Productivity apps and study tips
Hello everyone, I welcome you to another collab post with Jasmine! This time we will be talking about study tips and productivity apps! Since you are at school you need to study so follow the tips we are about to give you and you will be fine! We also spend a lot of time on our phone and computer and they can be classed as distractions, however using the apps we suggest will change that!
Organise your work/study space Do you have enough space to lay all your books out? Is everything out of the way? Is your phone out of the way? If not, you might need to organise your work/study space. In order to get a great deal of work done, having a clear table is a start. If you have games, glasses and more junk on the table you won’t be able to focus and get anything done. Move your games and everything that is not related to studying/work off the table. By doing this you are removing the distraction. Make sure you feel comfortable sitting at your table. If you are uncomfortable, you won’t be able to study. Invest in a comfy chair. It will be worth it in the long run. Have all your work material out on the table. This is so you know what you need to study and what not to. Make sure you have enough room on your table to have all your books spread out!
Take regular breaks Now that your table is clear and you are studying like there is no tomorrow! Make sure you take breaks. Otherwise, you will burn yourself out! This is not a good thing. You cannot sit there and study for 4 hours without having at least a 5-minute break! If you have a break, you are taking the time to get yourself together again. Grab yourself a drink and a snack and watch a funny YouTube video. Also, learn to take a day off. You have a weekend for a reason. Spend at least 1 day of the weekend relaxing and doing something you love. You can hang out with friends or your family! No one says that you have to study 24/7. This is not good for your body and honestly, you are stressing yourself out.
Learn when you study best. If you study better in the morning, then study then. You are a night owl like me, then study during the night. However, do NOT stay up past 11 when studying during the night. You won’t really take anything in and you have to make sure you get a good sleep for the next day! If you are an early bird, then wake up early and get your head in the books! Make sure you have breakfast and something to drink first. You will want to get your work done as fast as you can but take your time. If you are a night owl than spending the afternoon preparing for your late night study session. I do recommend reading some things over in the afternoon and then the hardcore study session can happen later tonight. Always have something to eat and drink before you start. Take a bottle of water with you! Again, never study past 11, because you will just be tired!
Give yourself time. You MUST give yourself time to study and prepare for an exam or a long essay. You cannot cram everything into one night! Do not expect to come out like Einstein when you spend 12 hours before the exam studying. It may work for some people, but for the majority, it doesn’t. You need to give yourself at least a week or so to start studying. If it is for your final, you need to give yourself a few months! Do not rush perfection. Take your time and study hard.
Setting yourself some goals. These can range anything from completing the homework or getting a certain chapter memorised. However, they have to be realistic goals! They cannot be something like “I’m going to complete this 600-page book and write 50 pages of notes” If you can do that, then go ahead! But I don’t recommend it! You will burn yourself out before you even start! Set a goal like “Complete reading chapter 5 and start notes” Don’t start anything else, until this is done. Then set another goal “Start reading chapter 6 and start notes” Then do this until it is completed. If your goals are realistic then you will be able to do them!
Having a routine. This is almost like having a study plan. However, you incorporate your study plan into your routine. If you study physics on a Sunday but on Tuesday it is s study free day, this is your study routine. Your routine also involved being in a specific study area. This is because your brain will automatically know that if you sit in your study area, it means work!
Having a study plan This is much like setting goals. If you have a plan, you can stick to it! If you stick to it, you will be able to complete all your goals for the day. If you are walking into a test not knowing what the heck to do, your study plan may not have been effective. Make sure it is simple and easy to follow!
Studying with friends If you can’t really study by yourself, then form a study group. The downside to this is finding people who won’t mess about. Make sure that the people you are in the group with want to study just as much as you do. If being in a study group does not work for you, then do not go into one. It is just one more distraction to add to the list. You can share notes with each other and help each other with questions if you are struggling. If your friend doesn’t understand then you can explain to them in a term
Create a study schedule. You’ve probably heard this a lot, but it’s probably one of the most important things you do. A Levels are really demanding and there are a lot of deadlines you need to be up to date with, so creating a study schedule is absolutely necessary to make sure you’re always handing in assignments on time and that you’re organised through the school year.
