Studying requires several executive function skills plus focusing for extended periods of time, so ADHD folks often have trouble. There are general best practices that will help you regardless of whether or not you have ADHD and ones that are designed specifically for ADHD folks separated into organizing, focusing, and motivating. Finally, active studying is much more effective than passive studying, and the chances of feeling bored are much lower.

ADHD brains are different but in some ways we are very much the same. Sleep improves our memory just like everyone else. Exercising regularly also is shown to improve our memory and overall well-being. Dehydrated brains don't work well, including dehydrated ADHD brains. Making personal connections to the material we need to study helps us but it also helps everyone else. These are the tips that are almost guaranteed to apply no matter what you are trying to study.

1. Use shorter study sessions and space them out over time. There's lots of science behind this (see here, here, and here). Do multiple sessions over time with sleep in-between. We need sleep to commit material to our long-term memory, so don't undervalue sleep!
2. Don't fall into the "fallacy of familiarity" or the idea that you know something just because it registers as familiar. Combine active studying techniques with passive techniques. Don't only reread your textbook or reread your notes: summarize a chapter from memory, listen to a lecture for 20 minutes and then re-frame the ideas in your own words.
   
3. Don't force yourself to study the same topic for too long. When you feel your attention wavering, switch to a new topic or take a break. There's only so much the brain can take.
   
4. Drink water.
   
5. Connect any new material to material you already understand or something meaningful to you. We remember what is meaningful. Use analogies to connect the new or boring material to a topic of interest, or your personal life, or your favorite sport or hobby.
6. Make note of your attention and your studying techniques. Your ADHD is your ADHD and you're the best person to understand it. What tips work for you? What time of day do you focus best? What study groups have been helpful and which have not? Get to know your ADHD brain as best you can and look for patterns. We might struggle with consistency, but there will likely be patterns.

Body doubling or using an accountability partner is a great ADHD trick. Support groups, especially for ADHD or neurodivergent folks, can also be a life saver, introducing us to new tricks and perspectives. Here the virtual work and study group options that I know about and feel comfortable recommending.

Support groups for work or school, whether for mentoring or sharing strategies, are crucial for ADHD folks. When the world isn't designed for ADHD folks, we need to rely on each other to share advice and swap stories. Of course, finding a local support group might prove to be a challenge. Not to mention, there's still a significant stigma associated with ADHD, so finding something local might not be what you're looking for.

That's where virtual options can fill the gap. Here the options I know about and feel comfortable recommending. If you know of more, please comment and I will add them!

For Black women and gender minorities, ADHD Babes offers support groups and sometimes specific working groups. They also have a Discord channel and do body-doubling.

ADHD Hive is worth checking out. They do regular meet ups and they also have multiple groups, like their co-working group and their writers' group.

ReASoN (Researchers & Students on Neurodiversity) Network is somewhat newer but they also do regular meetings. This is a research network focused on neurodivergent students, researchers, and staff in higher education. A website should be forthcoming, but right now they're on Twitter at ReASoN_Network. If you're not on Twitter, try contacting [email protected] for more information. Update: They're setting up a Discord channel for members and can include a writing group if there's interest!

ADHD Central Student Community has a Discord channel and they do events, body doubling sometimes, etc. They're also on Twitter.

ADHD Adult UK has a Discord community that includes a channel for academics, a channel for accountability buddies, and many other channels. It's pretty active!

CHADD of San Fernando Valley does a substantial amount of virtual support. They have a weekly virtual work group and and an adult peer support group as well as groups focused on youth. Thank you @petequily on Twitter for sharing all that this group does!

Note that some of these groups also run body doubling sessions.

We often have trouble getting started on a task, especially if it's boring, has multiple steps, and isn't going to result in an easy dopamine hit. Like most of us, I had a paper to write that I could not possibly have been less interested in. I didn't care about the consequences of not writing the paper, so anxiety as a motivator wasn't going to work. I had scheduled out my time. I knew what I had to do, and nothing.

I. did. not. care.

I was reading writing tips from a fiction author, and she recommended writing badly. Yep, you have this huge paper to write, you can't get started, setting a timer for ten minutes and working isn't going well, so write a horrible introduction. Write badly. Your goal is no longer to write "the introduction" or "an introduction," your goal is to literally write "a bad introduction." It's a variation of taking the pressure completely off and just write something, but your honest goal is to write poorly. Why? Takes the pressure off and honestly it is kind-of fun. ADHD folks often need that last part.

I've adapted this as the years have gone on to what I'm calling the low bar reverse limbo.