Yes! I got my BA and MA before being diagnosed with ADHD. Reflecting back, there were a few things that helped me manage something I didn’t even know I was managing.
First, dopamine ain’t kidding. The more you can genuinely focus your studies on something you love learning about, the better. Allow yourself to go down a rabbit hole — just set a timer so you’re aware of time passing!
Second, I would sort of look at every assignment as a puzzle to solve to prove myself. Not, “how can I get a good grade” but, “how can I really demonstrate my learning”? And approach it like a puzzle. Do sorting and organizing and re-organizing. Spend time in the information, messing with it, kneading it, being immersed. And even if you HATE the subject, I honestly found it motivating to work hard on something I didn’t like but had to do just so that I could say, “I actually do know what I’m talking about and I’m not interested in it” LOL. A bit combative, but it kept me motivated in subjects/classes I didn’t enjoy.
Third, I would knit in class. All. The. Time. Even in grad school. I would approach my prof at the beginning of a semester and ask for permission, and tell them why. I would say that it helped me stay awake when I was otherwise sitting still, that it helped me focus on the world around me, that it helped me not to doodle and fidget and distract myself. And this was before I got diagnosed! I found that none of my professors minded because I was a really active participant in class. I showed that what I said knitting would do for me, it did do — namely help me be a better and more attentive student. And profs can tell when students are doodling or zoning out or on Facebook — I had a prof in grad school tell me actually that he loved my knitting because he could see what I was doing and could see that I was paying attention, vs. a sea of laptops.
Anyway, those are what worked for me! And it was super hard sometimes. But finding a way to manufacture motivation and manufacture novelty is going to be important because sometimes … you just gotta do the essay.