• Ensure that your environment is conducive to learning – light but not too bright; warm enough but not sleep inducing; do you need a level of noise to enable you to focus? A clear desk with few distractions is key and if you can’t handle putting your phone out of the room while you’re studying, ensure that it is on flight mode.

 

• Try body doubling: arrange to meet a friend for study sessions to make revision more fun, with the added benefit of accountability. Again, this doesn’t work for everyone – some people find studying with others makes them self-conscious which distracts them from the task in hand. If you are the latter, it might be better for you to stick to solo studying.

 

• Before you start studying, blast some loud music and dance around your room. This will provide a dopamine hit and help with motivation. Ensure that you the use this motivation and sit straight down to study, rather than channelling your energy burst elsewhere!

 

• Ensure that you include sport and downtime into your schedule to create balance and help prevent burnout.

 

• Remember to eat. Schedule mealtimes so that they are not forgotten. Ensure that you are including sufficient protein into your diet and avoiding too much sugar.

 

• Sleep is a key component of efficient revision – not only does it allow toxins to be cleared from the brain while you sleep, but it also has a direct impact on motivation levels. Try to prioritise sleep and be conscious of not letting bedtime slip into the early hours as you try to claw back some ‘me-time’.

 

• Remember, there is no hard and fast rule as to how to revise. It is about trialling techniques and finding out what works for you. Be kind to yourself!

Author: Charlotte Kennedy

ADHD Coach

The post ADHD and Exams: Study Strategies appeared first on TRC | London | Midlands | Edinburgh | Riyadh.

Two deeply reflective articles I read recently on the future of education, while similar in their tone of radicalism, are opposed on the role mobile phones should play at school.  One suggested that, as technology is the future, schools should embrace the use of phones, incorporating lessons on how to live with and not be dominated by devices.   The other proposed that phones should be banned from schools entirely.  

Separately from the above debates, I have had several illuminating conversations with clients over the last couple of weeks regarding communication. Having immersed myself in Dr Dan Siegel’s research over the last several months, an immediate concern of mine when lockdown began last Spring, was how will adolescents have their needs met when not being allowed to socialise with their peers? A key and necessary shift in teenage years is the move away from the nest and parents. The need to be accepted by one’s own age group becomes more prominent and there is a natural tendency to seek advice from peers, rather than authoritative figures.  

Speaking with a mix of 15 – 25 year olds, my focus was initially to ensure that sufficient phone time / group chats were organised within the week, to ensure that this need for the peer group was being met. What became apparent was that peer groups are vital for accountability of actions (working hard!), competitiveness, productivity and ultimately motivation.  I suggested arranging Zoom calls with friends, whereby a group of friends uses the platform to do prep together: they sit in silence and focus on their own studies however the online presence of their friends makes them feel less alone and holds them accountable.  

What I did not anticipate is how difficult it would be to find a solution to incorporate a time for ‘meaningful conversation’.  Having spent much of my school holidays on the phone to my friends if I wasn’t with them, my initial response was to suggest scheduling daily calls to different friends. Not so straightforward it seems. While teenagers and young adults today may spend several hours on the phone, it seems their communication is predominantly channelled through apps like Snapchat, WhatsApp and Tik Tok. Being structured around brief interludes and instant gratification, these platforms encourage communication to be superficial and speedy. I was surprised to hear that even suggesting chatting on the phone, could come across as ‘corny’ or ‘uncool’.  It just doesn’t seem to be done. Deep conversations happen face to face, if they happen at all.

Considering the above revelation, I wondered whether the ability to communicate succinctly and confidently ‘peer to peer’ had evaporated, or whether it would if we continue on this path?  We know that the rise of social media and instant messaging has led to a rise in trolling and cases of cyber bullying.  The access which teenagers have to social media via devices, at a point in their development when many are wrestling with who they are and want to be, leads to the creation of unrealistic, idealised personas. This in turn can lead to low self-esteem at the balanced end, with body dysmorphia and self-abuse at the other.  

What then is the purpose of our young being given mobile phones?  We recognise that technology has become an integral part of our lives and of course, students must be guided on how to use and develop the technological systems which are being created and which they will inherit.  What is the need however for them to be overloaded with this – outside of an educational capacity – at a period in their lives when there are already sufficient obstacles to navigate?   Safety when going out is of course a valid argument.  Beyond this however, when we confront the fact that the majority of activity taking place on devices is vacuous, how are we benefitting our young (and thus society) by permitting and encouraging them to use them? 

