “Ut” Clauses, Relative Clauses, etc. Anyone who knows these subjects will see why the separation is meaningful.

Color Fineliners: Especially for people who need to read their notes again. Notes written in single-color are terribly dull and again, show no meaningful separation of ideas. It just honestly makes notes more stimulating to read, so you’ll more likely read them. Every time my math prof goes into a different example or concept, I switch a main color. If you use one color, makes sure to drop a line below what you wrote before when the lecturer switches topics.

Tools are important, but stimulation is important too. I think especially for a crowd like us, our tools need to be “fun” if we were to frequently use them at all.

I graduated with a BA in Spanish six years ago, and I have no idea how I did it. I was untreated, and it’s one of my biggest regrets. I’m now 28 years old and in my 2nd year back in college. I’ve finally decided what I want to be when I grow up! Now that I’m on medication, it’s like a whole new world has opened up for me—although it’s certainly still not a cakewalk.

One of the biggest struggles for me is reading - it’s challenging for me to focus on reading textbooks OR my notes. I guess it’s all just BORING so I can’t stick with it very easily. having a highlighter and pen/pencil in hand as I read so that I can underline and highlight important parts has been helping me stay focused.

THE biggest challenge for me is time-management/avoiding the internet black hole of distractions (my courses are online, so I can’t escape the temptation!)/overcoming my lack of motivation. I’m still trying to figure out how to overcome this challenge.