Autistic Studyblr

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A friend diagnosed with severe OCD told her therapist that she decided to implement a system where once a week a friend comes over and simply stays in her room, doing their own stuff, while she cleans/takes care of her own things. 

See, she can’t do that while she’s alone. While she’s alone the OCD gets in the way. She simply can’t do it. So she’s devised a way to get her shit together and be able to do things again. 

And her therapist launched into a long monologue about how she was seeing herself as the victim and how she wasn’t supposed to give up like that. 

Fuck that therapist. 

Knowing and accepting your own limits is an important step to finding solutions that work for you. If you got friends willing to support you and be there for you? Good for you! Humans aren’t designed to do everything alone. She had already thought of a system that would put as little pressure as possible on other people. Just have them be in the same room as her so she doesn’t get screwed over by her mental illness. No hard tasks. No emotional labour. 

And still for some people that’s not enough. She’s too ‘reliant on others’, too ‘giving in to her illness’. 

AVOIDING BURNOUT, AND WHAT TO DO IF YOU BURN OUT

 At some point in your academic life, you’re going to burn out. It happened to me last year, and it was honestly one of the worst things that’s happened to me. It wasn’t just that I lacked the motivation, it was also that I completely lacked the energy to keep myself disciplined enough to work through the rut. Following this, I learned some tricks and techniques on how to avoid it in the future, and how to cope with it if it happens, and I’m going to share them with you below:

Avoiding Burnout

 The primary cause of burnout is overworking, and getting stuck in a rut where you really don’t feel like you’re learning anything new, and so your learning experience becomes stagnant. I find that I come closest to burnout when I’m reviewing and revising my notes before a test, and being aware of this helps me to plan for it and avoid burning out. The most important things to do are as follows:

Plan your work and take breaks: I found that I could get 5-6 hours of studying done per day for 80% of the days I had over the holidays, and the key to that was taking regular breaks, and when taking breaks, to completely switch off from learning and revising and stop working when I said I was going to instead of being tempted to continue over the breaks (more on my productive holiday study routine and how to make one here). The key to effective studying is essentially to allow you brain the time to process what you’ve learned, and you need to remember to take breaks during a day of studying, and to take days off whenever you can.

Socialise: This is partly tied to the taking breaks, but if you put yourself in what could be considered a kind of solitary confinement when you’re working, your brain will learn less effectively and get distracted more quickly, and it is also likely to affect your mood. You may notice that the best students also party the hardest, and that’s because they know that they need to counterbalance the hard work with being sociable and doing things that aren’t at all related to work. It boosts your mood, and having the reward of being sociable keeps your brain and motivation fresh.

Physically get out of your study space: Even if it’s to go to a local café, or to go for a walk in the woods, it’s important to get yourself moving every so often, firstly so your brain can get a little bit more energised, but also so you don’t feel physically confined by the space you are studying in, or again you’re going to get demotivated and possibly even reach the stage of burnout. When I feel like this, I tend to either go for a run, or head somewhere where I can practise my cello without disturbing other people, just so my body and brain are physically away from my work for a bit.

Do something you love: For me, this includes doing stuff like playing my cello, but this also means taking a break by watching your favourite film, or drawing, or baking, or whatever makes you happy and really isn’t studying. It’s important also that in your free time (which is different from your break time) you’re doing things like these, and not letting your academics creep in, because you need to set up a mental and physical space where you aren’t constantly running at full speed in academic stuff, because a lack of escape mechanism means you’re going to get stuck in a burnout, which is honestly the worst.

What to do if you burn out

 You can tell pretty quickly if you have burnout. If you feel physically and mentally dead, and completely lacking in any kind of motivation or discipline to get yourself to work, then you probably have burnout. I find that my burnout feels like a mental and physically deadness, and my head feels really heavy, like the machinery is all turning, but none of the cogs are making contact with one another and turning, so to speak. If you feel like nothing is working, then it’s important to not keep pushing (I’ve touched on this in previous posts where I’ve burnt out in exam season, but it’s important to crash, take a breath, and start again). Try the following:

Take a huge break: I know this may not always feel possible, but if you take a day off and do absolutely nothing, or at least nothing to do with your studying, your studying will get overall more effective. I took a rest day like this in the middle of my A-Levels (which, for my non-British friends, literally determine if you can get into university), and even though in the back of my mind I was really questioning if this was a good idea, it ended up really boosting my productivity and helping me really get my studying into gear

Scrap your current plan and make another one: I know this also sounds like another terrible idea, but if something isn’t working, you can’t stick with what you’re doing, or you’ll drive yourself further into the ground. Re-plan your study schedule (you can obviously use the previous one as a kind of template) and make sure you have time to take breaks. Also, I find that planning things gives me the motivation to actually go out and do them, so this helps in regaining your motivation.