Devices are one of the greatest distractions from effective studying and – while there are some notable educational apps – little of the time spent using them is enriching the impressionable minds pouring over them.  What is more, rather than developing communication skills as one would expect of a communications device, the evolution of a mobile’s function seems to, ironically, be hindering the ability to converse in reality.

Of course, everybody welcomes an easy way to entertain children and teenagers after a long day at work.  Parenting though, has never been noted as easy and ‘quick-fixes’ often lead to unintended and sub-optimum consequences.  The responsibility of parents, educators and mentors is to guide and make considered, rational decisions as to a child’s boundaries.  On the most basic level, these boundaries should ensure that a child is safe, supported and nurtured. Considering the aforementioned pre-requisites, do the values and behaviours a mobile phone encourages align with these?  Is it possible to find an equilibrium in this mind field of parental responsibility, children’s desire, technological familiarity and social media dependency? Or, is it perhaps time for us to reflect on our recent history and the decline in adolescent mental health, and reconsider the role of mobile phones in the upbringing of our children all together?

Author: Charlotte Kennedy

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This is an incredibly difficult time for all of us and even those who have not previously suffered from anxiety will be feeling incredible pressure due to the new situation we are in and the bombardment of alarming news stories online and on TV and radio. In order to cope with these pressures, families need to adapt and work in partnership with each other.

Here is my advice for parents of school-age children and for young people and adolescents who are now back at home and studying, while their parents are perhaps working from home for the first time ever and not through choice.

Use this time positively – longer conversations at breakfast, additional time to read, a time for meditation. 

For parents:

Work with children rather than telling them what to do. Encourage your children to think for themselves and create their own solutions. Of course, they will need your support, but by allowing them to come up with their own answers, their confidence will blossom and they will be more likely to take on greater challenges.

Keep to the same routine as you would whilst at school but feel grateful for the additional time you now have due to the lack of commuting. Use this time positively – longer conversations at breakfast, additional time to read, a time for meditation. 

Parents working at home for the first time in these extraordinary circumstances shouldn’t think they can suddenly do everything at once! It will be tough at first but you will get there. Demonstrate to your children how to balance working at home with new distractions.  Put Saturday mornings aside to clean the house / do the washing etc. and try not to incorporate these activities into your working weekday.  If you are able to follow effective time management, your children will recognise the structure and follow suit. 

If a peaceful atmosphere is to be maintained, it is essential to remain positive.  With this in mind, drop the criticism.  Our psyches can fall into positive or negative circuits.  Once we allow negative thoughts to creep in they can begin to dominate and become difficult to shift.  This is particularly relevant during stressful periods.  A good way to switch onto a positive loop is to focus on the positive and forget the negative.  Try to catch yourself before you make any criticism, no matter how big or small.  Instead really look for the positives and comment on them.  This is as important for yourself as it is with your family.  Really try to pull out the positives of how well you are managing everything, rather than being self-critical or stressing about not getting everything 100% as you think it should be. 

Meditation – a minimum of 12 minutes of meditation per day is needed to reap the benefits. Those who meditate regularly have a split-second advantage over those who don’t, by being able to choose their emotional response to events. This ability to self-regulate and to think before exploding, is vital to maintain a peaceful and productive home.  Have a look at some of the excellent meditation apps. For children under 11, Mindfulness for Children by Uz Afzal is a great book that you could give them as a gift or read with them.

For young people:

Be kind to yourself.  We are creatures of habit.  Forming new habits requires new neural pathways to be created.  This can be an arduous task and takes time for new behaviours to become habitual.  With this in mind, be kind and gentle with yourself and your family. We are all adapting to new ways of life, so do not expect too much of anyone. 

Use the Easter holidays to review how your academic went over the past term and consider how things could be improved. Be creative in your approach to learning and consider how you learn as well as what you should learn i.e. what methods of study work best for you? Which period of the day is the most productive? Are you at your best in total silence or with some background music? Make use of our parents’ experience as a resource. Over lunch or dinner share with them what you have learnt today and perhaps explain it to them.  Not only will this reinforce your learning, but it will help the family unity during this period of enforced confinement. 

Motivation – this is particularly relevant to those who have had public exams cancelled this year.  This will have been a huge disappointment and it is worth recognising the distress this has caused. Reach out for further help and support if you need it. Once you have come to terms with the situation, begin work on your academic goals for the next stage.  Consider writing down three key goals and pinning this up on the wall in your bedroom. Remember to note down what you have achieved each day to show the progress you are making towards your goals.

Relax, breathe, work hard and enjoy the family time.  You have your health and that is the really essential component during all of this. 

Charlotte Kennedy is an Academic Mentor and Life Coach and TRC Edinburgh.

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