According to many prominent university websites, students are expected to put in three hours of study time for every hour of class. As a student, even if you manage to find this much spare time, it is likely that your focus will eventually break down.
Today, students and educators often have a lengthy to-do list to get through their days. It is no longer only about studying for the class. You have to worry about completing assignments, working, and squeezing in some time for yourself. And not so surprisingly, such a hectic schedule can take a toll on your productivity.
After all, we have all been students once. And when you have means to help you streamline your work, you should take advantage of them. To help you get started, here are some of the best productivity tools currently available in the market.
Any.do – To Organize your Tasks
Whether you are a student looking to keep a tab on your class schedule or a professor wanting to manage the working hours – Any.do can help organize your life. You can use this app to add tasks and activities, organizing and prioritizing them as needed.
However, it is much more than a mere to-do list app. The productivity tool comes integrated with a calendar that allows you to keep track of all your activities in a single view. You will also be able to set reminders to complete writing papers for your class assignments, share your notes, and collaborate with others.
Moreover, Any.do is also integrated with several other tools such as Gmail, Evernote, Outlook, Slack, and others.
Any.do Pricing
- Free version available
- $5.99 per month when billed monthly
- $4.49 per month when billed every six months
- $2.99 per month when billed annually
GoalsOnTrack – To Set Goals
This productivity app advertises itself as a top tool for goal setting and management for high achievers. And ultimately, we all want to feel highly accomplished.
The web-based GoalsOnTrack app will allow you to set both daily tasks as well as long-term action plans. Moreover, the tool comes with templates that you can use to create different goals and break them down into multiple steps.
You will also be able to track your progress at all levels. The app is designed in a way to help you build your productivity habit formation, and it does an excellent job doing it. What’s more, you can even keep a goal journal to monitor your habits.
GoalsOnTrack Pricing
- Free web version available
Source: Free Vector | Human hand holding stopwatch
Flow – To Maintain Focus
Flow is, in fact, one of our favorites from this list. And of course, it is based on our experience. The app follows the Pomodoro technique, which helps break long hours of work into small modules.
For instance, let’s say you have to dedicate one full day to complete an assignment. The chances are that after the first one hours, your productivity will go down along with your focus. Flow divides your focus periods into 25 minutes followed by a quick five-minute break.
Once you complete four adjacent modules, you can take a longer break of 30 minutes. Now, these time slots come predefined with the app, but you can also customize them based on your preferences. And it goes without saying that Flow can be a lifesaver to help you maintain concentration without feeling burnout.
Flow Pricing
- Available for free
Trello – To Track your Assignments
If you have heard of Trello before, you might be thinking it works only for a team or for project management. However, the app is highly flexible, and you can use it to create your own board.
After this recent update, Trello allows you to define personal workspaces and add different boards to them. Each board can contain details of different tasks, including reminders for them. You can also add more people to different boards in case you want to collaborate with them.
For example, if you are a student, you can create a workspace for academics and add boards for different subjects. If you are a professor, you can create a workspace for students or your assistants. As said, it’s highly flexible, and the tool will help you keep everything on track.
Trello Pricing
- Free for individuals
- Business plan at $10 per month
Source: Free Vector | Profit growth strategy idea. business development solution
OneNote – For Note Taking
No productivity list for students will be complete without an efficient note-taking app, and this time, OneNote has caught our eye. This Microsoft product has evolved to become one of the most favorite tools among students.
As you know, having organized notes can not only help save time but also increase productivity. If you haven’t used this tool before, OneNote allows you to create separate notebooks and divide them into different sections. You can choose to write or use a digital pen if your device is compatible with it.
The tool also allows you to record audios, add videos, share, and collaborate with others right from the app.
OneNote Pricing
- The app is free to use, but you might have to pay for storage if needed.
Cold Turkey – To Keep Distraction Away
One thing that might lead to a lack of productivity is procrastination. And we all know the main culprit behind that is the endless distractions online. Cold Turkey is an app that can help you with this.
The tool will block websites, URLs, keywords, and even the entire internet if needed. You can also schedule these blocks so that whenever you sit down to work, you will already be denied access to the distractive sites. Additionally, it has cool features such as a Pomodoro timer and an allowance you can use to take breaks and use the blocked websites.
Cold Turkey will also offer you complete statistics of your schedule, so you know how much time you have actually been productive.
Cold Turkey Pricing
- Download the Blocker for free
- Blocker Pro version available at $35 for lifetime access
Quizlet – For Effective Studying
When it comes to student productivity, it is not always about setting the right environment. Most often, it means that what you are studying is too hard to follow or not engaging enough. Quizlet is a flashcard app that covers a wide range of subjects, from languages to technology.
It allows you to create your own flashcards for easier studying or access those created by hundreds of other students online. You can make the flashcards more interesting by adding images, diagrams, and notes. Recently, the platform has also developed games that allow students to collaborate and study.
Not only students but also teachers can take advantage of this learning tool to help students study better and enhance their productivity.
Quizlet Pricing
- Seven-day free trial
- $3.50 per month
Tide – For Relaxation
Sometimes, in order to boost your productivity, you might need a quick relaxation. And what can calm your mind and renew your focus better than meditation?
Tide is a minimal app that works as a radio for your meditation music. It has pre-recorded guided meditations as well as playlists that can help you rest your brain for a while. It is just the right recipe that does not take too much of your time or make you distracted.
Tide Pricing
- Free to download
Conclusion
It is not a hard decision to know which productivity tool works the best for you. You might have to try a few at first. In the end, if the app helps you get more done and is easy to use, then you have a winner.
You can even use a combination of these in order to build an effective productivity system.
