<p>I wake up fully refreshed in the morning and hope to effectively utilize every minute to study for the upcoming October SAT. But defeated by extant inertia, I only spend an hour–maximum–in intermittent intervals to study for it. I have severe ADHD, which is only self-diagnosed and refuted by my parents who are medical doctors–but do not take time to actually diagnose my condition. I vehemently try to stay focused on the myriad of SAT texts that I have bought–I keep buying them from online sources, but I haven’t even opened half out of 15 or more–however, my attention span lasts five minutes at most. I easily lose focus and, ultimately, quit studying if I get a few questions wrong in a section. Initially, I contemplated efficaciously spending my summer, but I feel as if I do not have the will power or intellect to dedicate my nondiverted attention to the pertinent subject. How do I consistently get “pumped up,” and stay focused? Thanks in advace.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Get rid of the extraneous books. Anything other than the Blue Book and maybe 1 or (super maybe 2) 3rd party books is pointless.</p></li>
<li><p>Imagine the feeling you’d get if you were to see that you got a 2400, and all the bragging rights and pride that goes with it. I just picture myself orgasming at a perfect score and I’m ready to practice.</p></li>
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<p>My friends all buy prescription ADD/ADHD medications from certain students who sell it during major testing weeks, like the SAT, ACT, Graduation Test, etc.</p>
<p>I think your “ADHD” is just everyday procrastination. Chances are.</p>
<p>Try doing your study away from a computer, if you aren ot already</p>
<p>short term goals and rewards when I am stuck. For instance “I will wake up and study for 2 hours, then, I will get a manicure”. or go for a swim, or what ever I want to do that I enjoy. Sometimes, chocolate works best - yeah, I know, food is a terrible thing to use a a reward, but it works!</p>
<p>A mix of urine and blood goes a long way.</p>
<p>I just sit down and do it.</p>
<p>I think about how ecstatic my moms and pops will be when i get that 2400, after all the money (I come from a blue collar family) they have spent on me and the the love and support they have given me</p>
<p>If your house has multiple bathrooms, or if nobody else is home:</p>
<p>1) Enter bathroom with everything you’ll need – your books, simple calculator, a watch, multiple pencils, food, and perhaps a chair. Do not bring a cell phone, computer, or calculator that has distracting games. If you only have digital versions of your texts, print 'em out.</p>
<p>2) Lock yourself in the bathroom. Start working. No complaints! If you were held at gunpoint and instructed to work on your SAT prep in the bathroom, would you be able to? That’s what I thought.</p>
<p>3) Decide in advance how much work you’re going to get done while in the bathroom. If possible, appoint an “enforcer” who will not allow you to leave the bathroom until you’re completed all that you’ve set out to complete. The completed practice tests (or whatever) will be your ticket out of there.</p>
<p>4) Do your work. The sooner you finish, the sooner you get to leave the bathroom and return to that which you’d rather be doing.</p>
<p>5) Delay the gratification that comes with being diligent. Never tell anyone that you’re “going” to do your work. Never say that you “will” do the work. After completing a day’s work, don’t celebrate. Instead, think of it as a very small step that will be useless unless you follow through all the way to the test. Only then will you have earned the right to pat yourself on the back.</p>
<p>6) Don’t bite off more than you can chew in a single day. Otherwise, you’ll burn out. Especially when starting out, aim lower than you think you should. GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO UNDERACHIEVE! Seriously. And spend the rest of the day doing something non-SAT related.</p>
<p>All of that said, note that locking yourself in the bathroom is only the first step. Once in a distraction-free environment, how do you avoid boring yourself to death? Answer: Only do things that are actually engaging! That way, once you get into your distraction-free zone, you’ll immediately forget about everything else and descend into thought. Reading strategies out of a book will get you nowhere. You will become bored and demotivated. The SAT doesn’t test rote memorization (vocab aside). Rather, it tests how good you are at taking the test. Memorizing strategies out of a book won’t get you very far – you need to get out there and hone your technique! Take practice tests. When you get questions wrong, don’t get upset. Instead, read the answer explanations. If you’re using official College Board materials (Blue Book and/or Online Course, which both have full, printable answer explanations online), know that the correct answer is indeed correct and that all incorrect answers are indeed incorrect. Challenge the explanations until you see where you went wrong – where your approach failed – and adjust your approach accordingly. This is all you need to do. Skim your strategy books from time to time. They can be a good source of ideas and make for good light reading in between practice tests, but remember that they’re only useful as supplements to guide your self-coaching. </p>
<p>Once captivated by the challenge of bettering your approach, you’ll have the motivation you need. Perhaps you won’t even need to lock yourself in a bathroom! I wish you the best of luck.</p>
<p>This is among the most thorough, insightful answers I have ever read. I will try isolating myself, but maybe not in the bathroom, considering the copious amount of accumulated odors in there.</p>
<p>I love this thread already(:</p>
<p>I have the EXACT same problem…nothing seems to work.</p>
<p>^I think many of us do</p>
<p>Nice use of SAT words.</p>
<p>To be extremeley honest… I just picture what will happen when I get a 2400.</p>
<p>Think about being in your school newsletter. Think about being in your local & state’s newspapers. Think about all the people that’ll ask if you were the one that got a perfect score on the SAT. Think about how smart your friends will think you are…</p>
<p>^ Indeed lol.</p>
<p>But people already hate me for being smart :(</p>
<p>Then you will make them even more jealous lol</p>
<p>Stay away from the computer. This whole summer ive been going to the library and finding the quietest place to study. Preferably with other hs students studying there too. Bring ur books and other materials. Everything you need and just sit there. Dont have any distractions. In the library theres nothing to do but study so it helps. Gl!</p>