Jeremy FloresIf you find yourself constantly scrambling to meet deadlines, make it to class on time, and keep up with work and social demands, you have an issue with both time and productivity. You aren’t alone. Students, and even those who have finished with school often struggle with productivity and time management. These struggles can hurt you in terms of your grades, social life, and work performance. Don’t let that happen! Take some time to review these tools, and to decide which ones have a place in your busy life.
How many links to videos, infographics, articles, and other forms of content do you receive in a given day? How often are you able to view that content immediately? Your answer to the first question, is probably, several. Your answer to the second question is probably, not very often. Pocket is a tool that you can use to store content and view it later, at your own convenience.
Evernote
Taking notes in class, writing down sources, working on your next blog post, searching your recent writing for inspiration, collaborating with others on a group project. If only there was one tool that you could use to accomplish all of these things. Good news! There is a tool that can be used for this purpose. Evernote is an extremely versatile app that can be used for the above mentioned functions and more.
MyHomework
Do you remember those spiral bound student planners you carried in high school? Your university may even issue those to you now. MyHomework is essentially the same thing, in app form. This means there’s no risk of leaving it at home. It also means that instead of paging through a planner, you simply tap or click. The interface is easy. You just enter in homework assignments and due dates. MyHomework will send reminders when things are coming due, and you can sort and organize your assignments in any way that is convenient to you.
Mind 42
This is a free, online mind mapping utility that you can use to get your ideas out and organized. In addition to creating your own mind maps, you can also explore what others have posted. Interested in getting some community feedback or assistance with your mind map? Mind 42 allows you to collaborate with others.
Focus Booster
If you’ve ever ended the day having accomplished absolutely nothing, and been unable to figure where your time went, Focus Booster is just what you need. Focus Booster relies on the proven Pomodoro method of productivity. It allows you to break your tasks up into 25 minutes blocks of time. Even better, Focus Booster tracks your activity and presents it to you in graphic form. This allows you to say the days and times of day when you are most and least productive.
OmmWriter
The problem with standard desktop word processors is that there is too much going on. The writing process doesn’t flow, because you are constantly fixing a spelling error, or formatting something. OmmWriter takes all of this away. Instead, you interface with a simple screen. Just you, your writing, soothing backgrounds, and ambient music. OmmWriter even provides those satisfying type writer sounds. Once you have finished your writing, you can save it as a text file and open it with any standard word processor to do any formatting or editing.
EssayThinker
Essay Thinker is a professional content provider that is perfect for students who have too many deadlines to manage and are in danger of falling behind. You can use this service when you are in a pinch for any of your writing needs. Don’t to check out their blogs for great writing and lifestyle advice
RefMe
Citations, references, quotations, annotations, are some of the most tedious things to deal with when writing an essay or research paper. Luckily, RefMe automates all of this and makes it easy for you. RefMe can cite a source in any style. It can annotate a web page, and keep lists of the references that you have used. No worries, if some of your sources are in the form of actual printed material. If your book has a bar code, just scan it, and RefMe knows just what to do.
Trello
Try using Trello for one group project, and you will advocate for it every time you are asked to work on a team in the future. With Trello, you create cards for each task that needs to be completed. Then, those cards are shared with anybody else who needs to see them. Cards are kept in one of three categories: work to be done, work being done, and completed work.
Dictionary.com
If you’re ever unsure of the meaning of a word, or whether or not you are using a word properly, Dictionary.Com is the perfect resource. It is available both as a website and an app. It contains thousands of words, synonyms, antonyms, and will even offer spelling suggestions.