Top 6 Organization Apps for College (and Beyond!)

Organization and productivity go hand-in-hand.  If you're not organized, it's hard to be productive.  Likewise, if you're not productive enough to organize your life, you won't be...organized.  Vicious cycle.  Here are my 6 favorite apps for organization and productivity, in no particular order.

1. Raise the Bar

Something about seeing visual progress toward a goal is just so motivating.  Raise the Bar is a habit-tracking app, but I use it for tracking general goals as well.  You can set a goal for whatever you want, customize the colors, and watch your progress toward your goal increase.  It's really satisfying to go from 36% done to 100% done and the bar changes color.  Or maybe that's just me :) Either way, it's definitely worth a try!  I use it to track my study time, making sure I go to 90% of my class lectures, and forming habits to read, write, and exercise.

2. Timetable

I use this for school.  I input all of my class times, exam times, reading assignments, paper deadlines, presentation dates, EVERYTHING into this app, including details about how many points exams/assignments are worth and which chapter(s) they cover.  Each class has its own color, which is the same color for Raise the Bar study progress and aCalendar entries.  It has Day View and Week View, as well as areas to see tasks and exams for each class.  I LOVE this app for keeping me productive during school.  I can just look at my list of upcoming assignments and exams, and I know exactly what I need to study!  No more wasted time flipping through syllabi and going through old notes trying to find due dates and details!

 

3. aCalendar

I also put all of my class times into this app, just so I can see when I'm truly available.  I also put in work shifts, appointments, meetings, and every other event in my life on here.  Having everything color-coded is super helpful too (my classes have the same colors in every app).  I have a lot of people who need to meet with me individually, so having all my life commitments in one place minimizes the time it takes to figure out meeting times.  It's also helpful when trying to schedule time to study.  aCalendar syncs with Google Calendar too, so if I need to access my schedule on a device that is not my phone or tablet, I'm not SOL.

4. Todoist

I use this app to keep track of all the non-school tasks I have (although you can easily use it for school aissignment, but I prefer Timetable for that) to complete.  This app breaks down your To Do List in 2 ways: by deadline and by category.  I also have it set to send me a notification each morning of the tasks that are due that day.  I tend to get overwhelmed by the volume of tasks on my list, so being able to get rid of a task once it is complete really helps my stress levels stay down!  Once you complete an item, it magically disappears and your list gets shorter and shorter until you have a blank screen!

5. Evernote

I take class notes in Evernote, scan my syllabi into it (photos are searchable, people!!!), make outlines for papers/projects, draft blog posts, brainstorm blog topics, make lists, and so much more.  The outline feature makes Evernote much easier for taking outline-style notes than MS Word, and everything is synced!  So I can access all my class notes from my tablet, my phone, and any other computer with internet access, and nothing gets lost or thrown away by mistake.

6. Food Planner

Having all my meals for the week planned out in advance eliminates that what-do-I-eat-I-don't-want-to-make-anything feeling that always happens to me.  If I don't know in advance what I'm eating for dinner, I will stand in front of the fridge and bemoan the fact that I have to cook something from scratch, which takes time and energy that I don't have.  I sketch out my week in Food Planner, and then I don't have to think about it.  I cook my food on Sundays for the rest of the week, so all I have to do is heat up the meal that I don't have to decide on and EAT!  Meal planning is a fantastic time management trick that I have learned to cut down on all that wasted time trying to decide what to even eat.

So there you have it, my Top 6 Organization Apps for College (and real life, too).  What tools do you use to organize your hectic life?  Comment with your favorites, I'm always looking for fun new organizational tools!

4.0 GPA Challenge: Do More Than Just Pass Your Classes

I performed a miracle.  I got a 4.0 GPA last term.  Okay, not really a miracle, but it was the first one I've earned since starting college!  Granted, I was taking some easier classes and retaking one that I didn't do so hot in Fall term, but still!  I'm proud of myself, and I did work for it.  Now, I'm heading into Spring term with 19 credits of harder classes, a new volunteering gig, and a new job.  This is all on top of the officer position I already hold in my sorority, along with everyday sorority events and other life commitments.  In short, I'm BUSY!

