Re: how can i focus in school?

[Anonymous]

Hi cheesylove,

Nice to hear someone describing the exact problem as mine.

I’m in university for the second time. I’m attempting to finish my final project paper to receive a Master’s degree. I’m 48. The first time I was in school I was 21. Both times I have extended my stay… by 2 years this time, by 3 the first time.

I didn’t complete grade 12, and was accepted at 21 as a mature student (haha, fooled them!).

I, too, have ideas, completed outlines, and excellent arguments. Then to sit in the library to gather references and write is nearly impossible.

I’ve requested a medical leave to explore the possibility of ADHD… it only dawned on me a couple of weeks ago that that may be what I’m up against.

You said you “barely spoke to a doctor about medication last week”… so you’re not trying meds?

From what I’ve read, and what makes sense to me (and I’m hoping to make this happen for myself soon) is that you should try meds.

I’m curious to hear how things go, and what techniques or meds you discover working, or not working.

My own experience with writing, ever since elementary school, is that I feel stupid trying to think that I can write anything at all like what I read in books and articles. How can I possibly approach the organization of thought, the depth of knowledge? I’m just pretending to know anything about the topic. I end up feeling frustrated less about having facts in front of me and being organized as I do about trying to climb a mountain of knowledge. I look at the stacks in the library, full of peoples’ writings from the past centuries, and I just want to go for coffee… I really hope I can change my perspective.

One thing I am experiencing for certain is that as I take baby steps towards solving problems in my life, each step becomes easier and carries more significance. For example, I have changed my sleep patterns from midnight-3am-ish-waking-whenever-I-could to making every effort to lay in bed at 10:30pm with the alarm set for 6:30. Waking now is a joy, the groggy regret of having to leave my bed being a short-lived one instead of an all-day one. With that lifestyle change made the other changes seem doable and welcome.

Good luck,

Roy

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