Seek new perspectives: Talk to other people taking your subject if they’re available to talk. Discuss problems in the subject. Teach each other. This is a kind of group revision where, if you’re not going to get distracted, you can really genuinely learn new stuff and figure out what you don’t know. I found this useful when I couldn’t bring myself to revise on my own because I didn’t think I needed to look over anything more in particular detail, but the person I worked with helped to pick apart the things I didn’t know and helped explain them to me.

Try something new: If you have sufficient time to learn something new on the side, then do it. Find something you’re interested in, and research it further, or learn a new skill like cooking or playing guitar or something. If you burn out without pressure from exams, then learning something new is the perfect way of stimulating your brain back into action, and this in turn will have an impact on how effective your studying is as a whole, thus rescuing you from burnout

A couple days ago, my dad sent me a link to Daivergent. I did a little research, and it’s a legit company that provides remote contract work for autistic people. Apparently the jobs they have pay $12-$20/hour.

It’s Monday afternoon. I have two papers and a programming assignment due Wednesday, and an exam on Friday, not to mention two homework assignments I haven’t started on. But I’m sitting in a cafe with my earbuds in, listening to The Moth Radio podcast while I drink my cup of Cafe Au Lait and occasionally bite into my vanilla macaron. I’ve been sitting here for nearly 45 minutes and I don’t plan to start working again until another 15 minutes.

What am I doing? Shouldn’t I be working right now? Why am I wasting my time? Well, I’m taking one of my mandatory midday coffee breaks.

Why take a midday break?

You probably think you’re too busy to take breaks. You think there are way too many things on your to-do list that you can’t afford to lose even five minutes of time away from doing them.

This is how I used to see things, too. Even though I’ve been using the pomodoro method for a relatively long time, I discovered that I needed something more, especially since my daily college schedule very much tempts me into studying for long stretches of time. I used to think that whenever I didn’t have class, I had to study, but that was just harmful to my overall productivity.

These mandatory coffee breaks serve as a sort of mental reset, a time to wind down just a little bit so I can get back up refreshed and ready to tackle on more tasks. They help me stay sane and not feel stressed and overwhelmed by all the things I have to do, and they also help me restore focus so that I can achieve full concentration on my tasks after the break.

Sometimes we don’t realize how draining all the chaos of studying and working can be until we stop doing those things, so taking these breaks can definitely help you recenter yourself.

I’m sure you can see how these breaks are helpful, but how exactly do I take these breaks?

When?

I take my coffee breaks during the time of day when I would feel sluggish and slow, from 3:30 to 4:30 pm. This is of course different for everyone, but regardless of the exact time, if I chose instead to work during my slow hours, I wouldn’t get much done, and I’ll only end up feeling too tired to do much else the rest of the day.

Where?

As much as I can, I’d go someplace where I don’t normally study so I can get the entire ‘busy mindset’ out of my system. This place could be a cafe on campus, or even one of the quads or something.

One of my favorite ‘break spots’ is the art museum on campus. I could walk around the museum during my break, maybe even go to the fifth floor where there’s an amazing view of Ithaca, and then I’d have a cup of coffee in the lobby (you can make one for $1), and then continue studying or doing schoolwork in the lobby.

Another great place for a break is anywhere with outdoor seating. This also allows you to take a breath of fresh air and re-energize your brain to take in more information after your break. However, as the weather’s getting chilly here in Ithaca, outside’s not the best place to be when it’s not a very nice day out.

If you’re in high school, I realize you might not have the freedom to go wherever you wanted to; I wasn’t even allowed to leave school grounds during the day. You could simply go outside or again, go somewhere you don’t usually study - this would be the best option if you’re at home by the time you want to have your midday break. (I would go out to my terrace or sit in my living room.)

What to do?

During these breaks, I’d usually write in my journal, read a book, listen to music or podcast, or sometimes make music on my phone (with airplane mode turned on so I don’t get distracted by any notifications). Sometimes, if any of my friends are free, I’ll ask them to come along and we’ll chat (in practice, this is actually very difficult because my friends and I have vastly different schedules, so yeah).

If I’m feeling especially tired, I’ll go back to my dorm to take a nap. However, with the weather getting colder and the sky growing darker, it’s very very tempting to extend my power nap, so I just settle for a cup of coffee.

What if I don’t?

Sometimes you might feel guilty for taking such a long break, and I admit I sometimes still feel that way, but you have to remind yourself that taking this break will have a greater net positive effect than if you continue working.

I’ve noticed that on days that I don’t take a break - or even shorten my break - I perform less effectively on my tasks and I’m less productive. This could actually lead to sleeping later (which it had a couple times) and as you all know, lack of sleep reduces cognitive functioning.

