Starting university is overwhelming on lots of different levels. You’re learning in a different way, maybe doing a different subject, and figuring out how to live by yourself. It’s not always easy, and especially when there’s a disability on the scene.
Learning to navigate life by yourself with a disability is interesting, and definitely difficult at times. But starting that journey at university means there is support available and a much more structured and protected environment to experiment in. My day might look a little bit different to someone else’s, and need something different but honestly, that’s part of the fun.
Morning
A typical day usually, and should start, with breakfast. However, implementing any routine into my day-to-day is very difficult with an ADHD brain. Still, breakfast is a required meal of the day. To make life easier for myself, breakfast is the easiest meal of the day: cereal. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done and means that my day starts off with energy. Whenever there is time in the day, I make sure to do a batch cook of something so that there is always easily accessible food in the fridge which ticks off a massively overwhelming task in the day.
Lectures and Seminars
The academic part of my day starts with the many chaotic to-do lists that I have. My main to-do list is made up of colourful notes which makes it fun and interactive. I colour-code tasks by urgency and import
ance. Then place them somewhere they are very visible which helps me to remember what I have to do.
Getting started on tasks is probably the most difficult thing and there’s a lot of new tasks to start in any given week. Luckily, there are also lots of deadlines in any given week. Before my lectures, whenever I find the motivation, I do a quick read through the slides and write down anything that sticks out to me, that I’m confused about, or that I find particularly interesting. This gives me tasks to complete during my lecture and helps me stay focused.
Also, having something to do during a lecture really helps. For me, that is crocheting something (it is currently a jumper) as it gives me something
to do with my hands which helps me focus. The best thing about York is navigating the swans and ducks on the way to lectures, that adds a bit of interest to the day as well.
Before seminars for my course, I do lots of reading. Sitting down and reading an article or book is not the most interesting task in the world and can be really difficult sometimes. So, when the motivation is really lacking, I read out my texts to my stuffed animals in different voices to make it more fun.
Generally, however, I give myself a list of questions to answer as I read through them which can really speed up the process. If you’re eligible, definitely check out the support that DSA can provide. The software that they can give you is incredibly useful for studying and making university work for brains that function differently.
Evening
The most important part of the day is the de-stressing and relaxing in the evening. Board game nights or film nights with sweet tr
eats at the end of the day are definitely the highlight. Debriefing with friends about my day and watching a comfort show is probably my favourite part of the day. It helps me unwind from being an adult during the day. Then, the final part of the day, is updating the to-do list for the next day and everything starts again!
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