Introduction
Finishing university assignments on time can be challenging. For some of us, it can quickly become a source of stress. As we strive to improve academic productivity, AI-powered productivity tools are emerging as valuable resources to help us complete assignments faster. In this article, I will share my favorite productivity tools for students.
Why Productivity is Key to Success as a Student
Improving productivity is essential for students to succeed academically while maintaining a healthy balance with other aspects of life.
The Challenges of Deadlines
When it comes to meeting deadlines, procrastination is probably my biggest enemy. I’m not sure why, but as a deadline approaches, unrelated tasks suddenly seem incredibly appealing. I’d rather clean my kitchen than work on my assignments. Well, I guess it’s how the human brain works. But procrastination is not the only obstacle. Stress and poor time management often make meeting deadlines more difficult, a challenge many students face. Productivity tools are definitely helpful in overcoming those obstacles.
The Role of Productivity Tools
Whether to beat procrastination, help with time management, or manage workload, we could all use a little help. These tools allow us to save time, be more organized, and make research and writing easier. Designed to make student life easier, these tools enhance time management, beat procrastination, and improve overall productivity.
My Favorite Productivity Tools
Let us look at the productivity tools I use and am confident in. Of course, we are all different and what works for me doesn’t necessarily work for you. But I am sure you can at least find some inspiration.
Time Management Tools
I am a big fan of planning my weeks and days. I manage my schedule with weekly and daily to-do lists. I allocate time to specific tasks using time blocking. To do so I am using Google Calendar. It’s free and easy to use. For my lists, I am a big fan of Notion. I like to be able to personalize it according to my needs and preferences. And, I see the dozens of available templates online as very convenient.
For managing bigger projects, I really like using Trello. It helps me organize tasks, track progress, and keep everything running smoothly.
Research and Note-Taking Tools
Notion is my go-to tool for taking notes. Its clean, customizable interface and wide variety of templates make it easy to organize notes in a way that looks great and works for me. Whether I am working on a simple list or something more detailed, Notion makes it easy to stay structured and access my notes across devices. When it comes to research, I recently discovered the ReadPartner Chrome extension. It is a powerful productivity tool for summarizing articles and research materials quickly. ReadPartner helps me to decide in an instant if I should dive deep into a piece of content or not.
Focus and Distraction-Blocking Tools
I would like to start with a simple tip and not a tool. Do not keep your phone next to you while studying, even if notifications are turned off. For your brain, your phone is a source of dopamine and when you are working or studying it is very tempting to pick it up and start doom scrolling. So my best advice is to stay away from your phone, which also applies to smartwatches if you have one. That being said, if you need extra help, I find the Freedom app very helpful. With Freedom, you can block any website or app. It helps you focus on a single task and eliminate the noise until you are done with the specific task you are working on.
Writing and Editing Tools
For students who write assignments in English, Grammarly is a must-have tool to improve grammar, clarity, and overall writing quality. It’s a precious helper for when you are unsure of your writing. I found that it helps me build confidence in my writing but it also helps me to write more efficiently. I also often use Quillbot. I mostly use their paraphrasing tool and plagiarism checker.
My Tips for Maximizing Productivity with These Tools
Now that we know what my favorite productivity tools are, here are some tips on how to make the best use of them.
Customizing Tools for Your Needs
Each of these tools can be customized to benefit you the most. For example, in Notion you can easily create a template that fits your university courses (or use an existing one, the internet is full of them). On Grammarly and Quillbot, you can change the tone. Freedom lets you choose which websites or apps to block. ReadPartner allows you to customize your summaries. The key here is personalization, customize productivity tools to suit your study habits and make them work for you.
Go step by step
After reading about new tools, you can be tempted to adopt all of them. But it is important to go step by step and incorporate them into your routine one by one. Otherwise, adopting too many tools at once can feel overwhelming, which defeats the purpose of improving productivity. Also,
ideally, select tools that work well with your current studying habits. Make sure they can synchronize well with your workflow. Again, the goal is to make your study life easier.
Setting Realistic Goals
It’s important to stay realistic when setting goals. It can be very demotivating not to meet a goal, so my advice is to stay humble in your goal-setting. Do not expect a productivity tool to magically write perfect essays five times faster for you or replace your efforts entirely. Otherwise, you will be disappointed and that is not what we are looking to achieve. Break large tasks into smaller ones and ask yourself, “What tool could help me achieve what I want faster or more easily?”
Building Habits Around Tools
Getting used to a tool can take some time. That is normal because building any new habit or skill takes effort and time. Try to develop daily routines around these tools. Soon enough you will be surprised how you are using them without even having to think about it. It’s very important to build a system around your needs and style of studying to sustain productivity in the long run. For example, try to use the ReadPartner YouTube Summarizer once a day to save time on long YouTube videos.
FAQ
1) What are the best productivity tools for students?
The best productivity tools for students are Grammarly for writing assistance, Google Calendar for time management, and ReadPartner for summarizing research materials quickly.
2) Should I use productivity tools in my private life?
Most productivity tools can also be beneficial in your daily life. For example, have you ever spent time deciding which YouTube video to watch? Certain summarization tools like ReadPartner AI can summarize YouTube videos in an instant.
3) How do I choose the right productivity tools for me?
When choosing productivity tools, the first step is to assess your needs. Ask yourself if there is something you particularly struggle with or if there is a task you spend more time on than you should. Once identified, search for options. Then, give them a try and decide which one works best for you.
Conclusion
As mentioned, we are all different, so I encourage you to try all the tools listed (as well as others) in order to find what works best for you and what doesn’t. Ultimately, the best productivity tip for students is to take care of yourself. All these tools can’t help you if you don’t have a healthy mind and body. It can’t be said enough: eating well, getting enough sleep, and exercising are the first essential productivity habits for students.