Five sentence summary: Learning online is challenging but having accountability with an accountability buddy or a study group is a big help. Make time to create the space you need to study with the tools you need to learn. Break everything down into small parts to make it easier to handle. Take advantage of the nice parts of online learning. Pay attention and reflect on your learning and how you work best. While I took some online classes while I was a student, I did not take an entire semester's worth of classes online, and I certainly didn't shift online unexpectedly. Learning remotely is a whole new experience and it means new problems related to ADHD, new tools, and possibly some advantages. Here's what helped me be a successful student and what's helping me accomplish my work now. Have an accountability buddy. This should be someone who will actually hold you accountable but who you also feel comfortable sharing struggles and failures with. Check in with them weekly or more regularly and talk about your weekly goal list. Support and help each other. Try scheduling virtual study groups. Partner up with one or two folks from your class at set times on set days. Have a list of attainable goals or an agenda for each meeting. This can create accountability, so make sure to choose serious study partners. Invest in your organizational stuff: calendars, color coding notes with highlighters and sticky notes, folders that are labeled, etc. If you can afford it and it will help declutter your life, buy it. Identify large assignments & break them into chunks. Then create a schedule. You may not stick to it & everything will take you longer than you plan, but it will be better than trying to do it all last minute. You could even ask your prof to review it to see if it's reasonable. Make a to-do list at the start of each week and refer to it. Have some easy tasks and some harder ones and take the time each week to reflect on how you did. What were you able to accomplish? What was challenging and why? Use some sort of app or program and set reminders for all of your assignments. I mean, do this regardless of remote learning or not. I missed every meeting and doctor's appointment before I had calendar reminders. ADHD life saver... Check in with your Disability Office, if you haven't already. Different times mean different challenges. There may be new tools that can help you. It never hurts to ask. Schools are investing a lot more in technology because of the pandemic, so options that were unavailable previously may now be offered. If you tell them what you're struggling with, they may have suggestions for you. Write down what your big goals and hopes are for when you're feeling really stuck and hopeless, and stick it somewhere you regularly see it. What did you come to college for? What are you trying to accomplish? What's your dream? Don't lose sight of it. Have a separate space for studying. If you can't and it has to be your bedroom, then do something to make a clear distinction in your mind that this is work time. Put on nice clothes, put your calendar in front of you, keep your to-do list in sight, etc. Take advantage of some of the nice parts about online learning: you can re-watch lecture videos as many times as you need to without worrying about spacing out too much. Figure out what time of day you focus best and plan to watch the videos then. Work with your ADHD. Another potential perk of remote learning is that you can stand and watch your lectures. Create a standing desk or listen to your lectures again while on a walk. Your fidgeting and need for movement doesn't have to be as much of a hindrance now. Whoohoo! If you're struggling, ASK FOR HELP. Your professors should be there. Never be afraid to ask if you don't understand something. If your professor really is a jerk, ask other professors in the department, other students in the class, your academic advisor, the accessibility office, etc. Lastly, reflect on your learning and your focus. Ask yourself what works, what doesn't, what sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, what study locations help, what tools you find easy to use, what challenges you the most, and etc. Try and identify patterns. Sometimes there won't be anything to identify, but other times you might notice that you never get as much done as you want when you try and start the homework two weeks in advance or you won't remember to submit your assignments for this one class because it's through email and not an online system. Key points:
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