Learning by Teaching

School is often a struggle for ADHD. Not because we're dumb or lazy, but because forced learning isn't interesting. The more forced something is, the less motivated I am. When I was in college, I struggled to sit for 5 minutes and even look at homework or projects. Yet during the same time, I got interested in using grey water in residential construction and checked out 3 books from the library. I completely read all three and took notes the whole time. Self-motivation is key for me to learn anything. 

Struggle of Forced Learning with ADHD

So what do I do when I simply don't have that motivation? I encountered that recently at the start of a new job. I'm interested in the job, don't get me wrong, but the training environment is just forced learning. The necessity makes the task uninteresting to me, even if I love the topic and genuinely want to learn it. But something struck the other day. 

As I was going through the material outside of class (easier to do with my own self-motivation), I became frustrated with the structure of the learning material. Parts were in a strange order, relying on an understanding of topics not yet taught to comprehend the current point. It was maddening! 

The Power of Reframing the Task

So I decided to go through the material and put it into well-organised flashcards on Quizlet. I organised it in a way that made more sense to me, and I kept at it with all the material. Two hours later, it hit me that I had just chosen to hyperfocus for the first time (outside of a game of course). Those who don't have ADHD but have heard some basic terms might wonder why we don't just use our hyperfocus more often to get things done. But it's often not under our control. 

For the first time since learning about grey water, I was truly hyperfocused, which was amazing! The trick was where my focus was. I wasn't focusing on learning at all. School and training are boring. But optimising and organising? Oh, that hits the sweet spot in my mind. At one point I had a life goal to inventory my belongings, thinking that would be fun to set up. 

The Importance of a New Perspective

Now as I read the material several times over to organise the topics, I definitely was learning and reinforcing the material in the process. But it wasn't my goal, it wasn't driving me. I don't know how easy this will be to transfer to other learning tasks I need to do for online school, but it was a major thing for me at that moment. Shifting what I was trying to accomplish and putting my own spin on the task allowed me to self-motivate and hyperfocus in a way I couldn't even do for my literal college degree. Sometimes it just takes a new perspective.

With love and insanity equally,

J.M.