Currently in my final year of university, I have found the most efficient way for me to work. I love being busy and since I also love to be organised, I have found the best tools for me to use when trying to work, plan my day or even have fun!
1. Google Calendar
I cannot live without a calendar of some sort. Whilst I still bullet journal and write things down, my Google Calendar keeps everything together. I like using the Monthly preview, as since I like to plan ahead, I can see how that would then impact other days by seeing it all collectively together.
Pros:
- You can see everything laid out in the way you wish – daily, weekly, monthly overviews which allows you to personalise it the way you want, the best way that suits you!
- It allows colour coordination – I love being able to group things together, so I have different colours for university, volunteering, table tennis, social activities… it’s a good way of making sure you are juggling things right
2. Notion
Notion is an app/website that allows you to do pretty much anything. You can create planners, to-do lists, boards, you name it and they will probably have that function. I use Notion for everything because you can keep different aspects of your life in different sections. My future empire is built in one section, my braindumps, my university schedule, even my articles I’ve got one beautiful section on my ideas, when it’s been completed and the date it’s been published!
Pros:
- You can be totally creative with your Notion. There are so many options for you to use that it will probably be a little overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of it, you can’t live without it!
- As you can see on the left, my entire life is planned on Notion. This includes the planning of my Etsy store, my volunteering notes, work notes, university to do lists and the empire I plan on building in the future
- You can link pages to each other meaning everything is neatly organised all in their relevant spots – it makes finding things a lot easier!
- You can check things off once you’ve done them, and even make it so they can add stuff up as you do them so you can find out your grade without using a calculator – which for someone who isn’t friends with maths, can be a real-life saviour!
3. myBib
myBib is a referencing tool that is an absolute saviour for when you are completing assignments that requires you to do a lot of referencing.
Pros:
- It does your referencing for you! All you need to do is search!
- It references in the style you want, whether it’s Harvard, APA or whatever your school uses!
- It saves a reference list once you are finished
- You can save all your references by logging into your Google account, meaning your references will never get lost
- You can section your reference lists by assignments meaning you can work on more than one assignment at one time and not worry about muddling up your references
4. Flora
Flora is a focus app on your phone that allows you to not get distracted by going on your phone. You plant virtual trees for a certain timeframe in which you can’t go on your phone
Pros:
- It motivates you to stay off your phone, because if you go on your phone whilst your tree is growing, you kill it! And who wants to kill a tree? (Even if it’s virtual)
- You can plant and grow trees with your friends meaning all of you can be focused at the same time!
- You can set a break timer, so once your tree is grown, you can set a certain timer for you to be able to rest and use your phone before going straight back to work
- At the start, you can go through a quest to lock different types of trees and plants from around the world! I’ve completed them all meaning I can now grow what I please and create the garden that fits my aesthetic.
5. Trello
If you don’t want something as fancy as Notion but still want to be organised, Trello is a good way because they use boards. I never set up a Trello board this semester, but I might just have to because I forgot how useful it can be! I set a board for each week, colour-coordinating by subject and giving myself a deadline.
Pros:
- You can colour-coordinate tasks, which for someone like me who lives for colour, this is a useful and efficient way to organise everything
- You can place deadlines which you can tick, which I don’t know about you – but I find incredibly satisfying!
- You can break tasks into even smaller chunks which you can tick one by one. For example in week 8 in third year, I somehow gave myself 30 mini tasks to complete my Qualitative report in Psychology