Hello Jow Forums

For me the trick is just to minimize distractions. Keep a clean desk, turn off the monitor, just have the paperwork in front of me.

If it's hard math theory, no music, but if it's a more zen thing like programming excel spreadsheets or writing a lab report I put on a custom playlist (NOT YOUTUBE, youtube is the bane of productivity), and those playlists are classical and lo-fi stuff, all with no words.

Also it helps to move around. I hit the school's gym to blow off steam and refocus my brain, and if I'm stuck on something I'll pack my shit up and head to the library / a different part of the library if I'm already there / outdoors if the weather allows. Just a chance of scenery is very good. Sitting inside all day agonizing over shit is neither fun nor particularly productive, you just gotta learn to sit down, get a lot of stuff done, and then be willing to take a break when you need it.

Whatever you do, never take psychoactive substances of any kind. You will become addicted, and worthless without them, in exchange for a short term boost. Never touch the stuff.

Secondly, do what you can to be happy with your life, whatever that means for you. If your mind has good thoughts to wander to then it is nowhere nearly as bad.

Finally, just work on willpower. Forget all the life coaches and zen spirituality bullshit, just force yourself to persevere through tasks such as studying. It's a personal hell I have to go through every day, but this is just how you live. As long as you don't upset your brain chemistry balance with outside substances, your baseline will keep improving. Eventually you hit the point where you are so well disciplined, that you outshine normal, healthy people. Much like how dyslexic kids become top of their class by having to work so much harder, and getting used to the hard work.

t. serious ADD case who made it through a european ivy league

ADHD is comorbid with substance abuse, so I agree with you in general, but are you also recommending abstaining from prescription medication to treat it?

I spent all of high school coked up on Adderall. It got me to pass with honors, but my high school life was miserable, so I talked to my doc and we've swapped me to Atomoxetine (Strattera). It's so much less invasive, I barely notice it, and there's no crash at the end of ever day, but I've been pulling perfect A's ever since.

I stopped taking it during the break between Spring and Summer terms though, and I've been absolutely useless as far as spending my break productively is concerned. Not sure if it's a prescription crash or just me being lazy and brain fried after the last term.

I think I have ADD as well, but I have never been to a doctor and my parents never thought that. I somehow got through school OK and I enrolled into a high end university in Europe. I also got acquainted and befriended some really high achieving friends and I often feel like a retard around them when it comes to school work. We're able to discuss serious topics and things that I know a lot about due to personal interest, but my achievements are incomparable to theirs. This one girl is able to press out four to five exams in a single term and achieve all high grades, whereas I postpone and procrastinate my way into low grades and preparing barely a few days before the exam. I'm really tired of it and it's embarrassing. Most of these guys don't bother to ask about grades since they assume we're all high achievers, and I act the part of 'smart' but in reality I feel like a fucking retard for not being able to sit down and study properly without being distracted or without giving up. I can't go to the doctor because of the career path I'm taking and the school I'm in, if I get prescribed ADD or ADHD I will flunk out of my marksmanship program, pilot training and most of the activities that I am in that actually interest me. If that happens I might as well just rope myself. I could probably get meds through a third party but I really don't wanna medicate.

Help bros, how do we overcome these retard fits? I don't wanna be an underperforming, barely passing idiot my entire life. I do good at subjects that interest me, but because I autistically read about them. However, 80% of the classes are BS classes (at most universities) and you just gotta push through them.

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and again

I've been taking Adderall for the past 3 years and lately have been a bit worried that I may be developing an addiction to it as I feel really out of it when I don't take it. I also get get frustrated with the crashing at the end of the day around 5:00. Also the last 3 years have been the most anxiety ridden years of my life. (Although I don't know how much of this is a side effect of Adderall and more of just being a hormonal teenager.) Would you recommend I look into making a switch

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this is a thread with such great potential to help people, but instead Jow Forums is literally a muh girlfriend muh ldr shit fest and it's pathetic. instead of addressing actual problems, people would rather respond to bait lovesy-dovesy faggoty threads

If you need pills to function, you will never be able to stop taking these pills. And they come with serious negative side effects to your body, as well as slowly destroying your brain. Just because they're prescription doesn't mean they're any less dangerous from smoking opium.

Is this one time high, a short term boost, really worth ruining your life later down the line? The damage may already be done if you took it for three years, though. I bet you Americans have a pill for dyslexia as well. Sick society.

Ask your parents why they thought drugging you at a young age was acceptable. They might as well have given you whiskey and cigarettes when you were 14.

I think it's definitely worth trying. Talk to your doctor next time you see them. It helped me, but I'm not you, so I can't speak to your situation.

I'd open with concerns about crashing instead of dropping the A word. They might recommend a second partial evening dose to even you out (basically it's a half dose you take in the evening that doesn't last as long, it worked sort of well for me but kind of screwed my sleep schedule up. Ultimately just changing meds worked much better. Your mileage may vary, but I wouldn't be afraid to try something different if the current situation isn't working. Communicate with your doctor, that's the only way they know there's a problem.

Personally, I didn't get over my anxiety until I graduated high school and had to get a job. That was around the time I changed meds, but I honestly think that just having to work a job where I was constantly moving around and yelling (Food prep) is what made me the most comfortable in my skin because that's the only way to survive in that kind of job.

Don't take this the wrong way but if OP shouldn't be taking advice on university from someone who never went. You're effectively telling him to eat his seed crop for a short term boost. What happens when he builds up a resistance to the drug? He becomes worthless and drops out because he never learned the proper way. A continuous three year degree is different from the compartmentalised daily grind. You can't get away with some of the shit you can at work. If OP has a physics module then it's likely to be a real degree as well.

But I am in college for an engineering degree? I took a year off to sort my anxiety out after high school, now I go to school and have a job.

bump, i used to listen to post-rock idk if that helps