Of course, we’ve all been in the position of procrastinating for hours on end, whether it’s an assignment for college or university, or a project at work, and when deadline day arrives, we rush to produce any semblance of work we can. This exam season, we’ve got you covered with a bunch of apps to help you learn new skills, increase your productivity or organise your abundance of notes.
EDAPP
First off, for anyone who’s looking to increase their skillset, Edapp is a platform that offers hundreds of courses in the format of short lessons, meaning you won’t be kept away from the rest of the world for too long. With lessons covering ‘Anti-Money Laundering Training’ to ‘How to write a cracking cover letter’, and everything in between, the free version is more than enough to keep you afloat. If you’re working and studying at the same time, Edapp can be a friend in both areas, helping you cement your skills and improve your way of working. The free version gives you access to plenty of resources, but if you want to go for a little extra, the paid for versions come at a very reasonable price.
STUDY SMARTER
In the same vein, we have StudySmarter, a website and app aimed towards students, built to be incredibly user-friendly. Advertised as an ‘all-in-one’ study app, it encompasses the features of a few different learning apps in one spot, creating less work for you. Users can create study plans that work for them and access them no matter where they are using the mobile app. You can access materials made by other users of the app if you need a fresh perspective, and make your own study sets that enhance for your style of working. The app is completely free, so don’t fret about hidden payments at the cost of your learning.
GOOGLE KEEP
If you’re the type to prefer writing your own notes and research in a different way, we’ve got a couple of notetaking and note-organising platforms that may come in handy. For users of the Google Workspace, Google Keep will be a seamless addition to your rotation; it allows you to organise and categorise all your notes from your various Google Apps, meaning you’re able to share them with users you’re already working with. Use it to set time and location-based reminders, make visual and audio notes, and find your work with ease. By being able to make notes in whatever format is the most productive for you, you’ll be able to work at your best.
NOTION
Give Notion a go if you’re in need of a totally clear workstation and a highly customisable experience. Notion comes with a plethora of different functions, all allowing you to personalise your dashboard exactly the way you want. It’s another app that offers a sharing feature, meaning you can work in teams online and easily communicate with users within groups. List your tasks and organise them in a way that works for you, be it by due date or topic.
The free version has a myriad of components that make notetaking as simple as it can be, with a very intuitive interface. The concept of Notion was based on the idea of having a multitude of work tools open at all times, and the need for a consolidated workspace, enabling users to have emails, tabs and lists in the same clear area. It’ll help you have all your thoughts laid out without being overwhelmed by hundreds of tabs, which sounds like a plus to us.
BE FOCUSED
Now, having said all of this, it’s hard to get it done if your brain isn’t in gear to attack your (probably very lengthy) to-do list, so we’ve thrown in a couple of great apps that are made especially to target your productivity levels. Starting with Be Focused, a focus timer app that lets you organise your tasks, add notes and details and set deadlines. Users can view their productivity progress with the in-app tracker, which makes for the perfect motivational tool. The interval function also allows for easy breaking up of tasks, which is a very effective way to stay focused. With great reviews on the Apple App store, Be Focused is clearly a tried and tested method of targeting your to-do list.
OPAL
Finally, Opal, named Apple’s ‘app of the day’ for its success in improving users’ focus and productivity. The Opal Pro subscription is available for big fans of the app, but the free version should serve you just fine. When it comes to setting screen time limits using the features on your phone or external apps, the option to bypass the timer is a little too tempting and gets the better of us more often than not. With the ‘Deep Focus Mode’ on Opal Pro, you won’t have that issue, as you’re not able to mess with the timer you’ve set, so getting rid of distractions is a piece of cake. Set yourself up for success with their routine timers and automatic focus sessions, so you don’t have to worry about remembering to switch off your phone every single time.