Past papers. Past papers are a great tool to help you practice not just exam content, but also the exam technique, so if you aren’t used to doing them, you really have to for A Levels.
Start in Advance. Don’t leave the work till the last minute, make sure you start studying and revising daily, from when you first start your A Levels. You could take the first week to adjust, but you should be doing a good amount of work by the second week.
Track what you’re doing. Write down or record what you’ve done, and not only will this keep you on track, but it’ll also motivate you to do more.
Change locations. If you feel demotivated or just not in the mood to study or get work done, try changing location. This could be simply going from your bedroom to your kitchen or going to study in a coffee shop. It’s based on what works for you, but a change in location can be all you need to get that push to finish that work.
Understand and take an interest. Make sure you understand what you’re studying and try to find at least some parts of what you’re studying interesting, as this will help you stay motivated to study it. You can also ask other people or friends what they like about the subject/topic.
Set a time, and decrease the gap. Set a time to start studying, and make sure you stick to it. Don’t leave a big gap between the time you come home from school and the time you start studying, as you’ll be more efficient when you’ve just come back from school. Structure your time wisely, but don’t forget to relax for at least half an hour before starting.
All of these tips can be used for IB and A-Levels and other courses.
These are some study/productivity apps that’ll help you and make your life easier through the year (not in any certain order) * ALL APPS MENTIONED ARE FREE*
Gmail/Google. These apps are really helpful for your work and can link up to many devices, as well as being extremely simple to use and really efficient. (Ex. Google Docs, Google sheets, etc.)
SimpleNote. You can use this app as a separate app just for school to hold any notes from your teachers or even to record tasks, and it is easy to use and has a very useful system where you can tag posts and gather them in one tab, so you can organise notes for many different subjects.
Wunderlist . You can use this app to make checklists and plan out what you need to do during the day, and it’s good for group projects, as others which have the app can collaborate on a list, and check when they’ve finished the checked task.
iTunes U. This app is good for when you need resources, it gives you free access to courses from some of the best schools in the world, which can help with coursework and homework.
DropBox. It’s really secure for keeping your documents in one secure place, and you can access your documents at all times.
Scribd. You can find millions of different documents and books that you can organise based on how you want them organised.
CliffsNotes. This is perfect if you’re doing literature or similar as it has detailed summaries and information on characters of a book you may be reading in class and so much more, and it’s also really good for quick revision before exams.
Studious. All you need to do is to enter all information about your class, time, professor, location, etc, and this app will remind you based on reminders you set, so you’ll never forget a class or something important you need to do, which is great for A levels as you always need to be reminded of important due dates.
Be focused. This is a timer, which allows you to set a certain amount of time for a task/homework etc.
Tide. This app plays music/sounds when you’re studying and this can really help with studying and helps you focus longer so you can get more work done.
Forest. (Free on the android) Forest is basically an app where you grow a tree every time you set a time period to focus. However, if you leave the app your tree DIES! It’s a wonderful little app great for time management and to keep yourself focused.
Pomodoro: Grow and Harvest. This app is very similar to the forest app because you are growing a plant and you get to harvest your fruit at the end of your productivity hour. The timer resets if you leave the app and your plant doesn’t die like it does in Forest.
Focus Keeper. An app that is used to track time. It works really well to time your tasks and sticking to your schedule. You can also listen to music while you do your work with this app.
Momentum (Desktop app) Momentum is one of my favourites.
As you can see in the photo above, it’s a gorgeous app to have. In the bottom right corner you can see there is a todo list. If you are always on your computer, write your todo list there so you can always see it and get the work done! In the centre of the screen, there is a question that you should answer every day. Write your main focus down and every time you open a new tab you will be reminded of what you have to do!
If there are other study tips and productivity apps you think we should add then comment down below and let us know! What other blog posts regarding IB and A-Levels would you like us to do? Slide into my Instagram (@theflickeringpages) or Jasmine’s (@ughustudyign).
