ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD is a neurobiological developmental disorder that affects approximately 5-9% of children and 3-5% of adults⁴. This roughly translates to approximately 1.8 million Canadians who have ADHD. ADHD impacts an individual’s executive function. Executive function can be thought of as being responsible for important skills such as organizing and prioritizing tasks, being able to attend and shift our focus when needed as well as our ability to regulate our emotions. When our executive functions are impacted negatively, it can have adverse effects on us, particularly around goal-oriented behaviours such as studying or completing assignments/projects.

Resources

The resources below include articles, videos and practical suggestions, to find a format that works best for you:

Read:

Watch:

Ted Talk – This is what it’s really like to live with ADHD

Do/Practice

Strategies for ADHD

1. Pomodoro Technique

This is a famous study strategy that many people have found helpful in reducing distractions and focusing on the task at hand. The technique involves:

Setting a timer for 25 minutes
If a distraction pops into your head, write it down on a piece of paper and return to your task
When buzzer rings, put a check mark on your paper. This is one increment AKA pomodoro
Take a 5 minute break
After four pomodoros, take a 30 minute break
Repeat!

Track/log activities through a “to do list”

Create ‘to-do’ lists to help keep yourself organized and as a reminder of the tasks that you need to complete. It can also be helpful to add an additional category on the to-do list to record how much time it took to finish the task. This helps with being accountable for the time required to complete a task. Having a chart like below allows you to have a better sense of how much time it requires you to complete a task as well as things that might make the task easier/harder: