I had great difficulty in high school and college getting myself to sit down to read or study. My roommates in college would all be sitting and studying at their desks and I would be wandering around our apartment restlessly. And once I did sit down it was difficult to maintain the focus and let things sink in. Almost always a lot of background noise in my head. I had great difficulty with term papers and essay exams. I tried to take course with multiple choice exams which I always did well at.
Some classes would have exams with both multiple choice and essays. I would usually ace the multiple choice and often barely get by on the essay. Organizing and going step by step to do these things was hard. The comment above about having piles of things everywhere but still knowing where to find everything applies to me also.