Psychology Today | 24.08.2026 05:06
I sat in the Boston University library, on the fourth floor, and I counted out the M&Ms—10 of them—placing them on a piece of paper in the corner of the desk. I stood up and stretched before returning to the pictures of parasites in eyeballs. I looked at my watch, anticipating my sweet treat in about 30 minutes, and then I dug into my work. I had friends in medical school who could study for hours without moving, and I used to wonder what was wrong with me. Eventually I realized I just had to be kind to myself and do what worked. I studied in different places, changed subjects frequently, and sometimes worked backwards from the end of a chapter to the beginning. Years later, I would know about my ADHD diagnosis, but at the time I just knew I had to study differently than my peers.