The point is, even though I have a lot going on in my life, getting that 4.0 really made me feel awesome about myself.  I experienced a renewed confidence in my academic abilities and ability to achieve my goals.  Because it felt so fantastic, I have decided that despite my busy life and seemingly endless commitments, I am striving to get another 4.0 term under my belt.  I've been inspired by Sanam's A* Grade challenge (I'm not 100% sure what the * means, but I'm guessing kind of like an A+?) to push myself in a more structured manner to get those high grades.  I'm not exactly joining her challenge, but my personal 4.0 plan will be similar to hers. 

I'm going to start by assessing what I did last term that worked exceptionally well, as well as the areas I felt I need improvement in.

What worked for me last term

Spaced repetition

By spacing out your studying, you give your brain time to condense information into meaningful memories that remain in you brain a lot longer.

Practice testing

Being able to objectively measure your abilities in a particular subject is invaluable.  I would work through a practie test, then go back and write down the topic of every question I missed or guessed on.  Those were the subjects that I studied more frequently and intensively until I understood them just as well.

Unprompted recall

For vocab-heavy classes like my Medical Terminology class, I would read through the vocab list a couple times, then try to recall as many words from memory as I could without prompting myself by looking at the list.  I then added to the list any words I had forgotten and corrected any definitions I got wrong.

Color-coding notes

I only stuck with this for the first half of the term, since it was so time-consuming to reqrite my notes, but for those first few weeks, color-coding my notes as I rewrote them really helping information retention and recall.

Studying my hardest subjects at night

I usually did this by accident, because I would put off studying, then had to do the homework for those harder classes first.  Then I would get really tired and go to bed, but I ended up remembering those topics significantly better than the ones I studied in the morning, when I had all day to forget them and be distracted.  By studying the hardest material before bed, your brain goes to sleep with that material fresh, so more of it will be processed into long-term memory as you sleep.

What I need to work on

Doing my assignments ahead of time

This is more of a time-management issue, but also goes along with procrastination, which I do a lot.  I'm trying to build in some library time specifically for completing assignments to combat this.

Studying for finals before Dead Week and Finals Week

I left the majority of my studying until the last minute, and then I was scrambling to remember Organic Chemistry mechanisms from Week 3.

Going to class and taking better notes.  

I'm currently exploring a couple different note-taking systems to see which one is most effective for my learning.  Going to class is half the battle for me, so I'm trying to make it more of a habit.

Spaced repetition

Yes, I know I said this was something that I did well last term. But I still need to work on it.  I'm going to try incorporating 15 minutes of review material into every hour of studying to help space out the review (instead of trying to remember everything the night before the exam!)

Beating procrastination

UGH.  Procrastination and I have an all-out war going on pretty much all of the time.  I'm trying a couple tricks from Robin Sharma (recommended by Sanam) to increase my willpower to overcome procrastination (I'll keep ya posted).

And with that, my 4.0 GPA Challenge is on!  Classes start today, so I say BRING IT ON.

Best of luck with YOUR studying!  How do you earn your high grades?  Let me know in the comments!

21 Goals Before I Turn 21

Blog

1. Grow my blog to 1,000 monthly readers
2. Start making money from my blog (Once #1 is complete, I will make this a concrete number)

Financial

3. Save at least $1000 total for retirement (hey, the sooner you get started, the better!)
4. Increase the amount I put into retirement each month to $50
5. Expand my emergency savings fund to $1000
6. Get a mutual fund (I need to do more research on this…)
7. Be financially independent (this may not be all that realistic, but hey, why not try?)
8. Save enough money to travel to Europe
9. Pay my outstanding tuition bill down to $0
10. Have a student loan repayment schedule in place

Academic

11. Get published in a scientific journal
12. Raise my cumulative GPA to 3.85
13. Get a 4.0 at least one term
14. Be 75% finished with my thesis
15. Complete my Medical Humanities Certificate

Personal

16. Know how to cook 21 meals
17. Learn to play another instrument
18. Start a business (I have plans, man)
19. Improve my Spanish speaking to conversation-level
20. Live alone for a year
21. Find flute lessons

What are your goals for the next year or two?