#add tips

This is probably the most helpful for students or people who taking notes.

I know for me my ADHD can make it hard for me to read, making my eyes jump from line to line or get distracted by a word I see.

What I have found helps my the most is using the font Monospace, Typewriter, or even Open Dyslexic.

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Lemme begin by explaining what sensory overload is at its most basic level. Sensory overload occurs when the body's senses are...overloaded- you guessed it! Things that set off a sensory overload are loud noises, bright lights, and sometimes things that might make someone anxious; for me it's big crowds. They cause over stimulation (stimulation is activity in the brain) in my brain and I have sensory overload. It's not pleasant. Let's see what my symptoms of sensory overload look like! They are as follows:

Anxiety

Sweating

Generally overwhelmed mind

Short temper

Irregular heartbeat

Frantic scattered thoughts

Emotional/mental shut down (spacing out, apathy)

Over sensitive nerves (hair, skin, face, arms, anywhere with nerve endings- I'm feeling)

DISCLAIMER: These are MY symptoms and they may not be the same as everyone else's symptoms to sensory overload, everybody experiences things differently.

Now! Let's get on to the fun part!

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Dealing with sensory overload (In a healthy manner):

Since I get pretty aggravated when I have a sensory overload, it's natural to be a bit violent with yourself (pulling hair, pulling skin, etc), however this is NOT healthy and VERY damaging to your body. They don't even really help, and they often just make things worse! So here is a list of things that I do when I have a sensory overload:

Breathing exercises (they're highly recommended for a reason)

Leaving the stressful environment

If you can't leave the stressful environment, put ear plugs/headphones on and listen to calm music (or don't listen to anything, it works for me both ways)

Sit in a dark, quiet room, with ambient sounds (white noise, ocean waves, rain on window, etc), YouTube has a lot of ambient noises to choose from, and there are also apps that are available!

This sounds silly so bear with me; my favorite thing to to when I'm overwhelmed is to put my head into the collar of my shirt, stretch my shirt over my knees (my knees are pulled to my chest), close my eyes, and rock back and forth. This does well when coupled with ear buds/headphones. Make sure you're wearing a big shirt before doing this! Otherwise it'll get stretched out.

An alternative to that last one is lying under some blankets! Weighted blankets are life savers, and great to sleep with! A lot of people with ADD/ADHD and Autism use weighted blankets. If you don't have the means to buy a weighted blanket, you can just pile as many blankets on top of each other as you can! Works like a charm.

If you're feeling like weighted blankets are *too much* that's okay! I curl up in bed with one thin blanket over my head, I cover my ears, close my eyes, and recuperate!

Last but not least; I reassure myself. I tell myself that it is okay to be angry, it's okay to feel emotions, and it's okay to take alone-time to recover. Super helpful, especially after a sensory overload.

That is all I have for today, thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope that these healthy coping mechanisms can help you guys!!

– Dino :)

I’ve collected study tips from myself and others who struggle with studying. Here’s a masterlist of strategies people use to help :) For those curious, #3 is my personal favourite and is probably the main reason I didn’t flunk all of my classes this year. Feel free to add your own!

Sleep, eat, exercise. The basics. Treating my body right helps me keep a routine and makes me less prone to impulsivity. This makes it a little easier for me to do the things I need to do and fight back my executive dysfunction.

Play idle games while working. Anonymous says “I get bored very, very quickly and need constant stimulation, so every time I have to wait for something, I will immediately divert my attention. Having an idle game running helps me not to lose too much focus, so I get more work done as a result.”

Use a tutor. Since I can’t follow self-imposed deadlines, I create external deadlines by booking tutoring appointments. This forces me to make sure I have at least a basic understanding of the material before the session so I know what to go over. Most schools have free peer tutors available, so take advantage (if your school doesn’t, try a study group)! This is a great way to create deadlines you can follow, and it always helps to study with someone who can answer your questions and keep you on task.

Play music. @luminarily says “Sometimes I sit in silence and I get bored of it or I get a song stuck in my head or something. But I have forcibly linked music playlist and actually doing something I need to do so that when I put on music I am automatically forced to do the work I was supposed to do. So it makes the work and the listening more enjoyable both and it’s easier to stay on task… I use unpaid youtube on my phone so I can’t leave the tab or else I can’t listen to music anymore so I can’t go on my phone. And also youtube mobile lets you set watch time timers, so when my music stops I take a break and don’t burn out!”.

Play ambient noise. Similar to #4. I am not stimulated enough when taking notes, reading textbooks, etc., but listening to music can be too much and makes me stressed. I like to play ambient noise (my personal nerdy fave is Slytherin dormitory ambience on Youtube lol). It’s enough to stimulate my brain, but not overpowering to where I get distracted or stressed.

Block out time to do work. @tidal-rose​ says “I find it easy to do stuff by saying ‘I’ll do it tomorrow.’ But I don’t mean the procrastinate-y ‘I’ll do it tomorrow,’ I mean plan to do it tomorrow. Set aside a block of time when you are going to do nothing but the task. …I just realized this sounds like such a neurotypical answer oh gosh. It really does work to hack my executive disfunction”

Have a plan. If I don’t have a straightforward + actionable plan for right when I wake up, I will just do literally nothing all day. I have to know what I’m going to be doing when I wake up, like “shower, be at the library by 10am, and do practise problems there”. If I only have a vague plan like “study chemistry tomorrow” it’s a lot harder for me to do anything.

Start small. It often feels impossible to do even the bare minimum. When I can’t even get myself to write a single sentence of my paper, I try to do even less than that. Literally just open up a Word document. Even just opening up a blank page is a fantastic start, and starting is the hardest part.

Hey guys - it’s me, the vanishing cryptid.  

Today’s rough. 

I’m struggling a lot with my ADD, and everything is overstimulating to the point that I’m constantly on the verge of tears and I feel like I can’t breathe, but I still need to get work done.