Ask HN: What is the best way to learn for the easily distracted?
I have ADHD and it has effected every day of my life since I flunked out of Stanford in 1968. I have a few coping skills that might help you. They focus more on things involved in getting an education rather than directly on learning itself, but are never-the-less powerful aids to learning.
First: Some kinds of work are better suited to ADHD folks than others. Try to devise an academic career that focus on these activities. Writing on a word processor is an example. The non-linear aspects of re-writing to improve what you have written is a good fit to the non-linear thought processes ADHD folks live by. Begin with stream-of-thought writing, then re-write as inspiration dictates. Structured and Objective programming also is well suited because visual rigorous structure makes is easy to refresh focus with a glance following a distraction, and strict objective practice isolates a single function into a small package that is easy to complete before attention wanders. That programming takes place in a graphical/word processing environment is an additional advantage for ADHD folks. Graphical work like drawing or painting is easy to re-focus on for the same reasons. Any program that offers a dynamic editing environment that permits non-linear editing or permits ratcheting forward a task and easy review would have similar advantages. Planning any activity or writing and organizing notes using a outline processor works well. The point here is don’t try to work like other folks. find ways to work like you think: non-linearly.