Best productivity apps for students

It’s not a simple undertaking to maneuver through the educational realm on the internet. How can we expect to succeed when the brightest minds of our era are relentlessly intent on ensuring all distractions are merely a click away?

Dealing with numerous tasks, adhering to strict deadlines, and immense study material to go through, these diversions become even more enticing. An adorable cat video? I’m definitely in. Fortunately, productivity apps are designed for students to declutter their minds and reduce distractions. As the saying goes: Technology taketh away, but it also given.

A poor choice of app can often result in dealing with complex user interfaces and an overload of features, which can undoubtedly be overwhelming. This is why, in creating this list, our primary focus remained ensuring that the applications are manageable and user-friendly.

  • Fast
  • Simple
  • Free or reasonably priced

Before discussing the best productivity apps for students, it is crucial to explore their potential functions and reasons for use. Here are eight crucial suggestions for excelling as a student, which will aid in maintaining your productivity and concentration throughout your university journey.

Best productivity apps for students

Track your time

Our mind frequently manipulates us into believing our preferences. Hence, if you aspire to study 8 hours a day but manage only 2, your mind might magnify this number to provide a deceptive feeling of success. This is the reason why time trackers are helpful. They give you a detailed insight into how your time is genuinely being spent rather than how you wish to pay for it. No matter the size or complexity of your project, begin by dividing it into smaller, manageable parts and estimate the time you believe it will take to complete each one. Then, monitor your progress. In due course, you will develop a knack for precisely estimating the duration of a task and consequently schedule your week correspondingly. Effective time management is a crucial ability that guarantees academic and future career success, permits time for hobbies, and fosters both physical and mental wellness.

Plan ahead

You have two options – continually remembering what tasks must be tackled or taking action to complete those tasks. Use to-do lists to keep track of the tasks that require your focus. Whether through to-do list apps or the traditional pen-and-paper method, this will allow your mind to avoid becoming saturated with numerous tasks simultaneously, facilitating concentration on a single study at a time.

Mute the noise

Large tech companies work non-stop to ensure you dedicate your time to liking, scrolling, commenting, or interacting with social media content. Are you consistently drawn to your phone whenever it rings, beeps, or vibrates? We concur; the allure of infinite scrolling often trumps the appeal of pending work. The rise in online diversions, including seemingly innocuous social media platforms such as Reddit, 9gag, or Youtube, and captivating websites offering intriguing information, leads to scattered attention. Though spending leisure time online isn’t necessarily bad, it becomes crucial to limit distractions when you need to concentrate on a significant task effectively.

Stay focused

The present times have severely disrupted our capacity to concentrate and apply ourselves intensively, dedicating a significant amount of time to a specific topic, task, or project. Setting specific periods for concentration enables us to accomplish more. I’ve employed the Pomodoro method or its variations for over ten years. Although this technique alone did not carry me through my university degree, it helped me achieve higher marks with less exertion. Applying the Pomodoro Technique or any of its adaptations is relatively straightforward—Twenty-five minutes for working optimally as it helps me remain focused and accomplish substantial work without being overwhelmed.

Meanwhile, the 5-minute intervals for a pause, which always seem just around the corner, allow me to relax without interrupting my workflow. Be so engrossed that time effortlessly slips away, and you achieve a great deal. Strive for that objective daily.

Create a timetable

Creating a schedule for myself was the most effective strategy that assisted me with exam preparation. This timetable was populated with the specific days I planned to spend on each topic or subject, incorporating some leeway for particularly challenging sections, rest periods, or unattended coursework. Implementing this strategy regularly helps divide the massive syllabus you need to cover into more manageable portions. Parkinson’s Law accurately states that the amount of work we do increases to occupy the time we have to complete it. Establishing a time frame helps you identify what is most important to focus on, plan your day effectively, and be sufficiently ready for an exam, regardless of whether your preparation started a month or a week earlier.

Take notes

As a student, taking detailed notes is one of your most effective resources. This could be from your teacher’s explicit instruction on a topic, valuable suggestions from a classmate, or a sudden brilliance that inspires you. These reference materials can act as revision aids, assist you in preparing for tests, and offer helpful perspectives on the tactics employed by other students to tackle various subjects. Additionally, they are essential if you aim to remember the details and knowledge shared during lectures! You can choose any device that suits your preference, whether a computer, phone, or tablet, and synchronize it with a cloud storage system. This enables all your data to be neatly stored and easily reachable.

Active recall

As a learner, I had a solid aversion to rote learning. However, when I decided to become an author, I was obliged to enrich my vocabulary by assimilating lists consisting of thousands of words. Apps that assist in simplifying memorization have significantly aided me. These apps either considerably reduce the time I spend studying or enhance the knowledge I gain. A convenient approach to learning is the active recall method. This memory strategy involves utilizing tools like flashcards to assist in the process.

Stay consistent

Significant transformations in life aren’t achieved by giving up on good habits halfway through. To establish habits, developing a regimen that suits your needs is vital. It’s essential to have a strategy that continually encourages and inspires you until you can carry out the same daily task. Here are some intelligent strategies you can employ to boost your efficiency and guarantee that you have sufficient time to maintain a balanced lifestyle. We researched this article by engaging with thousands of educators and utilizing various apps to ensure we discern the best from the others. The selected app stands out as the top in its respective category, reinforcing all the knowledge we’ve accumulated so far.

RescueTime

Automated recording and management of time
Here’s what RescueTime can do:

  • Track your time seamlessly in the background without requiring any effort.
  • Classify how you are utilizing your time.
  • It allows you to restrict websites that cause distractions through its premium version.
  • The complimentary edition lets you download the application and monitor your time across all supported platforms – Mac, Android, iOS, Windows, and Linux.