I’ve definitely experienced physical consequences of not taking breaks: one time I was working on an assignment for my computer science course, but since I was a little behind, I didn’t take the midday break in fear that I wouldn’t finish it on time. However, by the time I finished, my head was so hazy and my vision was blurry and I couldn’t really do much else afterwards. The worst thing was, I also had a philosophy paper due that night which I’ve finished but still needed to revise one last time. I knew this was bad, so I took a 45 minute break afterwards, before I revised and submitted my paper.

I know it can be difficult to stray from your tasks once you’ve achieved a certain momentum, but trust me, you need to take that break. Like, ok, I managed to study for my philosophy midterm in 4-5 hours, but it could’ve easily taken me 10 if I hadn’t taken a midday break that one Tuesday afternoon.

Take a while every day to detach yourself from school or work. Don’t try to excuse yourself from having a break. Make time for a break. By mentally resetting your brain, you’ll achieve greater productivity for the rest of the day, and be able to tackle your remaining tasks more efficiently.

So yeah, mandatory midday breaks are one of the strategies I’ve been using to maintain wellness in my college life, and I hope you’ll consider making it a part of yours, too!

Folks, this looks like a real game-changer, and Desi over at Disabled Messenger just loves it! Click through for his review.

Gentle Mouse is $60* and is available for Windows 2000, XP, and 7.

Hope this saves somebody a little pain 🐁

for years, i suffered through people making suggestions of things that were things i had done, and either weren’t worth the effort or they actually made things worse. i told them this, and if i was still having any issues with the same problem they’d say something about “well if you’re not gonna listen to any suggestions…” when I did. they’re the one who didn’t listen when i told them that doesn’t work for me. They assume that because I didn’t try it in front of them (which is often impossible), I never tried it. I tried doing my homework as soon as I got home. I tried doing my homework at the table, I tried working where I was comfortable. I tried listening to music, I tried working in silence. I tried using a planner, I tried setting reminders on my phone, I tried. I tell people that I have executive functioning issues and they say that I have to work on it like I haven’t been doing that as long as I’ve had to do things and it’s so much better than it was before. I’m as able as I am now because I’ve spent 18 years working on it.

One of my friends has ADHD, and at one point when her grades dropped her parents took her phone, despite her telling them that the only way she can focus on her homework is to listen to music, for which she needs her phone.

I was in a study hall with another friend, who also has ADHD. Sometimes, they would be able to focus and do their work. Others, they would end up being entirely unable to and would do other stuff. The “instructional support” person would start bothering them about it, insist that they try. As if they hadn’t already done so.

Productivity (Day 4/10)

October 30th, 2018

What year are you?

What’s your major/what do you think you want to major in?

If applicable, what is your thesis about?

Do you think you picked the right major?

Ultimate educational goals?

Career goals?

Do you think your goals are realistic?

What classes are you taking right now?

Favorite class out of everything you’ve ever taken and why?

Least favorite class ever and why?

Current favorite class and why?

Current least favorite class and why?

Favorite STEM field?

Favorite humanities subject?

Class that you’ve always wanted to take but never had the chance?

Do you use caffeine and if so how much daily?

What’s your preferred method of taking in caffeine?

Have you ever tried study drugs?

Are you a homework-in-the-morning kind of person?

Do you listen to music while you study?

Crowded area or quiet place?

What’s your preferred writing implement?

Do you need to work out before you can study well?

Describe your perfect study environment.

Are you procrastinating right now?

What was the last thing you procrastinated?

Are you a perfectionist?

Do you like easy classes or do you feel bad if you’re not working hard?

Are you a good test taker?

What are you the proudest of out of all the assignments you’ve ever had?

Do you talk to your teachers/professors a lot?

Describe your favorite teacher/professor and why you like them.

Describe your least favorite teacher/professor and why you dislike them.

Have you ever thought about becoming a teacher/professor?

Most profound thing ever said to you by a teacher/professor?

Best feedback you’ve ever gotten on something academic?

Worst study habit and how are you working on it?

Are you an in-class fidgeter?

How’s your handwriting?

Write “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” and post a photo.

Neat or messy notes?

A lot of notes or the bare minimum?

Post a photo/scan of your notes from your favorite class.

Are you a doodler?

Post a photo of your doodles if you have any.

Do you have pre-test rituals and what are they?

Are you a tangent-question asker?

Do you make jokes in class?

How many hours do you spend on academics per day?

Y’all, we posted about this when it showed up as a live event, and are here to tell you that it was fantastic!

Instead of focusing on specific resolutions, the worksheet and guided exercises focus on how you want to feel, what your values are, and how you want to create a great year. You’ll end the exercise with a “word of the year”—something you can post prominently in your space (or just in your head) to guide yourself in decisions big and small. And if you think it’s just for the new year, you’re dead wrong; any time is a good time to turn over a new leaf!

We really can’t emphasize how effective this approach is. And at £7, it’s really a steal. Plus, you’ll get video of the delightful Lizzie in a christmas pudding onesie. How could you say no to that?