The productivity application is the preferred choice for students and working professionals globally who don’t wish to engage with any app to attain their results regularly.

We discovered that RescueTime is an ideal application for students, given its focus on monitoring time to increase productivity, making it fun with gamification, providing straightforward reports, and the ability to block websites.

OSlash

Find everything you need instantly.
OSlash enables you to link with the tools and applications you utilize daily effortlessly.

When your work is distributed over various platforms like Google Docs, Google Sheets, Slides, Trello, Notes, and more, it can become challenging to locate, access, and distribute the documents you require daily.

OSlash allows you to create a quick and convenient shortcut for any link. For instance, you can name a link as o/physics-notes or o/to-do-list, which enables you to access your desired location rapidly.

OSlash is an excellent resource that can help you save approximately nine hours each week by keeping all your data and resources well-arranged and consolidated in one location.

Cold Turkey

The most stringent internet site-blocking tool. Cold Turkey does precisely what its title implies. It is highly recommended for writers and serves as an impressive resource for any student.

It proclaims itself as the “most impenetrable website blocker globally.” And, yes, they are not joking.
If you find it challenging to exercise self-discipline and frequently give in to your desires, this app is a must-have. It allows you to block websites, games, and apps, enhancing your productivity and helping you regain your leisure time.

Cold Turkey Writer allows you to convert your computer into a relentless typewriter until you reach your daily word count. For an impending project, after conducting your preliminary research, give Cold Turkey Writer a shot and see a significant increase in your productivity.

Forest

Focus timer for productivity. Undoubtedly, Forest is one of the best productivity apps for students globally. What makes it so unique? It brilliantly combines vital features and beautiful design while supporting a noble cause – a unique blend that would even impress Professor Utonium.

Whenever you desire to initiate a study session in your app-based “forest,” you sow a tree. The timeframe you control will determine the tree’s growth from a seed or young tree to a mature one.

By implementing the Pomodoro Technique, I initiate a tree’s growth for 25 minutes. The tree will continue to develop as long as you are working. However, if you are distracted by using your phone and leaving the application, your tree will die. The higher your levels of concentration, the more trees you can accumulate and expand in your plantation. The company plants real trees in hundreds of countries! This is beneficial for both you and the planet. This application uses an inventive strategy to assist you in maintaining concentration. Give it a try and become one of the millions obsessed with it.

Google Sheets

Free spreadsheet editor. To make a schedule, simplify your life, and utilize Google Sheets. Its simplicity and cost-effectiveness are unmatched by any other spreadsheet software. Here are several suggestions for establishing an effective study schedule that will assist you in excelling in your exams:

  • Begin by determining your test date and then calculate the time you have available for studying each subject.
  • Allocate specific days to each subject and distribute the time accordingly based on the difficulty level and the number of chapters that need to be studied.
  • Allocate a few extra days for relaxation, decompression, or addressing subjects needing more time than initially anticipated.
  • Avoid making a schedule hourly, as it can be limiting and potentially lead to problems.

Evernote

Organize all your notes. A discussion on productivity wouldn’t be comprehensive without bringing up Evernote. From my experience with numerous note-taking applications, none function as effectively across devices as Evernote.

Evernote is a robust note-taking application with numerous features to enhance your collegiate learning experience. Apart from the fundamental functions of a digital notebook, Evernote enables you to extract text from pictures, generate task lists, scan tangible documents, and store web articles and PDFs for annotation within your notes. If you’re using your phone, you can effortlessly search, edit, and make notes directly through Siri or OK Google.

Indeed, it’s correct that numerous customizations are hidden behind a payment barrier, but needing a lot could distract a student.

Quizlet

Learning tools & flashcards. Quizlet provides a comprehensive range of study tools based on scientific principles, including expert guidance, an AI Learning Assistant, and flashcards. All these resources are readily accessible to you. Quizlet provides the simplest method to rehearse and perfect your learning. It simplifies and enhances the study of subjects such as languages, history, vocabulary, and science. Best of all, it is available at no cost.

With the Quizlet app, you can:

  • Learn with flashcards
  • Distribute flashcards among your friends, peers, or pupils.
  • Prepare for your tests by utilizing the Learn mode.
  • Challenge your memory through the Write mode.
  • Learn foreign languages
  • Educate yourself in science, mathematics, history, programming, and beyond.

Everyday

Habit tracker & goals. Every day is an exceptionally user-friendly habit-tracking application accessible on all possible platforms. All the activity happens within the app’s straightforward visual interface, which shows your habits in a vertical arrangement on the left and a timeline extending towards the right up to the present day.
The primary concept of the app is to execute daily routines consistently without disrupting the chain or sequence. When you successfully follow a habit, you label it as finished. On the right side of the screen, you can view the duration of your current sequence, your previous highest record, and the cumulative count of your adherence to a habit over its entire course.

Bringing the best productivity apps for students together

So, there you have it. You are now familiar with 8 applications designed to enhance your habits and significantly boost your productivity. However, simply downloading an app won’t immediately guarantee success, which is why our best advice for managing your time might contribute to further developing your personal time management abilities. While no student is flawless, these apps should hopefully assist you in mastering student life!

While you download the best productivity apps for students, remember:

Productivity isn’t a natural characteristic of human beings. It’s a skill that can be developed and refined through time and practice. Therefore, don’t feel discouraged if you don’t experience immediate productivity. Some people thrive early in the morning, while others tend to be more productive during the quiet of the night. Identify the timing that optimizes your productivity. Regularly assess your performance to determine what strategies are successful for you.